Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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Christ Is God
Chapter 8 – God and Christ: Hidden and Revealed
As we saw in the previous chapter, once Jesus was raised from the dead to the right hand of God, it could be revealed, understood, and appreciated that He had been at the right hand of God since before He became a man…even before Genesis 1:1 took place. Another way of saying this is that God and Christ came before – that is, preexisted – everyone and everything else in creation. To say it another way, God made Messiah first! We’ll say more about this in the next chapter.
For now, we just want to notice that it is a fact of nature that things are only hidden so that they can be revealed at the proper time. For example, you hide a birthday present until it’s the person’s birthday. Maybe you hide it completely from the person’s view or maybe you hide it in wrapping paper telling the person not to open it until that day. But either way, you are hiding something until the right time for revealing it.
Likewise, God hides some truths until it is the right time to reveal them. As Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 10:26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”
Jesus also said:
Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
Matthew 11:26 “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
Matthew 11:27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
One of the most startling revelations that Jesus brought to light was that He and the Father both existed before the creation of the heavens and earth in Genesis 1. Their co-preexistence was hidden from view throughout Old Testament times until the resurrection of Jesus from the dead to the right hand of God.
The words of the apostle Matthew suggest that he may have been thinking of this specific revelation when he wrote the following words:
Matthew 13:34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.
Matthew 13:35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES;
I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”
Matthew wrote his Gospel after Jesus’ resurrection to the right hand of God. Therefore, he’s looking back on Jesus’ ministry and recognizing that Jesus had indeed revealed things hidden since before the world was – things like His place next to the Father during the time that He and the Father preceded all of creation.
The idea that “Christ is God” was unthinkable throughout Old Testament times, and even through New Testament times…right up until the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures. Even then, it wasn’t clearly understood. It wasn’t supposed to be. The understanding that Christ is God would only come with the Second Coming – also known as the coming of the kingdom of God. But we have a number of chapters to cover before getting to that point.
For now, we just need to recognize that “Christ is God” would have sounded like insanity in Old Testament times when christ was understood to be a future descendant of David who would one day be an even greater king of Israel than David was. But with the revelation that Christ was right next to God before creation as well as after His resurrection, it’s time to recognize that Christ was more than merely a great man of God.
Next, let’s learn more about what happened during the time before Genesis 1:1. We can call it the period of Pre-Creation.
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