Christ’s Preexistence: The Glory He Had Before the World Began

In John 17:5, Jesus prays to the Father:

“And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.”

Here, the words matter — every single one. Jesus says “I” had this glory. Not an impersonal “concept.” Not a “future Jesus” who would only begin existing when Mary gave birth in Bethlehem. Not “the Word” as a vague, abstract idea. I — the living, conscious Son — had this glory with the Father before the world even began.

The personal pronoun makes this deeply intimate. It points to real, personal possession and experience. Jesus is not recalling a mere prophecy about Himself, but something He personally shared with the Father before time itself. This same truth is echoed in John 8:58:

“Before Abraham was, I am.”

Jesus is not saying, “I was planned.” He is making a direct claim to existence prior to Abraham’s birth. This is no poetic metaphor; it’s a direct, historical statement of pre-existence.

The Jews immediately challenged Him: “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” (John 8:57). They were questioning His actual existence before Abraham. Now notice — Jesus does not respond by saying, “You’re right, I wasn’t really there — I only existed in God’s mind as a future idea.” Instead, He declares: “Before Abraham came into being, I am.”

If the non-preexistence view were true, Jesus should have agreed with them and clarified that He never personally experienced Abraham. But He doesn’t. He uses the personal pronoun “I” — claiming conscious, personal existence before Abraham’s birth. His response directly affirms that He was there, He knew it, and He was making a divine claim the Jews understood perfectly — which is exactly why they picked up stones to kill Him (John 8:59).

John 3:13 is one of the clearest proofs of Christ’s pre-existence. The verse reads: “No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”

Let’s think this through carefully. When Jesus says, “no one has ascended into heaven,” is He talking about an idea? A symbolic concept? A “future Messiah” yet to exist? Of course not. He is speaking about actual human beings—no person had ever gone up into heaven. That’s a literal statement about real people. It would make no sense to interpret it as “no immaterial idea has ascended into heaven.”

So then, what about the second half of the verse: “except He who descended from heaven”? If the first half is speaking of a literal being, then the second half must also be. Jesus is not contrasting “real people” with “abstract concepts.” He is contrasting all mankind who cannot ascend with Himself, who descended.

That means Jesus is presenting Himself as an actual person who came down from heaven. Not the idea of a Son of Man. Not a “plan in God’s mind.” Not a symbolic title that would later be “born through Mary.” The text says He descended. And you cannot “descend” from a womb—you are conceived and born there. Descent implies movement from a higher place to a lower one.

Jesus is clear: the place He descended from is the very place He said no one else had ever ascended—heaven. If He descended from heaven, then He existed in heaven before coming to earth. This is pre-existence in the plainest terms.

Therefore, John 3:13 is not simply affirming that Jesus is “from God” in a general sense. It is a direct statement of His heavenly origin, proving that Christ was already alive and existing in heaven before He came into the world.

Philippians 2: 6-8

Jesus was born poor and had nothing. But this raises a crucial question: if Christ did not pre-exist, then how did He “become a slave” and what exactly did He “empty Himself” of in order to be made in the likeness of humanity? Paul is clear in Philippians 2:6–7: Christ “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of humanity.” The text says He became human. And if He became human, then what was He before? An idea in God’s mind? A non-existent plan waiting to be born? Absolutely not.

Paul writes that Jesus was already “in the form of God” and that He did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited or pillaged. This is a direct action, a conscious choice, from an actual, existing Being. How could a non-existent being make such a decision? An idea cannot grasp, relinquish, or humble itself—only an existing being can.

Non-preexistence teachers try to argue that Jesus emptied Himself “in some other way,” but that is an invention, not what the text says. Paul is explicit: Christ emptied Himself to become human. That means the self-emptying happened in the transition—from the form of God into the form of man. Any attempt to say He was “emptying Himself while He was human” is inaccurate and contradicts Paul’s order of thought. He did not empty Himself after He became a man; He emptied Himself to become a man.

Thus, Philippians 2:6–7 directly affirms Christ’s pre-existence. He was in the form of God, possessing glory with God, and He relinquished that high position in order to take on the lowly form of a servant. Only one who already existed in heaven could make such a descent.

A Reader’s Question

Recently, a reader of my book wrote:

“First of all, I wanted to say that I really enjoyed your book. I also wanted to ask if you have been keeping up with the non-preexistence of Christ task force on YouTube? Liam, Richard, Clyde, etc., are teaching that Christ did not preexist, and I was wondering what your views are. I believe that Christ preexisted as the Son of God. They are saying that those who believe as I do are in some way disrespecting God and Christ. Please let me know what you think. God bless you!”

My Response

I appreciate every reader who takes the time to reach out. So here’s my position, plain and simple: I do not agree with the “non-preexistence of Christ” position. Scripture clearly affirms that Christ existed before Bethlehem.

That said, I do not camp my whole ministry on this topic — not because it’s unimportant, but because the foundation of our faith is not the debate over preexistence, but “Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The gospel stands on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, not on the outcome of this debate.

But here’s the problem: many who deny Christ’s preexistence do not stop there. I’ve heard some go so far as to say, “You shouldn’t worship Christ” or “Christ has nothing to do with the reconciliation of all things.” That is not only false — it’s spiritually dangerous. Colossians 1:20 makes clear that Christ is the very means by which God reconciles all creation to Himself. To remove Him from that role is to gut the gospel of its power.

Answering the “Disrespect” Claim

Some claim that believing Christ preexisted somehow “disrespects” God. But let’s examine that:

Does believing Christ preexisted make Him any less the Son of God?
Does it take away from His death, burial, and resurrection?
Does it diminish the agony He endured in crucifixion?
Was God any less “in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19) if Christ preexisted?

The answer to all four is no. The “disrespect” argument is projection — they assume that if they believed Christ preexisted, it would diminish God, so they project that assumption onto you. But you’re not making that connection — they are.

It’s like someone saying, “Because you don’t watch the WNBA, you must not like basketball.” I can love basketball and still not enjoy the WNBA for reasons unrelated to basketball itself. But if someone equates WNBA with basketball as a whole, then to them, rejecting one means rejecting the other. The problem is not your reasoning — it’s their definition.

Keeping It Simple

I am a simple man. My beliefs rest on plain, direct Scriptures: the salvation of all (1 Timothy 4:10), God’s sovereignty (Romans 9), the true nature of death (Ecclesiastes 9:5), the purpose of the ages (Ephesians 3:11), and no eternal hell (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Verses like Philippians 2:6–7 (“He emptied Himself”), John 8:58 (“Before Abraham was, I am”), John 6:38 (“I came down from heaven”), and John 17:5 (“the glory I had with You before the world began”) are straightforward. To deny them, you must replace the plain reading with complex theological gymnastics that cater more to human pride than to truth. I won’t do that.

The Real Danger

When belief in the non-preexistence of Christ leads to conclusions like “Jesus had nothing to do with the All in all” or “We should not worship Him,” then the belief has crossed into territory that actually undermines the gospel. If that’s where the road leads, then it’s time for serious reevaluation — because the damage caused by such conclusions is far worse than the belief itself.

Final Word

As for that YouTube “task force,” they seem more focused on pushing a doctrinal agenda than proclaiming Christ’s finished work. While some individuals still preach the cross faithfully, the overall emphasis is often distracting.

So my encouragement is this: stay grounded. Keep the cross central. Let your confidence rest in the fact that the One who said “Before Abraham was, I am” and prayed “Glorify Me with the glory I had with You before the world began” is the same Christ who died for your sins, was buried, rose again, and will one day bring all creation into God’s glory.

That’s not a side issue. That’s the whole story.

Some in the non-preexistence camp actually claim that if Jesus preexisted, it somehow minimizes the faith He had. Really? First, God is fully capable of carrying out any process necessary to make the preexistent Christ fully human — including giving Him the capacity to live by faith.

Second, think about it: the preexistent Christ — the One through whom all things were created — had never experienced death, rejection, torture, or crucifixion before becoming human. Of course He would need faith to endure these things for the first time. In fact, knowing exactly who He was and what He could have avoided would require an even greater exercise of faith to submit Himself to suffering and death. His preexistence in no way diminishes His faith — if anything, it magnifies it.

This kind of argument is a perfect example of the nonsense that arises when people ignore Scripture in favor of making up their own ideas. It’s not about defending the gospel — it’s about drawing attention to themselves, elevating their pet theories above the message of Christ crucified. And that’s a distraction no believer needs.

Non-preexistence teachers love to spin tales that put limits on God — as if He couldn’t have Christ preexist and then transform Him into whatever He needed, by any process He chose, to fulfill His role. They lean on their own human reasoning instead of accepting that God can do far more than their small, finite minds can imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

The irony is, they present themselves as intellectually superior, yet the plain Scriptures already prove Christ’s preexistence. Jesus Himself says so in the first person (John 8:58, John 17:5). And here’s the reality — even if someone believes in Christ’s preexistence, or doesn’t, that fact alone does not erase the gospel. Christ crucified is the core (1 Corinthians 2:2). Neither position changes the truth that the Son of God died for sin, was buried, and rose again.

But then I hear a non-preexistence advocate say, “This is my favorite topic.” Really? Our apostle is Paul, and Paul never once makes the preexistence or non-preexistence of Christ a focal point in any of his letters — not once. And yet, in the final hours of this age, with the world unraveling and the end drawing near, this is what you choose as your hill to die on? You even form a “task force” for something Paul never discusses? That speaks volumes — and not in a good way.

What Paul Actually Focused On

If you read Paul’s letters, you won’t find him obsessed with the preexistence debate. Instead, you find him relentlessly centered on:

Christ crucified — the foundation of our faith (1 Corinthians 2:2).
The resurrection — without which our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:17–20).
Reconciliation of all things through Christ (Colossians 1:20).
The grace of God apart from works (Ephesians 2:8–9).
The hope of immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51–54).
The proclamation of the gospel to the nations (Romans 1:16).
Christ as the Head over all creation (Colossians 1:15–18).

If Paul didn’t elevate the preexistence debate to the center of his ministry — and if he was handpicked by Christ Himself to proclaim the gospel — then why should we? The real danger is letting side issues eclipse the main thing.