Before The World Was

And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  

John 17:5 

Christ is clear about His being from eternity. Numerous passages of Scripture refer to this directly or indirectly. Our text derives from the High Priestly Prayer He uttered on the night before He went to the cross. As Christ is interceding for His people He refers to His relationship with His Father. He declares that He existed with the Father in glory, ‘before the world began.’ This is a statement of Christ’s eternity in the most natural context. The Son is praying to the Father. As He does, He refers to their common, shared experience of having glory together before creation.  Christ refers to that experience as a matter of fact. Thus He is not attempting to prove His eternity to anyone else. No one is there to question or challenge it. He is simply referring to a historical circumstance. We accept that fact. Everything else we know about Christ supports His eternity. Whether we cite John 1, Hebrews 1, Revelation 1, or any other supporting passage, all of them harmoniously agree He is eternal. Therefore our redeeming relationship is with the One Who was with the Father before the world was.  

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You have always been. 
We praise You that everything we know about you tells us, 
that You will always be. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning