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The doctrine of Christ's personal preexistence as
the second person of the Trinity is taken for granted by most orthodox
Christians and has been since New Testament times. The effect of its denial is a
god who differers radically from the Biblical God.
"The way the pre-existence of Christ is understood
determines how one speaks about the theology of God and of human salvation." (R.
T. France)
God did not merely send an agent to make things OK
or a repairman to perform some fixes-he came himself. The doctrine of
preexistence reminds us forcefully that God himself entered our circumstances in
order to redeem and restore his human creatures along with the rest of creation.
This is the truth that gives meaning and power to Jesus' affirmation that God so
loved the world that he sent his son to save it. If preexisten is mythical or
some other nonfactual nature, then Jesus is not deity and this affirmation of
God's love for and intervention on behalf of his creatures becomes an empty
promise.
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- [TruthTalk] Without belief in the preexistence of Christ, Chri... Lance Muir
