Jesus Shows Up Early

~ Bible Bits

Jesus Shows Up Early
2 Timothy 1:9

There are a handful of times in the Bible where the eternal nature of Christ — Christ himself, not merely the Godhead of God — is explicitly mentioned.

One of these is in Paul’s second letter to Timothy:

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time…. (2 Tim from 1:9)

We might think of our Messiah Jesus as one who was birthed on a certain day, lived a certain span of time, and now lives into the future in heaven, in the throne room with God.

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (NIV, exerpt from 2 Tim 1:9-10)

But before you and I were born, Christ knew us. It was not only God who created the heavens and earth, but Christ as well.

And now verses 8 through 12:

8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. (NIV, 2 Tim 1:8-12)

The translation in the New International Version makes this “before the beginning of time” most clear. Here are other translations:

… from before the beginning of time… (NLT)

… which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began… (ESV)

… which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity… (NASB)

… grace that was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began… (Lexham)

… which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began… (KJV)

This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began… (NRSV)

… which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. (Holman)

… purpose and the grace that was given to us in the Messiah Jesus before time began. (ISV)

… granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began… (NET)

… in Yeshua The Messiah before the time of the world… (Aramaic in Plain English)

Before the world began, God planned that Christ Jesus would … (God’s Word)

… which was given us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages… (Jubilee)

… which was given us in Christ Jesus before the times of the world. (Douay-Rheims)

… which [was] given to us in Christ Jesus before [the] ages of time… (Darby)

… which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal… (ERV)

… which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began; (Webster)

… which He bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before the commencement of the Ages… (Weymouth)

The Greek reads:

… δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων … (Nestle Aland Greek)

The straightforward word-for-word raw English definitions of the Greek words are:

   δοθεῖσαν / dotheisan  /  having been given
   ἡμῖν     /  hēmin     /  us
   ἐν       /  en        /  in
   Χριστῷ   /  Christō   /  Christ
   Ἰησοῦ    /  Iēsou     /  Jesus
   πρὸ      /  pro       /  before
   χρόνων   /  chronōn   /  time
   αἰωνίων  /  aiōniōn   /  eternal

Where else in the Bible do we find the concept of an eternal Christ, of a Jesus Christ who existed prior to time itself, and yet a Jesus Christ who even then was connected to you and me?

Blessings to You! Read the Actual Bible for Yourself!

Published by Bible Bits

We are a small team of Christians. Our ministry is to coax Christians and Jews to do more Bible reading, and coax non-Christians to read the actual Bible for themselves. Bible Bits is focused primarily on the first group: those who are already Christians or Jews, especially those who have an analytical nature and curiosity for digging into the small details of the Bible text and God's message. We are evangelical Christians. As such our bias is Christian and we anticipate our audience to be largely Christian, somewhat Jewish, and hopefully somewhat neither. We are evangelical Christians. Our focus is salvation. Our desire is to serve on Christ's salvation team. We desire to see Christ bring people to him and to his eternal salvation. Our method is to promote Bible reading and study. God's blessings to you! Read the Actual Bible for Yourself!