Affirms
Christ is the eternal Son who existed before the Incarnation
Adventism affirms that Jesus Christ, as the eternal Son of God, existed before his incarnation in Bethlehem. He is the divine Word of John 1:1, the agent of creation, who took on human nature in the fulness of time. The Incarnation was the entry of the pre-existent Son into human experience, not the beginning of his existence.
Ellen G. White writes extensively of Christ's pre-incarnate existence in The Desire of Ages and other works, describing his glory in heaven before the Incarnation and his voluntary self-emptying in becoming human.
Key Distinctions
- Preexistence affirmed:
- affirmed — the Son/Logos eternally pre-existed the Incarnation
- Ot identity:
- the eternal Word and agent of creation (John 1:1-3); identified with YHWH in various OT theophanies
Scripture References
Sources
- Seventh-day Adventist Church, 28 Fundamental Beliefs, Belief 4 (God the Son)
- Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, ch. 1