Relationship with God Before the Advent of Jesus Christ
Before the advent of Jesus Christ, humanity's relationship with God was understood through various covenants and divine interactions, all pointing towards the coming Messiah. The Old Testament narratives and prophecies laid the groundwork for Christ's arrival, indicating that the Church, God's people, was being prepared and intimated beforehand [3].
The relationship between God the Father and God the Son existed "before the world began" [4], as John 1:2 states, "He was in the beginning with God" [1]. This eternal relationship within the Godhead is foundational to understanding God's plan for humanity [2]. The Messiah was predicted to have a unique father-son relationship with God, as seen in passages like 2 Samuel 7:14 and Psalm 2:7 [10].
The covenant made with the patriarchs, particularly Abraham, is considered by some traditions to be fundamentally the same as the covenant under which Christians live, differing primarily in administration rather than substance [6, 8]. This covenant of grace, or plan of salvation, was established before the Mosaic law and could not be invalidated by it [8]. The terms for admission into the Church before Christ's advent were a credible profession of faith in the true religion, a promise of obedience, and submission to an appointed rite of initiation [7]. Sincere Israelites received Jehovah as their God, relying on His promises, especially the promise of redemption through the seed of Abraham [7].
While the kingdom of God existed from the beginning, everything connected with it before Christ's advent was preparatory [5]. The Scriptures consistently refer to the Messiah as a king who would establish a kingdom into which all others would eventually merge [5]. The relationship between God and humanity before Christ was characterized by a divine initiative to draw people towards Him, with all scriptural writings prior to Christ's advent serving to highlight His coming [3]. This preparation included the establishment of a spiritual connection between God and His people, often described through metaphors like bridegroom and bride, or husband and wife, signifying a deep bond [11]. Believers were considered to be "in Him before the foundation of the world" [9].
Sources
- John “John 1:2 (LITV) — He was in the beginning with God.”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 72: § 4. Covenant of Redemption. By this is meant the covenant between the Father and the Son in reference to the salvation of man. This is a subject which, from its nature, is entirely beyond our comprehension. We must receive the teachings of the Scriptures in relation to it without presuming to penetrate the mystery which naturally belongs to it. There is only one God, one divine Being, to whom all the attributes of divinity belong. But in the Godhead there are three persons, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory. It lies in ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 3: Augustine — On the Holy Trinity — CHAP. 3.--OF THE FULL NARRATION TO BE EMPLOYED IN CATECHISING. (part 2): instructing by our utterance to be moved(8) toward the same, and guided in that direction. And, in truth, for no other reason were all those things which we read in the Holy Scriptures written, previous to the Lord's advent, but for this,--namely, that His advent might be pressed upon the attention, and that the 286 Church which was to be, should be intimated beforehand, that is to say, the people of God throughout all nations; which Church is His body, wherewith also are uni”
- John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on John 17:5: 17:5 Jesus prayed to return to the position he had with God before the world began (1:1).”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 122: § 2. Christ is truly a King. Although the kingdom of God had existed from the beginning, yet as everything therewith connected before the Advent was merely preparatory, the Scriptures constantly speak of the Messiah as a king who was to set up a kingdom into which in the end all other kingdoms were to be merged. The most familiar designation applied to Him in the Scriptures is Lord. But Lord means proprietor and ruler; and when used of God or Christ, it means absolute proprietor and sovereign ruler. Apart from Christ’s right in us and so”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 46: Israelites before the advent of Christ, and that which he has made with us now that Christ is manifested. 2. It is possible, indeed, to explain both in one word. The covenant made with all the fathers is so far from differing from ours in reality and substance, that it is altogether one and the same: still the administration differs. But because this brief summary is insufficient to give any one a full understanding of the subject, our explanation to be useful must extend to greater length. It were superfluous, however, in showing ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 63: xi. 10 ), is “Jerusalem the golden,” the heaven to which we aspire. Fifth Proposition. The terms of admission into the Church before the Advent were the same that are required for admission into the Christian Church. Those terms were a credible profession of faith in the true religion, a promise of obedience, and submission to the appointed rite of initiation. Every sincere Israelite really received Jehovah as his God, relied upon all his promises, and especially upon the promise of redemption through the seed of Abraham. He not only boun”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 74: gospel had been already revealed in the law and the prophets; and his definite object, in Gal. iii. 13-28 , is to prove that the covenant under which we live and according to the terms of which we are to be saved, is the identical covenant made with Abraham, in which the promise of redemption was made on the condition of faith in Him in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed This is a covenant anterior to the Mosaic law, and which that law could not set aside or invalidate. The covenant of grace, or plan of salvation, being ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 19: 7. The theory which reduces justification to pardon and its consequences, is inconsistent with what is revealed concerning our union with Christ. That union is mystical, supernatural, representative, and vital. We were in Him before the foundation of the world ( Eph. i. 4 ); we are in Him as we were in Adam ( Rom. v. 12, 21 ; 1 Cor. xv. 22 ); we are in Him as the members of the body are in the head ( Eph. i. 23, iv. 16 ; 1 Cor. xii. 12, 27 , and often); we are in Him as the branches are in the vine ( John xv. 1-12 ). We are in Him in such”
- Luke (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Luke 20:13: 20:13 my cherished son: The Messiah was predicted to have a unique father-son relationship with God (see 2 Sam 7:14; Pss 2:7; 89:26-29).”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 4: Augustine — Anti-Manichaean, Anti-Donatist — BOOK XXII. (part 36): to express this connection between God and the creature. It is from this connection that Christ and the Church are called bridegroom and bride, or husband and wife. The other relationship, in which Christ and all the saints are brethren by divine grace and not by earthly consanguinity, or by the father and not by the mother, is more easily expressed in words, and more easily understood. For the same grace makes all the saints to be also brethren of one another; while in their society no one is the bridegroom of all”