Preexistence - John 3 (Greg Thornberg)

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him." 27 To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.

31 "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
(John 3:22-36, italics mine)

This passage is clear from a number of directions that Jesus is from above and John the Baptist is from below. The implication is that all of us are from below and Christ alone is from above (a specific point made later on in John 8). After reviewing this passage a number of times I was able to compile this short list of ways we can demonstrate that Jesus is literally from heaven and we are literally from the earth.

(1) The word “above” is used synonymously with the location of “heaven” in verse 31. Given this synonymous usage, it seems more likely that “above” is a literal location than a spiritual state of being. Jesus literally came from above.

(2) “Above” is contrasted with the literal location of “the earth”, which is another indicator that it is a literal place and not just a spiritual state. If “above” were contrasted with “the world” (a word used frequently to imply a spiritual state of the unsaved) the argument for a spiritual state would be possible but still not necessary. The fact that the Greek word ges ("gais") for earth is used, clearly demonstrates a physical literal location is intended by John.

(3) Jesus “comes from” heaven in verse 31. It is more likely that Jesus “came from” a literal location than from a spiritual state.

(4) John includes himself as one who only has an earthly perspective because he is one who is “from the earth.” This is one of John’s reasons for why Jesus’ ministry must increase over his own. Remember that John’s explaining why his ministry must decrease. That John is “from the earth” and not “from above” is one of those reasons. If John were thinking of just a spiritual state rather than a literal location, this passage wouldn’t make sense in the best possible way (it may not make any sense for that matter). John’s contrast with Jesus is more literal than just a spiritual sense—Jesus is literally “from above” and John is “from the earth” below. John is not saying that Jesus is spiritual and he is not. Such a meaning doesn’t make the best sense of the context.

(5) Jesus is “from above” and speaks about what he has “seen” and “heard” from heaven (John 3:31). It is easier to think that Jesus was a witness to things in a literal location. This would explain why his testimony is so important. The concept of being a been-there, touched-that, seen-that eyewitness is a major theme in the Gospel of John as it is in his epistles. It is more likely that Jesus is a literal eyewitness of things above, an a major theme in John. In John 8:38 Jesus says

"I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence..."
(John 8:38, italics mine)

(6) “The one who is from above is over all things,” including John. Again, this is a list of reasons John gives why his ministry must decrease in contract the Jesus' ministry. John is clearly implying that Jesus is from above and John is from below by saying this. John’s reason for why his ministry must decrease is that Jesus “is above all” things including John who is “from the earth”. It is hard to think that under the list of reasons why John’s ministry must decrease that John would exclude himself from the list of those things “from the earth.” Again a literal location makes the best possible sense of this passage.