The Son’s Eternal Body
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When most Christians think of the incarnation, they assume that Bethlehem was the first moment when the Son of God ever had a body. The Word “became flesh” is taken to mean He took on embodiment for the very first time. But the Bible invites us to question that assumption.
The Son is declared to be “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), and the one in whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9). That means visibility and embodiment are not foreign intrusions into the Son’s identity—they are natural to Him.
If the Son has eternally been the physical manifestation of God, then Bethlehem was not His first embodiment but His first entry into our mortal experience: birth, weakness, suffering, death. He who eternally possesses glory-body, soul, and spirit became of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom 1:3). He came into Adam’s story, not into embodiment for the first time.
This perspective also sheds light on the nature of matter itself. If the Son has eternally had a body, then material existence is not alien to God but flows from Him. That explains why creation has unity and coherence (Col 1:17), why scientists see a “singularity” at the origin of all matter, and why the visible creation so readily reveals the invisible Creator (Rom 1:20).
In what follows, we will consider how the Son’s eternal body harmonizes with Scripture, how it answers anticipated objections, and what it means for understanding both creation and incarnation.
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1. Image and likeness: body/soul/spirit
Genesis 1:26–27: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
If “image” (צֶלֶם, tselem) is concrete as well as moral/spiritual, then the full triune composition of man—body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess 5:23)—reflects an eternal archetype.
If man is patterned after the Son, it makes sense that the Son eternally possessed what we possess analogically: a body suited to His glory, plus soul/spirit.
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2. Eternal body and the question of matter
If the Son eternally has a body, then “matter” or “substance” did not first come into being at Genesis 1:1. What began then was our universe, our heavens and earth.
An eternal body requires eternal matter, as well as eternal time and space.
While this goes against standard theological thinking, wherein time, space, and matter began with Genesis 1:1, it may help to align scientific discovery with the Bible.
This could explain two things:
1. Modern cosmology points to a common origin of all matter and energy:
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, discovered in 1965, is uniform across the sky and interpreted as the cooled “afterglow” of an initial explosion-like event, indicating a single point of origin for all matter/energy.
The redshift of galaxies (Hubble’s law) shows that the universe is expanding from every direction, which mathematically implies it was once compressed into a single state.
The abundance of light elements (hydrogen, helium, lithium) in the cosmos matches predictions of nuclear reactions in an early, unified fireball.
On this model, the physical universe demonstrates a shared source for all substance. That resonates with Colossians 1:17: “by him all things consist.” If the eternal body of the Son is the primal “stuff,” then the unity of matter scientists detect is the fingerprint of Him in whom all coheres.
2. Biblical resonance. Romans 1:20: “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” If the visible is patterned on the eternal body of the Son, then the visible naturally reveals the invisible—because it is cast from His own eternal reality.
Thus pre-created “matter” isn’t a rival eternal principle. It is from Him, as much as wisdom is from Him (Prov 8), and what scientists call a “singularity” is actually the radiating effect of His eternal embodied being.
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3. Anticipated objections, and responses
Objection: “The Word
became flesh
(John 1:14) implies first embodiment.”
Response: “Became” (egeneto) need not mean first existence; it means “entered into.” The Word, already embodied, entered into flesh-and-blood mortality—our Adamic experience.
Compare John 1:6 and 1:17 with 1:14.
Objection: “Phil 2:6–8 shows transition from form of God to form of servant.”
Response: Exactly—it shows a transition of status (glory → servanthood), not necessarily the first appearance of a body. He always had form, but now took our form of humiliation.
The “taking” and “becoming” mark the change of condition to servanthood and human likeness that culminates in obedience unto death. The text clearly signals transition, but it does not specify that the transition is from non-embodied to embodied. It is a transition from glory-status to servant-status, with true entry into mortal humanity.
Objection: “Heb 10:5, ‘a body hast thou prepared me,’ shows a new body.”
Response: It shows a new body for mission—Davidic flesh. It does not exclude a prior eternal body. It affirms a fresh preparation suited for entry into the world.
Note: This passage provides an interesting study in the Septuagint (LXX) in that the LXX takes the Hebrews passage as original and quotes in into Psalm 40:6. However, this may be a flawed assumption and actually prove the LXX is of a late date. That is, it doesn’t prove that the LXX is ancient, it could equally prove that it is new.
Objection: “Deut 4:15, you saw no similitude.”
Response: This warns against idolatry, not ontology. Israel was not given a permanent likeness to reproduce, but that does not mean the Son had no eternal embodiment.
Objection: “If matter is eternal with Him, doesn’t that collapse Creator and creation?”
Response: Not if all matter flows from Him. Our cosmos begins at Genesis 1:1, but matter as a category finds its fountain in His eternal body. Creation is derivative, not co-eternal in its own right.
4. Net effect of this view
Man’s triune constitution (body/soul/spirit) reflects God’s eternal triune constitution as image-bearer.
The Son’s eternal body provides the template for matter itself, which explains the scientific “common source” intuition and biblical teaching that visible creation reveals invisible realities.
The incarnation is not first embodiment, but first full immersion into mortal humanity: being born, growing, suffering, and dying.
All the usual “anti-eternal-body” texts are answered by reframing them as about mission, mortality, or revelation policy, not about the ontological impossibility of an eternal body.
This view functions as a strong anti-gnostic argument: it affirms the goodness and eternal value of embodiment. Matter is not evil or foreign to God—it is an outgrowth of the Son’s eternal body. Thus the visible world is not an accidental prison for the soul, but a reflection of God’s eternal design.
Old Gnostic theme: Matter is corrupt; salvation is escaping the body. Modern Parallel: New Age spirituality that says the “true self” is pure spirit trapped in a shell.
Old Gnostic theme: Secret knowledge (gnosis) frees you from matter. Modern parallel: Self-help or esoteric philosophies that promise “awakening” by mental insight alone.
Old Gnostic theme: Salvation is release from the body, not resurrection of it. Modern parallel: Even in the church: minimizing the resurrection, focusing on “going to heaven when you die” as a disembodied state. In modern thought: “legacy” or “impact” replaces resurrection hope.
If the Son has eternally had a body, then embodiment is not an afterthought—it is by design.
Salvation is not escape from the body, but redemption of the body (Rom 8:23).
Knowledge (true or false) doesn’t save—Christ in the flesh does.
Resurrection is not a strange add-on to Christian hope; it is consistent with God’s eternal embodied reality.
Col 1:15, Col 2:9, Rom 1:3, Col 1:17, Rom 1:20, Gen 1:26-27, 1 Thess 5:23, Gen 1:1, Col 1:17, Rom 1:20, Prov 8, John 1:14, John 1:6, John 1:17, Phil 2:6-8, Heb 10:5, Psalm 40:6, Deut 4:15, Gen 1:1, Rom 8:23
