What was Jesus doing before coming to Earth?

Christianity says that Jesus Christ came to earth during the historic reign of King Herod the Great and was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, Israel.

But church doctrine also says that Jesus is God, one of the three Persons of the Trinity, and has neither beginning nor end. Since Jesus has always existed, what was he doing before his incarnation during the Roman Empire? Do we have a way of knowing?

The Trinity offers a clue
For Christians, the Bible is our source of truth about God and is full of information about Jesus, including what he was doing before he came to earth. The first clue resides in the Trinity.

Christianity teaches that there is only one God but that it exists in three people: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although the word "trinity" is not mentioned in the Bible, this doctrine goes from the beginning to the end of the book. There is only one problem: the concept of Trinity is impossible for the human mind to fully understand. The Trinity must be accepted by faith.

Jesus existed before creation
Each of the three Persons of the Trinity is God, including Jesus. While our universe began at the time of creation, Jesus existed before then.

The Bible says "God is love." (1 John 4: 8, NIV). Before the creation of the universe, the three Persons of the Trinity were in a relationship, loving each other. Some confusion has emerged about the terms "Father" and "Son". In human terms, a father must exist before a son, but this is not the case with the Trinity. Applying these terms too literally led to the teaching that Jesus was a created being, which is considered a heresy in Christian theology.

A vague clue as to what the Trinity was doing before creation came from Jesus himself:

In his defense, Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at work to this day, and I too am working." (John 5:17, NIV)
So we know that the Trinity has always "worked", but in what we are not told.

Jesus participated in the creation
One of the things that Jesus did before appearing on earth in Bethlehem was the creation of the universe. From paintings and films, we generally imagine God the Father as the only Creator, but the Bible provides further details:

In the beginning it was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was with God in the beginning. Everything was done through him; without him nothing has been done that has been done. (John 1: 1-3, NIV)
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Because in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, that were thrones or powers or sovereigns or authorities; all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1: 15-15, NIV)
Genesis 1:26 quotes God saying: "Let us make humanity in our image, in our likeness ..." (NIV), indicating that creation was a joint effort between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Somehow, the Father worked through Jesus, as noted in the verses above.

The Bible reveals that the Trinity is such a close relationship that none of the People ever act alone. Everyone knows what others are talking about; everyone collaborates in everything. The only time that this Trinitarian bond was broken was when the Father abandoned Jesus on the cross.

Jesus incognito
Many Bible scholars believe that Jesus appeared on earth centuries before his birth in Bethlehem, not as a man, but as the angel of the Lord. The Old Testament includes more than 50 references to the Angel of the Lord. This divine being, designated by the distinct term "the angel" of the Lord, was different from the created angels. An indication that it could have been Jesus in disguise was the fact that the Angel of the Lord usually intervened on behalf of God's chosen people, the Jews.

The Angel of the Lord saved Sara Agar's handmaid and her son Ishmael. The Angel of the Lord appeared in a burning bush to Moses. He fed the prophet Elijah. He came to call Gideon. In the crucial moments of the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord presented himself, exhibiting one of Jesus' favorite activities: to intercede for humanity.

Further proof is that the apparitions of the Angel of the Lord stopped after the birth of Jesus. He could not have been on earth as a human being and at the same time as an angel. These preincarnated manifestations were called theophanies or christophanies, the appearance of God to humans.

You need to know the base
The Bible does not explain every detail of every single thing. In inspiring the men who wrote it, the Holy Spirit provided all the information we need to know. Many things remain a mystery; others are simply beyond our ability to understand.

Jesus, who is God, does not change. He has always been a compassionate, tolerant being, even before creating humanity.

While on earth, Jesus Christ was the perfect reflection of God the Father. The three Persons of the Trinity are always in complete agreement. Despite the lack of facts about Jesus' pre-creation and pre-incarnate activities, we know from his immutable character that he has always been and will always be motivated by love.