Did we All Lived a Premortal Life Before Coming to Earth.

The answer is easy. No. We were not spirit beings prior to birth. While the soul of man will live eternally (either in Heaven or in Hell), the soul of man did not exist in a spirit form (or any other form) prior to conception. Erroneously, some seem to think that Jeremiah 1:5 suggests a spiritual pre-existence:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

Since the Bible does not support any idea of the preexistence of man in any form, let’s try to understand what this verse means.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” That raises the question, how did God know us before He formed us in the womb? There are two possible answers:

1) We existed in some form, and at some place, prior to being conceived (formed) in the womb and that’s how God knew us.

2) God’s knowing us is different and outside the natural realm of how we know something.omniscience (all knowing) and His eternality (always existing) makes it possible for Him to have knowledge of someone before conception.

While the first is a possible answer, it is not a biblical answer. God’s Word does not support such an idea.

God’ Word does, however, teach a knowledge of God, which is wondrous and beyond our comprehension and yet completely true and understandable. God existed in eternity past. He exists now, and He will exist will continue to exist in eternity future. God is eternal. God is also omnipresent. Present in every moment of time, past present, and future. God is also omniscient (all-knowing). He is able to have knowledge of someone before conception or something before it occurs.

The Bible says nothing about the pre-existence of souls because this is a man-made idea with no basis in truth. The Bible makes it clear that every human being is a unique creation of God (Genesis 2:7; Zechariah 12:1; Jeremiah 1:5).

Each unique human soul begins at conception (Psalm 139:13–16; Isaiah 44:24) and will continue forever because we are created as eternal beings (Genesis 9:6; Isaiah 40:28; Matthew 25:46).

The concept of pre-existence cannot be followed to its logical conclusion. Pre-existence means one of three things: (1) the soul has always existed, (2) the soul was created at a previous time and waited, incorporeal, until it could inhabit a body on earth, or (3) the soul inhabited another body in the past and transmigrated to its current body. If (1) is true and souls have always existed, then human beings are also part of God, uncreated and self-determined.

This concept is clearly contrary to the Bible’s claims that there is no other God but Yahweh (Genesis 5:1; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 4:12; Malachi 2:10; 1 Corinthians 8:5–6). If (2) is true and a soul waited in a heavenly nursery prior to earthly birth, then Genesis 2:7 is wrong: “The Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” The words “man became” indicate a definite beginning in which Adam’s soul and body came to life at the same time.

If (3) is true, and a soul inhabited another body in a bygone era, then at what point was the soul created and for what purpose? The Bible is clear that each person will answer for his or her own life (Revelation 20:13; Romans 2:6; Jeremiah 32:19). When the previous body died, where did the soul go? Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” This applies to everyone.

The Bible refers to death as a time when a person was “gathered to his people” (Deuteronomy 32:50; Numbers 20:24). This indicates that, at death, a person’s soul leaves his body and joins those who have gone before him. In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), the soul of Lazarus departed to the “bosom of Abraham” (verse 22).

The soul of the rich man was in torment (verse 23). Neither of those souls re-inhabited another body, nor is there any indication that their souls had pre-existed. They each received the consequences of their life’s choices (verse 25). At the resurrection, we will be reunited with our original bodies in glorified form (1 Corinthians 15:42; Philippians 3:21). If pre-existence in another body were possible, which body would the soul inhabit?

Jesus is the only baby born into this world who existed before His birth (John 1:1; 17:5; Colossians 1:17). When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he declared, “This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me’” (John 1:30). John was conceived six months before Jesus (Luke 1:26, 36), yet he indicated that Jesus existed before he did. If John had pre-existed, he could not have made that claim. Jesus, as God, existed as one with the Father since the beginning. He told the Jewish authorities, “Before Abraham was born, I am!”

(John 8:57–58). His human birth was a unique event never replicated on any level. God did know our names before we were created, because He is omniscient and dwells outside of time (Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 13:8). But we are each individuals; we are unique souls placed in unique bodies, and we will all stand before God to give an account of the unique earthly lives we were given (Romans 14:10; Revelation 22:12).

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ.

Since there is no biblical support for #1, let’s dig deeper into #2.

Before I formed you…

When God said, “before I formed you…” He was clearly speaking of a beginning time of man’s existence. He marked that beginning time and defined it as “in the womb.” The text indicates that, when God spoke of knowing man prior to hiss being formed, He was speaking from His foreknowledge– HIs omniscience.

Foreknowledge does not support the idea of a pre-existence, but rather of God’s pre-knowledge, [be]fore-knowledge, because God is eternally existent in past, present, and future all at the same time. This is difficult to understand since our minds are finite and our natural state exists within our time dimension, so let’s try to better understand by looking at examples of God’s foreknowledge.

Revelation Through Foreknowledge.

God often spoke and gave revelation through His foreknowledge. Consider this prophecy given to Isaiah:

Isaiah 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

These words were given to Isaiah by the Lord. They were written 200 years before Cyrus was born and yet they speak of God knowing Isaiah two centuries prior to Cyrus being formed in his mother’s womb. This does not suggest that Cyrus preexisted in any kind of spirit form, but rather is a revelation of God’s perfect foreknowledge. Because God is outside the constraints of our time dimension, He is omnipresent and omniscient.

God knew that Cyrus would be born and He knew all things that would do.

Testimony of God’s Foreknowledge

Prophets spoke of God’s foreknowledge:

Isa 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’

Dan 2:28 “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed…

Jesus spoke of God’s foreknowledge:

Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

Paul of God’s foreknowledge:

Rom 4:17 …God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did….