Quoting TUT317:
"I think there is a grammatical problem here."

Thanks for adding your observation. Neverthleless I was aware of it. Though I do not yet have all the facts at my fingertips, I mean to show eventually, that the original Greek word (a preposition) CAN LEGITIMATELY be translated as EITHER "apart from" or "before" (as in time).

Looking back at some of the comments about my posts, I've found one that I'd like to respond to. It's related to this thread.

The commenter said that my assertion that Jesus (the lamb) died before the creation was a "gross misreading" of Revelation 13:8. Hebrews 9:22 says:"...and without shedding of blood there is no remission."

That verse fits exactly with the idea that remission of sins WAS ALREADY AVAILABLE to all the Old Testament believers. Because Christ had ALREADY shed His blood (given His life) BEFORE any of them were born.

And furthermore, all of the Old Testament blood sacrifices of animals were a VERY APT PICTURE of what Christ HAD ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED for His people BEFORE the creation. It fits PERFECTLY.