| Subject: Was Jesus God? |
Author:
nannette
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Date Posted: 14:03:49 10/02/03 Thu
To answer the above question we will look first at the humanity of Jesus. He was begotten in the womb of Mary which implies God is older. Mary was an ordinary human with parents and a cousin named Elizabeth who was the mother of John the Baptist. However, God is his father and in the Bible one of the titles of Jesus is the Son of God. As you read your Bible you will see that it always refers to him as the Son of God and never God the Son.
Jesus is the fulcrum of the Gospel and is promised throughout the prophets, Psalms and much of the rest of the Old Testament.
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:1-4)
It can be seen that the above verses are a précis of the history of Christ. In them it says he was promised as part of God's plan in the Old Testament; he was made a physical human person (a descendant of David) through Mary; the phrase "spirit of holiness" tells us of his perfect character; and he was resurrected, raised from the dead. He had to die to be resurrected and God cannot die.
James 1:13 states that:
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
It is clear from this verse that God cannot be tempted and therefore cannot sin. Jesus was tempted (Mat 4:1-4)
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
If he had no struggle with sin then it implies that his time on this earth was pointless if he could not feel what we feel.
It is of interest to note that it was almost 300 years after the death of Jesus that the Council of Nicea first put forward the idea of a trinity, in what is now known as the Nicene Creed. One verse stands out in stark contrast to the concept of a trinity and it is 1 Timothy 2:5 where it says
For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
This was written after Jesus had ascended up into heaven and clearly refers to Jesus as a man.
There is a short verse, often quoted in isolation, which sometimes causes difficulty. It is John 10:30 where it says, "I and my Father are one." When you look at verse 33 of the same chapter you can see that the Jews also thought that he was claiming to be equal to God. Later events in John's gospel refute this. Jesus prayed for his disciples saying, "that they may be one, even as we are one." The implication is that the unity is not of a godhead but a unity resulting from sanctification through the word of God:
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (John 17:14)
Further on, in John 17:20-23, the words indicate the development of a relationship between the disciples and Christ of the same manner as that which exists between the Son and the Father:
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:20-23)
The answer is a unity of divine purpose. Other passages in John's gospel record show that Jesus is not equal to God. In John 5:19 it says:
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Still in John and in chapter 14:9 we find another verse that can cause some dispute because it says:
"he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;..."
The words do not mean that those who saw him were seeing God. Earlier, in John 5:37, Jesus says, "...Ye have neither heard his (God's) voice at any time, nor seen his shape..." This cannot be the case if Jesus and God are one entity. Another useful verse in this context is 1Tim 6:16 where, talking about God, it says:
"...dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: ..."
Those who saw Jesus did not see the Father.
What Jesus was doing was to use the language of "God manifestation", something often used in the Old Testament. Designated representatives of God exercised His power in His name (Exodus 23:20-21). Jesus was the supreme manifestation of God in the flesh (1Timothy 3:16). God was seen through Jesus inasmuch as God had delegated power and authority to him.
As a final point to look at in this article we will consider Hebrews 1:1-6, especially verse 6. Verse 3 is also of note in considering some earlier points:
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. (Hebrews 1:1-6)
The original language of the New Testament is mainly Greek and the Greek word for worship is proskuneo. The word is formed from two words: pros meaning towards and kuneo meaning to kiss. It means to make obeisance, e.g. to bow or give respect in deference to someone of a higher authority. Within these six verses of Hebrews it says that Jesus was superior to the angels and they worshipped him. That is, they made obeisance to him, they deferred to someone of a higher authority. In Acts 10:25 you can read that Cornelius worshipped Peter, again, the same word and same meaning.
In this context, Luke 4:8 looks as if it contradicts these verses. However, if you split the verse into its two phrases, firstly, "Worship the Lord thy God", it becomes clear. There is no contradiction because we defer to God's will as someone of a higher authority. In the second phrase, "him only shalt thou serve", it is right and proper that we do this through our daily lives, attending our religious services and adhering to His word. Indeed the instruction to serve God to which Jesus is referring comes from the law given to Moses by God and is recorded in Deuteronomy:
Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. (Deuteronomy 6:13)
This verse clearly says that we should serve God.
http://www.glasgowkelvin.org.uk/topics/isjesusgod.html
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