Is Jesus God?

The gods of heathen nations were explicitly and repeatedly denounced by Israel's prophets as being nothing at all, neither good nor bad. Isaiah (41:23-24) mockingly challenged those gods to prove themselves to be real: Shew us things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods. Yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought. An abomination to God is he that chooseth you as his god.

In light of such comments, found throughout the writings of the prophets, it is remarkable that we should also find in certain Scriptures that "gods" are mentioned as if they were real beings! For example, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. He judgeth among the gods" (Ps.82:1), and "Worship him, all ye gods" (Ps.97:7). How is it possible that God "judges among the gods", if there are no other gods? Or how can the gods worship Him, as the Psalmist demands, if those gods do not exist? The answer to these seemingly contradictory statements is that, while the idols were vain, and the gods they represented were nothing, there were certain people who were called "gods", even by God Himself!

An example of this is Moses. God said to him, "See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. And Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet" (Ex.7:1). Was Moses a real god? Ask Pharaoh. To Pharaoh and his nation, Moses was most certainly a real god, because the Almighty had made Moses a god to them. There was no way for Pharaoh to please God except by hearing and submitting to Moses. Moses was, by God's own decree, a god over Egypt. Of course, the term "god", when applied to men, never implies that those men are divine beings. It simply means that they have been anointed by God with spiritual authority over other men.

After Israel's exodus from Egypt, those whom God appointed to be judges in Israel were called "gods", as in this commandment from the Law (Ex.22:28): Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people. Later, Israel's "gods" became so corrupt that God sent this strongly worded message through the prophet (Ps. 82:2, 6-7), "How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? I have said, `Ye are gods', and `All of you are children of the most High.' But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes." Referring to this Scripture, Jesus stated that the Father "called them gods unto whom the Word of God came" (Jn.10:34-35).

So, while heathen gods were "nothing", those men and women anointed by God to bear His Word to His people were "gods", because they had a divine authority to judge and to teach others. There was no getting around Jeremiah. No getting around Isaiah. No getting around John the Baptist. No prayer against them was received by God, and no religious efforts contrary to their message was acceptable. What God thought, they thought. What God said, they said. They stood between God and the people. God Himself had put them there, and the people's response to them indicated their hearts' attitude toward God. By nature, the prophets were ordinary men, but they were the ones "to whom the Word of God came" and were, in that regard, "gods".

It is no wonder that the Lord Jesus would say, "No man cometh to the Father, but by me" (Jn.14:6). So far as the Jews were concerned, Moses or John the Baptist might have said the same thing in their time, because God sent them as His "messengers" to the Jews. I do not suggest that those prophets were on a spiritual par with the Savior, but there is not an Israelite who lived during the time of John's ministry who will be judged righteous in the final judgment, unless he repented at John's preaching and submitted to his baptism in water. Moreover, "he that despised Moses' law died without mercy" - not because Moses was divine, but because he was sent from God. There simply is no mercy for any who reject God's Word, as delivered by anointed men.

If God sends a man, He does not send him to say just anything, "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God" (Jn.3:34; 1Pet.4:11). Jesus testified, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself...but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say" (Jn.14:10; 12:49). And on another occasion our Lord said, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me" (Jn.7:16). The apostle Paul uttered a curse upon anyone, even an angel, who would dare to preach a gospel other than the one he preached (Gal.1:8-9), not because Paul was an egotist, but because he knew God had spoken to him. When the Almighty speaks to a man, His Word itself entering in elevates that man to a status above mundane life. And when God sends a man with His Word, that man becomes what the Scriptures call a "god". With this honor, of course, comes awesome responsibility and the certainty of "greater condemnation" for error (Jas.3:1), but with it also comes God's protective covering and the warning to all men, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."

When God sends a man, he becomes, in a sense, more than a man because he is doing what a man in his own power cannot do. For the people to whom such a man is sent, fellowship with God is impossible without receiving the Word that man of God brings. Jesus told his disciples, "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth Him that sent me" (Mt.10:40).

If faithful old covenant servants of God were deemed worthy of the title, "gods", how much more worthy is Jesus? Indeed, Jesus is referred to as "God", with a capital "G", principally because it is he who, obeying his Father's will, created heaven and earth and everything in them (Jn.1:1-3; Col.1:16), and certainly "he that built all things is God" (Heb.3:4). In the unknown of eternity past, the Father created the Son, then granted to His Son the power to create all else. Jesus said, "As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment" (Jn.5:26). The Son is "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" of the Father's creation (Rev.3:14; 22:13), for he is all that the Father ever personally created. After being created by the Father, the Son created everything else.

Jesus Christ is far more than a prophet like Elijah, Isaiah, and others. He is the "express image of [the Father's] person" (Heb.1:3). There is no such thing as loving God, without loving Jesus. Jesus is too much like his Father for anyone to be able to love one without loving the other. What pleases the Father, pleases Jesus. What the Father hates, Jesus hates. Whom Jesus forgives, God forgives. "Every man", said Jesus, "that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me" (Jn.6:45). Jesus is God not just because, as a man sent from God, there is no way to the Father but by him, but - more importantly - because he created us. Jesus is God to the inhabitants of heaven as well because he also created them, and they worship him (Heb.1:6; Rev.5). Jesus is God to the rebellious powers of darkness, and they tremble in his holy presence. But Jesus himself has a God - his Father - whom he loves with all his heart, his soul, his mind, and his strength, and he commanded us to do the same. Read it in Mark 12:29-30. Jesus has a God.

The supreme God, Jehovah, rules over all, even over Jesus Christ; nevertheless, He anointed Jesus with authority over all things (except Himself, of course) and appointed Jesus to be judge of both the living and the dead. By the commandment of God, salvation from the wrath to come is only by faith in the atoning blood of His Son Jesus (Acts 4:10-12). The Father conferred upon His Son the exalted title of "God" and promised him an everlasting position of honor (Heb.1:8-12), far above any honor ever given or ever to be given, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father" (Phip.2:10-11). It glorifies the Father for us to confess Jesus as Lord and Christ, because it is He who made Jesus "both Lord and Christ". In honoring Jesus, we are only honoring what the Father has done! Yes, Jesus is very highly exalted, but he was exalted BY somebody: Jehovah, the Father. "Wherefore GOD hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name" (Phip. 2:9). My friend, can't you see that, "No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest, but He that said unto him, `Thou art my Son. Today I have begotten thee'"?

Jesus told us plainly that it is the will of the Father "that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (Jn.5:23). Some have unwisely interpreted such statements to mean that Jesus is himself the Father, but these statements are merely an indication of the magnificent honor which the Father has bestowed upon him. God has given to Jesus "all power in heaven and in earth" (Mt.28:18), but that does not mean that Jesus, alone, is God. To think that is as foolish as it would be to think that Moses is the only god just because the term "god" once applied to him. Throughout biblical history, Jehovah, the Father, sent many men and women with His Word, and, though ofttimes abused, they all were what He called "gods". And as with them, Jesus was given his place in the kingdom by the Father, "Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."

The resurrected Lord told Mary Magdalene, "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say unto them, `I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God and your God.'" (Jn.20:17)

That the Father is a person apart from His Son is clearly shown in Jesus' earnest prayer in the Garden of Gethsemene, when he wept the bitterest tears that ever fell from the eyes of a man. This is the moving scene as Mark describes it: And he took with him Peter, James, and John, and he began to be troubled and deeply distressed. And he said to them, `My soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death. Stay here, and watch.' And he went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, `Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.' The sorrowful tale which follows depicts the Son of God humbly submitting to the Father's will: crucifixion on the cross of Calvary. What a story of love and of the fear of God! For now, however, we must emphasize Jesus' acknowledgement that his own will was different from his Father's. And surely, where there are two wills, there are two persons.

The Father is a person and Jesus is a person, each with a body distinct from the other. The Holy Spirit is not a person. It is exactly what the Bible says it is: God's Spirit. God's Spirit is God's life (Rom.8:10), which life He gave to His Son (Jn.5:26), and which life His Son Jesus gives to every one who turns to him for forgiveness (Jn.17:1-2). The queer, nonsensical doctrine of a "holy trinity" of three divine persons, originally conjured up by Catholicism, is found nowhere in the Bible and is completely foreign to all revelation and reason.

When asked by a young Catholic woman if I honored Jesus as God, I replied that if she would answer a question for me, then she would understand what I taught concerning Jesus. This is the question I posed: Try to imagine yourself living in ancient Egypt during the time when Joseph ruled over the land, and tell me, "Would you honor Joseph as Pharaoh?" Now, whether a person's response is "yes" or "no" depends entirely on who that person is. Everybody in Egypt, from the lowliest slave to the highest government official, would respond, "Yes" - every person, that is, except Pharaoh. He is the one who commanded all men to honor Joseph as they honored him. Pharaoh's own words to Joseph say it best: "There is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot, and they cried before him, `Bow the knee!' And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, `I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.'" The only one who would not honor Joseph as Pharaoh was Pharaoh himself, the one who gave Joseph his seat and his authority. The only one who would never obey the royal command to "bow the knee" to Joseph was the one who gave that commandment. Quite the opposite, Joseph, with everyone else, bowed the knee to Pharaoh.

Similarly, it is the will of God that men should honor the Son as they honor the Father (Jn.5:23). Nevertheless, the Father is greater than the Son, and it is only by His power that Jesus rules over anything. Just as only by Joseph's authority did Egypt function as a nation, so it is now only by Jesus' power that this universe continues to exists (Col.1:17; Heb.1:3). Joseph was incomparably great in Egypt, yet his life was in the hand of the one who made him great. Jesus is incomparably great in heaven, yet his life is in the hand of the One Who made him great. Joseph was Pharaoh - to everyone except Pharaoh. Jesus is God - to everyone except God. Every knee except Pharaoh's knee bowed to Joseph. Every knee except the Father's knee will bow before Jesus. Jesus is Lord over all, except his Father, who "made him both Lord and Christ." Before the Father's throne, Jesus and every other creature bow the knee. Jesus is not his Father's Master; he is ours. Contemplate these revealing words concerning the Father's relationship to the Son (1Cor.15:27-28): "He has put all things under his feet. But when it says, `All things have been put under him', it is obvious that He Who put all things under him is excluded. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

Isn't it obvious that if all power in heaven and in earth is given to Jesus, then He who gave that power to Jesus is greater than Jesus? We may have confused ourselves with contorted doctrines of our own making, but Jesus never was confused about his place in his Father's kingdom. When the rich, young ruler approached him with the flattering title, "good Master", Jesus responded, "Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God." Just as John the Baptist emphatically denied that he himself was the Christ, when men began to think he was, so Jesus can be heard now denying that he is the Father. Some of us need to listen carefully to what Jesus through the Spirit is saying. And if we do, we will find that he is reiterating the humble words he spoke while he was here among us: My Father is greater than I.

Editor's note: God's people have been intimidated by many leaders within Christianity, NOT to consider varying viewpoints and forthright examinations of our faith. We believe it is important for us to consider the "identity of Jesus", the "exisistance or non-existance of a trinity", the "personhood or non-personhood of the holy Spirit", and many other such important matters. The truth will UNITE, not divide the true body of Christ. The holy Ghost is still speaking to the church, and guiding us into all truth. We are ever learning, ever coming into a knowledge of the truth which we do not have in full yet. We must be led into all truth by the Spirit of God.

We will never attain to that perfect faith, as long as we are told that the measurement of true faith is any certain doctrine. That is why the sincere child of God must flee the teachings of Christianity... it has false standards, and false ideas that will quench the life of the holy Ghost to all who remain there. The measurement of true faith in Christ Jesus is whether one has received the holy Ghost baptism or not! "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom.8:9). We have become one in Christ, not because we agree on doctrine, but because "by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body" (1Cor.12:13). . . "whose praise is not of men, but of God (Rom.2:29). Any other "division" among the children of God is because of our doctrines, and man is therefore creating a division in the family of God that should not exist. It does us great harm to reject any doctrine, simply because it does not necessarily conform to a standard another has given us to judge by. Paul said that this was "unwise": "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise." (2Cor.10:12)

We ask that you study these materials prayerfully and carefully, and ask the Father in prayer, whether you "feel" the love of God, and the witness of the holy Ghost, in the materials you have read. That is the only way to grow in Christ Jesus.

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