| JESUS, THE CHRIST
OF GOD
Section
3 - The Way Jesus is "God"
The
Way Jesus Is "God"
In the introductory verse
of John's account, Jesus Christ, the Word, as He was then identified, is
referred to as God.
Jn.1:1-3
In the beginning was the word, [ en archê ên
ho logos ]
and the word was toward
God, [ kai ho logos ên pros ton Theon ]
and God was the word.
[ kai Theos ên ho logos ]
This was in the beginning
toward God. [ …pros ton Theon ]
All came into being through
it, [ panta di autou egeneto ]
and apart from it not even
one thing came into being which has come into being.
It is a characteristic of the
Greek to have the verb to be when a statement is to be taken in the figurative
sense (examples: God is light - 1Jn.1:5; and God is love - 1Jn.4:8,16),
and to omit it when the equation is to be understood in a literal sense
(example: God is spirit - Jn.4:24). This is apparent in the KJV and CV
where insertions, to make readable English, are printed in light-face type.
So, whether the statement is 'God was the word' or 'The word was God',
the presence of the verb to be 'was' in normal typeface, showing
its presence in the Greek, indicates figurative usage. Just as God
is like light, and God is like love, the Word is like God to the
rest of creation!
It should also be noted here
that the Greek preposition 'pros' should be translated 'toward'
rather than 'with' (which is from the Greek 'meta' - see Mt.1:23,
'God
with us'). The function of the Word is
to direct the
whole creation to the Father Who IS the One and Only God, the Supreme.
This objective will be fully realised at the Consummation when Jesus Christ
subjects Himself and all of creation to God so that God will be all in
all (1Cor.15:24-28).
As mentioned earlier, because
He was created to represent God to God’s creation, Christ Jesus does not,
in any way, usurp God’s authority when He is called ‘God’ (Phil.2:5,6).
Scripture presents Him as ‘the great God and our Saviour’ (Tit.2:13). Thomas
acknowledged Him as his Lord and his God (Jn.20:28).
John 1:18, however, refers
to Him as ‘the only-begotten God’ - an impossible term if the word
‘God’ were to be taken in the absolute sense! But, since most translators
do
take it in this sense, they do not translate the verse according to the
Greek so as to avoid clashing with their doctrinal stand. Their problem
is obvious. They are faced with two distinct entities, each one an absolute
God! With the rendering of the first sentence, they have to agree with
the Greek that no one has ever seen God. There is no way around it, no
matter how it is phrased. But, for the next statement they need to adjust
their rendering of 'monogenês Theos' to accord with their
doctrine.
Jn.1:18
God no one has ever seen.
The only-begotten
God, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He unfolds Him.
Greek:
monogenês
Theos
KJV
No man hath seen God at any time;
the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
[him].
NIV
No one has ever seen God,
but God
the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
RSV
No one has ever seen God;
the only
Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
The problem does not exist if
the word 'God' is taken in the delegated or relative sense as intended
by Scripture. God Himself says to the Son,
Heb.1:8
Thy throne, O God, is for the eon of the eon,
And a scepter of rectitude
is the scepter of Thy kingdom.
But, God never compromises the
fact that He, Himself, is THE GOD of THIS God!
Heb.1:9
Thou lovest righteousness and hatest injustice;
Therefore Thou art anointed
by God, Thy God,
with the oil of exultation
beyond Thy partners.
Jesus Himself, in His hour of
direst need, calls to His God, the Father.
Mt.27:46
…"My God! My God! Why didst Thou forsake Me?"
And, after He had risen, He
directs Mary Magdalene,
Jn.20:17
…Now go to My brethren, and say to them that I said,
`Lo! I am ascending to My
Father and your Father, and My God and your God.
There are many places in Scripture
where Jesus faithfully acknowledges His Father’s absolute supremacy.
Mt.20:20-23
…Yet to be seated at My right and at My left is not Mine to give,
but is for whom it has been
made ready by My Father.
Mt.24:36
Now, concerning that day and hour no one is aware,
neither the messengers of
the heavens, nor the Son; except the Father only.
Act.1:7
… Not yours is it to know times or eras
which the Father
placed in His own jurisdiction
Jesus lays down the principle
controlling the delegation of authority, asserting that:
Jn.13:16
RSV Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his
master;
nor is he who is sent
greater than he who sent him.
Jn.7:16
Jesus, then, answered them and said,
"My teaching is not Mine,
but His Who sends Me.
Jn.8:29
And He Who sends Me is with Me….
for what is pleasing to
Him am I doing always.
Rom.15:3
For Christ also pleases not Himself, but according as it is written,
"The reproaches of those
reproaching Thee fall on Me."
Act.10:38
Jesus …as God anoints Him with holy spirit and power,
for God was with Him.
Jn.8:42
…out of God I came forth and am arriving….He commissions Me.
Jn.11:41-43
They, then, take away the stone. Yet Jesus lifts up His eyes and said,
"Father, I thank Thee that
Thou hearest Me. Now I was aware that Thou art hearing Me always,
but because of the throng
standing about I said it,
that they should be believing
that thou dost commission Me."
And, saying these things,
He clamors with a loud voice, "Lazarus! Hither! Out!"…
Jesus was always aware of His
mission; always focused on God’s objectives. He was sustained through doing
the will of God, finding pleasure and fulfilment in it. He asserts without
any ambiguity, regarding His commission for coming into the world:
Heb.10:7
Then said I, "Lo! I am arriving….To do Thy will, O God."
Heb.10:9 He
has declared, "Lo! I am arriving to do Thy will, O God!"
Jn.4:34
"My food is that I should be doing the will of Him Who sends
Me,
and should be perfecting
His work.
Jn.5:30
"I can not do anything of Myself….
For I am not seeking My
will, but the will of Him Who sends Me.
Jn.6:38
…not that I should be doing My will, but the will of Him Who sends Me.
Everything that Jesus does is
according to the will and direction of the Father, His God.
Jn.5:19
…The Son can not be doing anything of Himself
if it is not what He should
be observing the Father doing,
for whatever He may
be doing, this the Son also is doing likewise.
Jn.8:28
from Myself I am doing nothing, but,
according as My Father
teaches Me, these things I am speaking.
Jn.14:31
But that the world may know that I am loving the Father,
and according as the
Father directs Me, thus I am doing,…
Jn.12:49 I speak
not from Myself, but the Father Who sends Me,
He has given Me the
precept, what I may be saying and what I should be speaking.
Jn.12:50 … I
am speaking, according as the Father has declared it to Me,
thus am I speaking.
Jn.14:24 … And
the word which you are hearing is not Mine,
but the Father's Who
sends Me.
2Cor.1:20 For
whatever promises are of God, are in Him "Yes."
Wherefore through Him also
is the "Amen" to God, for glory, through us.
Jn.15:10
…according as I have kept the precepts of My Father
and am remaining in His
love.
Jn.17:4
I glorify Thee … finishing the work which Thou hast given Me,
that I should be doing it.
Jesus carried out His commission
to reveal the identity of God to the called. He declares without reservation
that the Father, only, is the true God! Why do we Christians try to work
a way around such a clear statement? It does not need to be constructed
or to be formulated!
Jn.17:3
…that they may know Thee, the ONLY true GOD,
and Him Whom Thou dost commission
, Jesus Christ.
Jn.14:28
… the Father is greater than I.
We cannot really know the feelings
of Jesus as He carried out His Father’s will prior to His coming in the
flesh. But, what we do know, at first hand, is the trauma and struggle
we
undergo as we try to live a life on this earth that is pleasing to God
(2Tim.3:12). So we can begin to understand, to some extent, the experience
of Jesus, while on this earth as one of us, as He subjected His will to
that of His Father.
As Scripture says, God, being
spirit, permeates the universe. He is present everywhere, even in every
sub-atomic particle there is, and knows the feelings and thoughts of each
one of us at any and every point of time. Not so with Jesus Christ our
Lord. Being finite, and not being spirit as God is, He had to be made complete
through an actual experience, a ‘hands-on’ learning process so to speak,
by becoming a mortal human like us!
Heb.2:9
… we are observing Jesus,
Who has been made some bit
inferior to messengers
(because of the suffering
of death,…)…
Heb.2:14 Since,
then, the little children have participated in blood and flesh,
He also was very nigh by
partaking of the same, that, through death,…
Heb.2:10
For it became Him, because of Whom all is, and through Whom all is,
in leading many sons into
glory,
to perfect the Inaugurator
of their salvation through sufferings.
Heb.2:18 For
in what He has suffered, undergoing trial,
He is able to help
those who are being tried.
Heb.12:3
For take into account
the One Who has endured
such contradiction by sinners while among them,…
Heb.4:15
For we have not a Chief Priest not able to sympathize with our infirmities,
but One Who has been tried
in all respects like us, apart from sin.
Heb.5:8
even He also, being a Son, learned obedience from that which He
suffered.
Phil.2:8
and, being found in fashion as a human, He humbles Himself,
becoming obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross.
Heb.12:2
… the Inaugurator and Perfecter of faith, Jesus,
Who, for the joy lying before
Him, endures a cross, despising the shame,…
Heb.5:9 …being
perfected,
He became the cause of eonian
salvation to all who are obeying Him,
He had become flesh and had
taken His place among humanity in order to fulfil God's design and purpose.
This He knew very well.
Jn.12:27
Now
is My soul disturbed. And what may I be saying?
`Father, save Me out of
this hour'?
But therefore came
I into this hour. Father, glorify Thy name!"…
Jn.18:11 …The
cup which the Father has given Me, may I by no means be drinking
it?"
But, when the hour drew near,
His finite, and at that time mortal, self cringed in anguish at the prospect
that lay before Him. But, He endured all the sufferings and ignominy, and
died, because it was God's will, His Father's will, that
it should be so!
Mt.26:39
"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass by from Me. …
not as I will, but
as Thou!"
Mt.26:42 Again,
coming away a second time, He prays, saying,
"My Father, if this can
not pass by from Me if I should not drink it, let Thy will be done!"
Mt.26:44 And,
leaving them, again coming away, He prays a third time, saying the same
word.
Lk.22:42
saying, "Father, if it is Thy intention, carry aside this cup from
Me.
However, not My will, but
Thine,
be done!"
The suffering and death of Jesus
was not a responsive action by God to remedy the damage done by sin and
death. It was a pre-determined operation, planned long before even Adam
was created, whose end is to reveal God's heart to His creatures! The fact
is that the other participants in this program were quite unconscious of
the power that moved them to carry out their roles to perfection!
Act.2:23
This One, given up in the specific counsel and foreknowledge of
God,
you, gibbeting by the hand
of the lawless, assassinate,
KJV
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God,
ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain:
NIV
This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge;….
RSV this
Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge
of God,
Act.4:27,28
…of a truth, in this city were gathered against Thy holy Boy Jesus,
Whom Thou dost anoint, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate,
together with the nations
and the peoples of Israel,
to do whatever Thy
hand and Thy counsel designates beforehand to occur.
KJV …For to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
NIV …They did what
your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
RSV … to do whatever thy
hand and thy plan had predestined to take place
Isa.53:9,10
…For He does no wrong, and no deceit is in His mouth,
yet Yahweh desires
to crush Him, and He causes Him to be wounded …
1Cor.2:7,8
but we are speaking God's wisdom in a secret,
wisdom which has been concealed,
which God designates before--before
the eons, for our glory,
which not one of the chief
men of this eon knows,
for if they know,
they would not crucify the Lord of glory.
The main topic of the prophecies
of Scripture concerns Jesus Christ. But, the people of Israel could not
make the connection, for which spiritual enlightenment was essential. Even
the apostles could not 'see' the relevance until shown them by Christ and
the guidance of holy spirit.
Jn.5:39
Search the scriptures, for in them you are supposing you have life
eonian,
and those are they which
are testifying concerning Me,
Lk.24:25-27
And He said to them,
"O foolish and tardy of
heart to be believing on all which the prophets speak!
Must not the Christ be suffering
these things, and be entering into His glory?"
And, beginning from Moses
and from all the prophets,
He interprets to them, in
all the scriptures, that which concerns Himself.
Lk.24:44-48
..."These are My words, which I speak to you, still being with you,
for all must be fulfilled
that is written in the law of Moses and the prophets and psalms concerning
Me."
Then He opens up their mind
to understand the scriptures, and said to them that
"Thus it is written, and
thus must the Christ be suffering
and rise from among the
dead the third day,
and there is to be heralded
in His name repentance for the pardon of sins, to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
Now
you shall be witnesses of these things.
Jn.12:12-16
On the morrow the vast throng, who are coming for the festival,
hearing that Jesus is coming
into Jerusalem, got fronds of palms and came out to meet Him.
And they clamored, saying,
"Hosanna! Blessed is He
Who is coming in the name of the Lord!" and "The King of Israel!"
Now Jesus, finding a little
ass, is seated on it, according as it is written,
Do not fear, daughter of
Zion! Lo! your King is coming, sitting on an ass's colt.
Now these things are not
known to His disciples at first,
but when Jesus is glorified,
then
they are reminded that these things were written of Him
and these things they do
to Him.
Scripture abounds with prophecies
concerning God's over-riding operation which became fulfilled in Jesus
Christ while He was on this earth.
Details of His birth and
early childhood were already recorded in Scripture.
Jn.7:42
Did not the scripture say that out of the seed of David,
and from Bethlehem,
the village where David was, comes the Christ?" [cf.Mic.5:2]
Mt.1:23
"Lo! The virgin shall be pregnant And shall be bringing forth a Son,
And they shall be calling
His name `Emmanuel,'" [cf.Isa.7:14]
which is, being construed,
"God with us."
Mt.2:15
And He was there till the decease of Herod, that that may be fulfilled
which is declared by the
Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I call My Son." [cf.Hos.11:1]
Mt.2:23
And coming, he dwells in a city termed Nazareth,
so that that may
be fulfilled which is declared through the prophets that:
A Nazarene shall He be called.
Mt.4:12-14 Now,
hearing that John was given up, He retires into Galilee,
and, leaving Nazareth, coming,
He dwells in Capernaum,
which is beside the sea
in the boundaries of Zebulon and Naphtali,
that that may be
fulfilled
which is declared through Isaiah the prophet,
Concerning His ministry among
His people, an outline was given by the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years
before the actual fulfilment.
Jn.1:45
Philip is finding Nathanael and is saying to him,
"Him of Whom Moses writes
in
the law and the prophets, have we found.
Jesus, a son of Joseph,
from Nazareth."
Jn.5:46,47
if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he writes concerning
Me.
Now if you are not believing
his writings, how shall you be believing My declarations?"
Lk.4:16-21
And He came to Nazareth, where He was reared, and,
according to His custom
on the day of the sabbaths, He entered into the synagogue
and rose to read. And handed
to Him was a scroll of the prophet Isaiah,
and, opening the scroll,
He found the place where it was written,
"The spirit of the Lord
is on Me, On account of which He anoints Me
to bring the evangel to
the poor. He has commissioned Me to heal the crushed heart,
To herald to captives a
pardon, And to the blind the receiving of sight;
To dispatch the oppressed
with a pardon, To herald an acceptable year of the Lord..."
And furling the scroll,
giving it back to the deputy, He is seated.
And the eyes of all in the
synagogue were looking intently at Him.
Now He begins to be saying
to them that "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears."
Mt.8:16,17
…they bring to Him many demoniacs,
and He cast out the spirits
with a word, and all those who have an illness He cures,
so that may be fulfilled
which is declared through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
He our infirmities got,
and the diseases He bears.
Mt.12:16-19
… And He warns them that they should not be making Him manifest,
that fulfilled may
be that which is declared through Isaiah the prophet, saying, …
He will not be brawling,
nor clamoring,
Nor will anyone be hearing
His voice in the squares….
Often we read of some incident
of Christ's ministry that took place so that 'the scripture may be fulfilled',
or because Scripture had so said.
Jn.2:14-17
And He found in the sanctuary those selling oxen and sheep and doves,
and the money changers sitting.
And, making a whip out of ropes,
He casts all out of the
sanctuary, both the sheep and the oxen,
and He pours out the change
of the brokers and overturns the tables.
And to those selling doves
He said, "Take these away hence,
and do not be making My
Father's house a house for a merchant's store."
Now His disciples are reminded
that it is written:
"The zeal of Thy house will
be devouring Me."
Mt.26:54 How,
then, may the scriptures be fulfilled, seeing that thus it must
occur?
Mt.26:56 Now
the whole of this has occurred
that the scriptures of
the prophets may be fulfilled.
Jn.12:37,38
Yet, after His having done so many signs in front of them,
they believed not in Him,
that the word of Isaiah
the prophet, which he said, may be being fulfilled,
"Lord, who believes our
tidings? And the arm of the Lord, to whom was it revealed?"
Jn.13:18
Not concerning all of you am I speaking, for I am aware whom I choose,
but that the scripture
may be fulfilled,
`He who is masticating bread
with Me lifts up his heel against Me.'
Jn.17:12 When
I was with them in the world,
I kept those whom Thou hast
given Me in Thy name, and I guard them,
and not one of them perished,
except the son of destruction,
that the scripture may
be fulfilled.
The sufferings of Christ were
foretold even down to minor details - such as the soldiers' gambling for
His vesture and dividing His garments among themselves.
Jn.15:24,25
If I do not the works among them which no other one does, they had no sin.
Yet now they have seen also,
and they have hated Me as well as My Father,
but it is that the word
written in their law may be fulfilled, that they hate Me gratuitously.
Act.3:18
...what God announces before …--the suffering of His Christ--He
thus fulfills.
1Pet.1:10,11
Concerning which salvation the prophets seek out and search out, …
when testifying beforehand
to the sufferings pertaining to Christ
and the glories after these.
Lk.22:37 For I am
saying to you that this which is written must be accomplished in
Me:
And with the lawless is
He reckoned.
For that also which concerns
Me is having its consummation."
Mt.26:31 ..."All
of you shall be snared in Me in this night, for it is written,
I shall be smiting the shepherd,
And scattered shall be the sheep of the flock.
Jn.11:49-53
...Caiaphas, being the chief priest of that year, said to them,
"You are not aware of anything,
neither are you reckoning that it is expedient for us
that one man should be dying
for the sake of the people
and not the whole nation
should perish."
Now this he said, not from
himself, but, being the chief priest of that year,
he prophesies that
Jesus was about to be dying for the sake of the nation,
and not for the nation only,
but that He may be gathering
the scattered children of God also into one.
From that day, then, they
consult that they should kill Him.
Jn.18:14
Now it was Caiaphas who advises the Jews that
it is expedient for one
man to be dying for the people.
Jn.18:31
Pilate, then, said to them,
"You take him and, according
to your law, judge him."
The Jews, then, said to
him, "To us it is not allowed to kill anyone,"
that the word of Jesus may
be fulfilled which He said,
signifying by what death
He was about to be dying.
Jn.19:24 ..."We should
not be rending it, but we may take chances on it,
whose it shall be," that
the scripture may be fulfilled which is saying,
"They divide My garments
among themselves, And on My vesture they cast the lot." The soldiers,
indeed, then, do these things.
Jn.19:36 …these things
occurred that the scripture may be fulfilled,
"A bone of it shall not
be crushed."
Jn.19:37 And
again, a different scripture is saying, they shall see Him whom
they stab.
That so many important events,
especially His resurrection, took place 'according to the scriptures' is
witnessed to by the apostles.
1Cor.15:3-8
For I give over to you among the first what also I accepted,
that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures, and that He was entombed,
and that He has been roused
the third day according to the scriptures,
and that He was seen by
Cephas,
thereupon by the twelve.
Thereupon He was seen by
over five hundred brethren at once,
of whom the majority are
remaining hitherto, yet some were put to repose also.
Thereupon He was seen by
James,
thereafter by all the apostles.
Yet, last of all, even as
if a premature birth, He was seen by me also.
In identifying our relationship,
as believers, with God and Christ, Scripture very clearly lays down the
order of importance. Just as we belong to Christ, Christ belongs to God.
He is not God; He is God’s possession. And, just as Christ is the Head
of every human being, God is the Head of Christ. God is above Christ!
1Cor.3:23
yet you are Christ's, yet Christ is God's.
1Cor.11:3
… the Head of every man is Christ,… yet the Head of Christ
is God.
This is made even more clear
in the resurrection chapter of First Corinthians, for at the Consummation,
at the end of the eons, is the culmination of God's grand project.
1Cor.15:24-28
…thereafter the consummation,
whenever He may be giving
up the kingdom to His God and Father, …
Now, whenever all may be
subjected to Him,
then the Son Himself
also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him,
that God may be All in all.
By definition, the absolute
God, the Supreme, cannot have a God above Him! The Supreme
cannot be subject to anyone else! This should show that Jesus IS God -
but in the delegated sense. The fact is that others, too, are termed ‘gods’
in Scripture. They are titled ‘elohim’ in the Hebrew Scriptures,
and ‘theos’ in the Greek, which are the same words translated
‘God’ in English.
Celestial beings are
titled ‘elohim’:
Ps.82:1
Elohim is stationed in the congregation of El;
Among the elohim
is He judging:
Ps.95:3
For Yahweh is the great El, And the great King over all the elohim,
Ps.138:1 I shall
acclaim You, O Yahweh, with all my heart;
In front of the elohim
shall I make melody to You.
False gods, including
Satan, are also given this title.
Ps.96:4,5
For great is Yahweh, and praised exceedingly;
Fear inspiring is He overall
elohim.
For all the elohim
of the peoples are useless idols,
As for Yahweh, He has made
the heavens.
2Cor.4:4 … the
god of this eon blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving…
The judges of Israel,
and even the people of Israel, are called ‘gods’, too.
Ex.22:28
You shall not maledict the elohim,
and a prince among your
people you shall not curse.
Ps.82:6,7 I
Myself have said: you are elohim, And sons of the Supreme
are all of you.
Yet you shall die
like common humanity, And like any other of the chiefs you shall
fall.
Jn.10:34,35
Jesus answered them,
"Is it not written in your
law, that `I say you are gods'?
If He said those were gods,
to whom the word of God came
(and the scripture can not
be annulled),
This is summarised in Scripture
in the context of 'the evangel of the Uncircumcision' through which we
are called, sealed, and made ready to be delivered.
1Cor.8:5,6
For even if so be that there are those being termed gods,
whether in heaven or on
earth, even as there are many gods and many lords,
nevertheless for us
there is one God, the Father, out of Whom all is, and we for Him,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through Whom all is, and we through Him.
February 2001
Back to:
....Main
menu of articles
....Section
1 - Introduction
......................The
Image and The Firstborn
....Section
2 - The
Son of God
......................The
Christ of God
Proceed to:
....Section
4 - Christ
Came: To Minister to the Lost Sheep of Israel
......................Christ
Came: To Confirm the Patriarchal Promises
....Section
5 - Christ
Came: To Save All Mankind
......................Christ
Came: To Annul the Works of the Adversary
....Section
6 - Scriptural
Evaluation
......................Conclusion
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