Some religions and individuals claim Jesus was a good prophet, but they deny He is God.
That isn't possible.
Jesus is either God or a liar.
Why? Because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, equal to God, and the Only Way of Salvation.(1)
If a person truly accepts Jesus as a good prophet or teacher, they must believe what He says.
As C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity:
“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
I choose to fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.
How about you?
------------------
(1) John 11:25; John 14:6-7; John 17:1-5; John 5:16-40 - see these Scriptures and do a short study on today's Bite Size Bible Study.
You can also find a full Scriptural explanation here: Did Jesus Claim to Be God?
I was a Jehovah's Witness for a few years and when I became a Christian my thinking was that Jesus was not God but the Son of God. It took about 3 years (and I was always asking God to help me replace what I believed with His Truth) and one day I was reading John 1:1 and it just fell into place. It was like "I get it" "I get it". It is a moment I will always remember because it was so awesome for God to open my eyes to see the Truth - that Jesus is God. I'm smiling about it as I write this after all these years because it is still one of the sweetest moments of my Christian life walk - the day I came to see that Jesus was indeed God!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this part of your walk with Jesus, Sharon. I love hearing it! Isn't it wonderful how God makes things clear to us when we keep seeking? : )
DeleteIf Jesus is God why does he ask his Father to glorify him (John 17: 1,2.) and give him power. If he is God wouldn't he have all power already. Also the Son was created, how can he be equal to God if his father created him. In the scriptures you gave John 5:30 it says " I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me". The Father and the Son have different wills. Jesus never did anything unless his father told him to do it. Shows that Jesus is in subjection to God. Always has always will.
ReplyDeleteAll through the scriptures shows that he always does what the Father tells him.
Joh 14:31 "But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go" hence. If Jesus is God, Why would he ever follow commandment from someone else? I could go on all day!
Hi Emily,
DeleteScripture clearly, without doubt or reservation tells us that Jesus was not created. But He was the Creator:
John 1:1-14:
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God.3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
------------------------------------
The Scriptures you've quoted simply explain that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in unity each performing different tasks within the Trinity, but they are together One God. This is the teaching of Biblical Christianity from the time of Christ until now.
Many religions believe Jesus is inferior to God - Islam, Bahai, Hinduism, etc. However, since you use the Bible, I'm assuming you must be either a Mormon or a Jehovah Witness, since they are the only religions I'm aware of that use the Bible but consider Christ inferior to God.
All of the references you've quoted have nothing to do with Christ's divinity, only with his position and role. And when Christ was on earth, He voluntarily submitted Himself to a lower position.
Philippians 2:6-7:
"Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being."
----------------------------------
I have more to explain, but comments are limited to a certain word count. So I will end here and resume in the next comment box.
Gail
Here are some other passages that confirm Jesus as God, the Only Way of Salvation. These are claims that no man would dare to make. But Jesus made them because He is God:
DeleteJohn 11:25: Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies."
John 14:6-7: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.
You quoted part of this passage, but look at it in context:
John 17:1-5: After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began."
John 5:16-27, 39-40: So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. 24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man...39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
I'm sure you could offer other Scriptural evidence for the different roles of Jesus and the Father. I agree with you that they operated in different tasks. Jesus is the one who became our sacrifice for sin - a sacrifice that would only be acceptable because He is a sinless God. But nothing about Christ's role changes His divinity.
If you are involved in the Jehovah Witnesses or LDS church, I pray that you will come to know Jesus as God, Lord, Savior, and Only Way of Salvation. If you are simply confused about Biblical teaching, I pray that you will find some solid Biblical teachers to help answer your questions.
That is my prayer for you and I pray it in the Name of Christ, The Name Above All Names, The Name at which every knee will bow and every tongue confess,
Gail
Gail, You mentioned that Jesus wasn't created. How would you explain: Colossians 1:5 "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature".
ReplyDeleteIt's talking about Jesus being BORN or created. He was Gods first creation. Then Jesus created everything else by means of Gods Holy Spirit. (Gods active force). Someone who is created is not more powerful than the creator and cannot be God.
Also. No one has seen God and live. We know thousands had seen Jesus and lived. How can that be?
Exodus 33:20. "And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. "
If Jesus is God why is Jesus sitting at Gods right hand? And If the Holy Spirit is God also, why is there no place mentioned for him next to God.
In first Corinthians 11:3 says: "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God".
It's very clear here that not only do we have a head that we have to be submissive to, but that Jesus also has someone that he has to obey. That's God!
Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
If Jesus is God he would certainly know, not just his Father.
How would you explain this scripture.
John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, 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.
Notice he calls God HIS father. And more importantly HIS God. Doesn't sound equal to me.
John 14:28 - Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
What a perfect time to tell them they are equal. But he didn't. But instead he said the "the Father is greater than I am.
I'm not confused Gail. I'm clear where I stand. I've read the Bible many times and it makes no sense that Jesus is anything but Gods Son. He never does anything of his own initiative. God has his will, and Jesus has his. They are two different beings.
The Trinity is never mentioned in the Bible, neither by word nor by an illustration. In fact the idea of the Trinity didn't come about till 2 centuries after the apostles were gone. Jesus didn't teach it nor did the Apostles. Thanks for reading.
Hi Emily,
DeleteThe Scriptures I referenced in my previous comment, even John 1:1-14 alone or Philippians 2:6-7 alone, clearly refute any belief that Jesus is not God and/or is a created being.
Every other passage you have quoted is explained by the division of tasks within the Trinity or Christ's voluntary choice to submit Himself to the Father while on earth when He was in his human form.
Besides this clear Scriptural proof that Jesus is God, we have thousands of years of history in which Bible scholars who loved the Lord have studied the original languages and concluded that Jesus is God and not created.
Besides the clear Scriptural proof, and the confirmation of God-loving Bible scholars, you have the testimony of millions of Christians like me who know that the Spirit of God has spoken to them and confirmed that Jesus is God.
Everyone is free to examine the evidence and come to their own decision, but even the religions that hold an inferior view of Jesus know that in order to make their claims they must deny the accuracy of Scripture and/or supplement Scripture with additional "holy books."
If you are not a member of one of these religions I mention, I encourage you to find a Bible-believing pastor and discuss your views with him. I am not aware of one Christian denomination that agrees with you. From Catholic to Charismatic, From Presbyterian to Methodist, liberal and conservative, and every other denomination in between, all of them hold to the view that Jesus is God.
In addition, every devotion you read on my blog will be based on the belief that Jesus is fully, completely God.
So Let's agree to disagree and leave it at that.
Gail