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I What Is The Real Answer?
Is
Jesus God?
by: Herbert W. Armstrong
S TARTLING as it may seem, there is great confusion today among
religious leaders concerning the true nature and office of Jesus Christ -
the Saviour of the world. You neet not be in doubt! The Bible was divinely
inspired to impart TRUTH to those who seek it with honest hearts and minds.
"
What is the real answer? Is Jesus God? Is He the same as Jehovah? Is
there more than one God? Here you will find God's answer - from His own Word
- as revealed in your Bible.
Is Jesus God?
Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for sin in our stead. He gave of
Himself, that: we might be reconciled to God. How was this made possible?
First, if Jesus had been only human, His death could have paid the
penalty for but one other human who had incurred that penalty by
transgression of God's spiritual Law (Romans 6:23). Since God the Father
created all things by Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:9), and since all things,
including man, were made by Jesus Christ, He is our Maker and therefore God,
and His life which He gave was of greater value than the sum total of all
human beings. For we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God; all
things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was
made" (John 1:1-3). "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of
grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the
Father" (verse 14 -RSV). Also, "He was in the world, and the world was made
through him, yet the world knew him not" (verse 10 -RSV). Compare these
scriptures with I Cor. 8:6 and Col. 1:12-19.
Life alone can beget life. This is the absolute law of biogenesis. Since
Eternal life is the GIFT of God (John 3:16), only a GOD possessing
immortality could give it. If Jesus were only human, we could not receive
eternal life through Him and He could not be our Savior. Man does not have
eternal life inherent in himself. But, as God "the Father hath life in
himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." And, "God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the
Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life" (John 5:26 and I
John 5:11-12).
He Was Also Human
On the other hand, Jesus was also human. Since it is human life which has
transgressed God's Law, the Law claims human life as its penalty. Contrary
to popular present-day teaching, the Word of God states that the wages the
penalty - of sin, is DEATH - not eternal life in a so-called "hell fire"
(Romans 6:23). When we sin, we break God's perfect spiritual law, "for sin
is the transgression of the law" (I John 3 :4). The penalty for this sin is
death. The penalty must be paid. God the Father will not compromise. It must
be paid by man. Therefore, Jesus, who is and was God, who has always existed
(John 1:1, 2), was actually made flesh (verse 14). He, who was God, actually
became human flesh because I John 4:2, 3 -RSV - states, "By this you know
the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come
iii the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is
not of God." He was conceived in and born of the human virgin, Mary. "Now,
the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother, Mary, had
been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with
child of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:18). He was made not only flesh, but
human flesh and blood. Notice Heb. 2:14: "Since then the children are
sharers in blood and flesh, himself also in like manner partook of the same"
(Ivan Panin translation).
Jesus called Himself the Son of MAN repeatedly, and also the Son of God.
Matthew wrote, "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, 'Who do men say that the Son of man is?' And they
said, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon
Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus
answered him 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah For flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven'" (Matt. 16:13-17).
Jesus, in nature, is equal with God -"Jesus Christ: who, existing in
God's form, counted not the being on an equality with God ought to be
grasped at, but emptied himself . . . being made in likeness of men" (Phil.
2:6 Panin translation)
He is called God in Titus 2:10, 13. Therefore He is God. The Bible
contains so much on these points that the above is a mere fragment of the
evidence.
Yes, Jesus is also "Jehovah," although this word is a mistranslation used
in the American Standard Version. The original name, in the Hebrew,
contained the consonants "YHVH." In writing in Hebrew, vowels were omitted,
supplied only in speaking. Thus the precise pronunciation of the name is not
definitely known, but today it is commonly assumed to be Yahveh, or Yahweh.
The meaning, in English, is "THE ETERNAL," or "THE EVERLIVING," or the
"SELF-EXISTENT." It is commonly supposed that Yahveh, or, as commonly
called, "Jehovah", or, as in the Authorized Version, "The LORD," of the Old
Testament was God the FATHER of Jesus Christ. This is a flagrant error!
Yahveh was the God of Israel, the peared - an actual foretaste, a view ahead
into the soon-coming Kingdom of God! As the disciples stood, gazing with awe
and wonder at the brilliance of the vision, there came a "..... voice out of
the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;
hear ye Him" (Matt. 17:5). But notice, did the scripture say it was God the
Father who spoke? No! Read it in your own Bible!
Many have carelessly assumed the Bible says what it does not say! Notice
this particular case, where a voice is heard speaking, and yet Christ
Himself tells us it COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE VOICE OF GOD! (John 5:37.) The
only logical conclusion in the light of all Scripture is that an angel
(messenger) spoke, as one bearing this message from the Father in heaven!
Since it was not God the Father who spoke to Moses, and who even allowed
Moses to see His hind parts (Ex. 33:23), then it had to be the Eternal Being
who was instrumental in executing God's Word! That was Christ's prior
OFFICE, that was His all-important job! Who was the One who SPOKE to Moses?
Why the Spokesman, the Logos, of course!
Notice I Cor. 10:4, " . . . And did all drink the same spiritual drink:
for they [the ancient Israelites] drank of that spiritual Rock that followed
them, and that Rock was Christ"!
That certainly clinches it! The One who actually GAVE the laws to the
children of Israel from Mount Sinai was the One who later became Jesus
Christ! JESUS CHRIST WAS THE LORD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT - THE GOD WHO DEALT
PERSONALLY WITH ISRAEL, WHO INSPIRED THE PROPHETS, WHO REVEALED HIMSELF TO
THE PHARAOH, TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND THE KINGS OF THE EARTH!
Most people have assumed the God of the Old Testament was the Father of
Jesus Christ. This is proven by God's own inspired Word to be a great error.
As we read in I Cor. 10:4, the "ROCK" of the Old Testament was Jesus Christ.
Remember the word "LORD)" is actually Yhvh, which means the Ever-Living One,
or the Life Self-Existent One. Now see II Sam. 22:2-3 (Revised Standard
Version) : "He said, 'The LORD (Yhvh is. my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of
my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; thou savest me from
violence.'"
In Psalm 18:1-2, this same ROCK is Yahveh, When Moses was talking to
Yahveh, and asked Him His name (Ex. 3:4, 5,13), He answered that His name
was "I AM" (verses 6, 14) and "Yahveh" - the Eternal One (verse 15). See
also Ex. 6:2, 3. In John 18: 5-8, as soon as Christ made Himself known to
the crowd led by Judas as "I AM" (the "he" in italics is added without
inspiration, and was not in the original), they went backward and fell to
the ground. Again in John 8:56-58, Jesus called Himself: "I AM."
The person of the Godhead who is our REDEEMER is Jesus Christ. John 4:42
(RSV) contains this: "They said to the woman, 'It is no longer because of
your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know
that this is indeed the SAVIOR of the world.'" See Isaiah 60:16, where
Yahveh is called the Redeemer, which is the SAVIOUR, or the Holy One of
Israel!
Jesus, the Savior, was the Holy 0ne born of Israel (Jacob). Jesus is the
Lord of the Old Testament.
What to DO About It
What an overwhelming truth it is, realize the glorious, the awe-inspiring
magnitude of Jesus' prehuman existence ! It should make you realize more
fully the tremendous PRICE that was paid that you might have your guilty
past blotted out, and the slate wiped clean! GOD HIMSELF, in the person
Jesus Christ, paid that penalty!
Think of it!
God the Father sent His own Son down to this mundane sphere of sin and
fleshly emotions to suffer for humanity and thereby provide a way of
salvation a way to enter into life eternal! The Life that was poured out on
the cross was a human life but it was much more than that - it was also very
God LIFE! Jesus was human, but He was also divine! Day and night, while on
this earth, Christ must have remembered the tremendous power and glory from
eternity He had enjoyed with the Father - and realized it would have been
possible to sin, to relent in His battle against human nature, and become
eternally lost! The very willpower, the determination and perseverance of
Jesus Christ, together with the Divine presence of the Holy Spirit of God,
kept Him from falling, that He could become the Savior of the world!
Can you grasp it? Can you comprehend? Your very Creator - the One who
gives you every breath of air you breathe, DIED FOR you!
What are you going to DO about it?
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