Beth-El Baptist Church
6/5/05
What is the relationship between God and Jesus?
As we continue evaluating the scriptures and the Trinity we continue evaluating the publication by the Jehovah Witnesses entitled “Should You Believe in the Trinity?” as they raise questions regarding the teaching of the Trinity.
1. Who is the creator?
Malachi 2:10
Mark 10:6; 13:19
John 1-3, 14
Ephesians 3:9
In the Old Testament, the creator is clearly identified as Yahweh God. He is also called the “Holy One of Israel”. In the New Testament, the creator is clearly identified as being Jesus. Thus it is through Jesus and by Jesus that everything was created and it is through Yahweh and by Yahweh that everything was created. Jesus is Yahweh.
2. Who is the “Holy One of Israel”?
Isaiah 40:25; 43:3, 14,15; 45:11; 47:14; 48:17; 54:5
Jeremiah 50:29; 51:5
Ezekiel 39:7
Hosea 11:9
Habakkuk 1:12
Mark 1:24
Luke 4:34
Acts 3:14
The creator, Yahweh, is also called the “Holy One of Israel” and sometimes simply “Holy One” in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, it is Jesus who is identified as being the “Holy One” or “Holy One of God”.
3. How many Gods, by nature, are there?
Deuteronomy 6:4
Exodus 20:2,3
Psalm 83:18
Isaiah 41:4, 42:8, 43:10-12; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 18, 21; 46:9; 47:10; 48:11, 12
Matthew 19:17
Mark 10:18; 12:29-32
Luke 18:19
John 8:41; 17:3
Romans 3:30
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
Galatians 3:20
Ephesians 4:6
1 Timothy 2:5
James 2:19
The scriptures are clear. There is one and only one God who is God by nature and neither by appointment nor proclamation. We can certainly call something else or someone else God (Isaiah 43-48) but calling it or him God does not make them a true God in the context of being by nature God.
4. Who is the Almighty God?
Genesis 17:1; 35:11
Exodus 6:4
Ruth 1:21
Job 5:17; 11:7; 13:3; 15:25; 27:2, 11-13; 31:2; 33:4; 34:10-12; 35:13; 40:2
Isaiah 13:6
Revelation 1:8, 11, 17,18; 2:8, 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:15; 21:22
Cmp: Isaiah 41:4 & Revelation 1:17,18
Cmp: Isaiah 9:6 & Psalm 50:1
It is clear that “Almighty God” is another name for
Yahweh. While it is true that Jesus is never explicitly called “almighty God”
nor “God almighty”, but what we do have is Revelation 1:8 which attributes the
identification of “Almighty” to the “alpha and Omega” who is also the “first
and the last” (1:11) with a description that only fits Jesus (1:17:18). The
identification of ‘first and the last’ is attributed to Yahweh in the Old
Testament (Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12). Therefore Jesus is called “Almighty” in
the context of being called “Almighty God”.
5. Was Jesus perfect?
John 8:7-11 –Jesus could have condemned being sinless, but decided not to
Hebrews 4:14-15; 9:14
Matthew 19:17
Mark 10:18 cmp Romans 3:23
Luke 18:19
1 Peter 1:18-19
Jesus is identified as being sinless. The description of being a sinner is “falling short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) of which Jesus must have met if he is sinless. Further notice that Jesus himself proclaims that the only one that is perfect, the only one that meets up to God’s own glory is God himself (Mark 10:18). Therefore anyone who meets God’s glory must be God himself. Jesus is perfect as only God can be.
6. Was Jesus Created?
This simply states that Jesus descended from heaven and ascended back to heaven where he came from. This in no way necessitates having been created. For it is in bodily form that God entered the earthly realm. To accomplish this, his bodily form had to come from heaven, the resting place of God.
Colossians 1:15 (Read on to 1:19)
They emphasize that Jesus is identified as “the firstborn of every creature”. Interesting that the neglect that he is “the image of the invisible God” and since God abhors idolatry and will not give his glory to another (Isaiah 42:8). How could he be in the very image of God, be the creator, is before all things, the firstborn from the dead and in all things he might have the preeminence. The phrase ‘firstborn’ is not related to creative order but to preeminence or importance (John 1:15). The phrase ‘firstborn’ has more to do with inheritance and the Mosaic Law. Jesus being the ‘firstborn’ is the primary heir of all things. It is referring to his position and authority not in reference to his coming to being.
Regarding verse 16, they simply say that the scriptures say that ‘by him were all things created’. They say that Jesus was the conduit for creation as a master craftsman but not as God. But the text also says that ‘by him all things consist’ and that they ‘were created by him, and for him’. Does this mean that God was incapable of keeping things together (consist) or that everything was created for Jesus and not for God? According to scriptures, “All souls are [Yahweh’s]” (Ezekiel 18:4), therefore if all things were created for him, and all souls are Yahweh’s then Jesus is Yahweh.
Revelation 3:14
They focus on the phrase ‘the beginning of the creation of God’ to show that he has a beginning, was created. Look at the fuller context of who is speaking.
Revelation 1:17-18
This is ‘the first and the last’, ‘he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore’. It is Jesus himself speaking, which they acknowledge. But it is he that is ‘the first and the last’. As we already saw, this is Yahweh. Since Yahweh is the creator who has no beginning, the phrase ‘the beginning of the creation of God’ has a different meaning than one that was created first. What it means according to the lexicons is that he is the one that is the active cause of creation. He is saying that he is God.
Proverbs 8:12,22,25,26,30
They look at such phrases as ‘I was set up’, but notice it was from everlasting. Only God is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2, 106:48). They also look at ‘I was brought forth’. This simply means that wisdom came to the forefront and was exercised or displayed. It does not mean that it came into existence. To claim that wisdom, a picture of Jesus, was born or was created would be saying that wisdom did not exist until God created it. In other words, God did not have wisdom.
1 Corinthians 8:6
Although they don’t get more specific than claim that this verse proves that Jesus is nothing more than a master craftsman. I assume they refer to ‘one God, the Father, of whom are all things’ and ‘one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things’ that all things are ‘of’ the Father but ‘by’ Jesus. In its fuller context, the passage is talking about idolatry. Different people identify different things or persons as being ‘god’, but they are not God in essence. The one and true God by nature and essence is Yahweh because all of us and all of creation came out from him. He created us. As creator, we were created by him but we are also brought into fellowship and relationship to God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus that enables us to recognize who God is.
As we looked at the scriptures, even those that the Jehovah Witnesses claim deny the deity of Jesus Christ, we have seen that those same verses actually point to his deity. Since there is only one deity and Jesus is deity, he is the one and only God, but in bodily form.