| Who
is Jesus Christ?
SECTION
1:
False
views about Jesus Christ.
SECTION
2:Scriptural view
The
Word
The
Messiah
SECTION
3:
Jesus
has the essence of God
Jesus
has the Attributes of God
Jesus
does the works of God.
SECTION
4:
Conclusion
|
The
Eternal Sonship of Christ
Recently a paper was
given to me written by a senior evangelist among us. There are many things
in this paper irrelevant to the point at issue and scant regard is given
in interpreting the scriptures. But one paragraph caught my eye. It is
reproduced here:
“JESUS’ ETERNAL SONSHIP
OF GOD. (He is writing against a statement that ‘the Son of God truly became
man”) He writes: “But the Bible says the Word was made flesh, Jn.1.14.
The name Son of God was assigned to the Word only because of and after
his birth caused by the power of the Highest. This is what Luke recorded
in 1.35 inspired by the Holy Spirit. The reason and time for calling the
baby the Son of God are indicated there. His pre-incarnation names were
two 1) The Word, 2) Messiah. There is nothing in the scripture to qualify
Him as the eternal Son of God, although He is eternal and equal to God.
The Father’s equality with the Son does not make the Father the Son. If
the Word is born at any time in the past eternity He ceases to be God……”
There is much confusion
in the mind of the above writer about the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I also understand that he has sent this paper to many more among us.
What says the Scripture?
Who is Jesus Christ? What is meant by the term, “He is the Son of God”?
Is there a point in time when Jesus became the Son of God? Is there nothing
in the Scripture to qualify Him as the eternal Son of God?
Who
is Jesus Christ?
Is Jesus Christ God? Does the Bible say
so?
The word 'deity' does not occur in the
Bible. But the Bible teaches clearly that Jesus is God. God is not a name
but the most general term of reference to the deity.
A. False views about
Jesus Christ.
There are many, who accept Jesus as the
Son of God, but not as God himself. This is because they fail to grasp
the meaning of the term 'Son of God'. The following three of them may be
noted.
(1) Christian Science:
Christian Science is neither Christian
nor scientific. A personal Trinity, according to them, suggests polytheism,
rather than the one ever-present I AM. Jesus, the Galilean Prophet, was
born of the Virgin Mary's spiritual thoughts of Life and its manifestation.
People of this faith believe that Jesus is the human man and Christ is
the divine idea. The virgin mother conceived the idea of God and gave to
her ideal the name of Jesus.
According to them, the material blood of
Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon
'the accursed tree', than when it was flowing in His veins, as he went
daily about his Father's business. (Source - Christian Science, the Kingdom
of Cults, by Walter Martin).
These arguments do violence to the whole
of Scripture.
(2) Jehovah's Witnesses: Their pre-occupation
with some particular texts of scripture to the exclusion of others warped
their theology. They said that Jesus was the Son of God but not God himself.
(The Word, who is He? p.20) They called him 'a god' and a 'mighty god'
but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah. (P.47 The Truth shall make you
free.) They said that he was the first and direct creation of Jehovah God.
(The Kingdom is at Hand p.46-49).
They say that, "the Bible shows that there
is only one God…'greater than His Son…. and that the Son, as the First-born,
Only begotten and the creation by God, had a beginning. That the Father
is greater and older than the Son is reasonable, easy to understand and
is what the Bible teaches (Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, P.164,).
The very fact that he was sent proves he was not equal with God but was
less than God his Father (P.41 ibid.)
(3) Armstrongism.
Jesus is the creator God and is not equal
to God the Father. Jesus Christ was born a son of God by a resurrection
from the dead and as a born son of God, Christ is God.
The writer who argues against the eternal
sonship of Jesus Christ argues that “His pre-incarnation names were two
1) The Word, 2) The Messiah. There is nothing in the scripture to qualify
Him as the eternal Son of God, although He is eternal and equal to God”.
His view that Jesus is eternal and co-equal
to God and at the same time Jesus is not the eternal Son is confusing.
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B. Scriptural view:
The Word
In the Old Testament though the ”Word”
appears impersonal, two works are attributed to the Word of God. Creation
and Revelation. By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all
the host of them by the breath of his mouth (Ps.33.6). The concept of the
special creation of the universe of space and time itself is found nowhere
in all religion or philosophy, ancient or modern except in Gen.1.1 (Defenders
Study Bible). In the New Testament, the creation is attributed to Jesus
Christ (Jn.1.3; Col.1.16; Heb.1.2). The word for ‘God’ (Elohim) in Gen.1.1
is Elohim in Hebrew, plural of Eloha. The word for ‘created’ is in singular.
It shows Trinity acting in unity. (Newberry Study Bible).
Revelation is also attributed to the Word.
The word of the Lord came to the prophets (Cf. Jer.1.4; Ezk.1.3; Amos 3.1).
Revelation is attributed to the Word in the New Testament. The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us. He revealed God and could say, “He that has seen
me has seen the Father”. He is the One who revealed the Father.
This of course does not mean that the Father
became the Son in Incarnation. In the second and third century theological
movement, there arose a theory about Incarnation. This was a theory put
forward in an effort to maintain both the divinity of the Son and the unity
of God. It said that, it was God the Father who appeared in human flesh
as the Son. This is the heresy of Monarchianism, also called Patripassianism
or Sabellianism. It concerns their representation of God as revealed under
the mode of the Father at one time, at another time under the mode of Son
and yet at another time under the mode of the Holy Spirit.
The statement under discussion “The Father’s
equality with the Son does not make the Father the Son” has probably its
genesis in the theory of Patripassianism. The Biblical doctrine of Trinity
does not mean one God appearing in three modes.
In Trinity, there are three distinct persons,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And it is the second Person of
the Trinity. The eternal Word, who took flesh and dwelt among us.
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The Messiah
The word ‘Messiah’ is the transliteration
of the Hebrew word ‘masiah’ . It refers to the one who is anointed with
oil. In the Old Testament, the King of Israel is the Lord’s anointed (1
Sam.16.6); the High Priest is the anointed priest (Lev.4.3); some prophets
were anointed (1 King 19.16) and in one passage the patriarchs are called
my anointed ones (Ps.105.15).
After the Davidic covenant (2 Sam.7.13)
the word Messiah refers immediately to the Davidic dynasty, but ultimately
it points to the “Messiah”, Jesus the Christ (W/E/Vine, Expository Dictionary
of Biblical Words). In the New Testament, the word for “the anointed” is
Christ. The word is used in the New Testament as an appellative rather
than a name.
“It is added as an appellative to the proper
name “Jesus” e.g. John 17.3, the only time when the Lord so spoke of Himself;
Acts 9.34; 1 Cor.3.11; 1 Jn.5.6. It is distinctly a proper name in many
passages, whether with the article e.g. Matt.1.17; 11.2; Rom.7.4; 9.5;
15.19; 1 Cor.1.6; or without the article, Mark 9.41; Rom.6.4; 8.9, 17;
1 Cor.1.12; Gal.2.16. The single title Christos is sometimes used without
the article to signify the One who by His Holy Spirit and power indwells
believers and molds their character in conformity to His likeness, Rom.8.10;
Gal.2.20; 4.19;Eph.3.17. As to the use or absence of the article, the title
with the article specifies the Lord Jesus as “the Christ”; the title without
the article stresses His character and His relationship with believers.
Again speaking generally, when the title is the subject of a sentence it
has the article; when it forms part of the predicate the article is absent”
(W.E.Vine)
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But what does the Scripture say?
1. Jesus has the
essence of God:
Two words appearing in the New Testament
may be noted.
a. 'Theiotes' Godhead (KJV) attributes
of God (Rom.1.20). This is a concept derived from his works. “For since
the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead”.
In Rom.1.20, the apostle “is declaring
how much of God may be known from the revelation of Himself which He has
made in nature, from those vestiges of Himself which men may everywhere
trace in the world around them. Yet, it is not the personal God whom any
man may learn to know by these aids; He can be known only by the revelation
of Himself in His Son. But in the second passage (Col.2.9), Paul is declaring
that in the Son there dwells all the fullness of absolute Godhead; they
were no mere rays of Divine glory which gilded Him, lighting up His Person
for a season and with a splendor not His own; but He was and is, absolute
and perfect God; and the apostle uses theotes (theotes) to express this
essential and personal Godhead of the Son (Trench, Syn.ii)
b. 'Theotes' Godhead (KJV) indicates the
divine essence of God-hood, the personality of God. (Col.2.9) This is not
something logically derived, but directly revealed.
There is only an iota of difference between
these two words, but the meaning is clear and distinct.
In nature therefore, we see the divinity
of God but it is only in the Person of the Son of God we see deity, i.e.
the essence of God. And this is because of special revelation.
What is then the essence of God? "God is
the only necessary, self-existent being or, in other words, the only being
in whom existence and essence, are inseparable; it is of the essence or
'what-ness' of God that God exist. Thus, the essence of God, as distinguished
from the divine attributes can be described as independent or Self-Subsistent
Spirit. This view of the divine essence coincides with the biblical self-description
of God (Ex.3.14), as the One Who is. (p.106. the article "essentia Dei"
Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms - Richard A. Muller.) God
is (Heb.11.6). This self-existent one is the Eternal Logos.
This One eternal God exists in three Persons
viz. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There was no point in time when God became
the Father. If Father had no beginning how can one say the Son has a beginning.
As the Father is eternal, the Son also is eternal.
The existence of God
What is existence and what is eternal
existence?
Existence is the fact or state of living
or having objective reality. ‘We need to acknowledge the existence of a
problem before we can solve it’. ‘When its very existence was threatened,
he helped to keep the company alive’. I was very sorrowful to observe her
miserable existence’. These are words we use normally to describe objective
reality.
‘The arguments for God’s existence constitute
one of the finest attempts of the human mind’. The Bible simply puts it
this way. “He that comes to God must believe that God is”. God exists.
The a priori approach is the heart of the famous ontological argument devised
by Anslem of Canterbury. According to this argument, God is a being infinite,
perfect and necessary. Even when the fool says in heart that here is no
God, he is fooling only himself. It is because if the most perfect being
existed only in thought and not in reality then it would not really be
the most perfect being, for the one that existed in reality would be more
perfect. In short, it would be self contradictory to say, “I can think
of a perfect being that does not exist” because existence would have to
be a part of perfection.
Paul says in Romans: “What can be known
about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since
the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely his eternal power
and Godhead has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made
(Rom.1.19-20). But it is only by special revelation that we know God.
God is. “God is an Invisible, Personal,
Living and Active Spirit”. As Spirit, He is invisible. This God is self-existent.
All others are created and therefore have a beginning and owe their existence
to Another. God does not depend on anyone or anything for His existence.
On the contrary, the world and everything else it contains depend on God
for their existence. Therefore, the ground of God’s being is not in others.
There is nothing more ultimate than God. To ask who or what caused God
is to ask a contradictory question. God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM (Ex.3.14).
He is the One who always is. God is self-existent. Therefore, He is eternally
existent. This self-existent God exists in three Persons, the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit, (See Issue No.2 in these series for Trinity) and
is revealed to us in the Person of the Son, Jesus Christ. The self-existent
Spirit, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us. There was a time when
He took upon Himself humanity. It was the Son of God, who assumed human
flesh. He did not become the Son when He assumed human flesh.
In connection with the term "Son" which
speak of eternal and unique relationship with the Father, we would consider
two words used in connection with Christ, viz. the ‘first begotten’ and
the ‘only begotten’
What is meant by the term “Son of God?”
Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do you
say that I am”? Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God”. Jesus told him that it was the Father’s revelation
to him. The Spirit revealed to Peter the true identity of Jesus. Jesus
was born of a virgin (Matt.1.18-20); He was called Immanuel, meaning “God
with us” (Matt.1.23). In Matt.16.16 the title in Greek is emphatic” “the
Son of the God, the living One”. (ho huios tou theou tou zontos)
The Sanhedrin while examining Him asked
Him: Are you the Son of God?” So He said to them: “You rightly say that
I am” (Lk.22.70).
The High Priest said to Him. I put You
under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of
God? Jesus said to him: “It is as you said”. Then the High Priest tore
his clothes and said: ‘He has spoken blasphemy”
When Jesus Christ said that He is the Son
of God, Peter, the Sanhedrin and the High Priest all rightly believed that
He is claiming deity for Himself. The Son of God does not mean anything
else.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a
Son is given….his name shall be called…the Everlasting Father” (or the
Father of eternity) (Isa.9.6). “Child is born” speaks of his humanity and
“Son is given” speaks of his deity. This child is designated among others
as “the Father of eternity”.
Jubal is said to be the father of all such
as dwell in tents (Gen.4.20). The devil is said to be a liar and the father
of it (Jn.8.44). With Jubal began the tent life. Devil said the first lie
and he became the father of lies.
Jesus Christ in like manner is the cause
of eternity. He is eternal. Eternity proceeds from Him, and hence he is
called the Father of Eternity.
We would now look at two terms used to
speak of this ‘sonship’ of Jesus Christ.
(1) The First begotten. (prototokos)
The following scriptures mention Jesus
as the first born or first begotten.
Luke 2.7 "And she brought forth her first
born son." Jesus is identified here simply as the first-born child of Mary.
The Holy Spirit worked the conception of Jesus in her womb miraculously.
No child was born to her again like this. Mary had other children subsequent
to the birth of Jesus.
Rom.8.29. ". That he might be the first-born
among many brethren." Salvation's predetermined goal is conformity to the
image of God's son. This conformity places Christ in a position of pre-eminence
and glory among them. God's intention in the original creation itself was
to reflect his glory in man. But by Adam's sin, God's image in Adam was
marred and he came short of the glory of God. Since Adam begot children
in his own likeness, they too were affected by sin. Salvation restores
man to the original purpose of God.
Col.1.15 ". The first-born of every creature."
Creator cannot be a creature. All things, see and unseen, were created
by him. He is the first cause or source of creation and not as the first
object of creation. The verse does not mean that Jesus Christ is the first
creation of God, but he is highest in rank. He existed before creation.
Col.1.18. "...The first-born from the dead..."
This speaks of the order of things in the new creation. Christ is supreme
not only in creation but in redemption as well. There have been others,
both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament who were raised from
the dead. But Jesus Christ rose again never to die again.
Heb.1.6. "...When He again brings the first
begotten into the world." The word ‘again’ in this verse may be noted.
This refers to the Second Coming of the
Lord. Angels were present at His ascension (Acts 1.10-11). They will be
at His return also and must worship him then. He is exalted over the highest
order of celestial beings.
(2) The Only-begotten.
This comes from two Greek works 'monos'
(only) and 'genos'( stock) (Monogenes). Only Apostle John uses this word
to describe the relationship of the Son to the Father. He is the unique
one, or the only one of a class or kind. Origen taught that Christ's unique
son-ship and His generation by the Father are eternal being predicated
of Him in respect to His participation in the Godhead.
(Also see the articles “First Begotten,
Firstborn” and “Only Begotten” in the Expository Dictionary of Biblical
Words, by W.E.Vine)
"The word conveys the idea not of derivation
and subordination, but of uniqueness and con-substantiality. Jesus is all
that God is, and He alone is this. (B.B.Warfield)
"The begetting is not an event of time,
however remote, but a fact irrespective of time. The Christ did not become,
but is necessarily and eternally the Son. He, a person, possesses every
attribute of pure God-hood. This necessitates eternity, absolute being;
in this respect he is not 'after' the Father. (Handly Moule)
The title "Son" expresses the unique relationship
of Jesus Christ to the Father, and his voluntary submission. He was always
God but fulfilled his role as Son in space and time at his incarnation.
On four different occasions he is called
the 'Son". This may be noted.
1. “For unto us a child is born, unto us
a Son is given” (Isa.9.6). ‘Born’ speaks of the Child’s humanity and ‘given’
of His deity. He is eternally the Son, from everlasting to everlasting.
And this Son is given to us in human form when he was born. His name is
five-fold. His name is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. The deity of the Eternal Son is clearly expressed in this
verse. (Please also see the author’s exposition of Isa.9.6 in his booklet
“He is Wonderful” available in my web site
2. At Bethlehem, the
Son of God was incarnate. (Lk.1.35). He was Mary's first born Son, it is
true, but He is the Son of God. At Bethlehem he was not made the Son, but
the Son was given at Bethlehem. Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God did
not become the Son when He was born. His humanity had a beginning but his
deity has no beginning and no end.
3. He was declared to be the Son of God
with power, according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from
the dead (Rom.1.4). Jesus Christ died on the cross but rose again on the
third day. Jesus Christ did not become the Son of God when He arose, but
He was declared to be the Son. Here is another proof to His claim of deity.
4.He is gloriously the Son of God as God's
own chosen king (Ps.2).
“I will declare the decree, The Lord has
said to Me, You are My Son, Today I have begotten You” (Ps.2.7)
This royal psalm speaks of the glory of
the Son. In His covenant with David, the Lord promises him: When your days
are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after
you, who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He
shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son (2 Sam.7.12-14).
This promise primarily of course relates to Solomon, the son of David.
But after Solomon the kingdom was divided and first the Northern and then
the Southern kingdom went into captivity. Judah came back, but the 10 tribes
never came back. Israel had no king for these past many centuries. Yet
the promise of the Lord stands.
The fulfillment of the covenant is yet
future and will be fully fulfilled in the person of David’s Son the Lord
Jesus Christ. In Psalm Two, which is definitely Messianic, the greater
Son of David is in picture. At the time of coronation of any legitimate
son of David in the city of Jerusalem this formula of adoption was probably
announced in a solemn ceremony.
The writer to the Hebrews while describing
the manifold glory of Jesus Christ quotes Ps.2.7 in two different places
viz. Heb.1.5 and 5.5.
In the first instance, his argument is
that to none of the angels has the Father ever said the words: “You are
My Son, Today I have begotten You”. After Jesus Christ accomplished the
work of redemption and ascended to the throne at the right hand of the
Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has
by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they, the words are
uttered “You are My Son”. That the Messiah is addressed here, as “My Son”
is not disputed. But the words “this day have I begotten you” have created
confusion. To guard the truth of Christ’s eternal sonship some have said
this does mean the ‘eternal generation’ of the son and today is eternity.
But this is very vague. Yet, others have understood ‘this day’ to mean
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true of course, the resurrection
of Jesus Christ proved that he is the Son of God (Rom.1.4).
In Hebrews Five, the subject is the priesthood
of Jesus Christ. He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The priesthood of Melchizedek both precedes and succeeds the Levitical
priesthood. He is without father, without mother and without genealogy
i.e. in the records of Judaism. This Melchizedek is made like unto the
Son of God, who is likewise without beginning and without end. The former
is symbolically without beginning and without end whereas the Son of God
is without beginning and end essentially and intrinsically. And He is a
priest forever.
To sum up what we find in the Scripture
is that the Son of God is the Messiah, the King and the Priest. As Messiah
he was born a man and died and rose again and thus accomplished salvation;
as the resurrected King he lives and reigns for ever and ever and as Priest
he lives to make eternal intercession for us.
“Now of course Jesus was eternally the
Son of God, from everlasting to everlasting; He was incarnately the Son
of God when He came down to that Bethlehem stable to be born as a Man among
men; He was manifestly the Son of God when He came back from the dead in
invincible power; He is gloriously the Son of God, as God’s own chosen
King (P.24 Exploring the Psalms Vol.I, by John Philips)
Israel had three representative offices,
viz. prophet, priest and king. Each time a legitimate son of David was
crowned king as the successor to his father in the city of Jerusalem, these
words (Ps.2.7) could be used of him. The new king was adopted by God as
His ‘son’; he would look to God as his “Father” (See 2 Sam.7.5, 14). This
formula of adoption was announced in a solemn ceremony of coronation attended
by priests and prophets” (comments on Ps.2.7 in the Nelson Study Bible)
Jesus Christ Himself is the prophet, (one
like unto Moses), priest (after the order Melchizedek) and King (as the
son of David). Now the Son is declared to be the King (see Matt.3.17; Mark
1.1, 11; Luke 3.22; Jn.1.18; Acts 13.33; Heb.1.5; 5.5).
Jesus is not called 'child of God' (Teknon
Theou) as believers are called. Jesus called God His Father (Jn.5.18) To
Jesus God is not a Father as he is to us. A Son is given to us. (Isa.9.6)
Only in his humanity he was born, not in His deity.
It is because Jesus is God that worship
is given to Him and worship is received by Him. Angels worship Him (Heb.1.6).
Men worship him Matt.14.33; 28.17).
Mathew is the gospel of the King. In this
gospel, we find Jesus worshipped by --
a. The wise men (Matt.2.11)
And when they were come into the house,
they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped
Him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him
gifts: gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
The Greek word for worship in this verse
and the other verses in Mathew is "Proskuneo". It is an act of homage.
It is the act of falling prostrates before One to make obeisance or do
reverence.
Though the wise men saw the child with
Mary, it was the child they worshiped and not Mary. "Thou shall worship
the Lord, thy God, and him only shall thou serve (Matt.3.10)
There is great significance in their offerings
too. They offered gold. Gold is a symbol of deity. The child in the manger
was God himself. They worshiped him as God.
They offered frankincense, a fragrant perfume.
Though God, he became man. God sent forth his Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh. "That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God" (Lk.1.35). The fragrance of the sinless perfection of the Son
is seen here.
They offered myrrh. This bitter herb speaks
of the sufferings he would have to undergo when he takes up the sin of
whole humanity and offers himself as a sacrifice for their sins.
b. A cleansed leper (Matt.8.2)
Behold there came a leper and worshiped
him, saying, Lord if thou wilt thou can make me clean.
Jesus Christ is born the King of the Jews
(Matt.2.2) His genealogy is found in chapter 1. Chapter two confirms that
He came in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. At the time of
his baptism, he is publicly presented as the Messiah. The opposition to
the King is found in chapter 4. The next three chapters describe the manifesto
of the kingdom. In Chapters, eight and nine are the ten miracles performed
by the King, where the power of the king is manifested. In the first of
these, a leper comes and worships Him and requests to make him clean. The
one who was willing to submit to the power of the king and be cleansed
is the worshipper.
c. A Ruler (Matt.9.18)
Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue (cf. Mark
5.21-43;Lk.8.40-56) came and worshiped him, and requested that he raise
his daughter who was dead. The ruler thus confessed that Jesus had power
over death.
d. Those in the ship (Mat.14.33)
The disciples of Jesus were in a boat in
the sea and He Himself was in prayer. When the boat was being tossed in
the middle of the sea Jesus came to them walking in water. When Peter recognized
that it was the Lord, at His command he also walked in water. Peter was
afraid of the boisterous wind and began to sink. Jesus stretched out his
hand and saved him. This miracle brought out a confession from those in
the boat that Jesus is the Son of God, and they worshiped him.
e. A woman of Canaan (Matt.15.22)
A woman of Canaan cried out to the Lord
to save her daughter who was demon possessed. In spite of unkindness and
objection from the disciples, she worshiped Him as Lord. The Lord commended
her faith and healed her daughter.
f. Zebedee's wife (Matt.20.20)
The mother of Zebedee's children came,
worshiped him, and asked favors for her children in His kingdom, thereby
confessing that He is the King.
g. The disciples (Matt.28.9)
The seventh instant is after the resurrection
of the Lord. They held on to his feet and worshiped him. He is the resurrected
king and Lord who is worthy to be worshiped. His equality with the Father
and Holy Spirit in the baptismal formula (Matt.28.19) and in benediction
(2 Cor.13.14) is also because Jesus is God.
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2. Jesus has
the Attributes of God:
The Attributes of God are the properties
or qualities that identify who He is and are inseparable from Him. The
attributes of God may be classified as Absolute and Relative. The former
concerns the inner being of God and the later respect the outward relations
of God's being. Though latter theologians have made various classifications
of the attributes of God, in this study we make a simple division of moral
and non-moral attributes. The moral attributes are Holiness, Righteousness,
Goodness and Truth; and the non-moral being Omnipresence, Omniscience,
Omnipotence and Immutability. We find all these attributes of God, in the
Person of Christ.
a. Moral attributes of Jesus Christ
(1) He is Holy.
That which was begotten in the womb of
Mary was holy (Lk.1.35). He is holy in nature. The Church prayed that the
enemies were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ,
against "Your Holy Servant Jesus" (Acts 4.27). The Father attests the perfection
of his life of thirty years at the time of baptism when from the open heaven
He said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Again in the
Mount of Transfiguration He said, This is my beloved Son hear you him.
He is pure (1 Jn.3.3) and separate from
sinners (Heb.7.26) He did no sin, (1 Pet.2.22) and He knew no sin (2 Cor.5.21).
He also could not sin, though he was tempted in all points like we are
(Heb.4.15)
(2) He was righteous and just. (Isa.53.11;
Heb.1.9; Zech.9.9; Jn.5.30; Acts 22.14).
He is called the Righteous servant (Isa.53.11)
and Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn.2.1) He loved righteousness and hated
lawlessness. Jesus himself said, 'my judgment is righteous, because I do
not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. He is the
Just One.
(3) He was good (Matt.19.16).
One rich young ruler came to Jesus Christ
and said, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal
life? He confessed that Jesus is Good and He knew that only God is good
but was not willing to confess that Jesus is God.
(4) He was Truth (Jn1.14; 7.18; 1 Jn.5.20).
We beheld his glory full of grace and
truth. Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth and the life (Jn.14.6).
In Psalms we have a statement, 'Mercy and Truth have met together" (Ps.85.10).
Humanly speaking both of these are impossible.
Jesus was fully honest and truthful and
at the same time full of grace. He was merciful and at the same time truthful
too.
A true and righteous person should punish
sin and unrighteousness. He cannot show mercy in not punishing sin, and
show grace to an undeserving sinner. It is possible only for God. In the
person of Jesus Christ, he punished sin and forgave a sinner. He was full
of grace and truth.
b. Non-moral attributes of Jesus Christ:
(1) His omnipresence: He is present where
two or three are gathered in his name. (Matt.18.20) His promise to his
disciples was he would be with them always. (Matt.28.20) When he was in
the world in the days of his flesh, he was in also in heaven. (Jn.3.13)
(2) His omniscience: He knew all men, and
knew what was in man. (Jn.2.24, 25). Peter confessed that Jesus knew him
(Jn.21.17). He testified himself as one who searches the minds and hearts
of everyone. (Rev.2.23.) Jesus told Nathaniel that He knew him while he
was under the fig tree. (Jn.1.48)
(3) His omnipotence: He is the mighty God.
(Isa.9.6) He is able to subdue all things unto himself. (Phil.3.20). He
is the one who has the keys of hell and of death. (Rev.1.18)
(4) His immutability: Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb.13.8; Cf. Mal. 3.6). Even the work
of his hands, the heavens and the earth may perish but he remains; his
years shall not fail. (Heb.1.10-12).
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3. Jesus does the
works of God.
We do not discuss here the works of redemption
or the works of miracles. These of course He did, and they are peculiar
to Him alone, but by woks of God, we mean the works He performed because
He is God himself. God alone can do these works.
a. Creation: This works belong to God alone
as Creator. He made all things, and without him was not anything made that
was made (Jn1.3). By Him were all things created, that are in heaven and
that are in earth, visible and invisible (Col.1.16). By whom also he made
the worlds (Heb.1.2).
In Gen.1.1, we have the statement that
in the beginning God (Heb. Elohim) created the heaven and the earth. In
Gospel of John, the Word made everything. Therefore, the Word (Jesus Christ)
is the God of Genesis 1.1. He made the worlds (aion) 'ages'. "It embraces
the idea of time as well as space and matter, thus beautifully reflecting
the scientific concept of the universe as a space/matter/time continuum
(Henry M. Morris, in Defenders Study Bible).
b. Providence: He upholds everything by
the word of his power (Heb.1.3). All things hold together by him. (Col.1.17).
The father has given all things into his hand. (Jn.3.35).
There are mysterious nuclear forces or
binding energies that keep the atom together and they don’t disintegrate.
This is a fact that science understands. The power that is generated when
the atom is divided is called the atomic or nuclear power. Science does
not understand anything beyond this. But the Bible emphatically declares
that it is sustaining power of Christ that holds the atoms and the universe
together.
One day, Peter says, all these things shall
be dissolved or unloosed and the elements (Stoicheion = the fundamental
constituents) shall melt with fervent heat. One day Christ will unloose
the sustaining power and the works that are in the world shall be burned
up. (2 Pet.3.10, 11).
c. Raises the dead & Executes Judgment:
As the Father raises up the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives
life to whomsoever he will. For the father judges no man, but has committed
all judgment unto the Son. (Jn.5.21, 22; Cf. Matt.25.31, 32; Acts 17.31).
One day Jesus called Lazarus from the grave
and he came forth. On a coming day, Jesus himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God
and the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thes.4.16).
Another day every one in the grave will
hear the voice of the Son of God. The sea will give up the dead, which
are in it; and death and hell will deliver up the dead which are in it
and they will stand for judgment at the Great White Throne and Jesus Christ
will judge them (Rev.20.13).
d. Dissolution and renewal of all things:
He gives new bodies to the believers. (Phil.3.21) He renews the creation.
(Heb.1.10-12)
e. Forgives the sins: "Son thy sins are
forgiven thee" Mark.2.5; Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more
(Jn.8.11).
A man sick of the palsy was brought to
Jesus. He saw their faith and told him, Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.
This enraged the religious leaders and they reasoned in themselves, how
could Jesus forgive his sins, since they knew that it was the prerogative
of God to forgive sin and not anybody else. Jesus knowing their reasoning
told the sick man to take up his bed and go his way into his house. The
man took up his bed and walked. This proved to them that Jesus had power
on earth to forgive sins, that Jesus is God himself.
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Conclusion
Jesus Christ is God
in human flesh. He is co-equal, co-eternal, and of the same substance with
the Father. He has all the attributes of God and does all the works that
God does. He is not inferior to the Father in any way. He accepted the
worship of His creatures. Jesus has the essence of God; He has the attributes
of God; and He does the works of God. He is the eternal Son of the eternal
Father. This speaks of the unique relationship between the First and Second
Persons of the Trinity. |