Topical - Diety of Christ
Introduction:
A. Evidence For the Deity of Jesus Christ
It is important to study the nature of Jesus Christ because basically Christianity is all about Christ! In looking at this, the deity of Christ, one may ask “Why is it important to believe that Jesus Christ is truly God? There’s other religious groups that seem to be good people, or seem to have good strong families, but yet they don’t believe in the “deity of Christ.” Well, Jesus said this in John 17:3:
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
· In order to possess eternal life, in order to be in God’s eternal kingdom one must first of all know God the Father & then also know Jesus Christ the one God has sent. And if someone believes that Jesus Christ is less than God is then they do not truly know Him, and they do not have eternal life. So it’s not a debatable subject, it’s not something that someone can choose to believe or reject. In order to be saved in order to possess eternal life one must fully agree that Jesus Christ is Lord that He is God, not a created being, not less than the Father but equal with the Father.
One must know Christ by experience, not just head knowledge, Matt. 7:21-23
Eternal life is God’s free gift to those who believe on His Son,
John 3:15, 16, 36; 6:47; 10:28; 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18; Rom 10:9-10; Rev. 3:20; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5
“Faith comes by hearing the Word of God” Rom. 10:17
It is not just enough to believe, James 1:19
Give Example of “a bomb being in this room” & “a helicopter letting down a rope to a man to rescue him”
· John 1:1:
Here John starts off the gospel in showing the nature and character of Jesus Christ that He has always been with God, He has eternally been with the Father, and that He is God. Yes it is true that He is a separate person than the Father but He is the eternal God as well.
What is the importance of Christ’ “preexistence?” (He existed before His birth)
1. At Birth - If Christ came into existence at His birth then no eternal trinity exists, Christ does not possess full deity.
2. Not God - If Christ was not eternally existent then He could not be God. God is eternal.
3. A Liar - If Christ was not preexistent then He lied, because He claimed to be. Then the question arises, “what else did He lie about?”
The Evidence for Christ’ Preexistence
1. His Heavenly Origin - His heavenly origin *John 3:13, 31 cf. 6:38
2. His Works as Creator - If Christ was involved in creating, then He had to exist before creation – (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2)
3. His Relationship With God – He claimed equality of nature with God, (John 10:30), He claimed equal glory with the Father before the world began (John 17:5), and Paul also claimed that Christ had the same nature as God (Philippians 2:6).
4. His Relationship with John the Baptist – Though John was before Jesus, John acknowledged that Jesus existed before him (John 1:15, 30) – Literal translation “First of me.”
The Meaning and Evidence of Christ’ Eternality
· Not only did Christ exist before His birth or even before creation but that He existed always, eternally.
The Evidence for Christ’ Eternality
Hebrews 1:3 – “express image” indicates that Christ is the exact representation of God’s nature or “essence.”
John 3:13 cf. John 6:38 – Bethlehem cannot of been his beginning – (John 1:3 – “all things were made through Him” cf. 1 Cor. 8:6).
The Old Testament Proof for Eternality
Micah 5:2; Is. 9:6; John 8:58
The Extent of the Pre-incarnate Christ as Creator
· He was involved in the creation of all things (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2)
The Purpose of It
· All things were created for Him (Col. 1:16)
· He holds all things together (Col. 1:17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses Mistranslation of John 1:1
The Jehovah’s Witnesses insert the letter “a” meaning that Jesus Christ is less that the Father.
Mante, a Greek scholor, in commenting on this “mistranslation” of the Bible, he said, “It is a grossly misleading translation of this verse. What this verse is saying is that Jesus Christ has been, always will be, and throughout eternity, is God.”
The NWT of John 1:1
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have mistranslated verse 1 in the last part where they say, “and the Word was “a god.” They insert the letter “a” meaning that Jesus Christ is less than the Father.
The Inconsistency of the NWT
Let one examine these passages where the article is not used with theos and see if the rendering ‘a god’ makes sense (Matt. 5:9; 6:24; Lk. 1:35-78; 2:40; John 1:6, 12, 13, 18; 3:2, 21; 9:16, 33; Romans 1:7, 17, 18; 1 Cor. 1:30; 15:10; Phil. 2:11, 13; Titus 1:1).
· The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge points out, “translators and translations which choose to render this phrase ‘a god’ or ‘divine’ are motivated by theological, not grammatical, considerations.
· Their translation or “mistranslation” of verse one of Johns gospel is a “perversion to distort” the true teaching about Jesus and His deity.
· The Watchtower Society consistently misrepresents what various scholars have said about John 1:1. Having done so, we must then emphasize that the “polytheistic” teaching that there is both a “God Almighty” and a lesser “mighty god” goes against the clear teaching of Scripture that there is only one true God (John 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:5).
Passages From the Old Testament
-Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:8; Isaiah 45:8
________Ask . . ._______________________________________________________
· How do you reconcile Jehovah-God’s statement in Deuteronomy 32:39 that “there is no god besides me” ---- as well as His statement in Isaiah 45:5 that “besides Me there is no God” ---- with the Watchtower teaching that there is both a “God Almighty” and a “mighty god”?
· John 20:28
Jesus is fully God according to the Apostle John in the first verse of his gospel, and as he get to the end of his gospel he hasn’t changed his mind as he records the words of Thomas when Thomas encounters the risen Lord.
“Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:27-29 NKJV)
· Verse 28 literally reads in the Greek “The Lord of me and the God of me.”
· NWT “oh my God” Thomas was making an emotional exclamation that was directed to Jehovah God
_____Ask . . ._________________________________________________________
· If Thomas was just expressing surprise at seeing the risen Christ, wouldn’t his words be equivalent to taking God’s name in vain? (Acts 14:11-15)
Jews of the first century believed that any careless use of God’s name amounted to blasphemy.
· If Thomas took God’s name in vain in the presence of Jesus, don’t you think Jesus would have rebuked him? Instead, Jesus commended Thomas for finally coming to believe He was who He said He was.
· What precisely was it that Thomas “believed,” according to 20:28?
The obvious answer is that Thomas had finally come to believe that Jesus was “Lord” and “God.”
· Psalm 35:23 “My Lord” and “My God” is used of Yahweh.
OTHER TESTIMONIES
· John the Baptist (John 1:34
· Nathaneal (John 1:49)
· Jesus (John 5:25; 10:36)
· Peter (John 6:69)
· Martha (John 11:27)
· John Himself (John 20:30-31)
DIALOGUE BETWEEN a “CHRISTIAN” AND a “JEHOVAH’S WITNESS”
CHRISTIAN: According to John 17:3, how many true God’s are there?
JW: Only one, Jehovah Father is the “only true God.”
CHRISTIAN: Quite right. Now would you agree that whatever is not true is false?
JW: I suppose so.
CHRISTIAN: Then if there is only one true God then all other god’s must be false god’s right?
JW: Yes
CHRISTIAN: Now according to John 1:1 in the New World Translation, Jesus is a god. Do you agree with that?
JW: Of course!
CHRISTIAN: Well then, is Jesus a true God or a false god?
JW: I don’t know
CHRISTIAN: He can’t be a false god, can He, since that would mean the apostle John was guilty of falsely honoring Jesus as a God? Therefore, He must be a true God, but Jehovah is the only true God, therefore, Jesus must be Jehovah.
· 1 John 5:20
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20 NKJV)
Ø The word “This” is related to Jesus Christ His Son who is just mentioned.
Ø God the Father has never been called “eternal life” where as Jesus is called the life (John 14:6); true light (John 1:9); true bread (John 6:32); true vine (John 15:1); and truth itself (John14:6).
Ø It is redundant to say the true God is the true God.
Lenski, a commentator of the Bible, deals a lot with the grammatical aspects of the Scriptures held to the fact that the word “this” refered to Jesus Christ.
“This is the old exegesis. It played a treat role in the controversy with Arius who, because of his denial of the eternal Sonship, was compelled to make John say that “this one” (autos) = God and not Jesus Christ. This Arian exegesis became that of all later anti-Trinitarians. . . . Against the stands the exegesis of the Church as it was advanced from the early days onward.” Commentary on 1 John by Lenski
In the 4th century when there was a denial of the deity of Jesus Christ by a Church leader by the name of Arius, the Church held to the fact that this verse was a reference to the deity of Jesus Christ and used this verse from the 1st century on to prove the claim that Jesus Christ was truly God.
· Isaiah 7:14 cf. Matthew 1:23
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 NKJV)
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." (Matthew 1:23 NKJV)
The Apostle John is describing the virgin birth of Christ. He says the offspring that God would produce through the Holy Spirit through a virgin of this union will be “Immanuel,” which is “God with us.” So its not only just a human child that is born but it is God coming among us, God living and dwelling among men, God truly being with us.
· Isaiah 9:6
The New World Translation renders Isaiah 9:6, “For there has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Jehovah’s Witnesses concede that Jesus is a “mighty God” but they are adamant that He is not God Almighty like Jehovah is. They further argue that that “to call Jehovah God ‘Almighty’ would have little significance unless there existed others who were also called gods but who occupied a lesser or inferior position.”
“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV)
· The prophet Isaiah directly calls this Son that is going to be born which was fulfilled through the virgin Mary “Mighty God.” This is a direct reference to the fact that Jesus Christ is “Mighty God.”
Ø Response #1 - As you answer the Jehovah’s Witnesses on this passage, you will want to point out that in the very next chapter in Isaiah (10:21) Jehovah Himself (the Father) is called “Mighty God” (using the same Hebrew word). The very fact that Jehovah is called “Mighty God” completely obliterated the Watchtower argument that the expression must refer to a lesser deity as opposed to “Mighty God,” the fact that Jesus too is called “Mighty God” points to His equality with God the Father.
Ø Further support Jeremiah 32:17, 18 – Jehovah is called “Mighty God” in reference to Him as Creator.
ü “Elohim” is the word for God here-used 2,500 times.
Ø Verses that say there is One God: Isaiah 44:6; 44:8; 45:5
Ø Everlasting Father
In the Trinity Jesus (the second person) is always distinguished from the Father (the first person). So why does Isaiah refer to Jesus the Messiah as “Everlasting Father?”
It is critical to keep in mind what other Scriptures have to say about the distinction between the Father and the Son.
ü Jesus is called the Son over 200 times in the NT
ü The Father is considered by Jesus as someone other than Himself over 200 times in the NT
ü Over 50 times the Father and Son are seen to be distinct within the same verse (Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:4; Galatians 1:2, 3; Philippians 2:10, 11; 1 John 2:1; 2 John 3).
The better translation of Isaiah 9:6 is “Father of Eternity”
ü In the Hebrew, in there way of communicating something, when they said someone was the “father” of something, this meant that that person possessed that thing or he was the “father” of it. (Ex. If you were called the “father of mercy” means you were “filled with mercy.”
ü The phrase “Father of Eternity” means “possessor of eternity.”
ü So here its actually speaking of the Son that’s going to be given is actually one that is “Eternal,” He is the “Possessor of all time and Eternity.”
“Theologian John R. Martin points out that, “Father of Eternity” shows that Christ is eternal, it shows His relationship to time and not His relationship with the Father or to the Holy Spirit.”
The nation of Israel had paraphrases of the OT Scriptures they were called Targums and we have one of Isaiah and it reads this way:
“His name has been called from old, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, He who lives forever, the Anointed One, in whose days peace shall increase upon us.”
Responding To the Jehovah’s Witnesses \ Colossians 1:16-17 – Christ the Created Creator?
The NWT of Colossians 1:16-17
“By means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him. Also he is before all [other] things by means of him all [other] things were made to exist.”
The Weakness of the NWT
1. 4 times the NWT inserts the word “other.”
2. Other is inserted to make the reading smoother and bring out the plain sense without changing the meaning. The problem is that it completely changes the meaning!
3. Notice that the word other is in brackets in their translation.
4. Their translation up to 1950 did not even put the words in brackets until pressure from evangelical scholarship.
The New World translation is “a frightful mistranslation….erroneous….pernicious….reprehensible
Did Christ play a “junior partner” role in the creation since the New Testament says that God made the world through (Greek: dia) Christ?
1. It is true that the Greek word dia is used several times of Christ’s role as Creator of the universe
(John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2)
2. The New Testament also states that the world came into being through (dia) God (Romans 11:36),
Specifically through (dia) the Father (Hebrews 2:10).
Since the Jehovah’s Witnesses conclude that Jesus played a secondary role in making the universe because creation is said to be “through” (dia) Christ (John 1:3), ask the Jehovah’s Witnesse, “then what are we to conclude about Jehovah when Romans 11:36 and Hebrews 2:10 say the universe was created “through” (dia) Jehovah?
If the same word is used to describe Jehovah’s work in creation is used to describe Christ’s work in creation, then doesn’t this militate against the Watchtower view that Christ played a secondary role?
Conclusion: Christ did not act as a junior partner in the creation of the universe!
O.T. Evidence That God Created Everything – by Himself
· It is important to point our to the Jehovah’s Witness the scriptural teaching that only God is the Creator.
1. Isaiah 44:24 with Genesis 1; Isaiah 40; Psalm 8
· Isaiah 44:24 clearly states the fact that Jehovah is:
a. “the maker of all things” who stretched out the heavens
b. “by Myself” and spread out the earth
c. “all alone” and since Christ Himself is the Creator of “all things” (John 1:3), therefore,
d. Christ is God Almighty, just as God the Father!
2. Jesus is creator of all other things (do not add lest you be found a liar) does Paul need their help?
3. Micah 5:2 The Eternality of Christ
A. The NWT
“And you O, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the one too little to get to be among the thousands of Judah, from you there will come out to me the one who had become ruler in Israel, whose origins is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.”
1. According to this translation “Jesus was created a long time ago.”
Response:
Trans “whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”
1. Hab. 1:2 – The phrase from old refer to Jehovah and His eternal existence, surely the idea He had a beginning.
2. The phrase “from ancient times” = “immeasurable time.”
3. Jamiesset, Fausset and Brown the two terms taken together speak of “the strongest assertion of indefinite duration of which the Hebrew language is capable.”
Refuting Arianism/Jehovah Witness False Doctrine
#1 Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn over all creation.”
A. Their Position-First Born Means First One
Created or First One Born of God.
1. Jesus is the eldest in Jehovah’s family of sons.
2. Jesus is the Greatest Man who ever lived.
3. “Jesus was a very special person because he was created by God before all other things.”
The Understatement of Eternity!!!
B. Response
New Testament Evidence:
1. First – Born does not mean first created
2. Greek Scholarship agrees
A. Prototokos – supremacy, positional preeminence, He is supreme over all of creation.
B. Heir – all that belongs to the Father, also belongs to the Son
C. Protoktisis – lit. “first created” and is never used of Christ in the NT
D. The Church Fathers of the 4th century pointed out the distinction between these words to refute Arianism
Athanansian Creed
Christ is:
“equal to the Father as touching His Godhood and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.”
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren”. (Romans 8:29 NKJV)
OT Evidence :
1. In OT Hebrew:
- The son in the family who had the preeminent position-regardless of birth order.
- He received the blessing and a double portion of the inheritance.
- Examples Gen. 41:50-51 with Jer 31:9
- Ishmael born 13 years before Isaac, but Isaac the firstborn.
- Esau born first, but Jacob becomes the firstborn.
- Ex. 4:22 Israel my firstborn.
- Ps. 86:27 of David “And I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”
- Jer 31:9 “Ephraim my firstborn.”
2. Revelation 3:14
"And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, `These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: (Revelation 3:14 NKJV)