WHY
CHRISTIANS CALL JESUS GOD
We are taking
just a little break from our usual topic IS THE CHURCH REPROBATE, to consider a
bunny issue, one that I have tried to explain to my Muslim friends. I decide
today to publish this topic here because of my belief that it would benefit
several people both Christians and non-Christians alike. Happy reading
To the non-Christians, this is the most
controversial aspect of Christianity that they cannot fathom. They would ague,
‘’why must you equate any one with God?’’
This feeling of human beings always trying to fight for God did not start
today. In fact it was why Gideon’s father named him Jerubaal, meaning, ‘let baal
fight for himself'. The Jews, during the Old Testament era, FOUGHT very hard to
see that nobody ‘dethroned’ God. But do we really need to defend God? Can’t God
defend Himself? He can, and He always did defend Himself when He needs to.
For clarity and simplicity purpose, we would
consider this topic under sub-topics. We would see the positions of Jesus IN
THE BEGINNING, WHILE HE WAS ON EARTH, and WHEN HE WAS GLORIFIED.
1) IN THE BEGINNING
a) JESUS THE WORD OF GOD
It is important, in the
first place, you believer in the HOLY BIBLE before you could appreciate this
discussion. The Bible consists of the 39 books of the Old Testament, and the 27
books of the New Testament. In fact if there is any part of the scripture you
do not believe then this article would not be beneficial to you. All scriptures,
including the New and the Old are products of God’s inspiration 2Timothy 3:16.
Jesus was in the beginning with God as HIS
WORD. Revelation 19:13 says ‘’He was clothed
with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called THE WORD OF GOD.’’ Also
in John 1:1,2 the Bible says ‘’In the
beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God. He was
in the beginning with God.’’ These Bible passages clearly showed that JESUS
was in the beginning with God as His WORD.
b) ALL THINGS WERE CREATED
BY JESUS AND FOR JESUS
The book of Genesis has
a vivid account of the creation of the world. In chapter 1:3, it says ‘’Then God said, let there be light, and there
was light.’’ Here makes it quite unarguable that God did not use His hand, or
His legs in creating the World but He used His Word. Remember in section (a)
above we have shown that Jesus was the World of God at the beginning. By God
using His Word to create the world, it simply means that Jesus was used to
create the world, hence John 1:3 says ‘’ All
things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.’’
Also, read Colossians 1:16, 17.
2) JESUS AS GOD’S MESSENGER
a) JESUS DECLARED THE SON
OF GOD
We have seen how that
in the beginning Jesus was with God as
His word. But in the process of time when God needed to fulfill the salvation
plan He declared in Genesis (read Genesis 3:15), He needed to send a Savior
into the world. Note that what a Savior was coming to remedy was sin, so there was
the need for one that was not born by ‘’the will of the flesh’’, that is sexual
intercourse. So in that light God needed to first and foremost declare His Word
as his son. Psalm 2: 7 says ‘’ I will
declare a degree: the LORD has said to Me, you are my Son, today I have
begotten You.’’ So for those who argue if God had a wife, Jesus became the
Son of God by DECLARATION. Besides, Jesus is also called the Son of God because
He is a product of God, that is, His Word, just like THINGS FALL APART could be
called the brain child of Chinua Achebe.
b) JESUS MADE FLESH
The redemption of man needed to be undertaken
by a man. There was no way God would use an Angel to redeem man, that is pay
for man’s sin. The person that was to do that, like we said earlier must not be
by the will of the flesh, but He must carry flesh so as to relate with man and
feel the pains of man. For that reason, Jesus was transferred as a fetus into
the womb of a woman: ‘’The WORD was made
flesh and dwelt among us…’’ John 1:14. Read also Hebrew 2:9-11. Remember
that man was also first created before he was made flesh. Read 1:26, 27 and 2:
5-7; so like man, Jesus was made flesh to perform the priestly assignment: ‘’ For we do not have an High Priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in our point tempted as we are,
yet without sin.’’ Hebrew 4:15.
Having been made flesh, Jesus became subject
to the frailty of the flesh; He needed to rely on the Father to overcome. This
underscored his constant prayers and His self-confessed reliance on the Father:
Hebrew 2:13, Psalm 16:10. Besides, having been flesh, Jesus became less
honorable than the Angels: ‘’But we see
Jesus who was made a little lower than the Angel s, for the suffering of the
flesh crowned with glory and honor, that He, by grace of God , might taste
death for everyone.’’ Hebrew 2:9.
This
understandably was why Jesus made it clear why on earth that the Father who
sent Him was greater than Him because He could of His own self do nothing: ‘’I can of my own self do nothing. As I
hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will
but the Father who sent me.’’ But in spite of making it clear that He was
on the assignment of God, and the Son of God, the Jews crucified Him because
they felt that He was promoting Himself. Note that Jesus never disproved the
existence of the Father, and His authority over Him, but the Jews only could
not understand why He made Himself so special as though He was not the child of
Joseph: ‘’ therefore, the Jews sought all
the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that
God was his Father, making Himself equal with God.’’ John 5:18
So, we have examined the three stages Jesus
had gone through. In stage one; He was the WORD OF GOD. In the second stage, He
was MADE THE SON OF GOD; and the third stage, He was MADE FLESH. Understandably,
the word ‘made’ presupposes that another being was doing the making, and that
was the FATHER.
WHY THEN DO THE
CHRISTIANS CALL JESUS GOD?
It should be noted that
the John 1:1 that most Christians quote to explain why Jesus is God did not
even say ‘’THE WORD IS GOD’’, but ‘’THE WORD WAS GOD’’. That means John was not
speaking in the present tense but in the past. Having said that, why do Christians
call Jesus God? The reasons are as follow:
i)
JESUS IS THE SON
OF GOD.
When you call
somebody a son, you are indirectly saying that that person is you. What would
you call the son of a man? Man, of course. What about the son of a lion? A
lion. The Jews understands this such that even though Jesus did not tell them
directly that He was God, they said: ‘’…He
not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, MAKING
HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD.’’ (Emphasis, mine) John 5:18. So being God’s Son
makes Jesus God.
ii)
HE PROCEEDS FROM
THE FATHER.
‘’Jesus said to
them, if God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and
came from God …’’ John 8:42. As The Word of God made flesh, Jesus was right
to say He proceeded from God, and being a product or issue of God He is God.
iii)
GOD GAVE THE NAME
TO JESUS
Isaiah 9:6 - ‘’
For unto us a child is born, unto us a
Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder and His name will
be called Wonderful, Counselor, mighty
God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.’’
Psalm 45:6 - ‘’
Your throne, o God (Jesus) is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of your kingdom’’ Also Hebrew 1:8
John 10:34- ‘’Jesus
answered them, is it not written in your law, I said you are gods? If He called
them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken) do
you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you are
blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God?’’
iv)
WE MUST HONOR THE SON AS WE HONOR THE FATHER
‘’…That all
should honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent Him’’ John 5:23
3) JESUS AFTER RESURRECTION
After God raised Jesus from death, He was glorified
and honored with a name that is above all names, and made the ONLY SAVIOR OF
MANKIND. So presently, what concerns the believer is not JESUS AS THE WORD,
JESUS AS THE SON, JESUS MADE FLESH, but rather JESUS AS THE CHRIST: ‘’ And I say unto you that you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church, and the gate of hell shall not prevail
against it.’’ What did Jesus mean by the rock? Read verse 16, ‘’ And Simon Peter answered and said, you are
the Christ, the Son of the living God.’’ HE IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE
LIVING GOD. That is the Rock, the foundation of the New testament Church.
Anyone who disbelieves this does not belong to Christ.
WHAT WAS PROPHESIED OF JESUS THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE HIS
BIRTH
1)
HE IS THE SEED OF
THE WOMAN: Genesis 3:15
2)
HE IS THE PROPHET
THE PEOPLE ARE TO LISTEN TO: Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; John 5:46
3)
HE IS THE
PROMISED CHRIST: Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:4-6; John 4: 25, 26;
4)
HE IS THE
PROMISED LAMB OF GOD: John 1: 29, 30; Isaiah
53: 1-12; Acts 8:32-35
WHAT JESUS SAID OF HIMSELF AFTER RESURRECTION
‘’I am the Alpha
and Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the LORD who is and was and to come
the Almighty.’’ Revelation 1:8. If JESUS who humbly identified Himself as
THE SON OF MAN, and THE SON OF GOD now says He is THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA,
BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, would you continue to fight Christians because they
called JESUS GOD? JESUS IS GOD!
OHIMAI DANIEL,
+2347032452945
