Jesus is The LORD.
John 3:16
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Isaiah 43:11
I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.
I have written this essay to show that the trinity is indeed a biblical subject. I do not know how this is exactly, but this essay I hope will show that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God.
The Bible, which is believed to be written by men, but was given to men to write by God, is basically the same in all forms of different beliefs about Jesus. Guaranteed, if you read any of these Bibles, they will say basically the same thing. Any difference would be very minor. Every book in the Bible will say the same thing, even with minor word changes between translations. They will say the same things that mean the same things.
With that said, I’m going to go through the Bible and show that Jesus, while separate from The LORD most high in body and in purpose and in person, is in fact, The LORD most high.
This is going to be a very basic rundown of parts of the Bible, so this won’t be the most detailed report ever. Still, I hope to prove the point thoroughly.
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Genesis 3:1-13
Side Note: The serpent in this chapter is Satan. God had allowed the serpent into the Garden. He did this so that our free will could be truly used.
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
Deuteronomy 30:19
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live
It is said in the Bible that there is only one God. Since the Old Testament times, it is said that there is only one. Not two or three or four, but only one. This God, Yahweh (Or The LORD, or anything else you choose to call Him) is the only God. He created everything, including the Earth and the Universe. He created all the land features on Earth, all the stars within space, and everything we see and hear. He created all the animals on Earth, all the birds in the sky, and one very special thing: human beings.
He made humans in His image (that means all humans, all over the world). He made us to be perfect like Him, and He loved us so much that He wanted to be with us. But, He didn’t want us to be mindless drones. He decided that instead of forcing us to believe in Him, that He’d give us a choice (see Deuteronomy 3:19). He gave us freewill instead of forcing us to love Him. What is freewill? Freewill is the decision to make up your own mind on things. It is the choice that we all have. So, He gave us freewill.
However, with our freewill, Adam and Eve, the first human beings made, rebelled against God by doing what The LORD said was wrong. This was called sin. Sin is what God says is wrong. Sin is imperfect and is absolutely wrong with God. So, when Adam and Eve did what was wrong, they could no longer be in the presence of God. God hates sin. All sins are equally hated by God. To God, all sins are equally bad. Using our freewill, humans have been sinning since the beginning.
Because this is a rundown, I won’t go into huge details here. But I’ll just say that God cannot stand sin. He hates the fact that people choose to do it and that people repeatedly do what He says is wrong. Since sin is imperfect, God would demand a blood sacrifice for each sin we committed. That’s why people were called to give animal sacrifices. The blood of the clean animals would pay for the sins committed. However, once again, with our freewill, people continued to do sinful things like murder and rape and all sorts of evil things. God was most displeased. When people did these things, God would use wrath against these people. The world was then so sinful that it was nearly helpless. People continued to do evil things, turned away from God and followed idols. This made God very sad. God loves all people, the sinful or the righteous, people who turned away from Him, all the different people all over the World, men and women, everyone. He loves everyone. However, our sins made us not right with God. Sin is punishable by death. That’s why animals were sacrificed; it was to pay for the sins committed by people. However, people continued to be unfaithful to God. Most turned their backs completely on Him. He knew that He would have to have sin paid for and that would have meant wrath on the entire world. However, He didn’t wish to have to do this. He loves us all, but He will do what is right. The wrath had to be fulfilled, but that would have meant killing us off. This He truly didn’t wish to do.
God has always been merciful, but also always been just. He will punish us for our actions. A murderer kills, he goes to prison, or maybe gets into a car accident or something happens to the murderer as consequence. A person lies and he gets into trouble. The point is, people reap what they sow.
This is a very true fact about God. This was written by Frogsnack.
Quote:
The Bible is very clear that God does punish sin (he says so himself), but there's something else I'd like to bring to your attention, that being that Satan has a very eager role in our punishment. The verse that says 'Under His wings we will find refuge' is a good starting point. When our walk is blameless (when we are within God's will and not in sin), we are protected from Satan's advances. When we choose to step away from God, and do what is right in our own eyes (be it good or bad), if we are sinning, we are inviting Satan to come and cause us grief. It's like stepping our from an umbrella and into acid rain. We might have a newspaper over our heads (be wise in our crimes), but we still are eventually going to get rained on.
This is fascinating too. I heard an older friend of mine say a while back, that their good friend's cousin was found murdered in the trunk of his car. My friend mentioned that this person had been gambling, and her speculation of his demise was that he owed someone money and couldn't pay. (truly she said that to me)
I remember thinking 'what a scary place the world is, that someone can just put you in your own car and kill you- what's the world coming to?', until she followed up with this: "You know he wasn't living a good lifestyle to have someone come after him like that. Normal people don't just end up in the back of their car like that. He had to be involved in their world." (I paraphrased the world part, forget exactly what she'd said)
But the lesson I learned was this- God says 'the stove is hot' 'don't play with matches' or whatever else. We say 'f-u God! I'm grown!' and do what we like anyways. If what we like is playing with those stupid matches, odds are very high in our favor that we're going to burn something- our finger, our houses down, whatever. If we were just obedient in the first place, we wouldn't have caused our own fate to come down upon our own heads. That's how I view much of God's modern judgment.
This is fascinating too. I heard an older friend of mine say a while back, that their good friend's cousin was found murdered in the trunk of his car. My friend mentioned that this person had been gambling, and her speculation of his demise was that he owed someone money and couldn't pay. (truly she said that to me)
I remember thinking 'what a scary place the world is, that someone can just put you in your own car and kill you- what's the world coming to?', until she followed up with this: "You know he wasn't living a good lifestyle to have someone come after him like that. Normal people don't just end up in the back of their car like that. He had to be involved in their world." (I paraphrased the world part, forget exactly what she'd said)
But the lesson I learned was this- God says 'the stove is hot' 'don't play with matches' or whatever else. We say 'f-u God! I'm grown!' and do what we like anyways. If what we like is playing with those stupid matches, odds are very high in our favor that we're going to burn something- our finger, our houses down, whatever. If we were just obedient in the first place, we wouldn't have caused our own fate to come down upon our own heads. That's how I view much of God's modern judgment.
That’s when God decided to tell us through the Prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament that He’d save us. He said to us that He would save us from our sins.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression [a] and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes [c] his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life [d] and be satisfied [e] ;
by his knowledge [f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, [g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong, [h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
These passages speak of a savior, the one that would be killed and killed BRUTALLY for the sins of mankind. Through His sacrifice, this innocent, perfect man would redeem us of our sins, making us right with God. His blood was the blood sacrifice that saved us all.
This person would be born of a virgin, and would be named Immanuel, which means, “God is with Us”
Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you [c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and [d] will call him Immanuel.
I don’t know about you, but this hits me in the face to be the very life of Jesus in the Bible. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit inside of Mary, and was born of a virgin.
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God."
Jesus was killed brutally and hated very much by his own people. However, Jesus was innocent to all degrees and was completely sinless.
Mark 14:53-65
53They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together.
54Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
55The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58"We heard him say, 'I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.' " 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
60Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 61But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ,[a] the Son of the Blessed One?"
62"I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
63The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64"You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?"
They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.
That is only one part of the Gospel that talks about Jesus being beaten, as prophesied in Isaiah. There are many more verses, however, that speak of His punishment. But it would take too long to list them all.
When Jesus was crucified, our sins were forgiven and we were made right with God if we trust that Jesus is our savior.
The Crucifixion within the Book of John
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read’s JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
22Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
"They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing."[a] So this is what the soldiers did.
25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Three days later, Jesus was resurrected, fully alive and well, to show us that if we trust Him, we too will have eternal life with God.
John 20
The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Now that that’s been said, it is said that Jesus is the savior of us all. He was the one prophesied to die for us and redeem us, making us right with God.
Let’s break into the scripture again.
Here are the first two commandments in the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 20
The Ten Commandments
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
This means that God has said that there is no other God. There is none at all besides Him. He said that He was the one who made us, created us and He is the only God. There are no others besides Him. God HATES it when we worship other things. Before Jesus came to save us all, God would get SO angry with us for worshipping idols that He’d be wrathful. However, once Jesus died for our sins, God then said that He’d have us live under grace, so we can choose to follow what we want. However, you wouldn’t see Jesus/God if you decided to put your faith in something else besides Him, nor would your sins be forgiven.
Anyway, since God says that there is no other God, as said here also in Isaiah,
Isaiah 43:10
10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
Isaiah 44:6
6 "This is what the LORD says—
Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God.
that means that Jesus Christ could not be another God, for there is only one.
One then might say that Jesus was called a god, since we humans are sometimes compared to "gods". That too is incorrect. In Psalm 82 ( 1 God presides in the great assembly;
he gives judgment among the "gods":
2 "How long will you [a] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
Selah
3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 "They know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 "I said, 'You are "gods";
you are all sons of the Most High.'
7 But you will die like mere men;
you will fall like every other ruler."
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.)
God calls us "gods". However, let's put this into context. When God compares us to "gods", He isn't calling us gods, or even saying that we have the title "gods". He was saying, since in the Old Testament times, people judged for God, that they were like gods, because they represented God. Not only that, He calls us "gods" as a description, saying that because we have dominance on the earth we are like "gods". Nobody in all of the Bible is referred to as a god. The only person ever to come close to being called a god is Moses, but he isn't even called a god. Moses was said to "be as though God to Pharaoh".
"Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and it shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him, (Exodus 4:16).
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet,'" (Exodus 7:1). One might then say that John 10:34-35 means Jesus is a god in this sense, too. However, this is incorrect 34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'[e]? 35If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
Jesus did not receive the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God.
Now, this is why Jesus couldn’t be an angel or just a man.
Jesus was never created. Jesus always was, and always will be. He is Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (Revelations 1:17 17When I saw him (Jesus), I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.). Jesus was not created by God. Some people think that Colossians 1:15 (15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ) means that Jesus was created before anything else. However, that is incorrect. That is not what this verse is saying. This verse is showing favor of Jesus, because He is God. It is Jewish custom, as well as the custom of many cultures, to say that those in a family who have a higher position over the rest, or favor over the rest, they are called the firstborns. However, they didn't have to be firstborn at all. Take for example Psalm 89:20-27 (20 I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
21 My hand will sustain him;
surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will subject him to tribute;
no wicked man will oppress him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down his adversaries.
24 My faithful love will be with him,
and through my name his horn [a] will be exalted.
25 I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.'
27 I will also appoint him my firstborn,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.) King David is called God's firstborn. Though, as we know, David was not God's firstborn creation, nor was he even the firstborn of his family. God was saying, "I have have favor in my servant, David, and I make him my firstborn." In Colossians 1:15, Jesus is being called supreme over all creation, just like His Father. He is God. He was never created, but angels were.
Isaiah 42:8 (New International Version)
8 "I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
On top of that, we have Hebrews 1:1-14
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
5For to which of the angels did God ever say,
"You are my Son;
today I have become your Father[a]"? Or again,
"I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son"[c]? 6And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
"Let all God's angels worship him."[d] 7In speaking of the angels he says,
"He makes his angels winds,
his servants flames of fire."[e] 8But about the Son he says,
"Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy."[f] 10He also says,
"In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end."[g] 13To which of the angels did God ever say,
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet"[h]? 14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
God did not give his angels authority. He didn't say to angels, "Your Throne, O God, will last forever and ever". He said that to His Son, Jesus.
Jesus had the glory of the Father and of Himself. God's glory is for God alone (as said in Isaiah 42:8). So, if Jesus said this,
John 5:23 (New International Version)
23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
Or
John 11:4
When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."
Or
John 8:54
Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.
Or
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Or
Luke 9:26
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
or John 17:5
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Then God would be turning against what He had said. God never changes and never goes against His word. Truly, Jesus had come to give glory to the Father (John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” There are many other verses like this one), but He also came for His own glory as well.
Exodus 34:14
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
2 Kings 17:37
You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods.
Matthew 4:10
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "
It is written in the Scriptures that we are to only worship God, for God is jealous and hates it when people worship things other than Himself. If Jesus were not God, than Jesus would have been sinning BIG time, for even in the New Testament, Jesus says to worship only God. Yet, here are many verses of Jesus being worshipped, and Him accepting it!
Matthew 14:33
Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Matthew 28:8-10
8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Matthew 28:16-17
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Luke 24:51-53
51While he [Jesus] was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
John 9:37-39
37Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
38Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
39Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
Not only that, Jesus even goes as far as to say, "All the things that are my Father's are mine as well." (John 16:14-15 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.) EVERYTHING that is God's is Jesus' as well. That includes God's praise and glory, and even God's worship. But then we remember, God said that God's glory is for Him alone. Yet, Jesus was worshipped and glorfied the same way.
Numbers 23:19
19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
1 Samuel 15:29
He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
Malachi 3:6
[ Robbing God ] "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
These are a few of many verses that talk of God NEVER changing. There is only one thing God will change His mind on, and that's punishment. Throughout the Bible, God had decided to punish somebody, but then decided to have mercy. The greatest example of this in the Old Testament was when God had decided to destroy the capitol of Assyria. The people there stopped sinning, and God had mercy. God is compassionate and merciful. When it comes to us dying, God will change his mind. Everything else God has said will never change.
So, God would not change His mind about not giving His glory to another. He will not do it. If He did, He would have gone against His own word, making Him a lier. But God is no lier. He never changed His mind.
Isaiah 43:11
10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.
Hosea 13:4
Yet I have been the LORD your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me.
Jesus says that He is the savior. He said that He is the one who saves us. However, God has said that there is NO savior besides Himself. There are no other saviors besides God. Any very important Biblical person, like Moses and Abraham, said that their savior is only the Lord, not themselves. Truly, they were only servants who served the LORD.
Matthew 1:18-24
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
John 4:42
and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."
This verse is from one of the later books, Acts.
Acts 13:23
“From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus.
And this one from Philippians.
Philippians 3:20
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
There are many more verses that say this.
God is the only savior. No one else can save us. But Jesus is in fact our savior. He was the one God said He’d send into the world to die for us, suffer for us, redeeming us so that we can be with God. Jesus is our savior. Jesus is God HIMSELF.
Isaiah 43:15
15"I am the LORD, your Holy One,
(A)The Creator of Israel, your (B)King."
Psalm 7:7
7For God is the (A)King of all the earth;
Sing praises (B)with a skillful psalm.
Matthew 25: 34
(Jesus is speaking of the future, where He, as King, will save people)
34"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, (G)inherit the kingdom prepared for you (H)from the foundation of the world.
Revelations 19:16
(This verse is speaking of Jesus)
16And on His robe and on His thigh He has (A)a name written, "(B)KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Psalm 136:2-3
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
God has also said that He is the King of all the Earth. The LORD said that He is our King, and the one who rules forever. Jesus, however, also said that He is the King, the one who will rule us. God Almighty said that He is our King, and that He will not give His glory to another. Jesus can’t be the King unless He is God, because God said He won’t give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8). On top of that, Jesus even goes as far to be the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Unless He is God, He would be the King of God. However, God said that that will never happen, because nobody is equal to Him (Isaiah 46:9 9"Remember the (R)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is (S)no other;
I am God, and there is (T)no one like Me, andIsaiah 46:5
"To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared? And Exodus 8:10 Exodus 8:10
"Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. these verses go along with all the verses which Jesus is said to be exactly like God.)
Isaiah 43:25
25I, even I, am He Who blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
Mark 2:5-10
5And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "[a]Son, (A)your sins are forgiven."
6But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7"Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; (B)who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
9"Which is easier, to say to the (C)paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, 'Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk'?
10"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He said to the paralytic
It is true. We humans can forgive each other’s sins, which God demands we do for each other no matter what. One of Jesus' teachings was to forgive your neighbor, no matter how many times he sins against you. However, God forgives us in a different way. He is the only one who can forgive our sins and erase them completely, making us right with God again. Jesus forgave people’s sins the same way. However, God said that He is the one who does this. As said in the verses above, God does not change nor change His mind. God is the one who forgives sins and completely gets rid of them. Jesus does the same.
God does not change, nor change His mind or lie. He has said that He is the only Savior, as well as the only God. He has said that there is not god besides Him. He doesn't change from being the only one able to save us, nor does He change from being the only one who rules over us. He is the one who forgives our sins. He will not give His glory to another, nor will He change His mind about that.
These verses are very open statements where Jesus says that He is God or his followers say that He is God.
I see these verses as being a very clear statement that Jesus said that proves that Jesus said He was God. Luke 19:41-44
41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." together with John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." and John 1:18 "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."
John 8:23-24: "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins."
John 5:21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives them life to whom he is pleased to give it."
John 5:22 goes along with James 4:12
John 5:22 22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, This wouldn't make sense if God said that He is the judge 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
John 8:58 "'I tell you the truth', Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!'"
That verse, Jesus says that He is I am. When Moses was told by God to speak with the Pharaoh of Egypt and his own people, Moses asked God what He should call Him, Exodus 3:14
God said to Moses, " I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Jesus had just said that He is I am. I am is a title specifically meant for God. Notice also that in the verse after this the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus: John 8:59: 59At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. Only blasphemy would get the Jews into a murderous rage, because it is against the Laws of Moses to murder anyone, as well as the very commandments of God. The Jews aren’t murderers (of course, there are individuals who are murderers with in the Jewish people, but that’s just how it is with all peoples), they needed to have a reason to stone Jesus. Jesus, if not being God, would have fit the criteria of blasphemy if He just said He is I am, the God of the universe.
John 10:17-18:17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
Yet, God raised Jesus. King James Translation: Acts 2:32 -
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Either Jesus was God, or He was a liar.
John 10:30: "I and the Father are one." goes together with Deuteronomy 6:4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
John 10:38: "But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."
John 14:7-10
7If you really knew me, you would know[a] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
John 20:28: “Thomas said to him [Jesus], 'My Lord and my God!'”
This is seen as a very clear statement of Jesus being God, for Jesus made no effort to correct Thomas. He only said, "You believe because you have seen, blessed are those who haven't seen and believe."
God purchased us with His own blood.
Acts 20:28: 28Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.[a] Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
Romans 9:5: 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised![a] Amen.
Philippians 2:5-6
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
Colossians 2:9: "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form"
Titus 2:13: "while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."
Hebrews 1:8: "But about the Son he [God] says: "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom."
2 Peter 1: 1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
1.John 5:20: "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
Here in Revelations, Jesus said this to John.
Revelation 1:17-18: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." This is seen as significant when viewed with Isaiah 44:6: "This is what the LORD says - Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God."
Revelations 22:6-7: 6The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place." 7"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." And Revelations 22:12-13 : 12"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. And Revelations 22:16: 16"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." All of these verses come together to show the Deity of Christ, for it is said that The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to tell His servants about what must soon come. Yet, Jesus says He sent His angel to tell us. And, as Yahweh is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, so is Jesus.
Also, there's this. In John 1:23, John the Baptist said, 23He said, "I am (A)A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,' as Isaiah the prophet said." What the prophet Isaiah said was this: Isaiah 40:3 3 A voice is calling,
"Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
John the Baptist was making the path clear in the wilderness for God Almighty. God would come and be in the desert, and a voice would make it clear for Him. When God arrived, though, it was Jesus. Jesus was in the wilderness, because God said that He Himself would be there.
Jesus created the universe. This is shown in John 1:3
3(E)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Colossians 1:16-17
16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And Hebrews 1:8-10
8But about the Son he says,
"Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy."[f] 10He also says,
"In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
If Jesus created the universe, then how did God create the universe? (Isaiah 44:24 24Thus says the LORD, your (A)Redeemer, and the one who (B)formed you from the womb,
"I, the LORD, am the maker of all things,
(C)Stretching out the heavens by Myself
And spreading out the earth all alone, ) The answer is Jesus and God are one in the same. Jesus is God, God is Jesus. Jesus is separate from God, but all the same God himself.
With all this said, I hope that I have shown that Jesus is in fact God Himself. Not a separate God, not a different God, not the same type of God, but YAHWEH HIMSELF.
Luke 1:37
"For nothing will be impossible with God."
Job 37:5
"God thunders with His voice wondrously,Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.
Now, with all that said, let’s get a bit technical. If Jesus is in all essence Yahweh, then why did He pray to God? Why does He call himself Jesus (Or Joshua in the Aramaic language. Here also are some of Jesus' names Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;And the government will rest on His shoulders;And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Eternal Father, Prince of Peace Look at Eternal Father and Mighty God. Those are clear indications that Jesus is God, especially viewed with Psalm 132:2 2How he swore to the LORD And vowed to (A)the Mighty One of Jacob, )? Why does He call Himself the Son of God, when in fullness, He is God Himself incarnate on Earth? The plain and very simple answer to this is that God can do ANYTHING. He can exist in Heaven, being fully separate from His Son, while existing on Earth as Jesus. He can pray to Himself and act according to what was prayed. He can do all things. God is INCOMPREHENSIBLE. He escapes the comprehension of even the most intellectual and sophisticated individual. He doesn’t do things so that they can make total sense to us. Surely, God does not wish to confuse us, for we are humans and we have no powers like God. He will say things that will make sense to us and try and explain things the ways we can understand. But God can never make sense to us fully, for He is beyond us. That is why Jesus used parables when teaching. That is why God often compared Himself to a rock when explaining to us that He’d protect us. A rock is solid and firm, strong and heavy. God is FAR greater than a rock, but He said that so that we can understand that He is strong for us.
These verses regard the Church of Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 3:14-15
14 I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, 15 so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Here is 1 Timothy 3:16 in three different translations.
New International version
16Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
King James Translation.
16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
And here's New Living Translation
Christ was revealed in a human body
and vindicated by the Spirit.
He was seen by angels
and announced to the nations.
He was believed in throughout the world
and taken to heaven in glory.
Jesus was fully man and fully The LORD. He was in fact, a human, but also, in fact, one hundred percent truly God Himself. He was human in body. He felt pain when hit. He felt sad when people turned Him away. He wept for His friends. He ate like a human, He went to the bathroom and He was fully human. But also, in the fullest sense, He was Yahweh. His very soul was that of God’s. His very nature was God. His power was God. He WAS God Himself incarnate. He IS God. Not because of His sinless actions, but the fact that God was existing on Earth as a human.
John 3:16
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 16:16
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Matthew 14:33
And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"
Why all the talk of Jesus being God’s Son? That too is truth. Jesus is God’s only Begotten Son. There is a reason why Jesus calls Himself the Son of God. I think that He calls Himself that because He distinguishes Himself from The Father that way. Truly, Jesus is Yahweh, but also, He is not. He is not the Father. He is in fact separate from Yahweh in body and in purpose and in person. He was here to redeem us in God’s eyes. He took on all our sin and died for us on the cross. The Father wants us to know this. It was the Father on the cross in the sense that Jesus is God. But, also, it wasn’t the Father, for it was the Son who died. The Father wants us to know that the Son died, that if we trust in Jesus, we trust in The LORD.
I think He's the Son of God for the same reason He's the Son of Man. He's the Son of Man because He was born of Mary, a human. She was impregnated by God (not through sex, but through The Holy Spirit). God had a son in human flesh. That Son was Jesus. That would go along with Psalm 2:7 (7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD :
He said to me, "You are my Son [d] ;
today I have become your Father. [e] because it says today I have become your Father. However, that is what I think and I cannot say that's why it is.
I also think that God does this to distinguish the different purposes He has: The Father and The Son and the Holy Spirit, which is God’s Spirit. They are separate in body and person, but they are one. Now, that does not mean Jesus and God are like 1/3 God each, or that they are three individual Gods of God? They are just plan and simply God. Yahweh, who is the Father, can do all things.
Jesus was both the Son of God and God Himself. He wasn't one or the other, but completely both. Sometimes that can be forgotten. I myself can forget this very easily.
In truth, nobody can know why or how Jesus is the Son of God and God exactly. As said, it is incomprehensible. But truly, Yahweh operates that way. Jesus is God. God is Jesus. The LORD is Jesus. Jesus is the LORD. Jesus is separate from God. God is separate from Jesus. It doesn't matter how we think that Jesus is God; it's just that we know that He is God. He's also the Son of God, but God Himself all the same.
(This verse is a different translation from Philippians 2:6 above)
Philippians 2:6-11
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Isaiah 48:17
17Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
"I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who (B)leads you in the way you should go.
Matthew 23:8
8"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
Ephesians 4:5 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Psalm 38:15
I wait for you, O LORD (translated from Yahweh); you will answer, O Lord my God.
John 13:13
"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am.
