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Divinity of Christ P.O. Box 1009 Allen, TX 75013-0017 Dear Friend, Was Jesus God? Scripture shows that He was—and is. In John 1, verses 1 and 14 are unarguably plain on the nature of Christ’s divinity, as well as about Christ’s preexistence. John wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” People often ask about Isaiah 45:5 in regard to whether Jesus was divine. Isaiah was inspired to write of God, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.” Chapter 45 isn’t about the nature of God, but rather about combatting Israel’s wrong belief in idols (verses 16, 20). Chapter 46 follows with a more detailed attack, “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal. … They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god” (verses 5-6). The average Israelite wasn’t aware of another Being, with whom the God of the Old Testament shared a divine family relationship. So they would have understood Isaiah from the standpoint of his refuting idolatrous religions. Trinitarians mistakenly insert the nature-of-God debate into this and other verses, such as Deuteronomy 6:4, which aren’t discussing His nature. Those who attempt to make Isaiah 45 about the nature of God argue that Christ could not be God, since the God of the Old Testament said, “There is no God besides Me.” When understood accurately, this verse actually helps to prove the divinity of Jesus Christ. The word “LORD” is translated from the Hebrew YHWH. That name for God is found in Exodus 3:13-14, where He revealed the name to Moses. It is without question the prominent name used for God throughout the Old Testament. And yet many read right over the fact that Jesus said He was the YHWH of the Old Testament! He declared to the Jews, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). The profound significance of “I AM” wasn’t lost on those who heard Christ say this. They were instantly angry to the point of wanting to kill Him for such an assertion, which they deemed blasphemous (verse 59). That is a powerful claim and difficult for those who deny Jesus’ divinity to refute. The apostle Paul backs what Jesus said in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, showing that the God who led Israel from Egypt and through the wilderness to the Promised Land was the Being who later became Christ. (There are a few verses in the Old Testament in which YHWH refers to the Father, such as Psalm 110:1, which speaks of two “Lords.” But most references to YHWH are to the Being who later became the Messiah.) Phone: 972-521-7777 Email: [email protected] Fax: 972-521-7770 2 Equally powerful is Psalm 45:6, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” Read by itself, it isn’t clear who is speaking or who the subject is. But Hebrews 1:8 clarifies that the Father said this about the Son. Therefore, the Father called Jesus “God” well before Jesus was born. And the apostle Paul called both the Father and the Son “God” in Colossians 2:2. No one can argue against the fact that Scripture refers to the Father by the name “God.” And, as the above references show, the Bible also speaks of Christ as “God” in the Old Testament. Furthermore, They are shown to be two separate individuals, not the same Being. How can both be God? By allowing the Bible to interpret itself, we can understand the answer. Consider the implication of the fact that Scripture calls one the Father and the other the Son. Humankind did not understand this until Jesus revealed the existence of the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; 5:37; 6:57; 8:18; etc.). Christ inspired later writers of the New Testament to speak often of the Father and the Son. The names “Father” and “Son” convey a family relationship. They are both God because They are both members of the God family. “God” is a family name, not only the name of the supreme deity. By comparison, in a human family the father and his children have the same family name, yet they are separate and distinct individuals. The Father and the Son have the same family name, God, but They are separate and distinct individuals. Isaiah’s statement that “there is no other God besides Me” is true! There is only one God family, but it has more than one member. The Father is God, and Jesus is God. Sincerely, Personal Correspondence Department .
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