How can Jesus be God?

Hi,

Thanks for the email and I'm glad you have enjoyed the website and the studies. You ask 'How can Jesus be God. Only God is God... There is but one God and that is God the Father. There is but one Messiah and that is Jesus. God has many children, begotten of the spirit, one of those children is the Messiah, and he the Messiah, the Christ, is not God. Only God is God.'

This last statement is worrying for you seem to be putting Jesus and believers on the same levels as children of God. You are also saying the Jesus is not God. I'm not trying to be dramatic here but that would be heresy. But let's look at the scriptures. Obviously in trying to explore this, what matters is what scripture says. So as much as possible I'll just quote scriptures and let them speak for themselves. Although I may add the odd comment : )

Let's start with the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah and see if they say anything about whether He would be God or not.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This famous prophecy says that a child will be born who will be 'Mighty God'. Clear this child that was to be born is something more that just a human baby!

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Another famous prophecy. The virgin will give birth to the Messiah who will be called 'God with us' (the meaning of Immanuel).

Jeremiah 23:5-6 The days are coming, declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. (6) In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD (YHWH) Our Righteousness.

The coming Messiah would be called YHWH (God's sacred and holy name).

Zechariah 2:10-11 Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you, declares the LORD. (11) Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.

Here we have a prophecy that YHWH will come and dwell amongst mankind and it is YHWH that sent Him! This only makes sense in the context of the trinity where both the Father and the Son are God - The Son is YHWH just as the Father is!

So what of the New Testament? Does it just say that Jesus is a son of God as you say or does it say that He is God Himself? It continues the same thought seen in these Old Testament passages about he Messiah stating clearly that He is God!

Here is what John said:

John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only (Jesus), who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

Here Jesus is called 'God the One and Only'. Can you now see why it is wrong to think only the Father is God?

Here is what the disciple Thomas thought and said when he saw the resurrected Jesus:

John 20:27-29 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." (28) Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (29) Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

If this was not correct, Jesus would have corrected Thomas but He didn't. Because, as we have seen, Jesus is God.

Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote:

Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Titus 2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

Jesus is out great God and Savior.

Philippians 2:5-6 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

Here is what Peter wrote:

2 Peter 1:1 Simon 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:

What about the writer of Hebrews?

Hebrews 1:3 The 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.

Hebrews 1:8-9 But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. (9) You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."

Here we have God the Father addressing Jesus as God!

You said that Jesus only claimed to be the Son of God and not God Himself. This is incorrect. He said that He was the 'I AM' of the Old Testament! And the people wanted to stone Him for blasphemy:

John 8:57-59 You are not yet fifty years old, the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" (58) I tell you the truth, Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (59) At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

On another occasion Jesus claimed that the 'Father and I are One' and they again wanted to stone Jesus for they knew that He was claiming to be God:

John 10:30-33 I and the Father are one." (31) Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, (32) but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" (33) We are not stoning you for any of these, replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

They knew He was claiming to be God.

You said in your email that Jesus is a son of God and so are we, and we don't claim to be God. Hopefully with the scriptures above you will now have seen that the Old Testament said the Messiah would be God, Jesus claimed to be God, the biblical writers said He was God and God the Father said He is God. Obviously none of those are true of you and me though we have been adopted into God's family and born of His Spirit through the new birth. Jesus is unique and we should never put Him on our level. That's why possibly the the most famous scripture says:

John 3:16-18 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. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (18) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

God's one and only is translated 'only begotten' in some other translations. Begotten is the Greek word 'monogenoús' which means 'Unique, one of a kind, one and only'. Jesus is the one and only Son of His kind and is unique. Though believers have been given a tremendous position in the Lord, and are children of God, never put Jesus into that same group as if He is no different from us. He is. He is God the One and Only as John 1:18 states.

I trust this is clear and helps. And I trust you believe these scriptures.

All the best and may God bless,

Iain.