WORDS OF WISDOM!!!!! JESUS & GOD ARE ONE Unlike the question Does God exist?, very few people question whether Jesus Christ existed. It is generally accepted that Jesus was truly a man who walked on the earth in Israel 2000 years ago. The debate begins when the subject of Jesus full identity is discussed. Almost every major religion teaches that Jesus was a prophet or a good teacher or a godly man. The problem is that the Bible tells us that Jesus was infinitely more than a prophet, a good teacher, or a godly man. I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: Im ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I dont accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either Jesus was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for foolishness, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to. So, who did Jesus claim to be? Who does the Bible say He is? First, lets look at Jesus’ words in John 10:30, I and my Father are one. At first glance, this might not seem to be a claim to be God. However, look at the Jews’ reaction to His statement, The Jews answered him, saying, For good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makes thyself God (John 10:33). The Jews understood Jesus’ statement as a claim to be God. In the following verses, Jesus never corrects the Jews by saying, I did not claim to be God. That indicates Jesus was truly saying He was God by declaring, I and my Father are one (John 10:30). John 8:58 is another example: Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Again, in response, the Jews took up stones in an attempt to stone Jesus (John 8:59). Jesus’ announcing His identity as I am is a direct application of the Old Testament name for God (Exodus 3:14). Why would the Jews again want to stone Jesus if He had not said something they believed to be blasphemous, namely, a claim to be God? John 1:1 says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:14 says And the Word was made 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. This clearly indicates that Jesus is God in the flesh. Thomas the disciple declared to Jesus, My Lord and my God (John 20:28). Jesus does not correct him. The apostle Paul describes Him as, “…of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). The apostle Peter says the same, “…the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). God the Father is witness of Jesus’ full identity as well, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time part unto the fathers by the prophets..... But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom (Hebrews 1:1,8) Old Testament prophecies of Christ announce His deity, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). So believing Jesus to be only a good teacher is not an option. Jesus clearly and undeniably claimed to be God. If He is not God, then He is a liar, and therefore not a prophet, good teacher, or godly man. In attempts to explain away the words of Jesus, modern scholars claim the true historical Jesus did not say many of the things the Bible attributes to Him. Who are we to argue with God’s Word concerning what Jesus did or did not say? How can a scholar two thousand years removed from Jesus have better insight into what Jesus did or did not say than those who lived with, served with, and were taught by Jesus Himself (John 14:26)? Why is the question over Jesus’ true identity so important? Why does it matter whether or not Jesus is God? The most important reason that Jesus has to be God is that if He is not God, His death would not have been sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Only God could pay such an infinite penalty (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus had to be God so that He could pay our debt. Jesus had to be man so He could die. Salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ deity is why He is the only way of salvation. Jesus’ deity is why He proclaimed, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). For those of you who do not believe and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, you are condemning yourself. For God so loved the world, that he have his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16-18). The only way any man can be saved is through Jesus Christ and no other way at all. And to be cleansed of sins, you must repent and be baptized in His name. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38).
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 07:15:27 +0000
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