IS JESUS CHRIST GOD?
Is Jesus God? There are actually two answers to this question. One is most definitely yes! The other answer is no. And the answer depends upon what you mean by "God". Confused? There's no need to be! You see, the word "God" in the Bible refers to two things. In one instance it refers to the 'Sovereign of the universe', the 'only true God.' And in another instance it refers to the divine nature, the 'God nature' and the 'name of God.' So we will show you that while Jesus is FULLY divine and is FULLY God by nature (being begotten of the Father from eternity, Micah 5:2, Proverbs 8:22-30), and posessing the Father's own name, he is not the 'sovereign of the universe', the 'only true God' as that is His Father alone.
"The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is truly God in infinity, BUT NOT IN PERSONALITY." (Ms116, 1905, par.19)
In other words, Christ IS God in respect of being divine and eternal. But in His distinctive character and person, He is NOT the 'only true God', He is the SON OF the only true God - His Father!
"You desire to hear what sister White believes ... our Heavenly Father is the God of the universe, and Christ is the divine Son, the one equal with the Father." (Ms 49, 1906.26)
Quick Note: Jesus is NEVER called 'God the Son' in the Bible. He is always called the 'Son OF God'.
Now let me confirm quickly that we are in no way trying to make Jesus a 'lesser' being than His Father. The Bible confirms that Jesus is equal with the Father (Philippians 2:6). Jesus is as divine as His Father, just as my son is as human as me. But what we are addressing here are those trinitarian and unitarian confusions that make Jesus and the Father part of the same being.
According to the Trinity and Unitarian doctrines, Jesus Christ is the 'eternal, self-existent God', known as 'God the Son', viewing Him as the 'One God', even thinking Jesus is the Father also. But to believe that Jesus is also the 'Father' Himself is to believe that Jesus is the immortal God but died, is the invisible God that no man can see, but was seen, is as great (in authority) as His Father but said His Father is greater than He, is the begotten Son and the unbegotten God, came out from Himself, prayed to Himself, gave power to Himself, thanked Himself, bore witness of Himself, went back to Himself, sits at the right hand of Himself, is His own Father and His own Son, left Heaven and yet was there all the time. And so the CONFUSION of Babylon continues! And the whole world is deceived! So let us unravel the confusion. We will start with the most used verse to support the theory that Jesus is that 'one God' Himself, John 1:1:
John 1:1-2 ...'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.'
Those four words above, 'the Word was God' has convinced many a Christian to believe that Jesus is the 'only true God' Himself. And yet they miss the simple meaning of what John was saying. Is this all John had to say about Christ? No. Look at what he said towards the end of his gospel:
John 20:31 ...'But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.'
Why did John write his gospel? So that people might believe that Jesus Christ is the 'only true God'? No! That people might believe He is the SON OF God. And John records this just a few verses after John 20:17, where he records Christ telling Mary ... "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
Revelation 3:12 ...'Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name'
Do you see the problem with taking John's words in John 1 and applying a teaching to it without comparing scripture with scripture? So how can we reconcile this? How can John say that Jesus 'is God' and also say He is the 'Son OF God' and also record Jesus saying that the Father is 'HIS GOD'? Well, as I mentioned above, people are missing the simple message of John 1 and have a wrong understanding of it.
To begin with, the English translations of John 1:1 have a small but yet important word missing, which is in the original Greek. Let's add that word back in and see how it changes the verse ... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with [THE] God, and the Word was God." ... So Christ was with THE God in the beginning. So He was with someone who is THE God. Who is that? Again, John records it for us:
John 17:1-3 ...'Father ... this is life eternal, that they might know thee THE only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'
So John records a prayer that Jesus made to His Father in heaven, and Jesus confirmed in this prayer that His Father is THE only true God. So now we know who Christ was with in the beginning. And who is [THE] God? It is God the Father. The only being that is ever called "God the ..." in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is never called 'God the Holy Spirit' and Jesus is never called 'God the Son'. Only the Father is called this, as He is 'THE only true God', which Jesus confirmed in John 17:3 and Paul confirmed in 1 Corinthians 8:6.
Just think about this example for a moment. Let us reapply John 1:1 to Adam and Eve ... "In the beginning was the woman and the woman was with the human, and the woman was human.". Now does this mean Eve is as old as Adam? No, because we know Adam was created first (to represent the Father). Or does it mean that Eve is actually Adam herself? No, of course not. It is simply stating that Eve is human, just like Adam. Keep this thought in your mind as we look further.
Now let us go a bit deeper into God's Word to further clarify this truth, that Jesus is God (divine) because He is the SON OF God, but not the 'only true God' Himself. There is a deep and beautiful truth in the creation of Adam and Eve that the majority of Christians miss today. Let's take a look.
Genesis 1:26 ...'And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'
"Satan was once an honored angel in heaven, next to Christ. His countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His forehead was high and broad, showing great intelligence. His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. But when God said to His Son, 'Let us make man in our image,' Satan was jealous of Jesus." (Early Writings, p.145)
Genesis 2:21-23 ...'And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'
John 16:27-28 ...'For the Father himself loveth you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, AND am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.'
John 17:7-8 ...'Now they have known that all things whatsoever you have given me are of you. For I have given unto them the words which you gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you did SEND me.'
Proverbs 8:22-25 ...'The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth.'
There is such a beautiful truth in these words which many miss. God said 'let us make man in our image'. So first of all, if the trinity was truth, then why didn't God make three people? Why did He only make two? Not only that, can you see what happened with Adam and Eve is an IMAGE of what happened with God the Father and Jesus Christ?
The man existed first and then the woman was taken out of man. And Jesus confirmed Himself as you can see above, that this is also what happened with Him. He came OUT of the Father, which is what Proverbs 8 and Micah 5:2 also confirm. So for Jesus to come out of the Father, it means God the Father existed first, and is represented by Adam. Then Jesus came OUT FROM or 'begotten' of the Father, and is represented by Even being taken OUT OF Adam.
So what does this mean? It means that just as Eve shared the same human nature as Adam, being taken out of Adam, Jesus shares the same nature as God the Father, because He was taken out of God. This is why John said that Jesus is 'God' in John 1. He wasn't saying that Jesus is the 'only true God'. He was simply stating the fact that Christ shares the same nature as His Father, being the SON OF God the Father. And that makes Him 'God' - fully divine.
I am human, so my son is human. God the Father is God (divine), so Jesus His Son is also God (divine). Do you see this?
"Oh!! ... But Thomas said to Jesus ... 'My Lord and My God'!" (John 20:28)
This is the other verse that many Christians fall back on today to say that Jesus is 'the only true God'. But again, they miss the simple truth of it. Remember that this is just a few verses before John says ... 'But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.' (John 20:31). So what do you think John is believing when he writes the account of Thomas? That Jesus is 'the only true God'? No, that cannot be, because John focuses, as stated, in proclaiming that Jesus is the 'SON OF God', not the 'one true God' Himself (John 17:3). So what about the proclamation of Thomas? Take a look at the two following Bible verses:
Hebrews 1:4 ...'Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.'
John 5:43 ...'I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.'
Can you see what Jesus inherited from His Father? He has inherited the name and very nature of His Father - GOD. The Father has given His name, His life, His nature, His authority to His Son, and therefore Jesus can rightly be called GOD. BUT! As you will see from the following two verses, there is a difference between the Father and His Son.
Hebrews 1:8-9 ...'But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.'
Do you see? The Father even calls His Son 'GOD.' And rightly so, as the Father has given Christ His own name. But the Father confirms that He is the 'GOD OF Christ.' Which Jesus confirmed also in John 20:17, saying ... "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
"Oh!! ... but Jesus is called the 'everlasting Father' in Isaiah 9:6".
Well, what does that verse say? It says that Jesus 'SHALL be called' the everlasting Father. So this is talking about a FUTURE time. And what future time could that be referring to? The cross! And what did Jesus become at the cross? 'the AUTHOR of eternal life' (Hebrews 5:9), and the 'CAPTAIN of our salvation' (Hebrews 2:10). So yes, Jesus is our 'Father' of eternal life, because as the Bible says, God has 'put all things under His feet' (Hebrews 2:8). And Jesus declares that we are the 'children' whom God the Father has given to Jesus (Hebrews 2:13). So this prophecy in Isaiah is foretelling a time when Jesus would become a 'Father' to us IN OUR HUMANITY, as Jesus became one of us. But He is not God the Father. The Bible is so clear on this.
For a further study on Isaiah 9:6, please see our page - THE TRUTH ABOUT ISAIAH 9:6
Friend, Satan succeeded in getting the Pharisees to reject Christ as the Son of God, and he also wants you to reject Jesus as the literal Son of God. Satan wants you to be confused about God so that your relationship with God and Jesus cannot grow. I mean, how can we truly have a relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father, when we are confused about who they are? It's impossible to have a true relationship with a 'trinity god' or 'unitarian god.'
Let me state that again - It is impossible to have a true relationship with 'trinity' or 'unitarian god'. And if Satan stops you having that true relationship with the Father and Son, then he wins in your life.
John 17:3 ...'And this is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'
John 8:16-18 ...'And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.'
John 3:16 ...'For God so loved the world, that he GAVE his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'
1 John 5:5 ...'Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?'
Proverbs 30:4 ...'Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, AND what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?'
1 Corinthians 8:6 ...'But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; AND one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.'
1 John 1:3 ...'Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.'
It cannot be made any clearer that there are only two divine beings in the Godhead, and that Jesus Christ is not the Father, or the one true God. Jesus is the SON OF the one true God. There is one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ, whom is the Son of the Father. This is very clear, logical and Biblical.