Jesus: God

     Almost from the beginning of Christianity there have been disagreements about the nature of Jesus.  Like most religious arguments, however, this one has thrived not on biblical teaching but rather on human philosophy.  Men may not have clear ideas about the character of Jesus.  But the Bible does not share this uncertainty.
     How many groups of intelligent beings can we identify?  There is deity, or God.  Then there are the angels.  And there are humans.  So the question about Jesus is, "In which group should we place Him?"  Before we can do this, though, we must decide on qualities required for placement in each of the groups.
     What can we say about God that distinguishes Him from the others?  God is without sin.  In fact, He is the opposite of sin.  He is our savior.  He is to be worshipped.  He is eternal.  He is Lord.
     The first verses of Isaiah 59 inform us that our sins form a separation between us and God.  And the third chapter of 1 John makes it clear that God and sin are not compatible.  So we can say that God is without sin.
     What about angels?  Are they by nature sinless?  According to 2 Peter 2:4, the answer is, "No."
     "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23 tells us about mankind.
     Sin is one thing we can use to distinguish God from angels and men.  God doesn't have it, while the other two do.
     Titus 2:10 identifies God as our Savior.
     "But to which of the angels," Hebrews 1:13-14 asks, "has He ever said, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet'?
     "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?"
     Can we identify angels as our saviors, or are they sent out to render service for the saved?
     In 1 Corinthians 1:12-15 Paul stresses that neither he nor Peter are to be looked upon as saviors of the people.
     Salvation comes from God.  Neither angels nor men can claim to be our saviors.
     God instructs in Deuteronomy 6:13 that He is to be worshipped.
     "Do not do that;" an angel tells John in Revelation 22:9 when the apostle falls down to worship the messenger, "I am a fellow-servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book: worship God."
     "Stand up;" Peter tells Cornelius in Acts 10:26, "I too am just a man."
     Worship is something which must be offered only to God.
     Deuteronomy 33:27 identifies God as eternal.  God has no beginning, and He has no end.  Someone who has a beginning is not eternal, even if he or she has no end.
     In Psalm 148:1-5 David lists angels among the creation of God.  We know from Genesis 1:26 that mankind belongs in the same list.
     God is eternal.  Both angels and men are created beings.
     God refers to Himself as "Lord" in Deuteronomy 10:17.
     Hebrews 2:5 informs us that the world has not been subjected to the angels.  Ephesians 6:7 classifies men as those who serve and not those who are served.
     This is all very clear, isn't it?  God is without sin, while angels and men are not.  God is referred to as our savior; angels and men are not.  Only God is to be worshipped.  Unlike God, angels and men are created beings.  God is Lord; angels and men are servants.
     We could have done this without referring to any passages.  But, then, that is not the right way to examine the truth.  We waste too much time and energy going by what we think we have in our heads instead of what God has placed in the Bible.
     Jehovah is God.  This is clear from Deuteronomy 10:17.  It is equally clear from passages such as Romans 1:18-25 that created beings, which include angels and men, are not God.

     God is without sin, is our Savior, is worshipped, is eternal and is Lord.  But we still haven't answered the question about Jesus.  With which group does He belong?
     "Who committed no sin," 1 Peter 2:22 says of Jesus, "nor was any deceit found in His mouth."
     "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf," Paul claims of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 5:21.
     Hebrews 4:15 is just one of the other passages pointing out the sinless nature of Jesus.
     So, where does Jesus fit?  Does He go with men, angels or God?
     "To Titus, my true child in a common faith:" Paul writes in Titus 1:4, "Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior."
     In fact, savior is a title that Paul uses interchangeably for God and Jesus throughout the letter to Titus.  The first verse of 2 Peter refers to Jesus as our savior.
     "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow," Philippians 2:10 reveals, "of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth."
     God is quoted in Hebrews 1:6 as instructing the angels to worship Jesus.  And Jesus did not reject being worshipped in John 9:38 as well as in Matthew 8:2 and 14:33.
     Jesus states in John 17:5 that He was with God before the creation.  In other words, Jesus is eternal.
     In John 13:13 Jesus refers to Himself as, "Lord."  This title is applied to Him many other times in the Bible.
     "In the beginning was the Word," John 1:1 states clearly, "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
     Verse 14 removes any doubt that this is talking about Jesus.
     The association between God and Jesus does not stop here.  I have in front of me a list of ten more characteristics shared by God and Jesus.  But the ones given should be enough to establish the fact that Jesus is not a man, and He is not an angel.  He is divine.
     What is this information worth to us?  Nothing.  It is worth nothing, that is, if we simply file it away in the backs of our minds; if we continue to function on an intellectual and not a practical level.  You see, the divinity of Jesus is of no value to us if we recognize it with our lips and not with our lives.
     If what we have said is true, then Jesus is to be worshipped.  And to worship is to serve.
     Passages such as Ephesians 3:20-21 and 1 Corinthians 11:20-22 stress the importance of the service rendered as part of a congregation.  If we are not functioning members of the New Testament church, then we are not serving Jesus.  To not serve Him is to not worship Him.  And to not worship Him is to reject His deity.
     We must also serve individually through our deeds, as we learn in Scriptures such as 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, Matthew 5:16 and Matthew 25:31-46.
     From 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we learn that God must be worshipped by what we do, and don't do, with our bodies.
     If our morality, our deeds and our involvement in the kingdom do not give evidence that we are serving God, then we are not worshipping Him.  And if we do not worship Him we have no right to say with our lips that He is God.
     Worship is service.
     If Jesus is Lord, then we must obey Him.
     "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven;" Jesus points out in Matthew 7:21, "but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven."
     The Master makes it very clear in the rest of this passage that His lordship demands obedience.
     "And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Jesus inquires in Luke 6:46.
     Lordship requires obedience.
     If Jesus is God, then He deserves respect.  Hebrews 6:4-6 claims that we put Jesus to open shame when we turn our backs on Him after being informed of the truth.
     Divinity deserves respect.
     If Jesus is our savior, then He must be accepted.  But when the Bible talks about accepting Jesus as our savior it does not mean the same thing as when various denominations use the same term.  The Bible makes acceptance synonymous with obedience.
     "And having been made perfect," Hebrews 5:9 says of Jesus, "He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation."
     If we do not obey Jesus, then He is not our savior.
     There is one more thing associated with Jesus being our savior.  If salvation is through Jesus, we must share Him with others.  We learn this from passages such as 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 and 17-21.
     Having Jesus as our savior demands acceptance and sharing.
     Let's be sincere.  Let's not talk about Jesus as God if we are not going to acknowledge Him as Lord, Savior and God who is to be worshipped.  And let's not say we worship Him if we don't serve Him collectively, actively and morally.  Let's not call Him Lord if we are not going to obey Him.  Let's not call Him God if we are not going to respect Him.  And let's not call Him Savior if we are not going to accept Him on His terms and then share Him with others.
     "But, beloved," we read in Hebrews 6:9, "we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way."
     "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end," the writer continues with verse 11, "that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise."
     Let's be diligent to truly recognize Jesus as God.  Let's be imitators of those who follow the truth so we can be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)