What Do You Do About Jesus?

“Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me."

-- Isaiah 45:21 --

The Bible is clear - there is only one God. “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" (Deut. 6:4). Jesus is a god, one of many gods if indeed He is God. The apostle Paul said, "there are many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:5). Jesus is referred to as Lord nearly three hundred and fifty times throughout the New Testament. But only the Father is directly referred to as God in the New Testament. Thus, Jesus must be one of "many lords" but not one of "many gods" or God Himself. Jesus cannot be God because only God is omniscient (all knowing). He didn't know the day and hour of the coming of the Son of Man (Matt 24:36-37). He also didn't know who touched His garments (Mark 5:30). If Jesus was God, then He must have emptied Himself of His Deity (Phil. 2:6).

Actually this isn't me talking. I have heard and read these things from others, particularly those in the cults (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, etc.) and some who attend traditional churches. How would you defend these and other blasphemous statements as a born again, Spirit-indwelled follower of Christ? The bottom line is this: there are many people who deny the deity of Christ. Sadly, there are many professing Christians who are unable or unwilling to defend His divinity!

Let's not stop with "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:5).

Paul follows this up in the next verse, "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him" (1 Cor. 8:6). As a Jew, "educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers" (Acts 22:3), Paul was very familiar with Deuteronomy 6:4 - "The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" He also would have known the creation account of Genesis chapter 1. It is God who created all things, His greatest creation being man. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). "Us" and "Our" are plural thus indicating God exists as a plurality of persons. The next verse states, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him" (Gen. 1:27). One God, consisting of a plurality of persons, created man in His own image. It stands to reason that each person in the one God is also God.

One name, three persons - I think this is important.

I had a really nice conversation with a Jehovah's Witness couple a few years ago. They were handing out literature. During the course of our conversation I asked if the word "name" in Matthew 28:19 is singular or plural. The gentleman broke out his trusty King James Version Bible to find out. It was very apparent that he couldn't answer this question. He looked up the verse then put his Bible back down. I asked him again, "is name singular or plural?" He looked disappointed when he finally said "singular." I then asked, "what does the rest of the verse say?" His wife ended the exchange between me and her husband. He never finished answering my question!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19).

One name, three persons! If this verse said, "in the names" then this would suggest that each person is a God, not one God!

Oh No! How could He not know!

Yes, I agree that Jesus did not "know the day and hour of the coming of the Son of Man" (Matt 24:36-37). Does this mean that He was not God at the time He said this and/or is not God now?

First, "we must be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming" (Matt. 24:42) because we "must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will" (Matt. 24:44). If Jesus said, "I am scheduled to return to earth at exactly 7:45 pm Eastern Standard Time on November 18th, 2037" then there would be no reason to be on the alert for the coming of the Son of Man until we get closer to the year 2037. Second, Jesus knew that "even the angels of heaven" didn't know, but only the Father knows. If Jesus was not omniscient, then how could He know this?

When the woman with a hemorrhage for twelve years touched Jesus' garments so that she could get well, Jesus, "perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” His question was loud enough for the woman to come, fall down before Him, and tell Him the truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction" (Mark 5:25-34). He knew who touched His garment. He asked this question so that she would come forward and be healed of her affliction because of the faith she exhibited.

Jesus knew what the scribes and Pharisees were thinking when He healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Luke 6:7-8). He also knew the thoughts of the Pharisees when He was casting out a demon in a man who was mute (Matt. 12:22-25).

Did Jesus empty Himself of His Deity?

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:5-7).

When Jesus came the first time, He emptied Himself - laid aside some of the privileges He enjoyed throughout eternity where "He existed in the form of God." He never once laid aside His Deity. Jesus is "the image of the invisible God... For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Col. 1:15-17). He is the Word who was with God in the beginning (Gen. 1:1), who is God, and Who became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 4:2). "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Col. 2:9).

There is no other God but Him (Isa. 45:21-22). He is the first and the last (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Rev. 1:8, 17; 22:13). "His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2).

“I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

-- Isaiah 43:11-13 --

In confronting the unbelief of the Pharisees, Jesus told them, "for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

Will you die in your sins?

We saw earlier that Jesus "took the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:5-7). Why would Jesus become "obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross?" He is God who is infinitely holy (Isa. 6:3; Heb. 7:26; Rev. 4:8) and without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb 4:15). Jesus didn't deserve to go through the most excruciating execution known to man at the time. Pilate, the Roman procurator, examined Jesus and found no guilt in Him (Luke 23:4; John 18:38; 19:4, 6). In reality, all that Pilate did was show there was no reason to crucify Jesus. But God had other plans - Jesus came to save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). This was never meant to be accomplished by sacrificing bulls and goats in the temple, a practice under the Mosaic Law. "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). The eternal God desired a perfect, unblemished sacrifice - His Son. Jesus, "through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God" (Heb. 9:14).

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him."

-- Isaiah 53:4-6 --

Jesus "bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). We have no hope of eternal life without His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead on the third day (1 Cor. 15:1-4). God demonstrated "His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life... He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

-- John 3:16, 36 --

What do you do about Jesus?

If the Bible is true and there is only one God, and this God came in the flesh in the person of Jesus to die for your sins, then what are you going to do about Him? Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6).

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

-- Acts 4:12 --

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations cited in this post are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

John Gandiello is the author of "Know Your Theology - Understand Why You Believe What You Believe."

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