FORESIGHT OF THE MASTER PLANNER - First Begotten Son is God Part 3

THE NATURE OF JESUS CHRIST 

 IS JESUS MORE THAN MAN? (Part 1)

 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7)“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”.


In our last post we saw what the dictionary describes a “messiah” to be; that being a “saviour or liberator” : somebody regarded as or claiming to be a saviour or liberator of a country, people, or the world.

We saw that to be a “Saviour” is: To rescue somebody or something from harm or danger: To conserve something or avoid wasting something or using something unnecessarily; protect or keep back, set aside something for later: To collect items for later: to collect anything usually in order to do something with them later: To spare somebody from something or from a situation or activity: To preserve or treat something carefully or stop using it in order to keep it from being used up or worn out: To redeem or free somebody from the consequences of sin. (John 1:28-29; John 15:12-13; Romans 5:8). And

To be a “Liberator” is: To set free or release a person, group, population, or country from political or military control or from severe physical (also spiritual) constraint: To set free or release a person, group, population, or country from traditional socially (also spiritual) imposed constraints such as those arising from stereotyping by race, sex, economic status, age etc. ( Isaiah 53:12; Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:6-10)

We also observed that for Jesus to be man’s “saviour or liberator” we needed to have some answers to the following questions:

a) IS JESUS MORE THAN MAN?
b) IS JESUS EQUAL WITH GOD ?
c) IS JESUS EXISTING AS GOD ?

In this post we will be looking at the first of the qualifications of Jesus to be the “saviour or liberator” of man that being:

IS JESUS MORE THAN MAN?

To save or liberate mankind He (Jesus) has to be at least greater in strength than man and the power that holds man in bondage, (bondage to the gods of our age, ages past and ages to come if He tarries) and, at least be equal to the power that created man in the first place. So many in our world today, even some professing “Christians” still inhabit doubts about the claim by Jesus and His disciples in the early Church and modern day disciples that He (Jesus) fits this bill of “Saviour or Liberator”.

Jesus during His ministry here on earth made statements to this effect, statements that pointed to Him as God thus greater than man, Some of these are:

“I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30).

“Believest thou not that I am IN THE FATHER, and the FATHER IN ME.? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.” (John 14:10-11). 

“Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:11).

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be ONE; as THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, and I IN THEE, that they also may be ONE IN US: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be ONE, even as WE ARE ONE” (John 17:20-22).

These claims have been refuted in ages past, is vehemently in so our age and that will be the case until the end comes. C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity writes the following:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't 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 this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, 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.”

There really is no half way in-between; either believe he is the Son of God or not.

“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.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men (John 1:1-4)

“The Word” - LogosThe dictionary tells us that “The Word” means:
Divine reason: in Christian theology, the divine rational principle as epitomized by Jesus Christ
Christian holy scriptures: in Christianity, the Bible or Scriptures, considered as revealing divine truth

Dictionary definitions for “Logos” (Greek, "word,""reason,""ratio"):
Jesus Christ as divine wisdom: Jesus Christ, so named in St John's Gospel, as the word of God, the personification of the wisdom of God, and divine wisdom as the means for human salvation
Word of God: the divine wisdom of the word of God

The reason why Apostle John used the phrase “The Word” to illustrate his point in this Gospel is the fact that God declares His eternal divine wisdom, intensions and purpose through His Word.

Right from the beginning of creation of the earth where the first utterance was - “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3); the psalmist said of this act of God -“For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” (Psalms 33:9):

God's Word is sometimes spoken of metaphorically - “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” (Psa. 107:20) ( see also Psa. 147:15, 18):

God's Word is active, dynamic, achieving its intended results - “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” (Isa. 50:10-11):

His Wisdom God is personified in His Word, Wisdom tells us of His work in creation - “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.” (Proverb:8:22): The Angel of the Lord is sometimes spoken of as God, sometimes as distinct - “And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.” (Judges 2:1):

His Name is sometimes spoken of metaphorically - “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.” (Ex. 23:20-22).

The Word is the definition, explanation and expression of God; it is God defined, explained and expressed. The Word is not separate from God; this is not a situation or condition where the “Word is the Word” and “God is God” meaning that the are separate from each other . Rather, the two are one, as can be seen in John1:1, after the statement “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God“ the phrase that follows is “and the Word was God”.

In one of our previous posts, He alone is God; And He is God alone. Parts 1 & 2: In which we looked at the attributes of God, we saw that God is Love – God’s love for us is just as and backed up by His attribute of being immutable (and His other numerous attributes) and cannot be wholly comprehended by man except through His Son Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. If God’s love cannot be comprehended by man except through Jesus then there is a capacity in Jesus that is greater than man. A.W. Tozer in “I talk back to the devil” in describing to us, the connection between God’s love and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, gives a pointer to this capacity in Jesus that is greater than man when he said:

“Brethren, it is well for us to remember that as human beings we can never know all of the Godhead. If we were capable of knowing all of the Godhead perfectly, we would be equal to the Godhead. For illustration, we know that we cannot pour an entire quart of water into a vessel which has a capacity of less than a quart. So you could never pour all of the Godhead into the experience of any being who is less than God Himself.

A similar kind of illustration was used long ago by ancient fathers in the church as they argued for the trinity of the Godhead. They pointed out that God the eternal Father is an infinite God, and He is love. The very nature of love is to give itself but the Father could not give His love fully to anyone not fully equal to Himself. Thus we have the revelation of the Son Who is equal to the Father and of the eternal Father pouring out His love into the son, who could contain it, because the Son is equal with the Father. Further, these ancient wise men reasoned, if the Father were to pour out His love into the Son, a medium of communication equal to both the Father and the Son would be required, and this was the Holy Ghost. So we have their concept of the Trinity –the ancient Father in the fullness of His love pouring Himself through the Holy Ghost who is in being equal to Him, into the Son who is in being equal to the Spirit and the Father”

We can see that the "Word is God" implies that God in His person is not made up of or having only one part or element, He is triune. Not God the Son only but a Triune God. There might be a man named John. And John might be with the man named Kennedy, and John might also be Kennedy because John is the son of Kennedy, and Kennedy is the family name. Yet they are two separate persons.

“The same was in the beginning with God“.

"In the beginning", that is, from eternity past, the Word was with God. Contrary to what is supposed by some, it is not that Christ was not with God and was not God from eternity past, and that at a certain time Christ became God and was with God. Jesus Christ’ deity is eternal and absolute. From eternity past to eternity future. He is with God and He is God.

Speaking of Melchizedek, who Abraham met and who blessed (Genesis 14:17-24), Apostle Paul gives another clue to the immortality and eternal existence of Jesus Christ when he described Melchizedek as:

“Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually“.(Hebrews 7:3).

“but made like unto the Son of God;” If Melchizedek who is “but made like unto the Son of God;” is “Without father, without mother, without descent,” (human father and mother are inferred here) Being eternal, The Son of God has no genealogy (John 1:1). But as the Son of man Christ does have a genealogy (Matt. 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38).

Genealogy -

A study of history of families and the line of descent from their ancestors. It shows a pedigree or line of descent that can be traced directly from an ancestor or earlier form, especially that of a specific person or family: it can be in the shape of a chart or table that shows the line of descent from an ancestor or earlier form, especially that of a specific person or family.

“having neither beginning of days, nor end of life;” - Then Jesus Christ being a point of reference for Melchizedek’s immortality ( to elevate a  person certain to die eventually to the state of divinity or bestow eternal life on him/her) and eternal existence; must have existed and will exist eternally.

In our next post we shall be looking at the second part of this first of three questions asked to see if Jesus is the “Saviour” and “liberator” of mankind - IS JESUS MORE THAN MAN? Meanwhile:


Prayer:

Our Father, you know the many idols in this our ever increasingly self centred world that loom before us each day - the gods of pleasure, selfishness, self-centredness, We pray that You deliver us from these gods, these false gods that will rob us of our faith, of our love for humanity. Make us fall more truly in love with the Lord Jesus who alone is the only true God, who has come to give us an understanding of ourselves and the world around us, and has come to teach us righteousness and how to love with a heart that is self-giving instead of self-serving. These things we ask, Lord, in this 21st century hour, knowing that we are exposed to the same dangers that they were in the first century, and so desperately needing your power. We ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.

You might say – "how do I; and Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about" Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.

Admit your spiritual need.

We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.What is the result of sin?

In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.

Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.

John 3:16-17. In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. It is Jesus, after all, who is the source of life and light.

What must a person do to accept this gift?

Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states – “come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.

If you haven't already received Christ as your Saviour, don't put it off another day! Take time right now to invite Him into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like this:

Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.