Nowhere does the Bible make the
plain statement that 'Jesus is God'.
Nowhere does Jesus claim 'I am
God'.
One of the most emphasised
doctrines in Christendom is in fact based upon an interpretation superimposed
upon only 2 passages of scripture:
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Psalms 45:6
¶Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:
therefore God, thy God, hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Psalm 45.6-7 is also quoted once in the New Testament by the
writer to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 1:8
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.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
therefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Actually the Bible’s word for God
is ‘Myhlx’ or ‘ELOHIM’ in the
original language the Old Testament.
This term is far more flexible than
people originally assume.
It is used of Moses:
Exodus 7:1
¶And the LORD said unto Moses,
See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh:
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
It is also used for the following
categories:
Idols:
Psalms 96:5
For all the gods of the nations are
idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
Exodus 20:23
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods
of gold.
Leviticus 19:4
Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your
God.
Spiritual principalities and powers:
(Angels and demons)
Exodus 12:12
For I will pass through the land of Egypt
this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and
beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the
LORD.
Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
1 Samuel 28:13
And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman
said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
Psalms 138:1
I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto
thee.
Judges/Authorities:
(Since ‘Myhlx’ or ‘ELOHIM’ is the plural form of the word ‘majesty’ the term is applied to men in the sense of ones
whose authority is to be respected as instituted by God
(Romans 13.1-6; 1 Peter 2.13-15)).
Exodus 22:28
Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse
the ruler of thy people.
1 Samuel 2:25
If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him:
but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding
they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay
them.
The word translated as judge (underlined) in this passage is
in fact 'Elohim'
- look it up! While you’re at it you may as well check out Exodus 21.6 and 22.8-9 as well.
The Hebrew language had no
capitalised letters so the translators would apply them according to the rules
of grammar for the English language and
according to their own theological predisposition.
So in verses such as Genesis 1.1 a capitalised ‘G’ was added to indicate
that it is the one true God Yahweh (hvhy) which was being referred to as opposed other places where
the ‘g’ was left small.
Perhaps the best example of this
is:
Psalms 82:1
God (Myhlx) standeth in the
congregation of the mighty;
he judgeth among the gods (‘Myhlx’).
Notice how the same word is
rendered as both ‘God’ (singular and capitalised) and ‘gods’ (plural and not
capitalised).
The implication is that since one ‘Myhlx’ or ELOHIM is judging the
others, he must be none other than Yahweh (hvhy) the God of Gods (Joshua
22:22, Psalm 136.2), the Most High God (Genesis 14.22).
Notice also that the ‘gods’ he
judges are described as ‘mighty’- Mighty gods!
(Note- That these ‘gods’ are men and not spirits is made clear in verses
6 and 7)
If we are to be consistent in our
application of this principle, then it should also extend to our opening
scripture:
Psalms 45:6
¶Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:
therefore God, thy God, hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Surely, just as the God doing the
judging of gods in Psalm 82 is taken to be the Most High God
and the others as ‘small ‘g’ gods’…
then in this case:
a) The ‘ELOHIM’ doing the anointing (empowering and commissioning) of the
other ‘ELOHIM’ must be the God of Gods, and other a ‘small ‘g’ god’
b) The ‘ELOHIM’ of verse 7 is described as the God of the verse 6 ‘ELOHIM’.
It follows then that the Son of God is not the Most High God, but a ‘small ‘g’
god’.
So then,
The question then is not whether
The Son of God can be referred to as an ‘Myhlx’ or ‘ELOHIM’,
but rather if the word should be translated ‘God’ meaning the Most High God,
the only true God, the Eternal God and Creator, or ‘god’ in the sense of an
authority sent by God with delegated power.
This also explains how The Son of
God as a man can be referred to in Isaiah 9.6 as the mighty god (Mighty EL) without making him the Most
High God.
If the meaning of the verse was to
present the Messiah as the Most High God in human form, then the far more
unambiguous term ‘Almighty God’ or (El-Shaddai) would have been used, since it
only ever refers to Yahweh (hvhy).
Instead, Jesus was to be the
prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18.18), and if Moses was a god (Exodus
7.1).
How much more the
Christ!
This is certainly the understanding Christ had of what him being 'god' meant.
We read of it in his response to
the Pharisees accusation:
John 10:33
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good
work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man,
makest thyself God.
Note- The Bible does not call Jesus God here, any more than it makes
him equal with God in John 5:18.
These
are accusations found in the mouths of Jesus’ enemies, men who would eventually
conspire to have him rejected by the Jews and executed by the Romans.
Their word should not be taken as ‘gospel’!
Jesus neither denies their accusation nor affirms to them that he is the God Almighty.
Instead he explains to them the
sense in which he is ‘god’.
Where does he refer them to?
Not Deuteronomy
6.4, or Isaiah
43.10-11,
or any other scripture which emphasises the exclusive oneness of the true God.
Instead he takes them back to Psalms 82!
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not
written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto
whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father
hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest;
because I said, I am the Son of God?
Even then he does not lay claim to
his identity as the god of Isaiah 9.6 and Psalm 45.6 but reinforces his only ever claim: ‘I said I am the Son of God’.
In
conclusion
Even though the term 'god' is applicable to the Son of God
it is unscriptural to refer to him the titles:
Since these apply to his God and
Father to the exclusion of all others.
As Jesus himself
stated:
John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
And the Apostles bear witness:
1 Corinthians 8:5
For though there be that are called gods,
whether in heaven or in earth,
(as there be gods many, and lords
many,)
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 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus.
|
1. Introduction |
|||||
|
10. Seen! |
|||||
|
17. Jesus- a Godsend |
18. 1 Creator |
||||
|
20. The firstborn |
21. The name of God |
|
|
|