Is It Really That Complicated?

(Jesus and God)

This is definitely a topic that might very well date all the way back to the early church. Not the church during the apostles time, but after they had all died and some time, not much time, had passed. Even the Catholic Church had a meeting that dealt with this issue and how did they solve it? They solved it by voting on it, not by sound doctrine. It is no wonder that the Muslims, atheists and other religions have a hard time understanding this belief of many of the major Christian religions. When I hear someone talking about Jesus and God and they interchange them as if they are the same individual but are supposed to be filling different roles it does make me think if they even truly know who they are praying to. When it comes down to it is it that complicated or even a mystery of who Jesus and God (The Almighty as I like to call Him) are?

Not going by some commentary or some church literature what does the Bible actually say about this and who are the ones saying? If I want to know who these two are isn’t best to see what they say about themselves and each other? It doesn’t matter how and by who you were brought up and taught by nor does it matter what your parents or family in general believe, it comes down to what does the WORD or God say about this matter. So let us begin with some simple and straight forward scriptures.

Matthew 3:17 “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 17:5 “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

Even Peter was revealed who Jesus was, not by Jesus but by his Father.

Matthew 16:13-17 “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

So far it is pretty clear who Jesus is, he is God’s son. Nothing surprising here and I am sure we all can agree on that. We even have evidence from other spiritual beings that speak on this matter.

Matthew 8:29 “And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?”

Mark 3:11 “And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.”

Mark 5:7 “And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.”

Even the demons know who Jesus is and it was no mystery to them nor was it complicated for them to understand. Yet many still make it hard to understand, because they accept Jesus and the son of God, but at the same time they seem to have to believe he is also God. If Jesus is God and while down here was both God and man than why does he say that there is only one who is good and that is God?

Matthew 19:17 “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Mark 10:18 “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”

Luke 18:19 “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.”

If he was God he would not have had to correct this individual, but he did because he was not God and definitely was no going to allow someone to neither compare him to his Father nor take away any glory from his Father.

Now going back to Jesus and what he says about his Father let’s look at another scripture which seems to be straight forward.

John 14:28 “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.”

Here we have Jesus himself saying that his Father is GREATER than him. Not sure how you can misunderstand his words. So if the Father is greater than the son that would mean they are not equal making Jesus not God nor of the same footing with Him.

There is also a series of scriptures that can be looked at to make a comparison and there are quite a few so I will start with a couple to set things up.

Mark 9:37 “Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.”

Luke 9:48 “And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.

Luke 10:16 “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.”

John 3:16-17 “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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

John 4:34 “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

John 5:23, 24, 30, 36-38 “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (30) I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (36-38) But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

I am not going to have them all up here like this but this is the rest of the list: John 6:29, 38-40, 44, 57; 7:16, 28, 29, 33; 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42; 9:4; 11:42; 12:44, 45, 49; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:18, 25 and 20:21. I mention and list all of these for a specific reason. They call about Jesus being sent and being sent by his Father. Here is why I have done this. There is one KEY scripture that answers them all in making it clear the difference between Jesus and God. That scripture can be found in John 13:16 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” Jesus though being the son of God also considered himself a servant that could not be compared to the one that sent him. There is one that I did show above that makes another interesting fact and that is John 5:30 “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Jesus could do nothing of himself except for the things that he was commanded to do by his Father. Again there is a vast difference between the two.

It isn’t that complicated. Jesus was God’s son and exactly that. Just as I am a father and I have a son. My son is not the same as myself. Though my son may have my name and I may have him go do things for me with the authority that I have, but he is nor ever will be the same as myself. That is why Jesus was able to do all that he did because his Father sent him with the authority to do those things. He came in his Father’s name as it is spoken of in 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.” That is also why in John 17:21-22 “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:” Jesus speaks of them being one, not that they are equal or of some trinity but because of their relationship and the authority that his Father entrusted him with. They were of like mind in accomplishing what Jesus was sent down here to get done. If meant that they were equal and Jesus was God than I guess we are all equal to God and are God as well “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:”. We know that is not the case.

Even the scribes back than could not understand at times what Jesus was saying and even accused him of saying he was equal to God but again Jesus had to correct him.

John 10:29-36 “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 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. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 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?

Was Jesus saying what the scribes thought he was saying? No of course not and Jesus clears it up at the end stating that what he was saying was that he was God’s son nothing else. Jesus has made it quite clear who he is and that he is not God but God’s son. Why do so many have to make Jesus God? That I am not sure of, part of me thinks that people believe it because if God didn’t die for them than that isn’t good enough. As if anything less is just no sufficient. What the miss to see is that Jesus being God’s son and only his son making it that much more precious. For those that have children and are loving parents, what would be easier to do? Offer yourself up as a sacrifice or offering one of your children up instead? It would be so much harder to offer one of your children up to die than it would be to offer yourself.

There is another scripture that even makes it that much more clearer.

John 20:17 “Jesus saith unto her, 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.”

Not only is Jesus calling his Father our Father but that his Father is also his God. That is pretty straight forward in showing us who God is to Jesus and vice averse. Even with all these scriptures people will throw them all out just so they can try to cling onto a couple that can and are misunderstood. Some will try to use a couple verses to say that Jesus is God or equal to God and I will look at some. The most famous I think is John 1:1.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

They try to make the connection that the Word is speaking of Jesus here. If that was the case than the Bible “The Word of God” is also God himself. I am not saying that is the case I am making a point. The Word spoken of here is what it really means and that is what God says. Ever heard the expression that a man is only as good as his word? All that God setups, creates and does is a manifestation of who He is. He does things for a reason a purpose and all that is for good. Of course John 1:1-14 can be its own sermon study because of other things that are hidden in it. Let us move on and look at another scripture.

John 8:58 “Jesus said unto them, Verily,verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

There are so many that will say “look see he is definitely saying that he is God because look at what he’s saying, before Abraham was, I am.” Let’s us look back at another time that they thought the same thing and Jesus had to correct them in saying that he was the son of God in John 10:29-36. All that just is saying is that he existed before Abraham did, nothing more than that. If you want to get technical about this verse than you should go and read Exodus 3:14 and see if he says exactly what God says.

Exodus 3:14 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

God doesn’t just say I AM but initially says I AM THAT I AM. For those that want to think that is God’s name than they have to use the full I AM THAT I AM and not just I AM. I actually like this line because God is saying to Moses that He doesn’t have to explain anything to anyone. He is who he says He is and He doesn’t need to say anything else. Since The Almighty is the only true God He tells Moses go tell the children of Israel that the only existing God has sent you.

There is one more that I have seen try to be used to make the case that Jesus is God and that is 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, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” The only problem with this one is that you have to take in consideration two other scriptures dealing with the birth of Christ. Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” And Matthew 1:23 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” The prophecy about Jesus’ birth is interesting because it speaks of what others would call him not that this is who he is. Isaiah prophecies in 7:14 that Jesus would be called Immanuel, which he never was named that, but we see in Matthew 1:23 that it would be others that would call him Immanuel meaning God with us. This has been fulfilled because that is what many say that he is, God. With this understanding we can than look at Isaiah 9:6 as it is, a list of names or titles that others would call him, not that he would call himself these or that these are him.

What people have complicated is actually very easy to understand. Jesus is the son of The Almighty, nothing less nothing more. They have a very close relationship in which we try to do our best to have with them. At the same time we need to know that we are not to place Jesus in his Fathers spot, but we need to honor Jesus for what he has done for us and at the same time worship his Father as our God and not some member of a trinity for as it says in Exodus 20:3-5 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” He is a jealous God and he will not tolerate having anyone or anything put before him or in place of Him.