Monday, November 12, 2012

The Question of the Divinity of Jesus

There are some people who have a hard time grappling with the concept of the divinity of Jesus.  They  can not accept that Jesus is God, and believe that the concept that Jesus is God was an invention of the early Church to promote their religion.  They ask, "How can Jesus be God and man? Is Jesus another separate God from God the Creator?" "Is there a logical explanation that can allow a person to understand how Jesus is God?" Against many persons belief, yes there is. 

Now Jesus was born without the aid of a human male, he took on some of the traits of His natural Father, who was God.  Now since He was a first born Son he has the birthright given to Him of His Father. This was a legally accepted practice in Israel, so the first born son inherited all the power, property and authority of his father.  Jesus was God's naturally first born Son.  You don't have to take my word for it for the prophets of the Bible did not lie about the divinity of Jesus, when they spoke of the Messiah to come. What follows is just a sampling of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.


11.      That he was to be born without the aid of a human male- Genesis 3:15
22.      That he would be God’s Son- Psalms 2:7; 1 Chronicles17:11-14; 2 Samuel 7:12-16
43.      That his name would be  Immanuel = God is with us- Isaiah 7:14
9

The bible says "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." - Jesus, the Christ (John 5:39)

The prophets of the Bible that prophesied about Jesus being divinely conceived and taking on the title of being God's son.  These prophets were Moses, Samuel and Isaiah. These prophets are very credible witnesses but they were all looking forward to the day of Jesus' birth.  Many of their prophecies came to pass and some are still being fulfilled up to our time.  Jesus alone fulfilled those prophecies that spoke about God having a son. For Jesus claimed to be God's Son. ( John 10:34-36)  Now Jesus was the only one born without the aid of a human male that God also claimed as his own son. (Matthew 3:17, 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35; 2 Peter 1:17) This is significant, because as stated before, the first male born son in Israel to any family inherits all rights, property and authority of his Father.  Since Jesus was not born by the aid of a human male, that eliminates any inheritance from his stepfather, Joseph. Therefore, Jesus' inheritance came straight from His Heavenly Father.  This why Jesus could say,  "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:.......And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.(John 5:22+27) For his inheritance included the power to execute judgement upon the earth, a power that only God, the creator has at his disposal.  This power to execute judgment was given to him from birth so every directive, principle He spoke becomes what we have to obey and live under.  The religious leaders failed to recognize this and accused Jesus of blasphemy, a crime according to the Law that is punishable by death.  They, the religious leaders of the day,  told the people that Jesus was a son of a Samaritan and was adopted by Joseph of the house of David, that he was possessed by the devil himself and by that authority Jesus cast out devils. (John 8:48)  None of this was true, but because it came from the religious leaders of the community, many felt that they  had to believe their testimony of who Jesus is or risk being thrown  out of the community.  (John 9:13-38 [vs 18-23]) 

Those who bravely believed Jesus who he said he was were alienated from the community and became members of the believers that followed after Jesus. (John 9:24-38; 12:19) The point is if Jesus did not prove who he said He was, then why did many follow after Him and His Disciples? Jesus must have given some evidence to his divine relationship with the Creator of the Universe. He did provide evidence through the miracles and signs he performed and presented them to those, who accused him being nothing more that a blessed devil who is a Sabbath breaker, as proof of his divine connection  with the God of the Universe (John 10:23-25) Despite their efforts Jesus still spoke, taught and stated that God was His Father even after his death and resurrection.

Now God raised Jesus up after the religious leaders and the Romans crucified Jesus,  sealed the tomb in which he was buried and requested a Roman Guard to watch the tomb to make sure that He did not keep his word. When that failed they paid the Roman Guard to report that the disciples came and stolen away the body of Jesus. (Matthew 27:62-66; 28:11-15) The point here is if Jesus was not who he said he was, what need was there to set a Guard over the tomb in the first place? To ensure that the Disciples would not steal his body? Furthermore, why pay the Roman Guard to report that the Disciples came and stolen away the body of Jesus?  If Jesus did not have the power to be raised from the dead, none of these actions would have been necessary, but because of Jesus promise that He would rise from the dead and the many other un-explainable miracles Jesus performed during his 3 year ministry upon the earth in Israel that they themselves have seen and heard of, the religious leaders of the day had Jesus crucified and buried. They sealed the tomb, because if Jesus stayed dead, then Jesus would have been another dead false prophet and all their actions would have been justified. However, they did not expect God, the father to raise up Jesus from the dead. God, the father,  raised Jesus up from the dead because he was innocent of the charge of blasphemy, for Jesus was who he said he was: the Son of God. Also the Law of God that was suppose to judge the sin of sinners, condemned an innocent righteous godly man through the manipulation of the religious leadership of the day. So God, the Father raised Jesus, the Son of God from the dead because God is not dead nor can be put to death and Jesus was very much apart of God. Consider this,  If God allowed Jesus to remain dead, then all the prophecies that the prophets foretold about Jesus in the name of God, the creator, would have been a lie.  God does not lie, so Jesus had to rise.  Now by Jesus dying,  the Son of God, put out of legal effect the Law of God and reconciled all men to God by reason of His relationship to God.  That those who believe in Christ as the Son of God and in his sacrifice for their sins, those who accepted Jesus as God can be brought into a new relationship with God. Not as slaves but as sons (John 1:12+13).  Not as an alienated and sinful being, but as a child of God. (John 1:12+13; 1 John 3:1)

Now here is the point. If there be only one God, how could Jesus also be God? The answer is that Jesus was already apart of the one God (John 14:10+11) and was sent of God to do what God desired for the saving of all sinful mankind.  Jesus is God because of the process that God chose to use by which He came into the world, the process of Human birth.  For he did not come as an angel, or as a fully grown man formed out of thin air, even though God, the Creator could have also done those things.  God chose that Jesus would come as a little child born of a virgin woman without the aid of a human male.  Jesus came because:

"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."-John 3:16

Why? In order that Jesus might save mankind that was under the condemnation of the Law to a new life relationship with God through him, as their Father.  For under the Law of God could no one be saved, but by the mercy and grace of God through faith in Jesus, the Christ, anyone can be saved, if they have faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  

Now if Jesus was not God, there would be no cause for God, the Father to raise him up. If Jesus was not God then his body should still be in the tomb of Joseph Arimethia.  Since the tomb of Arimethia is still empty even to this day, it alone testifies of the divinity of Jesus, in that God, the Father raised him from the dead.  Here is the testimony of Jesus, the Christ concerning his own death and resurrection:

"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."-John 10:17+18

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify [him]: and the third day he shall rise again."-Matthew 20:18+19

The point is if Jesus knew that He would by crucified and on the third day after his death rise again, if he was just a man, why would he go through with it?  Because it is the purpose why he came: To save men from their sins.  In order to do that He had to die willingly.  Why? because the first Man, created in the image and likeness of God died after willingly disobeying  God's command, He died as a sinner. To legally nullify that act, Jesus had to die willingly in obedience to God's command. This is the commandment Jesus had received from His Father.  For The first Man, Adam,  brought sin into the world and contaminated mankind with it until the Redeemer, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah came and brought righteousness back to mankind.  Not through the righteousness of works or by commandment, but through the righteousness of faith. (Romans 5:5-21) No mere man could do this, contaminated with sin, it had to be a man born without sin that could die for the sins of many.  Here enters Jesus, the Son of God, born of a virgin, Heir of the glorious things of God, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.  He alone is uncontaminated by sin, He alone willing dies for all of our sins, so that we all may have a chance to have a relationship with God, the Father.  That we too may have a chance to be saved, by reason  of His shed blood sealing forever our atonement.  A mere man's blood, contaminated with sin would have miserably failed in atoning for our sins, no matter how good he was.  Jesus, therefore was more than a mere man, Jesus was and is God manifested in the flesh.  Jesus is God.

This is what we say, that  Jesus is God because He is God's Son through natural childbirth. A process that God designed from the beginning of Human creation to procreate life.  Could God, the Creator made a body out of thin air and had Jesus cohabit it?  Yes He could have but, He did not chose to do it in any of those ways. Why? Because He promised that A virgin would have a Son and His name would be called Immanuel meaning: God is with us.  God keeps His promises. Thus showing once again that anything that is made of God is of God.  Jesus was born the Son of God.  If God did not do what He had promised to do, then God is a liar and can not be believed.  All of Christianity stands upon the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. If Jesus be the Son of God, then He is also God, for as stated anything that is a creation of God is of God. If Jesus is of God and the way he became of God was through natural child birth then He is God manifested in the flesh. So when he departs from the earth He was returning to the place God reserved for Him at His right hand of the Judgment throne of God  in Heaven. No man has ever seen God, but by His mercy, for a little while mankind witnessed God in the form of Man, live, speak and die for us all.  We all see him now, it is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Who told one of the disciples, You have seen me, you have seen the Father, after that disciple requested that the Father be revealed to them. (John 14:1-8) Jesus implied that He and the Father were the same.  Since the Father is God and Jesus is the same as the Father then Jesus is God with us. Immanuel, just as the prophet Isaiah foretold.

So what more evidence does anyone needs, they must pray to the Father to allow the truth of the revelation of Jesus be brought to them.  God, the Father will answer, for the Father will bear witness of His Son as His Son bore witness to Him.   For we have declared to the logical reasons to believe that Jesus is God. We have spoken about the prophets that proclaimed his birth before he was born. We have spoken about why God, the Creator chose natural childbirth as the process to bring Jesus into the world as His Son.  We have discussed the fact of the empty tomb of Joseph of Arimethia testifies of Jesus' divinity.  We have pointed out the improbability of anyone one else qualifying to be a sacrifice for our sins.  We touched upon the legality of God's actions to mankinds sinful plight.  We read Jesus' own testimony about His own death and resurrection and pointed out why He had to go through with it.  We discussed and pointed out that anything that is created by God is of God and Jesus is of God.  We spoke of Adam's contamination of Mankind and Gods remedy: Jesus.  We spoke about the limitation of the Law and how it was manipulated to send a innocent man to his death, but God who sees all and knows all  delivered that innocent man from death and raised him back to life.  Who was that man? Jesus.  We talked about the evidence that Jesus provided to prove who He was: the miracles He performed.   All he has asked and still is asking is people to believe His testimony and accept the Salvation he provides.  What will you do with the evidence? Some choose to not believe, some choose to believe, which are you?