Tag: deity of Jesus Christ

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Do Christians Worship Three Gods?

Christians do not worship three Gods. Christians worship one God who is eternally manifested in three persons, each sharing the same divine essence or nature. If this is hard to understand, it is even more difficult to explain.

There are many facts which we accept which we cannot explain: how electricity works, the relation of “mind” to the function of the brain, the apparent infinity of an expanding universe, the origin of gravity, for example. The Christian belief in the tri-unity of God is a great mystery. It is above and beyond human reasoning. It is not the sort of belief that would have been invented by humans.

The doctrine of the Trinity is embedded in many parts of the Bible. These biblical references are the basis for confessions of faith we call creeds. When Christians recite the Apostles’ Creed, they affirm their faith by saying, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his (God’s) only Son, our Lord.” To call Jesus “Lord” is to use the same word that the ancient people of God used to refer to almighty God. This is a confession that Jesus is divine, along with the Father.

If we recite the Creed in sincerity, we do so believing that it is saying what the Bible teaches about Jesus. We should trust any doctrinal statement only insofar as it is derived from holy scripture and faithfully declares the truths of holy scripture. If we believe in the deity of Jesus Christ and in the Trinity, it is only because we find these truths in the Bible, and we do.

We find a clear intimation of this in the words of Jesus to his disciples in John 14: 15-18. He has identified himself as being one in essence with God the Father (vv. 9-11). He is about to go back to the Father after his death and resurrection (v. 12). He promises his disciples that he will ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to them (vv. 16-17). When this happens, Jesus says, “I will come to you” (v. 18). Jesus will be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit. Then he adds that when the Holy Sprit comes, both the Father and the Son will be in those who love and obey him (v. 23).

Jesus says that he, the Son, possesses the same divine nature as the Father (v. 11). He came to reveal the Father (vv. 7-10). He then says that the Holy Spirit possesses that same nature (v. 16). When he refers to the Spirit as “another Counselor” (helper, comforter, advocate, encourager), he uses a word that means “another of the very same nature” as he is.

‘You know him,” Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, “for he lives in you and will be in you” (v. 17). This is the same thing he had told them about the Father (v. 7). Just as the disciples knew the Father because they knew the Son, so they would also know the Spirit because they knew the Son. Each of the persons of the Holy Trinity is distinct from the others, yet they are one in their essential being. To know one is to know the others. What Jesus is saying is that it is impossible to know him without knowing the Father and the Holy Spirit.

This agrees with other New Testament passages which bring out the idea of the Trinity. A few examples are the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17), his ascension and Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), Paul’s theology of salvation in which the Father chooses, the Son redeems and the Spirit seals believers (Ephesians 1:3-14), and the closing words of John’s epistle, “And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He (Jesus) is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

In one of his hymns, Isaac Watts wrote: “Almighty God, to Thee be endless honors done, / The undivided Three and the mysterious One. / Where reason fails, with all her powers, there faith prevails and love adores.”

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). 

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Jesus Prophesied His Death

Jesus was a prophet. In fact he was the “prophet like me” whom Moses said would arise from among the people of Israel. God would put his words in the prophet’s mouth and the people were to listen to him. He would speak with the authority of God (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Many who heard Jesus applied Moses’ words to him (John 5:46, 6:14, 7:40, Acts 3:22-24, 7:37).

As a prophet, Jesus foretold his own death and resurrection. This is one of the evidences for his divine nature. Mark’s gospel records three instances in which the Lord Jesus spoke plainly about what was going to happen when he went to Jerusalem. The second of these accounts reads as follows: “He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days, he will rise'” (Mark 9:30-32 ESV).

Jesus had been in seclusion, outside of the borders of Israel (Mark 7:24, 8:27), trying not to draw a crowd. This was so he could spend time with his disciples in intense preparation for what was to come. Travelling incognito, they were now passing through Galilee on the way to Jerusalem (Mark 9:30, Luke 9:51). He was a peripatetic teacher, instructing the disciples continuously as they went along.

He was radically revising their preconceived understanding of what Messiah should be and do. Yes, the title “Son of Man” was indeed a reference to the messianic king they envisioned (Daniel 7:13-14). But what they did not yet understand was that before he would rule as messianic king, he must die for the sins of the world. The double reference to being killed implies a violent death at the hands of men.

He told the disciples he would be “delivered up” to be killed. This could refer to the betrayal by Judas, (reflected in the NIV translation). Or it could be interpreted as a reference to the Jewish officials handing him over to Pilate. Or of Pilate delivering him into the hands of the Roman soldiers for them to carry out the crucifixion.

We must not overlook the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Peter later to preach that it was God himself who delivered up Jesus to die for sinners on the cross. He said that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23 ESV). The apostle Paul agreed, writing that Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25 ESV). 

The disciples did not yet understand. The idea that Messiah could be killed in this way was unthinkable and repugnant. In fact they were overcome with grief (Matthew 17:22). They certainly did not comprehend the resurrection. As the prophet spoken of by Moses, Jesus predicted these events and he was preparing his disciples. This was divine foreknowledge.

There are skeptics who deny this. They say that Jesus the man could not possibly have foreseen the future. But to deny his ability to prophesy coming events is to deny the portrait we have of Jesus throughout the gospels. If he was the divine Son of God this would be consistent with his nature.

There are skeptics who call attention to the fact that Jesus never claimed to be divine in Mark’s gospel. They say that Mark emphasized Jesus’ humanity. True enough, on both counts. Even without an explicit claim to deity such as we find in the gospel of John, Mark seems to be saying, “Look at the evidence and draw your own conclusion.”

Jesus forgave people’s sins. His enemies spoke the truth when, shocked by this they said, “He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:5-7). He declared himself to be Lord of the Jewish sabbath (Mark 2:23-28). He raised the dead (Mark 5:35-41). Over and over he demonstrated his power over demons, diseases, and over the forces of nature. He accepted the worship of people. If he was not divine, this would indeed be blasphemy (Mark 11:9-10).

When the officials of Israel asked him directly, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” he answered, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61-62). So upon reading the description of Jesus in Mark, it it no great surprise to hear him foretelling the future in detail (Mark 13:1-36). He was indeed the prophet.

Mark’s purpose is evangelistic. He magnifies the message of the cross. His style is direct, unadorned, and vivid. His gospel is a witness, an invitation to his readers to believe in Jesus, the Son of God who died on the cross, knowing he was accomplishing God’s plan of salvation.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Jesus and You in 2022

Recently I read the claim, put forward by a clergyman, no less, that Jesus never stated that he was the divine son of God. This writer would have us believe that what we have are Jesus’ “daily and constant declarations about how to be human and how we are to imitate him in his humanity.”

Jesus was most certainly human. But to imply that this cancels his claim to deity is is to misread the New Testament and to misunderstand Jesus’ plain words about his divine nature. If we take the Bible seriously we cannot escape the conclusion that it teaches us that Jesus is both God and man.

Even our Lord’s favorite name for himself, “Son of man,” is a messianic title taken from the Old Testament. It implies his ideal and perfect humanity. It also teaches his lordship, kingship, and ultimate rule over the whole world in a divine kingdom that will never be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-15).

So as we enter a new year let it be with the intention of keeping Jesus in the central place in our lives. “In all your ways acknowledge him” (Proverbs 3:6). “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:11). Jesus even said that we are to honor him in the same way that we honor the Father in heaven. “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:23).

In responding to his critics in John chapter 8, Jesus repeated the claim that he came from the Father, God, who sent him. “I stand with the Father who sent me” (v.16). “My other witness is the Father who sent me” (v. 18). “He who sent me is reliable” (v. 26). “The one who sent me is with me” (v. 29). “I have come from God” (v. 42). “He sent me” (v. 42).

Jesus also stated that his teachings came from God. “What I have heard from him I tell to the world” (v. 26). “I speak just what the Father has taught me” (v.28). “I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence” (v. 38). “I know him (the Father) and keep his word” (v. 55).

In John 14 Jesus said that we are to believe in him with the same faith that we reserve for God. “You believe in God; believe in me” (v. 1) “No one comes to the Father except through me” (v. 6). “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). “I am in the Father and the father is in me” (v. 10). “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

These are astounding claims. If they are true then in this new year of our Lord 2022 we must respond with some resolutions. With the disciple Thomas we must worship him as “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). We must obey him as he told his followers, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (John 14:23). When we pray to God, we must approach him in the name (on the authority) of Jesus. “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 15:24). Added to these is the great commandment: “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

Many African American churches have “watchnight” prayer services on New Years’ Eve. There is testifying, singing, preaching and, and as midnight approaches, fervent prayer for the new year that is ahead. What a great way to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus in the new year! It would not be a bad idea if every new day in 2022 began with our heartfelt declaration: “Jesus Christ is Lord!”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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“I Am Thirsty”

You understand thirst. You have felt thirsty. Have you ever experienced a burning thirst, a fearful life-or-death thirst, a dangerous thirst? Long distance hikers know the dangers of dehydration and the importance of locating water sources. They carry filtration systems for purifying water from streams, ponds or springs along the trail.

The fifth word of Christ from the cross came near the end when he said, “I am thirsty.” He knew that everything was about to be accomplished (John 19:28). He had been suffering the judgment of God for sin. This was to make possible our deliverance from the penalty for our sins. He identified with humanity in another way we all understand: “I am thirsty.”

Jesus had been hanging on the cross since 9:00 in the morning. It was nearing 3 pm. His physical sufferings were unspeakable. They were compounded by a burning thirst. He gave voice to a physical need. He had this is common with all humanity as before when he experienced temptation, fatigue, sorrow, hunger and righteous anger. In thirst, common to all people, Jesus understood how it felt to be human.

The “I” in this statement opens another window on the person of the Savior. It is a reminder that this dying, thirsting man on the cross was also God in his very nature. Repeatedly in John’s gospel, our Lord Jesus identified himself as the “I AM,” who had boldly declared, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10). John purposefully selected seven statements from the discourses of Jesus to affirm his divine authority: I am the Bread of Life, I am the Light of the World, I am the Gate, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Resurrection and the Life, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, I am the True Vine.

Then in John 8:58 he said, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” Not “I was,” but “I am” the eternal One, the self-existent One (Exodus 3:14; John 1:1). Jesus, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!” ( Philippians 2:6-8).

Think of it! The one who “was with God in the beginning” and through whom “all things were made” (John 1:2-3) inhabited and was dependent upon the creation he himself had brought into existence. The one who created the springs, rivers and aquifers to slake the thirst of living creatures; the one who sent the seasonal rains to water thirsty crops, to provide abundant harvests; the one who covered three-fourths of the surface of this planet with water to dissipate the heat of the sun and to make the earth habitable — this mighty creator humbled himself to die on a cross and before he died he said, “I am thirsty.”

The historic teaching of the Christian gospel is that Jesus is both human and divine, God and man in one person. Because he was man, he was able to bear our sins. Because he was God, his sacrifice was perfect. Because of his perfect sacrifice he is able to bring believers to Paradise. Let us say to Jesus, as Thomas did, with reverence and gratitude, “My Lord and my God!”( John 20:28).

Pastor Randy Faulkner