The
Lord Jesus Christ
is the One True God
Jerusalem is the city that is considered to be the
"cradle" of the three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity
and Islam. All three religions believe
there is only one God yet their views differ on the Godhead. Both Judaism and Islam do not believe that
God has a Son, and also they do not consider Christianity as a pure
monotheistic religion because of the Trinitarian dogma that states three
Persons in the Godhead. There are some
cultic and aberrant religious groups such as the Jehovah Witnesses, Unitarian
Universalism, Christian Science, etc. that do not believe in the divinity of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Outside the conflict
and confusion of views on the Godhead surely there must be a correct theology
on the One True God. Praise and thank
God there is one!
Let us begin with the common belief of all the three
religions in the One True God.
“Hear, O Israel: The
LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Deut. 6:4)
“SHEMA YISRAEL YHWH (ADONAI) ELOHENU ADONAI ECHAD.”
Some
Christian theologians explain the Hebrew word “ECHAD”
for “one” as
a collective, composite or united “one”
and not as an absolute “one”. From the time
of Moses when the Torah was first written until today the Jews had never
interpreted “ECHAD” as
anything else other than an absolute “one”. The Trinitarian
theology that defines the One True God as three separate but co-equal Persons and yet is not
three gods is an enigma to the Christian religion. The use of the non-biblical terminology “three Persons” is confusing and it has caused the
Jews and the Muslims to reject the Trinity that they consider as polytheistic.
The Lord Jesus Christ believed God is the absolute One and recited the Shema
as He taught the simple truth of the One True God.
“Then
one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving
that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of
all?’ Jesus answered him, “The first of
all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.”
(Mk. 12:29)
The One True God created Man in the Image of Jesus Christ
“Thus
says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: I am the LORD, who makes all things, who
stretches out the heavens all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;”
(Isa. 4:24)
“I
have made the earth, and created man on it.
It was I – My hands that stretched out the heavens, and all the host I
have commanded.” (Isa. 45:12)
“Then
God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;” (Gen.
1:26)
Some teach that God is more than one Person because of the plural form “Us” in ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;” but Isaiah 4:24 clearly shows the One True God “stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself.” There are at least four other sound biblical explanations to Genesis 1:26 that does not violate the integrity and truth of the One True God, and still be able to prove the Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator.
1. “Our
image, according to Our likeness” most certainly
refers to and includes the Lord Jesus Christ.
God is Spirit therefore He is invisible (Jn. 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17). The Lord Jesus Christ is “the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Col 1:15) Jesus is the “express
image” of the One True God (Heb. 1:3). “No one has seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (Jn. 1:18) The Lord Jesus Christ said to Philip: “. . .
He who has seen Me has seen the Father. . .”(Jn. 14:9)
There is no Biblical verse that states our Lord Jesus Christ existed in the flesh during the time when God created Adam. He was not born until four thousand years later. The word of God reveals how Adam was created in Jesus’ image even though He was not born yet. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom. 8:29) Let me explain it this way. It is like the architect who foreknew how the building looks like before it is actually built. He already has the preconceived image of it in his mind. Although it is only a concept yet he can still build a prototype model of it. Building developers build model homes for their potential buyers to have an idea how their future homes might look. In the same way the Great Architect of the Universe created Adam according “to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” “But when the fullness of the time had come (about 4,000 years later), God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” (Gal. 4:4) “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust - Adam, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man - Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:49).
2. “Our image” and “Our likeness” refers to the multiple image of God such as His physical, spiritual and intellectual aspects regardless of gender. Genesis 1:27 states: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Gen. 1:27) Let us see how God created the first man Adam. He created only one man, not three. Here is how He created Adam. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground (body), and breathed into his nostrils the breadth of life (spirit); and man became a living being (soul).” (Gen. 2”7) Man is composed of three elements – spirit, soul and body (1 Thes. 5:23).
3. “Our image” and “Our likeness” has reference to the angels who were present when God created Adam. “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.” (Psm. 8:4-5)
4. There is also the intellectual image of God. “Then the LORD GOD
said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.” (Gen.
3:22) When God said “become like one of Us” He could also have
referred to the knowledge of good and evil of the angels. After He sad this “He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, . . .” (Gen. 3:24)
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator of the Universe
“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things were made through Him,
and without Him nothing was made.” (Jn. 1:1-3)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn.
1:14)
“The Word” is the key to solving all the mysteries, controversies, questions and doubts concerning the divinity and pre-existence of the Lord Jesus Christ. “The Word” is the English translation of the original Greek “logos” ( logoz , 3056 ) that denotes (1) “the expression of thought” – not the mere name of an object – as embodying a conception or idea, (2) a saying or statement by God, and (3) the revealed will of God (very frequent in the Old Testament), is used of a direct revelation given by Christ.” – Vines Complete Expository Dictionary.
When an integral component of a
key is altered, distorted, added or discarded it cannot be used as originally
intended. The devil is the master of
deception. He placed one small word -
the article “a” in John 1:1 and its
whole meaning changes altogether. In
the New World Translation of the Bible that is published by the Jehovah’s
Witnesses they made this change “. . . and the Word
was a god.” The
Jehovah’s Witnesses use their New World Translation to show that the Lord Jesus
Christ is not really the One True God.
Here is their note on the key verse John 1:1.
"In
the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was a
god." [emphasis added] "...that is the Word was a powerful
godlike one. Clearly, Jesus is not Almighty God." (Ibid., p.
40).
Here
is another misinterpretation and distortion of Scriptures in
John 20:28 by the
Jehovah’s Witnesses. They interpret
Thomas’ words “My Lord and my God”
after seeing the resurrected Christ was
nothing more than an exclamation of surprise,
and they also say that it was directed at the Father and not Jesus Christ. Some even ridiculously suggested Thomas was
just exclaiming “Oh, my God!” like some people do when they swear or use
expletives: But if that were the case,
as a Rabbi the Lord Jesus would have rebuked Thomas for breaking the third
commandment (blasphemy). He would not
have responded, "Thomas, because you have seen Me,
you have believed: Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have
believed." (John 20:29) . Thomas’ confession showed that he truly believed
Jesus is the Almighty God.
People who have been
deceived by this erroneous and fraudulent New World Translation would not
recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as the One True God. The Lord Jesus Christ calls Himself “the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8; ref. Isa 9:6). How can
the Lord Jesus Christ be not “the Almighty
God” when
all authority has been given to Him in heaven and earth? (Mt. 28:18) No one reading the correct translation of
John 1:1-3 can deny that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One True God and also the
Creator. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing
was made.”
It
is important for us to clearly understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is the
Creator even though He did not exist in the flesh at the time of Creation, but
He truly existed as “the Word” and
we know that “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.”
It stated very clearly “The
Word” was the One True God Himself. At the time of Creation the Lord Jesus Christ
existed as “the Word”,
and four thousand years later
”the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
NOTE: The original Majority Greek text of the New
Testament does not have 1 John 5:7 that states: “.
. . the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” This verse was
added in the King James Version because King James, who authorized the printing
of the Bible, believed in the doctrine of the Trinity. Many recent Bible translations have omitted
this verse.
The
Lord Jesus Christ is clearly described as God and also as the Creator in the
New Testament.
“And
without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified
in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, received up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16)
“Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of
God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no
reputation taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of
men. And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the
death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8)
“He
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are
in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all
things consist.” (Col. 1:15-17)
The Lord Jesus Christ is God and the Only Savior of Mankind
“’You
are My witnesses,’ says the LORD, ‘And My servant whom I have chosen, that you
may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after
Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and besides
Me there is no savior. I have declared
and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses, says the
LORD, ‘that I am God.’” (Isa. 43:10-12)
“Truly
You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” (Isa. 45:15)
“Look
to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” (Isa. 45:22)
“Your
shall drink dry the milk of the Gentiles, and shall milk the breast of kings;
You shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty
One of Jacob.” (Isa. 60:16)
“For
He said, ‘Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.’ So He became their Savior.” (Isa. 63:8)
From
the prophecies of Isaiah alone we can see there is no room for anyone else
besides the One True God who can be the Savior of mankind. But how does God save mankind? He looked down from heaven and saw
humanity’s horrible condition.
“As
it is written: ‘There is none
righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; they have together become unprofitable;
there is none who does good, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10-12)
“.
. . Then the LORD saw it and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered
that there was no intercessor, Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
and His own righteousness, it sustained Him.” (Isa. 59:15-16)
In
order to save mankind from sin God requires an intercessor, someone who
reconciles man to Him. God’s plan of
salvation requires a sinless Man who would be the sin-bearer, takes man’s place
in death and also shed His blood to remit sin.
Since God could not find anyone on earth who is without sin therefore He
had to become the Savior by manifesting Himself in the flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ is the incarnation of
the One True God and the only Savior of mankind.
“And
she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS (YAHSHUA in
Hebrew), for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:21)
“Then
the angel said to them. ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy which will be to all people.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is
Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2: 10-11)
“But
when the kindness and the love of God
our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us,
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Savior .” (Tit. 3:4-6)
“. . . . Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. . . .” (Tit. 2:13)
Here
is the clear scriptural evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One True God
and Savior.
This Article is the response of Paul Wong
to a discussion in the ARK Forum on June 24, 2003
For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
May God bless you.
Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International.
His ministry also serves as an architectural service company in Houston.
The ARK Forum on the Internet is international and non-denominational.
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