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Jesus Is God [Part One]




But awkwardly enough, scripture leaves us with a conundrum, for it also clearly states, and in the same New Testament as those clear pronouncements about God's oneness, that Jesus is God. This is of course, problematic from initial appearances; for one, how can God be One and Jesus be God at the same time? Given that God is One because He is transcendent, it would appear that God could not be flesh, as Jesus is flesh. But this problem is subsequently answered by the context within which Jesus is said to be God. Scripture makes two distinct essences of Jesus; one divine, and one human.


So the first Christians were led to understand Jesus according to his humanity, as they experienced a one-on-one relationship with the man. It wasn't, apparently, until after the events of his death and resurrection, that they came to understand his divine essence. But it is there, throughout the New Testament; in explicit and implicit terms, manifestly, materially present in just about every pericope; the undeniable evidence that Jesus is God.


 

WHAT THE SCRIPTURES SAY


For the sake of contrast, I think it should be clear from an apostolic standpoint, that several significant early church leaders believed that Jesus is God. I will focus on three: John, Paul and Peter, because I believe that their pronouncements in epistle and gospel, are the most forceful and significant; but not the only voices.



Peter



The Apostle Peter opened his 2nd epistle by beckoning the faithful to acknowledge his position as a servant of Jesus Christ, our righteous "God and Savior." 2 Peter 1:1


What is peculiar about this proclamation is the context, which is all around it; particularly in the very next verse:


2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ESV



What is interesting about this is that here Peter contrasts Jesus from God, whereas in the previous verse he declares Jesus as God. What we will find, is that this is precisely what the Apostle John does in various passages as well. And indeed, Paul has a tendency to employ similar literary vehicles for stating essentially the same thing as these other two. This seemingly "round-a-bout" way of stating that Jesus is God incarnate, would be justified in leaving us speechless, unless we are to come to terms with why: what message are these three trying to convey to us by use of a cumbersome literary methodology in order to say something that appears quite simple?


The other two writers will certainly shed some light on the matter of language usage; particularly John.



John


In his account of the Gospel of Jesus, John begins right off the bat, in Genesis, no doubt: "In the beginning."


1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ESV


Here again we see the contrast between Jesus (the Word) as God, and yet as distinct from God. The Word is clearly declared as being God; yet the Word was with God in the beginning. But remember the problem we faced earlier with the issue of Jesus being God in the flesh? How can God become a physical being? That is indeed a problem, but one not without resolution. John states further on in the very same chapter:


14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ESV


Now there are three words here, which help to understand the entire passage. Those three are become, flesh, and dwelt. Resorting to our Greek lexicon, we discover something magical about the combining of these three words. The first word, "become" in Greek, is egeneto, which literally means to transition. The second word, "flesh" in Greek means exactly what it means in English, and that is a very important comparison when combined with the other two. We might assume that Jesus, the Word is transitioning into flesh; that God is becoming literally flesh; confined to a human body. But that would not be a complete picture of what is happening, and what is happening is distinguished by the third word.


The third word in our group, "dwelt," or "to dwell" in Greek is eskēnōsen, and it means not merely to dwell, but to dwell in a tent, or to pitch one's tent.


So if we are to concisely and accurately translate John 1:14, it would read: "and the Word transitioned to living as flesh by pitching [His] tent among us." And the 1st Century Jew would have understood this, because of Jewish History; where God dwelt among humans in a literal tent called the tabernacle. Actually tabernacle is a Roman word, which also means tent. The 1st Century Jew would have connected jesus' body to first the tabernacle, and then to the temple; as indeed, Jesus himself also did, when he declared the destruction of the Jerusalem temple.


So it appears that John means to say not so much that God has become limited by human flesh, but that God has come to live among men in the same dwelling within which men dwell; namely, a human body. Furthermore, this body is finite, but the person indwelling therein, is the infinite God.


So for John it becomes clear that there is no real contradiction between the Word being God, and the Word being with God. He hasn't clarified precisely how that seeming contradiction is resolved, but he does hint that the essence of God in the incarnation (Christ indwelling in a human body), is compatible with the oneness, as well as the spiritual "nature" of God. If God can dwell among men in a tabernacle or a temple, He most assuredly can dwell among men as a man himself, in a human body.



Paul



11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14 ESV



Here Paul writes something very similar to what Peter wrote in his epistle: ...."our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..." It is rather astounding that Paul, who conventional wisdom tells us; did not get along too well with the Apostle Peter; should relate to Jesus in exactly the same way. Perhaps this is a bit of truth he actually learned from the Apostle. Or perhaps he learned this from someone else. Either way, it is clear that Paul believed Jesus to be God.


Yet Paul also understood Jesus as a man; for he writes in 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..." Here is yet another passage of scripture, wherein Jesus is contrasted with God, yet Paul states elsewhere, as we have seen, that Jesus is God. The understanding is that there is only one God. For Paul, that is clear. In a similar vein, the oneness of God is in Jesus himself, as the one mediator between God and men. He's not exactly a man in that respect, because he mediates between men and God. In that sense, but not in that sense alone, he is above men; therefore, and without need for qualification, he is God.


Of course for Paul, there are various other indications of His understanding regarding Jesus' divinity. We could look into the multiple times he equates a characteristic or role of Jesus, as exactly the characteristic or role of God. For example, Jesus and God are the Savior; yet for Paul, there is only one Savior. Also, there is the "Gospel of God," and the "Gospel of Jesus Christ." These roles are referred to interchangeably throughout Paul's epistles, making it clear that He knows something so intimately familiar regarding Jesus, that it requires no expansion. His silence in explaining himself indicates that the early Church believers were very familiar with this particular insight.



 

 He is One

 

 He is three

 

 He is Spirit

 

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