Jesus is God

Do you believe that Jesus is God? That He always was, is and ever will be, God? Truly and honestly? I hope so – but it is evident, as I listen and watch, that many do not. Yes, they affirm it as a matter of outward faith, but their hearts have yet to grasp and keep it as fact.

There is a strange alliance, where a Christian will accept a belief as a statement, but not as an actual fact, as though the two can be separated. That is why so many Christians fall apart sometime in their lives and their faith is made shipwreck - what they say they believe is not what they truly believe. As psychology would put it, they have not internalised what they say they believe. Therefore, their belief is superficial, ready to crumble when put to the test. Indeed, this is why God tests us – to show us the strength or not of our faith.

Jesus is God. That is a factual statement. Not a supposition, or a query, or an ambiguous half-hearted pretence. John 1 contains some of the most profound words in all of scripture. They are words given by God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, about His Son Jesus Christ, Who is also co-equal with Him. That is, Jesus Christ is God Himself. The very language of John 1 says so openly and plainly.

To ‘believe’ John 1 superficially will not do. We must embrace it wholeheartedly, or risk being torn apart by the enemy of souls, who easily recognises superficiality in the child of God. He will work at undermining our faith, slowly chipping away at the edifice that we put in the place of true belief until we are left with what we really have – a sham. 

So, do you really believe Jesus is God? Then prove it! For if you truly believed it, you would live in the fear of Almighty God, obeying His every precept. That is the proof of our love for Jesus Christ, as defined by Jesus Himself. We can only love Him if we actually believe in Who He claimed to be...and how can we believe if we have a paper-thin notion of Who he is?

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

John 1:1

How much plainer can scripture get? That single verse tells us that Jesus is God. It is not ambiguous and does not require mental gymnastics to make it sound right. The Word was with God, from eternity. That is what it says. And, note the magnificent words – “...and the Word was God.”!  We know that the ‘Word’ here is Jesus, for later, in verse 14, we are told that “...the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us”.

Sadly, many Christians, intimidated by the overwhelming knowledge of a Jehovah’s Witness at their door, will be dumbstruck when he or she speaks with such authority. The Witness will appear to crush every word of opposition. So, when he or she tells you that in John 1, the Bible has been mistranslated, quoting that the best translations say that ‘the Word was a God’, you just waffle and say you have to go to cook dinner/wash your hair/clean the house, etc.

Friends, if a Witness tells you that the translation should be ‘a God’ and not ‘The God’, he is lying! There is no such thing as the indefinite article in Greek! That is, there is no way a translator can say the text refers to Jesus (the Word) as ‘a’ God...because there is no such word as ‘a’ in the Greek language used to write the Bible. The whole structure of the text tells us that it refers to THE God and not just to any god. The reason a Witness clings to the idea of Jesus being ‘a’ god, is because it then makes Jesus a mere superhuman and not divine. And, if He is not divine, then He is not God...and could not have been the perfect sacrifice for us. It is essential for a JW to believe that, even though the text cannot sustain such a twisted and blatantly wrong translation. Let us look at what John 1 says:

Firstly, we are told that the ‘Word’ was ‘in the beginning’. What is meant by these two terms? The Greek rendering reads: “In (the) beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.” So, either way we look at it, we are told that the ‘Word’ and ‘God’ are the same. Now, we know that God exists eternally. Therefore, the Word also exists eternally. And, as they are both the same person, they exist co-equally. There can be several meanings for ‘beginning’. One of them is ‘the origin’, or ‘that by which anything begins to be’, or ‘the active cause’. Thus, the meaning can be given as ‘the Word, Who is God, created all things.’ This is itself rooted in the meaning of ‘to be chief/ruler’ and ‘to be the first to do anything’. All of this tells us that the Word was not created.

Who or what is ‘the ‘Word’? We see that the word begins with a capital letter, making it a name. In the New Testament ‘the Word’ is used to describe Jesus Christ. It is true that the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, first used the name ‘Logos’ (Word) about 600 years before Christ came to this earth, to mean the divine reason or plan which coordinates the changing universe. This, however, does not mean that the ‘Word’ is merely an early Greek invention borrowed by John. It simply means that God gave the name to John to use because it would have been easily recognised by the people of the time. Paul often used Greek allusions in this way.

In verse three we find that Christ (the Word) made everything. In verse 4, we discover that “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” ‘Life’ in this text means the absolute fullness of life that belongs to God, genuine and blessed. This life was the light of men. That is, heavenly light – pure, brilliant, truth and knowledge, shown publicly, shining forth as the illuminator of truth. He came, then, to show God’s truth to men. Verse 5 tells us that this light shone in the darkness but the darkness could not understand it. In scripture the darkness is used to speak of sin and evil; light is what comes from God. We are also told that darkness (or sin) is unable to understand God’s truth.

Cults might argue that all this does not prove that Jesus was that light (and therefore, the Word, God). This is not so. In the next several verses we are told exactly Who this Word, this light is. John the Baptist came to witness to the Light (in this verse the capital ‘L’ is used; another name), through Whom men might believe. So, this instantly refers to Jesus – for John came to make His path clear and to prepare the way for Him, as verse 8 testifies. Verse 10 makes it very clear that the Light (the Word) was a person, as John switches to a personal reference – ‘he’ and ‘him’. Verse 11 says that Jesus came to ‘his own’ e.g. the Jews, but they did not want to know Him. But those who believed in Him were saved (verse 12 and 13).

Any further doubts as to the first person reference should read verse 14, where we are told that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us”. The rest of the chapter unequivocally describes Jesus Christ. By working backward in this chapter we can see that the Word was also the Light, and that the Word was God, and that God became a human being in the form of Jesus Christ. Never, ever doubt, then, that Jesus is God. Scripture declares it forcefully and fully and no ignorant invention of cults can take that away from you.

Jesus is the Word...and the Word is God

Throughout the Old and the New Testaments we find reference to the ‘word’ of God. All too many Christians confuse this with the ‘Word’ of God (Jesus Christ). The ‘word’ of God simply refers to what He says, whereas the ‘Word’ refers to Jesus Christ, God HimselfA typical example of the difference is found in, say, Mark 14:72, “...And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him...”  Obviously, the ‘word’ and ‘Jesus’ were two separate things. In Luke 3:2 we find “...the word of God came unto John...”.  It is clear from the context that it was what God said, and not Jesus in person.

In Luke 5:1 we see that “the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God...”. The crowds came to hear what Jesus had to say from God. Thus ‘word’ is used in its ordinary, everyday sense. In John, where we find reference to ‘Word’ as being God, there is also use of ‘word’ as being simply what God said: “...the word which Jesus had said.”  etc. . (For a more detailed study of this, read BTM’s ‘the Word and the word’, Ref. No. A/87).

The word of God – what He says – is powerful and holds the universe together: see, for example, 2 Peter 3:7. In this text it would be easy to mistake what God says for God Himself, or even for Jesus Christ, because we were told in Genesis that the Word was God/Jesus. Even so, in this case, as in most others, the ‘word’ in this text refers to what God says. Just an utterance is enough for things to happen! A mere word from God created life and everything known to Man.

In 1 John 1:1,2 we come across another reference to the ‘Word’ being Jesus Christ: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen [it], and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)".  The ‘Word of life’ can only be Jesus Christ, who was ‘manifested’ and ‘handled’. 

A very clear distinction is made in 1 John 5:7 -  “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” We know that God is a Trinity, and that Jesus Christ is One of the Trinity. Here He is referred to as the ‘Word’, because the two names are synonymous.

In Revelation 19:11 a great and fearful image is given, that can only apply to Jesus Christ: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him (was) called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes (were) as a flame of fire, and on his head (were) many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he (was) clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” That this ‘Word’ is Jesus Christ is further made obvious in verse 16: “And he hath on (his) vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Conclusion

There can be only one conclusion – the ‘Word’ was with God in the beginning, uncreated. He was ‘manifested’ – came to earth in human form – and was named Jesus Christ. Also, Jesus Christ, the Word, was and is, God Himself, for as 1 John 5:7 puts it, the “three are one”. Scripture has given us its own definitions in its own texts, and these cannot be ignored. No doubt, JW’s and others will attempt to divert your attention by saying that 1 John 5:7 was ‘added’ to scripture by later scribes. Remember that one method Satan uses to detract us from truth is to ask “Did God really say that?”. This is what unbelievers have done for aeons. Do not listen. Just quote scripture...even without that text scripture clearly identifies the ‘Word’ as Jesus Christ...and Jesus Christ as God.

In other texts, where ‘Word’ is not used, we see that Jesus is referred to as being God (or claiming to be God). This is the underpinning thrust of the whole scene before Pilate and the Pharisees. This is why they became enraged and demanded His death...because He told them He was God and on many occasions, he performed His tasks and preaching as God. One such example of Jesus’ claim to be God is usually overlooked. It is found in Matthew 27:11. “And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.” Pilate was asking Jesus, bluntly, ‘Are you God?’ The word basileus, or ‘King’ can have one of several meanings, but the capital ‘K’ can only refer to one of those meanings – King of the Jews/God. This is why the name of ‘King’ was put above Jesus’ head on the cross. It was not so much a taunt as many suppose (though it could have been part of its use), but the formal charge against Jesus – His claim to be God. It was normal practice to pin up the charge against an accused man.

When asked if He was God, Jesus replied with an affirmation: “Thou sayest”. In modern terms, this is the same as saying, “You said it!” or “That’s right – you said it yourself!” or “You said the truth”.