This is an attempt to bring some clarification to all of the unproven and misleading theories on the personhood of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Please read and prayerfully consider what is written herein and approach it with an open mind. The scriptures used throughout are from the NASB, but please feel free to look them up using any version you like. I pray that God - Yehovah will help you to truly know the Messiah, the Son of God.
Shouldn’t we know our Savior? The one who redeemed us unto eternal life and through his sin-offering sacrifice shed his blood for us? But how can we know him if we have the wrong perception of who or what he actually is? How can we be like him as we’re commanded to, if we think he’s something he’s not? In order to know the Messiah we must first lay the groundwork of knowing who or what God is.
1.
How Many Gods or Persons within God?
Let’s see what the Old Testament says:
Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel! YEHOVAH is our God, YEHOVAH is
one!
Isaiah 43:10: Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after
Me.
Isaiah 44:6: … there is no God besides Me.
Isaiah 45:5: I am YEHOVAH, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God…
Isaiah 46:9: For I am God, and there is no other; {I am} God, and there is no
one like Me,
Let’s see what the New Testament says:
Mark 10:18: And Jesus said to him, why do you call Me good? No one
is good except God - Yehovah alone.
Mark 12:29: Jesus answered, the foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD -
YEHOVAH IS OUR GOD, THE LORD – YEHOVAH IS ONE';
John 5:44: How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you
do not seek the glory that is from the {one and} only God - Yehovah?
John 17:3: This is eternal life, that they may know you, THE ONLY TRUE GOD -
YEHOVAH, and Jesus the Messiah whom you have sent.
1 Corinthians 8:6: yet for us there is {but} one God - Yehovah, the Father,
from whom are all things and we {exist} for Him; and one Lord, Jesus the
Messiah, because of whom are all things, and we {exist} through him.
1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God - Yehovah, and one mediator also between
God - Yehovah and men, the man the Messiah Jesus,
The Jews of Jesus time, and apparently Jesus and Paul (from the scriptures
above), thought God - Yehovah was one being; it was the bedrock of their faith.
As Anthony Buzzard [& Charles Hunting] state in [their] book [1] The
Doctrine of the Trinity – Christianity’s Self-Inflicted Wound, “Not once do we
find Jesus criticizing his fellow countrymen for holding an inadequate
understanding of the number of persons in the Godhead.”
If there is only one God - Yehovah (and according to the above mentioned
scriptures there is), then who is this one God?
Let’s see what the Old Testament says:
NOTE: we must remember that when the Old Testament uses LORD in
all capital letters, it is a place where the Tetragrammaton (YHVH or YHWH - YEHOVAH)
was used in the original.
As quoted earlier:
Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel! YEHOVAH is our God, YEHOVAH is one!
Isaiah 45:5: I am YEHOVAH, and there is no other; beside me there is no God…
So YHVH (YEHOVAH) is the one true God. There are many, many examples from the
Old Testament, but for the sake of space and time these two should suffice.
They clearly say that YHVH (YEHOVAH) is the only God.
Let’s see what the New Testament says:
Mark 12:29: Jesus answered, the foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD
- YEHOVAH is our God, the LORD - YEHOVAH is one;
Since Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4 in Mark it is clear that the one God – YHVH
- YEHOVAH in the Old Testament is the same one God in the New Testament. As we
have already quoted, Jesus said the following, in John, while praying to the
Father:
John 17:3: This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God -
Yehovah, and Jesus the Messiah whom You have sent.
And Paul says:
1 Corinthians 8:6: yet for us there is {but} one God - Yehovah, the Father,
from whom are all things and we {exist} for Him; and one lord, Jesus the
Messiah, because of whom are all things, and we {exist} through Him.
John and Paul in 1 Corinthians tell us who this one God – YHVH - YEHOVAH – is;
He is the Father. So, the Father in the New Testament is synonymous with YHVH -
YEHOVAH in the Old Testament. Both Testaments say that YHVH - YEHOVAH, or the
Father, is the ONLY God.
Some will say “I thought Jesus was God the Son”? No, the Bible says Jesus is
the Son of God and the Son of Man (“God the Son” is a term invented by men and
is not found in the Bible). He is the Son of Man because His mother was Mary
(human, mankind), and He is the Son of God because His father was God.
Granted, many beings are called god: Angels, OT judges, Moses, Jesus, Satan, etc.,
but not in the sense that John means it in the above passage. Did this make
them co-equal with God?
Was the Messiah co-equal with God - Yehovah while on earth or was he
subordinate to God - Yehovah while on earth? Most people would say he was
subordinate simply because the evidence in scripture is overwhelming, but while
many would say he was subordinate, a good portion of these would also add that
“His human side was subordinate – not his God side”. Is this splitting of the
Messiah’s nature into a “God” side and a “human” side Biblical - separating
Jesus into two parts?
Here is an interesting scripture:
1 John 4:2: By this you know the Spirit of God - Yehovah: every spirit that
confesses that Jesus the Messiah has come in the flesh is from God - Yehovah;
An ancient text for 1 John 4:1-2 is reconstructed from Irenaeus (Ch. 16:8,
ANF, Vol. 1, fn. p. 443); it gives a slightly different reading:
Hereby know you the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses
Jesus the Messiah came in the flesh is of God; and every spirit which separates
Jesus the Messiah is not of God but is of antichrist.
Socrates the historian says (VII, 32, p. 381) that this passage (from Irenaeus)
is the true reading and that it became corrupted by those who wished to
separate the humanity of Jesus Christ from his divinity. Is this separation
Biblical?
Let’s see what the scriptures say about his position while on earth:
Matthew 20:23: …but to sit on my right and on {my} left, this is not mine to
give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.
Matthew 26:39: …My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet
not as I will, but as you will.
Matthew 26:53: Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will
at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
Mark 10:18: And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good
except God - Yehovah alone.
Mark 13:32: But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but the Father {alone.}
Mark 15:34: Jesus cried out with a loud voice… "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE
YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
John 4:34: Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me
and to accomplish His work.
John 5:19: …Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself,
unless {it is} something he sees the Father doing…
John 5:20: For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that He
Himself is doing…
John 5:22: For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment
to the Son,
John 5:26: For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the
Son also to have life in himself;
John 5:30: I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and my
judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who
sent me.
John 5:36: But the testimony which I have is greater than {the testimony of}
John; for the works which the Father has given me to accomplish - the very
works that I do - testify about me, that the Father has sent me.
John 7:16: So Jesus answered them and said, my teaching is not mine, but His
who sent me.
John 7:28: Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, You both
know me and know where I am from; and I have not come of myself, but He who
sent me is true, whom you do not know.
John 8:26: …but He who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from Him,
these I speak to the world.
John 8:28: …and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as
the Father taught me.
John 8:40: But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the
truth, which I heard from God – Yehovah ...(notice he doesn’t say “which I
heard from the Father” – but “God” – I thought Jesus was God?)
John 8:54: Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my
Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God';
John 10:35-36: If he called them gods, to whom the word of God - Yehovah came
(and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of him, whom the Father
sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I
am the Son of God'?
John 12:49: For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father Himself
who sent me has given me a commandment {as to} what to say and what to speak.
John 14:10: Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father
abiding in me does His works.
John 14:28: …If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the
Father, for the Father is greater than I.
John 17:3: This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus the Messiah whom you have sent.
John 18:11: …the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?
No hint of a “man side” and a “God side”. We shouldn’t try and make
scripture fit our doctrine, but we should make our doctrine fit scripture. It
is interesting that the majority of texts come from John – the one gospel that
Trinitarians and others like to use to prove Jesus is God.
Let us now look to see if the Messiah was subordinate to the Father after
His resurrection and ascension:
1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God - Yehovah, {and} one mediator also between
God - Yehovah and men, {the} man the Messiah Jesus, - notice he’s still called
a man after his resurrection and ascension.
1 Corinthians 8:6: yet for us there is {but} one God - Yehovah, the Father,
from whom are all things and we {exist} for Him; and one lord, Jesus the
Messiah, because of whom are all things, and we {exist} through him.
1 Corinthians 11:3: But I want you to understand that Messiah is the head of
every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God - Yehohvah is the head
of the Messiah.
1 Corinthians 15:24,28: Then {comes} the end, when he hands over the kingdom to
God the Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself also will be
subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God - Yehovah may
be all in all.
Revelation 1:1: The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah, which God - Yehovah gave
Him…
Thus far we have seen that there is only ONE TRUE GOD and that this one God is
YHVH - YEHOVAH of the Old Testament and the Father of the New Testament. We
have seen that Jesus was subordinate to this one true God both while on earth
and after his resurrection and ascension. If Jesus is not the one true God -
Yehovah, then what is He? Was Jesus a pre-existent being or an angel? If the
Messiah Jesus was a pre-existent being above the angels, he could not have been
eternal; only God - Yehovah is eternal and indestructible. If He has been here
from sometime before the creation of the earth, then why do we never hear from
him or about him in the Old Testament? Some would say that we do! They would
counter that He was Michael the Archangel; others would say He was the Angel of
YHVH - YEHOVAH. The chances of this are so remote that we won’t consider them
in too much depth other than to quote a couple of scriptures:
Hebrews 1:1-2: God - Yehovah, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the
prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us
in His Son…
1 Peter 1:20: For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has
appeared in these last times for the sake of you.
When the Apostles in the New Testament go to such great lengths to explain to
us who Jesus is, why do they not say He was the archangel Michael? Why do they
not say he was the Angel of YHVH - YEHOVAH? In the beginning the Apostles
didn’t understand everything Jesus was telling them, but by the time they wrote
the New Testament (which I’m sure most reading this believe is
inspired) they had been endowed by the Holy Spirit.
What about the passages that say Jesus created the world? Let’s look at
them:
Ephesians 2:10: For we are His workmanship, created in the Messiah
Jesus for good works, which God - Yehovah prepared beforehand so that we would
walk in them.
Ephesians 3:9: … and to bring to light what is the administration of the
mystery which for ages has been hidden in God - Yehovah who created all things;
(the KJV has the words “by the Messiah Jesus” at the end of this verse, but the
earliest manuscripts do not have this).
Colossians 1:16: For in him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and
on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities - all things have been created because of him and for him.
The only one that says anything was created BY Christ is Colossians 1:16:
Here the Greek word “en” occurs twice. The first time it is translated as “by”,
and the second time it is translated as “in”. The normal use of this Greek word
is “in”. This word should be translated as “in” just as it is in Ephesians 2:10
and its second occurrence in Colossians 1:16 by the same translators. Here it
is in the Revised Standard Version (RSV):
Colossians 1:16: for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
authorities - all things were created through him and for him.
The word that is translated as “through” in Colossians 1:16 is the Greek word
“dia”. It can have the meaning of “because of” or “on account of”. Jesus is the
reason for all of creation – both physical and spiritual. Many reputable Greek
scholars such as J.H. Moulton in Grammar of New Testament Greek say that
Colossians 1:16 should be rendered “for because of him”, and the
Expositor’s Greek Commentary says on this verse: “en auto: This does not mean
‘by him’”. You’ll also notice that Colossians 1:16 does not say that the
Messiah created the Heavens and the earth. It says, “in him all things were
created, IN heaven and ON earth…”. It then goes on to tell us that these
are thrones, dominions, principalities, and authorities. The Messiah was put
over everything and given the authority to restructure the arrangements of
spiritual powers and rankings.
I Peter 3:22: who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after
angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to him.
Ephesians 1:21-22: far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And
He - Yehovah put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him as head
over all things to the church,
Colossians 2:10: …He is the head over all rule and authority;
Philippians 2:9-11: For this reason also, God - Yehovah highly exalted him, and
bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of
Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus the Messiah is lord,
to the glory of God - Yehovah the Father.
As for Ephesians 3:9: the KJV has extra wording on the end of Ephesians 3:9 in
which they translate the Greek word “dia” as the English word “by”, when, once
again, it should be translated either as “through” or as highlighted below (if
the words are really supposed to be there, which is highly doubtful), just as
the NASB and RSV translators do in Colossians 1:16 near the end of the verse.
Here are the definitions of both words in Strong’s:
En – a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state),
and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a
relation of rest (intermediate between 1519 and 1537) -- in, by, with etc.
Dia - a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act -- through a) of
place 1) with 2) in b) of time 1) throughout 2) during c) of means 1) by 2) by
the means of 2) through a) the ground or reason by which something is or is not
done 1) by reason of 2) on account of 3) because of for this reason 4)
therefore 5) on this account
Here are just a few scriptures that show God – YHVH - YEHOVAH – created
everything.
Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Isaiah 42:5: Thus says God YEHOVAH, who created the heavens and stretched them
out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people
on it, and spirit to those who walk in it,
Isaiah 45:12: It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched
out the heavens with my hands And I ordained all their host.
Isaiah 45:18: For thus says YEHOVAH, who created the heavens (He is the God who
formed the earth and made it, He established it {and} did not create it a waste
place, {but} formed it to be inhabited), I am YEHOVAH, and there is none else.
Even if Jesus did not take part in creation did He pre-exist (can one pre-exist
before they exist)? The Old Testament type was “a lamb from among the
flock”; one without spot or blemish. Jesus had to be one of us, not God
masquerading as a man who was not really “tempted in every way as we are” and
who could not really die, and not some Angel or pre-existent being.
As J.A. Baker states:
“It simply is not possible at one and the same time to share the common lot
of humanity and to be aware of oneself as one who has existed from everlasting
with God”. And as stated in “One God and One Lord – Reconsidering the
Cornerstone of the Christian Faith”: …if Jesus were aware of being “God” in
some way or could remember his former state of glory in heaven, then his
experience of earthly life would be very different from ours. Consequently, our
ability to identify with both his overcoming temptation and leaving us a
righteous path to follow is seriously compromised. We are then essentially left
without a “mediator”, but are being asked to be like God Himself, instead of
developing absolute trust in God, our heavenly Father, as Jesus did, and
becoming like him as he said we could and should.
Did He pre-exist in God’s mind as the Word – Logos – Reason – Plan for
everything that would happen? Yes! Did God foreknow Jesus in a very real way?
Yes:
1 Peter 1:20: For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has
appeared in these last times for the sake of you.
Here’s what Strong’s says the definition of the word “foreknown” (proginosko)
is:
1) to have knowledge before hand
2) to foreknow
a) of those whom God elected to salvation
3) to predestinate
How do you foreknow someone who has always existed?
Did God foreknow us? Yes!
Romans 8:29: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [marked
out beforehand] to {become conformed to the image of His Son, so that he would
be the firstborn among many brethren;
Ephesians 1:4: just as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
2 Timothy 1:9: who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was granted us in the Messiah Jesus from all eternity,
God did foreknow us, but we did not pre-exist except in His heart and mind.
Did the Apostle John pre-exist?
John 1:6: There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
We know the Baptist John did not pre-exist, but when we see this same type of
wording (“sent from God”) applied to Jesus, we somehow read pre-existence into
it.
2. Did/Does Jesus have a God?
Let’s see what the scriptures say:
Matthew 27:46: About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud
voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD,
MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" (also in Mark 15:34) See Psalm 22.
John 17:3: This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and
Jesus Messiah whom You have sent.
John 20:17: Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet
ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to my
Father and your Father, and my God and your God.' "
Some may say that Jesus made these comments in the flesh while on earth. Even
though this is not a good argument – this splitting of the Messiah into two
natures (as we have seen), this argument certainly doesn’t hold water for the
remainder of these verses, which are after his Death, Burial, and Resurrection.
Romans 15:6: so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and
Father of our lord Jesus the Messiah.
2 Corinthians 1:3: Blessed {be} the God and Father of our lord Jesus the
Messiah, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
2 Corinthians 11:31: The God and Father of the lord Jesus, he who is blessed
forever, knows that I am not lying.
Ephesians 1:17: that the God of our lord Jesus the Messiah, the Father of
glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of
Him.
1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus the Messiah, who
according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah from the dead,
Hebrews 1:9: "YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS;
THEREFORE GOD YEHOVAH, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS
ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS."
Revelations 1:1: The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah, which God - Yehovah gave him
to show to his bond-servants - slaves, the things which must soon take place;
and he sent and communicated {it} by his angel to his bond-servant - slave
John,
Revelation 1:5-6: and from Jesus the Messiah, the faithful witness, the
firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who
loves us and released us from our sins by his blood - and he has made us {to
be} a kingdom, priests to his God and Father - to Him {be} the glory and the
dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 3:12: He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my
God - Yehovah, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him
the name of my God - Yehovah, and the name of the city of my God - Yehovah, the
new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God - Yehovah, and my new
name.
Many Trinitarians subconsciously read the word “Father” in place of God when
they see Jesus and God in juxtaposition; reading their own theology back into
the scriptures.
3. Was He a Man?
Let’s see what the Old Testament says:
Deuteronomy 18:15: Yehovah your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me
from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,
Numbers 24:17-19: "I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A
Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter
the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a
possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, While Israel does
valiantly. Out of Jacob one shall have dominion and destroy the remains of the
city."
2 Samuel 7:12-1:3 When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers,
I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for name, and I will establish
the throne of his kingdom forever.
Isaiah 11:1-3: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD - YEHOVAH shall rest
upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and
might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - YEHOVAH. His
delight is in the fear - reverence of the LORD - YEHOVAH,
Isaiah 49:1-8: "...YEHOVAH has called me [Jesus] from the womb; from the
bowels of my mother [Mary] has he made mention of my name [Matthew 1:20-21,
Luke 1:28-33] ...in the shadow of His
hand has He hid me...And now, says YEHOVAH that formed me from the womb to be His
servant... to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhorrers’
[referring to the Messiah Jesus]...have I [God - Yehovah] heard you ...have I
[God - Yehovah] helped you: and I [God - Yehovah] will preserve you [Jesus, the
Messiah], and give you for a covenant
[New Testament]..."
Jeremiah 23:5: "Behold, the days are coming," says YEHOVAH, that I
will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and
execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
The following verse in Daniel is a prophecy of the future ascension of Jesus to
God - Yehovah to receive his dominion and glory. Daniel is seeing this vision
from a heavenly point of view; hence the “coming with the clouds of heaven” is
actually a vision of Jesus’ coming to the Father after His resurrection
... Here He is called the Son of Man.
Daniel 7:13-14: I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the
Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and
they brought Him near before Him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and
a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
the one which shall not be destroyed.
Zechariah 6:12-13: Then speak to him, saying, 'Thus says YEHOVAH of hosts,
saying: "Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From his place he shall
branch out, and he shall build the temple of YEHOVAH; Yes, He shall build the
temple of YEHOVAH. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his
throne; So He shall be a priest on his throne, And the counsel of peace shall
be between them both." '
There are many more Messianic prophecies, but it is widely known that the Jews
never expected anything other than a human Messiah.
let’s take a look at the following passage in the Old Testament:
Psalm 110:1: YEHOVAH says to my lord [referring to the Messiah Jesus]:
"Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your
feet."
Let me again quote from Anthony Buzzard’s [& Charles Hunting's] book [1]
The Doctrine of the Trinity – Christianity’s Self-Inflicted Wound.
It has been argued by some that this verse should be rendered ‘God said to
my God…’ They insist that David knew of a duality in the Godhead and under
inspiration declared the eternal Sonship and Deity of the one who was to become
the man Jesus. Such a theory involves a misuse of the Hebrew language which can
easily be cleared up.
The two words for ‘lord’ in the sentence ‘the LORD said to my
lord’ are significantly different. The first ‘LORD’ is adonai… [and] refers to
God, the Father, the One God of Israel (as it does on some 6700 occasions). The
second word for ‘lord’ (here, ‘my lord’) is adoni, meaning according to all
standard Hebrew lexicons, ‘lord,’ ‘master,’ or ‘owner,’ and it refers here, by
way of prediction, to the Messiah. If David had expected the Messiah to be God,
the word used would not have been adoni, but adonai, a term used exclusively
for the One God. Psalm 110:1 provides a major key to understanding who Jesus
is.
The Hebrew Bible carefully distinguishes the divine title adonai,
the Supreme Lord, from adoni, the form of address appropriate to human and
angelic superiors. Adoni, ‘my lord,’ ‘my master’ on no occasion refers to the
deity. Adonai, on the other hand, is the special form of adon, Lord,
reserved for address to the One God only. A reader of the Hebrew Bible is
schooled to recognize the vital distinction between God and man. There is an
enormous difference between adoni, ‘my master,’ and adonai, the Supreme
God. No less than 195 times in the Hebrew canon adoni marks the person
addressed as the recipient of honor but never as the Supreme God. This
important fact tells us that the Hebrew Scriptures expected the Messiah to be
not God, but the human descendant of David, whom David properly recognized
would also be his lord. It is unusual for scholarly writing actually to
misstate the facts about a word appearing in the Hebrew or Greek text.
Astonishingly, however, a remarkable error crept into statements
on high authority regarding the identity of the Messiah in this crucial
Christological passage in Psalm 110:1. Notice now the evidence of widespread
confusion in the treatment of this Psalm. The status of Jesus as the human
adoni has proved to be an embarrassment to later ‘orthodoxy. ‘A Roman
Catholic writer, in an effort to support his traditional doctrine of the
eternal Son, states: In Psalm 110:1 ‘Yahweh said to Adonai: Sit thou at my
right hand.’ This passage is cited by the Messiah to prove that he is Adonai,
seated at the right hand of Yahweh (Matthew 22:44). However, Adonai ‘my
master,’ as a proper name is used exclusively of the Deity, either alone or in
such a phrase as Yahweh Adonai. It is clear, then that in this lyric Yehovah
addresses the Messiah as a different Person. The second lord of the Hebrew text
is specifically not adonai but adoni. The latter is never a divine title. The
former always designates Deity - Yehovah. The whole Trinitarian argument from
this Psalm fails because the facts of the language are wrongly reported.
That pretty much says it all. The Old Testament seems pretty clear that the
Messiah who was to come was going to be a true, flesh-and-blood, man.
Let’s see what the New Testament says:
Can God be tempted? Not according to James:
James 1:13: "God cannot be tempted with evil" Jesus was
tempted…"
Luke 4:1-2: "And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan,
and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the
devil."
Luke 22:28: "You are they which have continued with me in my
temptations."
Hebrews 2:18: "For in that he himself has suffered being tempted..."
Hebrews 4:15: "...but was in all points tempted like as we are..."
If his temptations weren’t real then he wasn’t “in all points tempted like as
we are”. If there was no real possibility of Jesus giving in to these
temptations, then they weren’t really temptations. Do any other New Testament
scriptures say he was a man?
John 8:40: "But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the
truth, which I have heard of God - Yehovah..."
The rest of these verses are the Apostles speaking after Jesus’
resurrection.
Acts 2:22-24, 22: Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of
Nazareth, a Man attested by God - Yehovah to you by miracles, wonders, and
signs which God - Yehovah did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also
know-- 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of
God - Yehovah, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to
death; whom God - Yehovah raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be held by it.
Acts 2:36: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God
- Yehovah has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both lord and Messiah."
Acts 3:22: "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the
Lord - Yehovah your God raise up unto you of your brethren..."
Acts 13:23: "Of this man's seed (David's) has God - Yehovah according to His
promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:"
Romans 5:19: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so
by the obedience of one (one man, Jesus the Messiah, verse 15) shall many be
made righteous."
1 Corinthians 15:21-23: "For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam (a mankind) all die, even so in the
Messiah (a man) shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: The
Messiah the first fruits; afterward..."
1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God - Yehovah, and one mediator between
God - Yehovah and men, the man the Messiah Jesus;"
The above verse in 1 Timothy should be clear enough. Notice it does not say
“one mediator between ‘the Father’ and men”, but “between God - Yehovah and
men, the man the Messiah Jesus”. If Jesus were God, this scripture wouldn’t
make any sense.
Hebrews 1:4: having become so much better than the angels, as he has by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Hebrews 1:11-12: For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified
are all of one, for which reason h is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying:
"I will declare your name - Yehovah to my brethren; In the midst of the
assembly I will sing praise to you."
Hebrews 5:7-9: when h had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement
cries and tears to Him who was able to save hm from death, and was heard
because of his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the
things which he suffered. And having been perfected, he became the author of
eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Hebrews 7:14: For it is evident that our lord was descended from Judah, a tribe
with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.
Revelation 5:5: and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold,
the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as
to open the book and its seven seals."
For the Messiah to truly come from the tribe of Judah, he had to be of Mary’s
egg. Not an angel put in her womb and not God Hmself entering Mary’s womb, but
an actual baby conceived in her womb from her egg (not from Joseph, but from
God – virgin birth – a miraculous creation, the second man created of God). The
KJV uses the words “sprang out of Juda” in Hebrews 7:14. The Greek word is
“anatello” and means “rise – to cause to rise – of the earth bringing forth
plants – etc.”
Luke records the conversation between the Angel and Mary in this way:
Luke 1:35, The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for
that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.
The Greek word here translated as “for that reason” (therefore in the KJV) is
dio, and it means “wherefore; on account of”. The reason Jesus would be called
the Son of God was because the Power of the Most High God was going to
overshadow Mary and she would conceive, and for that reason, or on account of
this, he would be called the Son of God.
We have seen that Jesus was a man, a mediator between God - Yehovah and man; we
are to be like the Messiah – heirs with him; God is our Father and the Messiah is
our elder Brother:
Acts 3:22: Moses said, 'YEHOVAH GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME
FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED TO EVERYTHING HE SAYS TO YOU.
Romans 8:17: and if children, heirs also, heirs of God - Yehovah and fellow
heirs with the Messiah, if indeed we suffer with {him} so that we may also be
glorified with {him.}
Romans 8:29: For those whom He - Yehovah foreknew, He also predestined to
become conformed to the image of His Son, so that he would be the firstborn
among many brethren;
Hebrews 2:11-12: For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are
all from one {Father;} for which reason He is not ashamed to call them
brethren, saying, "I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST
OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE."
This should have thoroughly proven that the Messiah was a man; not a half man,
not sort-of-a-man, not possessing a man’s body, not God masquerading as a man,
but a real flesh-and-blood man. There is nothing to make us think He is
one-third of a triune god. He is not co-equal and co-eternal with the Father.
He is the Son of Man and the Son of God – He is our lord and Savior.
1 Corinthians 8:6: "But to us there is but one God - Yehovah, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him; and one lord Jesus the Messiah, in whom
are all things, and we because of him."
Philippians 2:11, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus the Messiah is lord,
to the glory of God - Yehovah the Father.
4. Why a Man?
First of all, when man sinned God required that
blood be shed to pay for those sins.
Genesis 9:4-6: But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast,
I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother,
I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood
shall be shed; For in the image of God - Yehovah He made man.
Blood had to be shed; without the shedding of blood there is no remission of
sins:
Hebrews 9:22: without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
But God cannot shed blood; He is not flesh and blood.
Matthew 16:17: And Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because
flesh and blood did not reveal {this} to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Because blood is required, God - Yehovah set up the whole sacrificial system,
but it was only a shadow or type pointing to the Messiah. This is the reason
that the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament did not truly atone for sins.
Hebrews 10:4: For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could
take away sins.
Man sinned, so man’s blood is required. Again, God’s blood is not required –
God - Yehovah is not a man, and He cannot die.
Numbers 23:19: God - Yehovah is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of
man, that He should repent.
By looking at Adam Christology we can see another reason Jesus had to be a true
man (another Adam). The first Adam messed things up and the second Adam came to
fix them.
1 Corinthians 15:45: So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A
LIVING SOUL." The last Adam {became} a life-giving spirit.
Romans 5:14-19: Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those
who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who
is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense.
For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God - Yehovah
and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus the Messiah, abounded to many. And
the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the
judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free
gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one
man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through
the one [man], Jesus the Messiah.)
Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men,
resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free
gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will
be made righteous.
1 Corinthians 15:21-22: For since by man came death, by Man also came the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in the Messiah all
shall be made alive.
Do you see the pattern emerging here? Man sinned so man has to pay for those
sins. Therefore God - Yehovah, in His amazing foreknowledge and grace, had a
contingency plan from the foundation of the world. He would have a man to be
born in the fullness of time. God’s Spirit would overshadow Mary and she would
conceive and give birth to the Messiah Jesus who would pay for man’s sins, by
the sin-offering sacrifice he made to his God and Father on the stake, the
result was that God reconciled humanity to Himself.
The first Adam was called the Son of God because he was created by God; he was
a true man, created by God
Luke 3:38: the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Therefore, the second Adam had to be a true man, created by God. God created
man (Adam) who had the capability of sinning (human nature), but not a
propensity toward it (sin nature). He made him genetically perfect and hoped he
would be behaviourally perfect. Once he disobeyed and ate of the forbidden
fruit, sin nature entered the picture. The birth of our Savior was from God
impregnating Mary, creating another man and hoping he would be behaviourally
perfect. God was responsible for the flawless genetics, but he could not be
responsible for the flawless behaviour. Man is a free will being and as such
must choose to obey or disobey. The first Adam chose to disobey; the second
Adam was obedient in every way and became the only perfect, sinless man who has
ever lived. We again quote from “One God and One Lord – Reconsidering the
Cornerstone of the Christian Faith”:
In essence, God took a risk and trusted that the Last Adam would trust Him.
This is love in action: taking a risk, giving second chances, demonstrating
commitment to a promise.
The Bible is basically a story about two Adams and the two “races” they
fathered. Romans 5:12-21 could be summarized like this:
Two Adams
Two Sons of God
Two men
Two gardens
Two temptations
Two decisions
Two results
Two races
Remember this?
Hebrews 4:15: "...but was in all points tempted like as we are..."
Can we really say he was “tempted like as we are” if he existed from eternity
past, had a knowledge of this existence, and knew he would return to being God?
I quote [4] J.A.T. Robinson:
The traditional supernaturalistic way of describing the Incarnation almost
inevitably suggests that Jesus was really God Almighty walking about on earth,
dressed up as a man. Jesus was not a man born and bred – he was God for a
limited period taking part in a charade. He looked like a man, he talked like a
man, he felt like a man, but underneath he was God dressed up – like Father
Christmas… Indeed, the very word “incarnation” (which, of course is not a
Biblical term) almost inevitably suggests it. It conjures up the idea of a
divine substance being plunged in flesh and coated with it like a chocolate or
silver plating…The supernaturalist view of the Incarnation can never really rid
itself of the idea of the prince who appears in the guise of a beggar. However
genuinely destitute the beggar may be, he is a prince; and that in the end is
what matters. Mary was not a drive through.
If it is a requirement that we believe in a Trinitarian God, a Binitarian God,
or a God Family; if it is a requirement that we believe Jesus was anything
other than the Son of God; why didn’t Peter mention it when he preached this
sermon to JEWS (who were extremely Monotheistic and had no conception of the
Trinity) in Acts chapter 2 right after he had received the promised Holy Spirit
(which should have led him into all truth)?
Acts 2:22-42: Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man
attested by God - Yehovah to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God -
Yehovah did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-- Him, being
delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by
lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God - Yehovah raised up,
having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be
held by it. For David says concerning him: 'I foresaw the lord always before my
face, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart
rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope. For
you will not leave my soul in the grave, nor will you allow your Holy One to
see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me
full of joy in your presence.' Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of
the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us
to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God - Yehovah had
sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the
flesh, he would raise up the Messiah to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this,
spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah, that his soul was not left in
the grave, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God - Yehovah has
raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right
hand of God - Yehovah, and having received from the Father the promise of the
Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not
ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord - adonai said to my lord
- adoni, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your
footstool." "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God - Yehovah has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both lord and Messiah."
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then
Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus the Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to
all who are afar off, as many as the lord our God will call." And with
many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from
this perverse generation." Then those who gladly received his word were
baptized; and on that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And
they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread, and in prayers.
As stated earlier, these people listening to Peter were Jews from all over the
known world (Roman Empire)and were of the Jewish religion and were in Jerusalem
for the feast of Pentecost. The Jewish religion had no concept of a Trinity.
These 3000 people could not have had any concept that Jesus was God himself,
yet 3000 people were saved and baptized that day! Amazing isn’t it!
It is amazing how the Jews were disingenuously trying to drum up charges
against Jesus. At one point they say the following:
John 8:41: "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to him,
"We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God - Yehovah."
And then at another point they say Jesus was making himself equal with God
because He said that God was His Father:
John 5:18: "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not
only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making
himself equal with God."
They were speaking out of both sides of their mouth – anything to try and trap
Him.
5. Conclusion
Let us not destroy the historical lord, Jesus the Messiah by
making him an eternal, pre-existent, omnipotent, untemptable, co-equal God who
masqueraded as a man for a short time.
He was a man in whom God - Yehovah dwelt, and through whom God -
Yehovah spoke and worked and manifested Himself; a man whose Father was God -
Yehovah; a man who submitted to his God and Father Yehovah: "Not my will,
but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42).
The doctrine of the Trinity is not scriptural. The idea of 3
co-equal, co-eternal members of a Godhead is not to be found anywhere in the
scripture; to quote Anthony Buzzard [& Charles Hunting] one last time from
[their] book The Doctrine of the Trinity
– Christianity’s Self-Inflicted Wound:
“Could it be that today’s Trinitarians inadvertently, and in sincerity
desiring to exalt Jesus, fall into the trap of ascribing to the Messiah a
position as God which he never claimed for himself? A claim to be God in the
Trinitarian sense would actually be blasphemous by Jesus’ own standards, since
he repeatedly affirmed that his Father - Yehovah was the only true God."
Recommended reading:
The Only Perfect Man by Eric Chan
The only True God by Eric Chan
Becoming a New Person, volume 1 and 2 by Eric Chan
Totally Committed by Eric Chan
Baptism and a New Life in Christ by Eric Chan
Some of these books can be read for free on the Christian Disciples Church Online:
https://christiandiscipleschurch.org/
All of these books can be purchased on through Amazon, there are also kindle editions.
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