JESUS AS GOD
his followers, and was established on the dead bodies of millions of Christians through history
which evoked Castillo's well-known remark "To burn a man is not to prove a doctrine."s As the
doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ is presented, keep in mind these two very important
verses: (Matthew 5:17 & 18): "Think not that I come to destroy the law or the prophets, I come not to
destroy but to fulfill..."
Is Jesus God? Some Christians would say; yes, and use John 1:1; In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, as their support. But remember, as stated
earlier in John 5:37, no man has seen or heard God. So using John 1:1 in support that Jesus is
God would mean that there are at least two Gods (God and Jesus). Let me point out other
disagreements to John 1:1 from Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaac 43:10-11, Isaac
44:6 and Isaac 45:18. For Isaac 43:10-11 states that there is no savior but God, and Isaac 45:18
concludes that God alone was the Creator and no one else, not even Jesus, participated in the
creation. Other verses that support the oneness of God, as do the entire Quran, can be found in
Deuteronomy 4:35, Exodus 8:10, II Samuel 7:22, I Kings 8:23, I Chronicles 17:20, Psalms
86:8, 89:6 and 113:5, Hosea 13:4 and Zachariah 14:9.
In the New Testament, Jesus specifically said he came not to destroy the law, and he confirms that
in relationship to the oneness of God in Mark 12:29:
"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord
Q!!! God is one Lord." And 1 Corinthians 8:4:
" ...none other God but one." Now, is John 1:1 right and are all these other
verses wrong, or the reverse? It is plain to see that
Jesus was still trying to teach (the Children of
Israel) the first commandment of the Old
Testament (Mark 12:29-30, Exodus 20:2-5) and
that repentance of sins was necessary for the
Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 4:17 & Mark
1:15). Lastly, Matthew 19:16-17, also conveys
the Oneness of God and gives the guidance based
on the commandments of the Old Testament for
entering into eternal life:
"And behold one came and said to him (Jesus),
Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I
may have eternal life? So he said to him, Why
do you call me good? - No one is good but One,
this is, God. But if you want to enter into
eternal life, keep the commandments."
Another way to further clarify John 1:1 is to
introduce to you what the Quran says about Jesus
and the Word. In Chapter 3:45:
Behold! the angels said: "0 Mary! Allah giveth
thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name
will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in
honor in this world and the Hereafter, and of
(the company of) those nearest to Allah. "
This verse and verse 3:39 of the Quran pronounce
Jesus as a word from Allah as do 1 Corinthians
3:32:
"And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's."
Maybe John 1:1 should have been written as
" ...and the Word was God's."s There are other
verses of the Bible that support that the Word was
God's: John 5:30-31, John 8:40, John 12:49, and
John 17:3.
It is clear that Jesus never claimed divinity to God:
"I do nothing of myself," (John 8:28); "My
Father is greater that I," (John 14:28); "The
Lord our God is one Lord," (Mark 12:29); "My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
(Mark 15:34); and, "Father, into thy ha.nds I
commend my spirit," (Luke 23:46).8
Further, Luke 4:1-13 tell us that Jesus was
tempted by Satan for forty days. In James 1:13, it
says:
" ...for God cannot be tempted with evil..."
Finally, the New Testament refer many times to
Jesus as "God's servant" (see Matthew 12:18 for
example). How then could Jesus be God's servant
and God at the same time?14
Before closing this subject, let me present one
more thought. In Luke 5:16, when Jesus
withdrew himself into the wilderness to pray, who
did he pray to? Himself or God? Read Luke 11 :24:
And he said unto them, "W'hen ye pray, say,
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,
as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day
our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we
also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us
from evil."
Is there anywhere in this prayer that Jesus said to
say, "in Jesus name" when you pray? For this
prayer was the answer to the question; how should
we pray? Everything a God fearing person could
ever need or ask of God is in this prayer. Most
importantly, the forgiveness of our trespasses
(sins). This prayer supports the good news of Jesus
that sins are forgiven by God only if a person
repents and stop their wrong doings. This message
was the beginning of Jesus' ministry as stated in
Matthew 4:17:
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to
say, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand."
Jesus prophesied that people will worship him
uselessly and will believe in doctrines not made by
God but by men (Matthew 15:9):
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandment of men."
This verse is speaking of the Christians. For there
is no other religion that worships Jesus except
Christianity, and the very act of worshipping Jesus
opposes Exodus 20:3-6, Matthew 4:10 and Luke
4:8 which says:
Exodus 20:3-6
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the wa(er under the earth: Thou shalt
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of
them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments."
Matthew 4:10
Then saith Jesus unto him, "Get thee hence,
Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
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