The God

 OF

 Jesus

A comprehensive examination of Trinitarianism

 

Chapter Four

Rock, Savior and Redeemer

Rock, Savior and Redeemer:

 

      Both Elohim and YHWH are referred to as Rock, Savior and Redeemer in the OT. Typical of such statements are the following:

       Deuteronomy 32: 3-4:  I will proclaim the name of the LORD (YHWH). Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.

 

      2 Samuel 22:1-3:  David sang to the LORD (YHWH) the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: "The LORD (YHWH) is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God (Elohim) is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-- from violent men you save me.

       Psalm 18:46: The LORD (YHWH) lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God (Elohim) my Savior!  

       Psalm 89:26: He will call out to me, `You are my Father, my God (Elohim), the Rock my Savior.'

 

      Isaiah 43:11: I, even I, am the LORD (YHWH), and apart from me there is no savior.

 

      Isaiah 49:26: …Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD (YHWH), am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

       Because Jesus is referred to as Rock, Savior and Redeemer in the NT, He is believed to be YHWH Elohim of the OT.  The Son distinction of the one God YHWH is believed to be the God manifested in the OT.  It is believed Paul’s statement that the rock that accompanied Israel was Christ provides strong evidence for this position.

 

      1 Corinthians 10:3-4: They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

 

      Did Christ, as an eternally existing dimension of a Triune God, literally accompany Israel in the wilderness?  Is Jesus YHWH and Adonai and, therefore, the God identified throughout the Hebrew Scriptures?

 

      In Luke chapter one, Mary, in response to learning about her and Elizabeth’s pregnancy, glorifies the Lord as God her Savior.  In this same chapter, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist speaks of the Lord, the God of Israel raising up a descendent of the house of David as His agent of salvation to mankind. In chapter two, Luke writes about the man Simeon to whom it was revealed he would not die until he saw the Lord’s Christ which he defines as the Lord’s salvation.  In all three of the following passages, it can be seen by context that it is God the Father who is being addressed.

 

       Luke 1:46-47: And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

 

      Luke 1:68-69: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.  He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David

       Luke 2:25-30:  Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.   For my eyes have seen your salvation.

       In should be apparent that when Mary, Zechariah and Simeon use the word “Lord” they are speaking of YHWH. By context the Greek kurios (Lord) is referring to YHWH and is equivalent to the OT rendering of Adonai (Lord).  Jesus is spoken of as “the Lord’s (YHWH/Adonai’s) Christ.  Jesus is seen as the anointed of YHWH and represents the salvation of YHWH.  Zechariah sees YHWH as the God of Israel who has provided an agent of salvation from the house of David.  YHWH is seen as the God of Israel in contrast to Christ who is seen as a descendant of David.  The very language of this passage and the other two under consideration precludes Jesus being YHWH. 

       Mary, Zechariah and Simeon see Jesus as the agent of the Father through whom salvation is accomplished.  While Jesus is seen as savior in Scripture, in realty He is the agent of God the Father’s salvation.  God the Father (YHWH) is seen throughout Scripture as the source of salvation.

       John 3:17: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

       1 John 4:13-14: We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

       In the OT, YHWH is seen as Israel’s salvation in bringing them out of Egypt and in delivering them from their enemies on an ongoing basis. In the NT, YHWH is seen as fulfilling His promise to provide a savior not only to Israel but to all of mankind.  Jesus is called the Lord’s Christ because He is the anointed agent of YHWH in bringing salvation to the world.  Jesus is the human descendant of David who fulfilled God’s promise to bring a Savior to Israel.

       Acts 13:22-23: After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: `I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' "From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.  

       Paul writes that Israel ate spiritual food and drank from a spiritual rock that accompanied them and that rock was Christ.  Scripture tells us Christ is the fulfillment of God’s intention to bring into existence a descendant of David who will be a savior of Israel.  David had not yet been born at the time Israel was in the wilderness.  The birth and rulership of David occurred many years after the exodus.  The birth of Christ occurred centuries later.  Whatever Paul meant by his statement in 1 Corinthians 10:4, he could not have meant Christ accompanied Israel in a literal way.  Christ first arrived on the scene many centuries after Israel’s trek in the wilderness. 

       Paul appears to be thinking in spiritual terms in the passage of Scripture under consideration and as such is seeing Christ as representative of the salvation that was provided to Israel during their journey in the wilderness.  His reference to eating spiritual food and drink from the spiritual rock Christ shows the non-literalness of his thoughts as Israel did not literally eat spiritual food and drink and Christ is not a literal a rock.   

 

      Jesus is not a person of a tri-unity of Father, Son and Spirit.  Jesus is a prophet that was prophesied to appear at an appointed time in history and became the savior of mankind in fulfilling all His Father God’s will. Moses, many thousands of years ago, spoke of YHWH, the God of Israel, rising up a prophet like Moses.  Moses was not God but an agent of God.  Jesus was not God made flesh but was the human agent of the one and only God who is the Father.   Upon completion of His mission, He was awarded great power, authority and glory but remains subservient to the One God, his Father.  It is the one and only God who is the ultimate Savior.  This God facilitated His salvation through the man Jesus. While Jesus is also called Savior in the NT, He is seen as such within the context of being the facilitator of salvation on behalf of God.   

 

      Titus 3:4-6: But when the kindness and love of God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Savior. appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously

       Jude 1:24-25: To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

 

      When NT authors write about God as Savior they are writing about the Father as Savior.  Trinitarians acknowledge this and believe God the Father is Savior through the Son in a Trinitarian relationship of Father, Son and Spirit.  Jesus, however, clearly said the Father is the one and only true God.  Paul and John said the same thing (John 4:43-44, 17:3, 1 John 5:20, I Corinthians 8:6, 1Timothy 2:6). If the Father is the one and only true God, then the Father is the one and only true Savior. The passages cited above clearly identify God (The Father) as Savior in distinction from Jesus who is seen as the facilitator of salvation on behalf of the Father.

Chapter Five

The Word of God

       The phrase “Son of God” and “Spirit of God” are seen repeatedly in the NT narrative. Nowhere will you find the phrase “Father of God.”  Trinitarians believe God is a single entity of Father, Son and Spirit indwelling each other.  If this is the case, however, all three should be seen as of each other. Yet, only the Son and Spirit are seen as of God while the Father is repeatedly seen as being God.  Trinitarians also believe Apostle John, in chapter one of his Gospel, identifies the word of God as being God in the person of the Son. Is the Son of God the literal word of God?  Is the word of God the Son and the Son of God the word?  In this Chapter we will carefully examine this issue and proceed, in Chapter Six, to study the first chapter of John’s Gospel. 

       The phrase “word of God” occurs dozens of times in the NT narrative. In most cases, the context wherein this phrase is found shows “word” (Greek: logos) to mean the speech of God and does not in any way convey the idea the word of God is a person called the Son.  In John 17:17, Jesus said His Father’s word (logos) is truth. In Luke 4:4, Jesus said, man should live by every word (logos) of God. There is nothing here to indicate Jesus was referring to Himself as the literal word of God in these passages.  In Ephesians 6:17, Paul likens the word (logos) of God to being the sword of the Spirit.  The writer to the Hebrews says something similar.

       Ephesians 6:17: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (logos) of God.   

       Hebrews 4:12: For the word (logos) of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

       Is the writer talking about a person called Son when discussing the logos of God?  Is it the Son of God who is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword?  Some believe that because John, in the Revelation, writes that the name of Christ is the Word of God, Jesus is the actual literal word of God. Is this the case?

       Revelation 1:16: In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

       Revelation 19:13-15: He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word (logos) of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.

       It should be apparent Paul, the writer to the Hebrews and John are using symbolic language to describe the word of God.  This word is seen as coming out of the month of Christ.  If Christ is literally the word of God, how can it be seen as coming out of His month?   In Revelation 1:2 John writes of testifying to the “word (logos) of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”  Here we see Jesus as distinct from the logos of God. 

       Revelation 1:1-2: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word (logos) of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

       Logos is consistently seen as the expression of the thought, will and purpose of God. The Son is not the literal word of God but the word of God expressed and manifested in the man Jesus.  Jesus clearly reflects the logos of God His Father. This doesn’t mean Jesus is the literal and actual spoken word of the Father.  In the OT the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek logos appears hundreds of times in association with God and by context is seen to express the thought and will of God.

       The word of God is the spoken expression of the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, purpose and overall will of God.  Jesus Christ, as the humanly begotten Son of the One God, was the human agent through whom the Father’s word was perfectly expressed. This doesn’t make Jesus that word but the vehicle through whom such word is expressed. Jesus is the manifestation of the Father's word.

       Jesus perfectly represented the word of God the Father.  The scriptures symbolically picture the word of God as a sword.  The scriptures picture the word of God as a sword coming out of the month of Jesus because Jesus represents the word (logos) of God. Representing something, however, does not make you that something.

       When the American Secretary of State travels abroad, she represents the President of the United States. She expresses his will in her dealings with other heads of state. She becomes the virtual mouth piece of the President. No one would conclude from this that she is the American President or that because she speaks for Him she is somehow an intrinsic part of him, that she is literally his speech.

       As will be seen in the next chapter, it is through and by the word of God that all things were created, including the Son. The Son is the materialization of the will and purpose of God and in this sense can be considered God’s logos.  The Father's logos, however, is not a literal person called the Son.  The word of the Father is the expression of the Father’s attributes of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, will, purpose, light, truth, love and life. Jesus expresses these attributes.  Jesus is not intrinsically these attributes. Only the one God, the Father, is intrinsically these attributes. These attributes define the very nature of the Father. Christ was a reflection of these attributes.  Jesus mirrored these attributes of His Father. Jesus was the image of these attributes as scripture teaches. This is why Jesus could say, "If your have seen me you have seen the Father."

       Being the image of the Father, who is God, does not equate with being God as the Father is God.  The Father is the one and only God as Jesus, Paul and John clearly reveal.  Jesus is not God as the Father is God.  Jesus is not co-equal with God as Trinitarians teach. Jesus said His Father was greater than He. Jesus also made a very telltale statement which is recorded in three of the Gospels. I will quote it from Luke:

       Luke 18: 18-10: A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. 

       Jesus did not consider Himself good in the sense and to the extent that God is good. Jesus plainly said God alone is good. If Jesus was God in the flesh and knew He was God in the flesh, He could not have made such a statement. Even though Jesus never sinned, He did not consider Himself good compared to God. The goodness He had was a reflection of the goodness of God shinning through Him.  Jesus’ statement to the ruler clearly shows Jesus did not consider Himself God.

       Scripture reveals God wants us to reflect His attributes. He has made His Spirit available to us to provide the necessary help to accomplish this. As we grow in grace and knowledge we become more and more a reflection of the nature of God as expressed by His word. This doesn't make us God. Luke writes that Jesus grew in wisdom.

       Luke 2:40: And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him (NAS).

       If Jesus was the actual word of God in human form, why do we see Him growing in wisdom?  He would already have complete wisdom as God.  It should be obvious Jesus grew in wisdom and knowledge like we all do with the major exception that He was given a full measure of God's Spirit from birth to facilitate such growth. Growing in wisdom didn't make Jesus God but resulted in Him representing the nature of God in expressing God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding.   

       Jesus said He was the light of the world. Was He this light because He is God or because God was in Him and He expressed the light that is His Father God. Let’s look again at 1 John, chapter one.  Here John writes that God is light. He goes on to distinguish between the God who is light and His Son whom He sent.

       1 John 1:5-7: This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him (God) yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

       John is saying God is light and he distinguishes between God who is light and His Son Jesus.  This same John, in the Gospel of John chapter one, writes of the true light coming into the world. He associates this light with Christ. He is not saying Christ is intrinsically this light and therefore God. He shows in his epistle God is light in distinction from the Son He sent. John is seeing Christ as the manifestation of the light that is God the Father. When Jesus said He was the truth and the life, He was expressing the truth and life that is from the Father. Jesus did not have intrinsic life.  Jesus plainly said His life was given to Him by the Father.

       John 5:26: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.

       1 Timothy 6:13-16:  In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

       Paul is writing to Timothy about the one and only true God who is the one and only Supreme Ruler, King of Kings and Lord of Lords who alone has innate immortality. John describes this God as the one who gives life to everything and lives in unapproachable light whom no one has seen or can see.  All life, both temporal and eternal, comes from the one God.  All rulership, kingship, lordship and sovereignty are derived from this one God who Paul identifies as the Father throughout his writings. 

       In Scripture the designation king of kings is a title given to those having power and authority to rule.  Kings Artaxerxes and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon are given this title (Ezra 7:12 & Ezekiel 26:7).  Jesus is given the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14 &19:16).  Is Jesus given this title because He is God as the Father is God and is therefore King of Kings and Lord of Lords equal with the Father?  Daniel, chapter seven, gives us the answer to this question.

     Daniel 7:13-14: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.   

       Here we have a picture of the risen and ascended Christ being led into the presence of the Father (Ancient of Days) and being granted authority, glory, sovereign power and dominion.  If Jesus is co-eternal, co-equal and con-substantial with the Father, He would already have had all these attributes.  Jesus is given the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords because the Father, His God, who intrinsically is Ruler, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, gave Him the authority, glory, sovereign power and dominion to warrant this title.  It should also be noted that Jesus approaches the Father and is led into His presence.  This is certainly odd language if Jesus is one with the Father in a Trinitarian relationship of Father, Son and Spirit.  Peter clearly shows it was the God of the patriarchs who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified Him.  Scripture shows it is God the Father who is the God of the patriarchs.

       Acts 5:30-31: The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead--whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

       Peter’s statement about God raising Jesus from the dead and exalting Him to his right hand as Prince and Savior harmonizes well with the passage in Daniel as it reveals Jesus to be the agent of God through whom salvation is granted. If God had not raised Jesus from the dead, not only would we not have a savior, the Father would not have a living Son.  Jesus plainly said to John in the Revelation that He was dead and is now alive.  

       Revelation 1:18: I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.   

       Jesus is alive because His God and Father resurrected Him.  He is a powerful glorified Being at the right hand of God His Father because God has exalted Him to such position and status. 

       Jesus is not the literal word of God.  Jesus is the manifestation of the word of God and is seen as such in chapter one of John’s Gospel to which we now turn.   

      

 

CHAPTER SIX