A….35 year old…..Jewish….lawyer…finds Jesus. If the emphasis on those three things seems a bit much, allow me to explain. We all know that the older one is, the more resistant one tends to be to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Most people, if not converted by 35 will not be. I have nothing against lawyers, but the facts are that overall, with their emphasis on proofs and logic, attorneys might not seem prime candidates to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Last, but not least; we have Jewish. As a whole, the Jewish people have rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and conversions are not that common. So, what we have here is a 35 year old Jewish Lawyer who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Meet Melissa Zellniker Presser. Melissa is one of my online friends and dear Sister in Christ. With that introduction behind us; I will allow Melissa to tell her own story. I hope it will inspire you as much as it inspired me.
Melissa’s Story
I am a Jew. I am a Jewish wife. I am a Jewish mother. I am a Jewish lawyer. And I love Jesus. And what does that make me? Complete.
How can I love Jesus, you ask? It’s easy. He’s easy to love. He’s easier for a Jew to love because he is our messiah, given to us, his chosen people by God. But we missed him. And I missed him. That was until I turned 35.
I grew up a conservative Jew. I went to temple and Hebrew school. I celebrated Rosh Hashanah and fasted on Yom Kippur. I lit the candles on Hanukkah. I would sing to God in shul. But I was empty. My parents would drop me off on Saturdays so that I could attend temple. I would chant and read and chant some more. It was static and monochromatic and I felt trapped. Where is God, where is He? I was following the tradition of my ancestors by attending shul and felt holy while I was there. Holy and empty. But how can that be? I was so busy trying to follow all of God’s commandments I never realized God even existed. What’s that you say? You were an atheist? Yes, you could call me that. For God was a concept and not a person to me. I was following along with the script that was being read to me. I never felt God. Never even questioned or thought about why I didn’t. I just accepted the fact that this is who I was and this is what was and that was that.
It wasn’t until my grandfather died that I started to have revelation. While sitting shiva, I was told by the Rabbi that I could not pray for my grandfather. That only men could pray and chant the prayers for the dead. “Thank you very much”, I said. “Well, you have two choices Rabbi. Either you let me pray or I can let you leave.” I said it with ease. It was a poignant moment for me. An innate feeling bigger than me that told me that this God that I knew would not turn me away from praying and mourning for my deceased grandfather. Why would the God who I worshipped and gave every Saturday to turn away from me? Why would He reject me? There’s no way, I thought to myself that this is God’s will. So when the Rabbi turned to answer me, I was already on my knees, chanting the mourner’s kaddish. He also joined me on His knees, but he was silent.
The more I chased after God, the further I fell. I started to turn away from anything that seemed remotely religious or connected to God. As a young Jewish girl, I felt God had put me on the marked for death hit list. That He didn’t love me. That it truly didn’t matter what I did for him or how much time I spent in his house. For I saw the so called righteous religious people pay $1,000 a seat for Yom Kippur service while I got turned away for not having money to pay for my seat. Where was the “God” in that?
I chose to leave God, and my road led to well, nowhere. It seemed to be a metaphor for a trip I took later on in my life. My husband and I went to Hawaii for our one year wedding anniversary. Being the adventurous spirits that we are, we planned a day trip on the Road to Hanna. This Road is known for the scenery along the way. Essentially it is known for the journey. My husband and I believed that at the end to this Road we would encounter paradise. So we went along on the Road to Hanna. Initially, we remarked on how beautiful it was, but eventually we grew tired of it. As the hours passed we became more anxious to arrive. We had had enough of this long winding road.
And so several hours later, tired, hungry and thirsty we saw ahead of us the end. “There it is!” we shouted. We had finally reached the end. We parked the car and began walking towards the end of this road. We both got quiet and then started laughing. This is it? There’s nothing here! Where was this beautiful paradise? It was nowhere to be found. And we named it the Road to Nada. A long and treacherous road to travel, with a disappointing ending.
This was the story of my life. I was always seeking and searching. Always trying to find the answer at the end. But every road I took lead to disappointment. Every road led to nothing.
It wasn’t until I hit the pinnacle of brokenness that I found Jesus. He was waiting for me, this I know. Had I known now that he was waiting for me on the other side, I wouldn’t have walked but would have sprinted towards him. And I would have endured every pain and then some to run into His loving arms all over again.
My life was never easy. In fact I believed I was destined to die. On the outside I had everything but on the inside I had nothing. I was the straight A Honors student. The popular one. The cheerleader. Bat mitzvah. Graduated college. Went on to law school. Became a successful attorney. Married my bsheret. Was blessed with three children. This was what the world saw. Because the world looks at the outside. God looks at our heart.
On the inside I was broken. I had been sexually abused and never told anyone. I suffered from depression and anxiety. I hated myself. I was rejected by the one place that I thought would accept me- the temple. I tried to find my satisfaction in many broken relationships- whether a boyfriend or a friend. I lived my life for others. Because if they saw the pain inside of me, surely they would not accept me. I would be an outcast. But in my mind and heart I already was. And most days I counted down the days until God would take me from this earth. And then was the moment that truly took me away from God, the day my beloved grandmother died.
There were too many things wrong and nothing that was right. I could have cared less about my law degree and in fact would have been much happier cleaning floors somewhere in the background where nobody could see me. But something kept me alive. Something deep inside me told me I was special. And that something was the quiet whispers of God calling me back to him.
You see, I am a stubborn Jewish girl. Aggressive and bold. Defensive. I married a stubborn Israeli Jewish boy. Aggressive and bold. Defensive. And you can see where that might have led us.
I have only known two true loves in my life before I had my children. The love I had for my grandmother and the love I have for my husband. God took the first one away and not long after that almost took the other. Five years after I lost my grandmother, I almost lost my marriage. How could God do this to me? Even when I renounced his name, he kept coming back for more. I slipped away from the world without the world knowing it. I tried to run away from God. It’s no use, I thought, nothing matters anymore. That was until I heard a still small voice inside of me. It was clear and resounding and would not leave me alone.
A week before Mother’s day, I heard that still small voice again. It told me to reach out to a friend’s mother and ask for help. I asked her if she went to church and she told me yes, and that I had a divine appointment that next day. I remember thinking in that moment I wanted to end it all. I started devising a way that I could end my life. And in that moment I lifted my chin up to see the faces of my three beautiful children.
The next day I walked into the church and met my mother from the Lord. She knew immediately something was wrong. She started to pray over me in a way I had never heard- with such conviction and passion. I didn’t care that I was in a church and that she was praying in the name of Jesus. In that moment, all I could do was think of the horrible emotional pain I was in and how I would survive past this day.
The sermon moved me. I was gripped. And the name of Jesus rolled easier off my tongue. I stopped caring about what the world thought and started concentrating on my three children. I don’t remember exactly what I said when I cried out to God that night but I am pretty sure it went something like this, “God I just can’t do life anymore. I cannot and will not leave these kids without a mother. But the emptiness and pain I feel in my heart is so overwhelming that I cannot live another day on this earth with it. I feel like I am going to die. If Jesus really is the answer Lord I accept him. Please take away this pain in my heart, it consumes me. Jesus heal me and let me live for the children I am a mother to.” I remember nothing else after that until the next morning.
I woke up and looked over at my husband. I clutched my chest. Where was the pain? Where had it gone? I kept touching my chest looking to find it. But it was not there. As I clutched my chest, I looked over at my husband who was sleeping next to me. All of a sudden my body started to fill with life. I could feel my heart beating and from my feet to my head, my soul started to fill with love. In my mind God showed me a picture of a pitcher filling up a tall glass with water. He had taken away the pain and replaced it with love. It was real. I was different. I was restored. It was then that I knew that He was real.
The next week I brought my husband back to church. The Lord was calling me, it was clear. At the end of the sermon when the Pastor asked for those to step forward who would accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior I knew it was my appointed time. It was Mother’s Day. And I came to accept God’s son as my personal Lord and Savior. And I was baptized in his name.
My life will never be the same. The only regret I have is that I did not accept Jesus sooner. My husband has since accepted Christ and our marriage is stronger than ever. We are more in love today than we were when we were first dating. My children have come to know and love Jesus and it shows. It shows in their kindness and their respect and their spirit of giving. It shows when they speak to Him in prayer and know that they are truly loved by God. My sisters in Christ accepted me with open arms, no questions asked. In fact, they told me of how they were all broken people at one time looking for a savior. That they were all imperfect. Welcome to the club for imperfect people.
My children know where they came from. We teach them about the Jewish holidays and festivals and show them the meaning of each one. We tell them about how we are complete now in our Messiah. It’s quite the eye opener. That I had no idea who I was before Jesus came into my life and in Him I know exactly who I am.
Every day with Him just gets better and better. My husband and I enjoy praying together, sharing the Word of God and serving a loving and merciful God who chose us as his children. Every morning I wake up in tears, overjoyed and just so thankful to be alive.
How could I not want to talk about what saved me from certain death both physically and spiritually? He is real and I am real. My family is real. And we are complete Jews in Jesus Christ. The Son of God.
February 10, 2015 at 02:16
Ah, just lovely. God is good 😉
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February 10, 2015 at 03:08
Thanks so much Wally for letting me tell my story with God’s words. He is truly amazing!
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February 10, 2015 at 03:16
Its a great story!
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February 10, 2015 at 14:48
M-
Nice.
His word is good, his promises are sure, and the greatest assaults thrown our way have already been dismissed by He who neither slumbers nor sleeps.
sha alu shalom Yerushalayim
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February 10, 2015 at 14:48
Amen!!!!!!!!!! I felt the holy spirit in that one!!!!!!!!!!!
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February 10, 2015 at 14:52
Melissa also thanks to you. Your presence has made me really start studying the whole story of God’s relationship with the Jews…it’s gonna be a long one.
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February 10, 2015 at 03:10
Reblogged this on Work for the Cause not the Applause and commented:
Wow I am so overwhelmed and humbled by God’s awesomeness in the call on my heart- to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ as a Jewish woman. Thanks Wally for letting me tell my story to your readers. To God be the glory!
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February 10, 2015 at 03:42
Great testimony from a once very hurting girl that is now almost an apostle Paulette. She was blind but now she sees. What a God we serve!!!!
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February 10, 2015 at 03:45
Amen Levi
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February 10, 2015 at 03:50
wow… I love this amazing story!
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February 10, 2015 at 10:35
It is amazing. The thanks for commenting Terri
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February 10, 2015 at 11:31
So sad. Yet anther ”broken” christian. what is the matter with your religion? Doesn’t it ”convert” ordinary people or do they all have to be ”damaged goods” for some reason – a litany of sex, abuse, drugs , booze.
Go on …. quote me the line .
I know you will.
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February 10, 2015 at 11:46
Ark
I am going to let that comment through. If Melissa would like to address it, she is welcome to.
Why do you have to take a beautiful story and turn it into garbage, though? I have observed the way Melissa has dealt with you and it has never been anything but kind and generous towards you.
You constantly go on about believers as “damaged goods.” Yessir, we are all damaged, every single one of us. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Yep..all of us.
But God repairs our damage through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. But, we do have to call to him and “Whosoever calls upon the name of The Lord shall be saved.”
That includes you Ark. Join the ranks of the damaged and wounded, God welcomes even you.
On a final note, if you try to turn this post into a cesspool…don’t bother.
Melissa..it’s all yours if you have something to say.
Blessings to you Ark, and as always, you are in my prayers daily.
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February 10, 2015 at 11:53
Garbage? I have already said it is sad. I am in no way undermining Melissa’s background.
You seem to gloat over taking my comments and make them the object of your pitiful hate; another example of emotional turmoil.
And please, don’t threaten me , Wally. You don’t like the comments, delete them.
I stand by everything I write about religion.
It is populated by emotionally damaged people who are indoctrinated to believe they are sinners and require saving.
This is not only a blatant lie but morally intolerable.
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February 10, 2015 at 12:01
All damaged? You speak for yourself, Wally. Please do not include me in your reckoning.
And I am sure there are many folk who have suffered who found no need whatsoever to turn to religion and coped.
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February 10, 2015 at 14:50
I love you.
Father forgive Him for He knows not what He does.
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February 10, 2015 at 15:05
Melissa, I know exactly what I write, and why.
I do sympathize with what you went through, believe me, but this in no way negates the great many people who have been through similar experiences from all walks of life.
If yours was the way to go, then all of those other individuals would have become Christian.
Simply paraphrasing a piece of religious scripture neither strengthens your case or will it
enamor you with the people who have also suffered such abuse, especially no n Christians who are generally considered hell bound in some form or another, which I might add is a doctrine, like Original Sin that your former religion categorically denies.
I can only wish you well, but you do not need ”saving” as you are not a sinner.
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February 10, 2015 at 15:07
Ah …this is going to be a difficult conversation as dear Wally, has me on his ”no fly list”.
If he continues in this rather obstreperous fashion then I am afraid our conversation will be dead in the water.
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February 10, 2015 at 12:51
Melissa—I love your honesty, your journey, your conviction and the very wide and deep heart given to you by God as He fills you with Himself as you in turn allow His love to splash out, washing over all you encounter—Much much love—Julie
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February 10, 2015 at 13:02
It is a wonderful story of the power of God. Thanks Julie.
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February 10, 2015 at 18:16
This is a great story Melissa 🙂
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February 10, 2015 at 19:29
Thank you everyone, I love the story God gave to me 🙂
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February 10, 2015 at 23:01
I was moved to tears. I was going to post something on my blog about something else, but it can wait. I am going to reblog this, just because of the testimony. Awesome.
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February 10, 2015 at 23:06
Very awesome
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February 10, 2015 at 23:07
Reblogged this on The Recovering Legalist and commented:
Honestly, I wanted to write about something else (Obama’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast – you’ll be surprised at my take, I bet), but before I had a chance I took the time to read Wally Fry’s blog, Truth in Palmyra. I am so glad I did.
Seriously, I was moved to tears while reading Melissa’s story of becoming complete in Jesus, her Messiah. Oh, folks, there are so many more out there like her, like she was, hurting and empty without hope. Won’t you share this story with them? Lead them to the cross.
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February 10, 2015 at 23:10
Thanks Bro Anthony
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April 15, 2015 at 15:18
You always have it about accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour but get us mingled up a little bit, because from some of the writings we get the impression you seem to mingle the two Biblical characters through-each other, taking Jesus also to be God?! (Sorry if we got it wrong.)
clearly Jesus is Jeshua the Messiah and is the only begotten beloved son of God and not a god son.
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April 15, 2015 at 15:21
What two characters am I mingling incorrectly just so I understand your comment. I suspect I know but want to be sure
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April 15, 2015 at 15:36
Jesus the son of God and Jehovah God the Divine Creator of heaven and earth.
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April 15, 2015 at 15:25
If you are referring to Jesus and God you are quite incorrect as scripture clearly teaches that Jesus is God
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April 15, 2015 at 15:35
Where does it please?
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April 15, 2015 at 15:42
If I recall I sent you much information once before. If not I can later. Fair?
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April 16, 2015 at 03:18
The reason why Jesus had to be God is actually one of the simpler concepts concerning the theology of salvation to understand. In the last lesson we discussed the most basic reason why Jesus had to be human; because humans were the ones guilty of the original sin, a human had to pay the price for that sin. In other words, only Jesus the man could die; and only death could pay the debt for sin, for as Romans 6:23 states, “the wages of sin is death”.
On the other hand, if Jesus was merely a man, even a sinless man, He would be limited in the scope of sin His death would have covered. His sinlessness enabled Him to pay the debt for another; He had no debt of His own to pay. However, if He was just a man, He could have paid the debt for one other person. God’s plan of salvation was for a sacrifice which would cover the sins of the entire world. That includes all who had been born and died before His day, as well as all who would be born in the future. Not only for all people, but for all sins; that includes all sin committed as well as all sin which would be committed into the future. If that sounds like a possibly infinite number of people and possible sins, that is because it is a possibly infinite number!
Only God is infinite, having existed from eternity past. God never came into being, He simply has always been. Since the amount of sin is basically infinite, only an infinite being could pay for it all. Therefore, only a being who was totally human could pay for the sin of humanity; conversely, only a being who was totally God could pay the infinite price which had to be paid. And as 1 John 2:2 makes clear, Jesus did come to pay for the sins of the whole world.
Every other major religion in the world focuses on the teachings of their religions; in other words, the works one must perform in order to reach heaven. While obviously Jesus’ teachings are of huge importance, they are not actually the thing which is most important. The most important thing is not what Jesus taught, but who Jesus was. Jesus was, in fact, God incarnate in human flesh, and is as He Himself said in John 14:6 the only way for anyone to get to the Father.
Why Do People Want Jesus to Not be God?
On the most basic level, the attacks on the Deity of Jesus Christ are simply another way Satan attempts to undermine the credibility of the Holy Bible. It seems as in every section we describe how the particular doctrine we are learning is under attack. That is because every true doctrine is under attack! Any good battle plan involves attacking an enemy on multiple fronts, and Satan has a very good battle plan.
On another level, the attempts to minimize the God-ness of Jesus is just another way to make a man based religion rather than a God based religion. We have discussed before that there are only two basic religions in the world: The true faith, which is salvation 100% by the Grace of God and every other false religion which is salvation through the good works of man.
If the deity of Jesus is accepted, then His power to save has to be accepted; if His power to save is accepted, then His authority to be Lord of our lives also has to be accepted. However, if Jesus is not fully divine, then He needs our help in saving us. If He needs our help, then salvation is by works. If He needs our help then salvation is accomplished by Jesus plus something.
In the end, this is simply another attempt by humans to be in control. Just as Satan rebelled because he wanted to be in control, and Adam rebelled because he wanted to be in control, even today we rebel by wanting to be in control. In this case, we want to be in control of the terms and conditions of our own salvation.
Did Jesus Actually Claim to Be God?
Many critics of the Divine nature of Jesus Christ try to diffuse the whole issue by simply stating that He never actually claimed to be God. One could debate some things about the Deity of Jesus and almost make sense, but if one relies on the Bible as the primary reference, then no discerning person could possibly say Jesus did not claim Deity.
Jesus basically said he and God were the same. On several occasions, Jesus simply said it. He may have never simply stated,” I am God”, but some of the things He said were in fact the same as stating that claim..
In John 10:30, Jesus claimed He and His father were one
In John 14:1, he said those who believe in God also believe in Him
In John 14:9, Jesus told Phillip that anyone who had seen Him had seen God.
Jesus claimed equality with God, that He was the Son of God. It is simply a rule of logic that if two things are equal, they are basically the same. For instance 2=2 clearly shows us that 2 and 2 are the same thing in every sense of the word. It gets more complicated when you compare beings or ideas, but the concept is the same. If Student A claims to be equal with Student B, then in some verifiable way they are equal. Of course, they may not be equal in every way: one may be tall and one short, one may be large one may be small. However, in some way they are equal. In normal usage, to claim equality with another person is claiming positional equality;in other words they share an equal position in the scheme of things and in life. When our country’s founders wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal”, they were not saying we are all alike, they were saying that we are equal in our position and standing before other people as well as before God.
So, if Jesus claimed equality with God (and He did), then He was stating He shared a position of equality with God. Who can be positionally equal with and infinite God other than God Himself? Therefore to claim equality with God is to claim to be God. Let’s look, then, at some ways Jesus claimed to be equal with God.
Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. This claim is very important when studied in the context of Jewish culture of Jesus’ day. Ancestry and lineage was of primary importance in the culture of the day. A son, while he might have to grow and mature, was in many ways the absolute equal to his father. Ultimately, every first born son of a Jewish male would assume his father’s place in the structure, authority, and culture of his time. So, to be a man’s son was to imply, basically, equality with that man. So, for Jesus to claim to be God’s son was to claim equality and oneship with God.
In John 14:7, Jesus informed Phillip that if he had known Jesus, he would have known “My Father as well. John Chapter 14 is, in fact full of references to Jesus and the Father being of one essence.
John 14:10: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?”
John 14:11: “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me”
In Matthew 26:63, when the High Priest asked Jesus if He was the Christ, the son of God, Jesus answered in verse 64, “Thou hast said”. In other words, He answered, that yes, He was the Son of God.
The following two quotes sum up the basic meaning behind Jesus’ claiming to be the Son of God.
“Jesus also claimed to be the, “Son of God.” This title does not mean Jesus is God’s biological Son. Neither does the term “Son” imply inferiority anymore than a human son is inferior in essence to his father. A son shares his father’s DNA, and although he is different, they are both men. Scholars say that the term “Son of God” in the original languages refers to likeness, or “of the same order.” Jesus meant by it that he has divine essence, or in 21st century terms, the “DNA of God”i
“What did Jesus mean when he called himself the ‘Son of God’? The son of a man is a man. (Both ‘son’ and ‘man,’ in the traditional language, mean males and females equally.) The son of an ape is an ape. The son of a dog is a dog. The son of a shark is a shark. And so the Son of God is God. ‘Son of God’ is a divine title.”ii
Jesus enemies clearly understood that He was claiming to be God; they had no doubt whatsoever. In fact, they often wanted to kill Him for claiming to be God, since that claim was considered blasphemy and punishable by death. One of the things the Jews of the day believed correctly and devoutly was that there was only one God.
In John Chapter 10 Jesus was walking and teaching with the Jews in the Temple and gave them His teaching where He made the claim “I and My Father are one,: and the Jews wanted to stone him. When Jesus asked then why they wanted to kill him they replied in Verse 33, “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”
In fact, blasphemy was the only crime for which Jesus was actually convicted at his various “trials” before His Crucifixion. In Mark 14:61-64 Jesus and the High Priest had the following conversation.
“61But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.”
The Jews of the day understood that to forgive sins was a claim to be God, since only God could forgive sin. In Mark Chapter 2 we can again see the story of the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof of the house where Jesus was preaching so that Jesus could heal him. In Verse 5 note, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” The scribes quickly realized just what Jesus was saying here and though in their minds, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?” in Verse 7. Actually Jesus’ ability to read their thoughts was also a claim to Divine nature, as who is omniscient, or all knowing, but God? And that leads us conveniently into our next section.
Jesus laid claim to many of the attributes of God. Jesus made statements in which He claimed to possess attributes we normally only associate with God.
Jesus claimed to possess the eternal nature of God. We understand that one of the attributes of God is the fact that He has been self existent from eternity past, and that only God is eternal from before time. Therefore, if Jesus claimed that attribute, He was in essence claiming to be God.
Jesus claimed to be the Alpha and Omega, or the First and Last, or the Beginning and the End in Revelation 1:17,18; He also claimed here to be alive forever more, and that He possessed the keys to Hell and Death.
In John 8:56-58 Jesus was describing to the Pharisees how Abraham rejoiced at the future coming of Jesus, the Messiah. When the Pharisees questioned how a man not even 50 years old could have known Abraham, Jesus replied in verse 58. “Before Abraham was, I Am.” To fully understand just what Jesus was saying here, we have to go back to Moses and the burning bush. When Moses asked God to say who it was that was sending him(Moses) to lead the Jews out of Egypt, God replied that Moses could simply tell them, in Exodus 3:14, “I AM hath sent me unto you”
God can call Himself that because He always has been. He can call Himself that because He always will be. He is self existent, not having been created by any other thing. Jesus obviously meant the same thing. He was clearly saying that Abraham was not just rejoicing at the idea of Messiah, but the actual fact not yet taken place, of Jesus Christ Himself! That is why Jesus could also refer to Himself as “I Am”.
Jesus made a claim to the omniscience or all knowing attribute of God when He told Peter exactly how Peter would react the night of the crucifixion. He told Peter how he would deny Jesus three times; He told Peter exactly when this would occur(before the rooster crowed). This story is relayed to us in Matthew 26.
Jesus made a claim to the omnipresence of God when He told his disciples that He would always be with them until the end of time in The Great Commission contained in Matthew 28:18-20, telling them “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Jesus made claims to be able to forgive sins, and this authority is clearly reserved for God alone; this concept is clearly taught throughout both the Old and New Testaments (Isaiah 43:25 is one place), and the Jews of Jesus’ time clearly understood that was what their scriptures taught. In fact, we will cover the Pharisees’ perception of what Jesus was saying later in this lesson.
Let us look at some of the instances where Jesus forgave sins.
In Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, and Luke 5:17-26, the Bible tells the story of Jesus’ healing of a paralyzed man. The real key in each of these stories is not really that Jesus healed a sick man, after all He had been traveling throughout the region healing multitudes of sick by this time. What makes this story so unusual is not that Jesus made a paralyzed man walk, but that in each case He told the man he was forgiven of his sins! He said in each case, “Thy sins be forgiven thee,”
This sets the stage for the clear biblical teaching of exactly what Jesus’ purpose on earth was. He was not here to simply perform miracles and heal sick people; those were simply tools to show the world who He was. Jesus was here to heal the real sickness that was and is infecting the world: sin. The rest of the things we call sickness, including our ultimate deaths, were only brought into the world because of man’s sin.
Jesus accepted the worship of others, a prerogative which belongs only to God Himself.
The Bible makes it very clear that only God is worthy of worship. In fact, there are several recorded instances of men and even angels directing that men not worship them. There is even a recorded instance of severe punishment for a mere man to accept worship. Let us take a look at what the Bible teaches us about who deserves worship and who does not.
God was very clear to Moses when He gave him the Ten Commandments when He instructed “thou shalt have no other Gods before me” in Exodus Chapter 20. While being tempted by Satan in the desert, Jesus clearly told Satan, in Matthew 4:10, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
In Acts 14:8-18, a story is told of the Apostle Paul refusing worship from fellow human beings. He and Barnabas were in the city of Lystra and had just healed a man who had been crippled from birth. The townspeople were so amazed they thought Paul and Barnabas were the gods Jupiter and Mercury in human flesh! Paul and Barnabas refused to accept this worship, and ran out in the crowd telling them they were just men, and that they should worship God instead.
The Bible also teaches us that angels are not to be worshipped. In the Book or Revelation, two times John fell at the feet of an angel who had given him a message to worship, in Revelation 19:10 and 22:9. In both cases the angel immediately said, “See thou do it not, I am thy fellowservant.”
The Bible teaches that accepting worship as if one were God can have severe consequences. Acts 12:21-23 tell us of King Herrod who, when the people tried to worship him as God, accepted it gladly rather than direct their worship to the true God. Herrod was then eaten by worms and died.
Clearly, then, we are instructed to worship God and God only.
Jesus on many occasions accepted the worship of others. Knowing the Old Testament Scriptures as he did, only two options are really possible: One is that Jesus was a delusional madman who actually thought He was God, or that He was in fact God.
Here are some places in the Bible where Jesus either was worshipped, or was worshipped and accepted it.
In Matthew 2:11, the Wise Men from the East saw Jesus and “Fell down, worshipping Him.”
In Matthew 14:33, after He and Peter both walked on the water and Jesus stilled the wind, the following occurred, “Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”
In Matthew Chapter 28, when Jesus met Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the Tomb, they fell at His feet and worshipped Him.
In Luke 24:51, after Jesus was carried into heaven, the disciples who were with him “worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
In John 9:38, a blind man whom Jesus healed said “Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.”
In John 20:28, after Jesus showed Thomas the wounds in His hand and side, he responded “My Lord and my God!”
Revelation Chapter 12 describes a scene around the Throne of God, where God and “The Lamb” were both worshipped by the four creatures, the four and twenty elders, and the angels of Heaven.
Time and time again we can read in Scripture instances of Jesus being worshipped or being worshipped and accepting it. There is not a single instance recorded of Jesus correcting any person who offered Him worship. This is in contrast to Paul and Barnabas, as well as the angel the Apostle John encountered, who quickly corrected those who offered them worship.
The Writers of the Bible Clearly Describe Jesus as Being Divine
Time and time again, various writers of Holy Scripture describe the Divinity of Jesus Christ. We have already covered how each and every word in the Word of God was, in fact, inspired by God. Therefore if the writers of Scripture call Jesus God, then it is just as if God the Father called Jesus God. The only way to escape this conclusion is to deny that ,as Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
One of the most clear descriptions of the Deity of Jesus Christ is contained in the opening words of the John Chapter 1. In this passage, The Word clearly refers to Jesus, as context makes clear. In Verse 1, we are told “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That clearly states that Jesus is Eternal and that He is also God. On into Verse 14 we see “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
God Himself said Jesus was God in Hebrews 1:8. That entire chapter is a good summation of God comparing Jesus to anything else He created, and how Jesus is superior to all created beings..
Isaiah said the child born would, in addition to all the other things He would be called, would also be called “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father” in Isaiah 9:6.
John 5:23 teaches we should worship the Son just like the Father.
Philippians 2:5-7 describes Jesus as “being in the form of God”
I Timothy 3:16 says “God was manifested in the flesh”
Writing to Titus, Paul said in Titus 2:3 that we are “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ
So it goes on, time after time, numerous passages clearly show that the writers of Holy Scripture considered Jesus Christ to be Divine. And since we believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible, we can only come to the conclusion that God the Father is clearly informing us that Jesus the Son is also divine.
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April 16, 2015 at 03:38
And may I ask why it matters so much to you that Jesus not be God? It’s my understanding that your religion teaches that Jesus is merely the starting point of our salvation and we must finish and secure it through various works? Am I correct in that assessment? Also, I find your beliefs on immorality confusing; is it true that you all believe man is just annihilated at death, with no immortal soul? I suppose if Jesus was fully God, that would sort of mess up the works based plan of salvation somewhat, as it is being God which enabled Him to pay the sin debt fully for every man and woman from all time.
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April 16, 2015 at 14:43
You are not correct in stating that we say “we must finish and secure it through various works”
All people whatever they may believe, being religious, agnostic, atheist or whatsoever have received salvation by the death of Christ. The grace of salvation is over everybody, but to receive the entrance to the Kingdom of God demands some actions or so you want “works”. Without those works a person shall not be able to enter the Kingdom. So, if a person stays against God and mocks with Him, He shall have nothing of the salvation by Christ. The same for those who keep sinning without having regret of it. As such you may be a reborn person but when you keep fornicating, stealing murdering or doing other bad things, against the Will of God, so not keeping to the Works of Faith, you shall not be able to enter the small gate of the Kingdom. Faith without works is death (James)
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April 16, 2015 at 14:51
Yes James said that. Nonetheless you just stated that entrance to heaven is based on our works. We receive salvation by Grace thru Faith alone. Perhaps a review of Ephesians 2 verses 8 thru 10 would help you
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April 16, 2015 at 14:48
You yourself give the clue why Jesus has to be man and was man: ” His sinlessness enabled Him to pay the debt for another; He had no debt of His own to pay. However, if He was just a man, He could have paid the debt for one other person.”
It was not that Jesus only would have been able to pay for one other person , being without any fault, not having sinned and always having done not his will (what he would have done if he was God) the Will of his heavenly Father, made him the Lamb without any fault to go on the slaughter bank as the best ransom for all.
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April 16, 2015 at 14:53
You are correct he was in fact a man just as he is in fact God. One hundred percent each
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April 16, 2015 at 14:50
You way “the amount of sin is basically infinite” which contradicts with the Bible where is written that Adam and Eve were created in the image of God and first did not know the difference between Good and Evil and as such could not sin. It is only later that they made a fault = sinned. Sin came into existing in the Garden of Eden, by the first man not listening to God.
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April 16, 2015 at 14:56
By infinite I mean the totality of it for as long as we remain. I did not mean eternity part. Did not mean to confuse
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April 16, 2015 at 14:51
As you yourself know Jesus clearly stated only God was to be worshipped and not him: Jesus clearly told Satan, in Matthew 4:10, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
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April 16, 2015 at 14:56
Yet he accepted the worship of others
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April 16, 2015 at 14:55
John 8:56-58 This passage is connected with (#Ex 3:14) where God says to Moses, “I am that I am.” From these references two conclusions are drawn:
a) Since Christ was before Abraham, Christ must have existed prior to his birth on earth.
b) Since Christ says, “I am” he is alluding to the divine name, thereby in effect telling the Jews that he is “Very God.”
First of all Jesus does not say “I Am Who I Am” or “I Am Who Is” or “I am the Being”, but like any of us regularly says “I am” which would not make us God at all, like it did not make Jesus to be God when he says that.
SOLUTION:
1. Christ’s reference to Abraham is to affirm his (Christ’s) pre-eminence, not pre-existence. The Jews had claimed that Abraham was their father (#Joh 8:39) and so Christ establishes his pre-eminence in the divine purpose by stating that before Abraham was, “I am.” He did not say “before Abraham was, I was” as it is frequently misread. But the Jews, like modern-day trinitarians, misunderstood Jesus. He was not claiming to be literally older in years than Abraham. This is indicated by his prior remark: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” (#Joh 8:56). Abraham, to whom the gospel was preached (#Ga 3:8), “saw” the day of Christ through the eye of faith. Christ was “foreordained before the foundation of the world, but manifest in these last times.” (#1Pe 1:20). He was foreordained in the divine purpose, but not formed. Similarly in the divine purpose he was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (#Re 13:8) but literally he was not slain until his crucifixion in the time of Pilate.
2. There is no proof that Christ alludes to the divine name (imperfectly rendered by the A.V., “I am that I am”). Jesus simply uses the present tense of the verb “to be.” Even if this verse were intended to be read as an allusion to the divine name, this is not proof that Christ was claiming to be “Very God.” The divine name declared “I will be what I will be.” (#Ex 3:14) (R.S.V. mg.). The name was a prophetic declaration of the divine purpose. Jesus Christ was “God manifest in the flesh” (#1Ti 3:16), “the word” (Greek: logos) “made flesh.” (#Joh 1:14). As such, he was the expression of the divine character, “full of grace and truth” (#Joh 1:14) (cf. #Ex 33:19). and became the “firstborn among many brethren.” (#Ro 8:29). Christ was the result of the word made flesh, not the originator of the dvine plan. As he himself said, “I proceeded forth and came from God neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” (#Joh 8:42).
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April 16, 2015 at 15:01
About the forgiveness of sins.Are you not in a Christian community where people become part of the community after confessing their sins and being baptised? Does the pastor or the Elder in charge of the community does not say that the person entering the community are forgiven? According to your way of thinking that makes that priest, pastor or elder who tells an other his or her sins are forgiven to be God!?!
Jesus himself did not forgive the sins but he had authority of speaking and was given authority to do miracles and to speak in the name of his heavenly Father, the Only One God. Jesus never claimed that he was doing those miracles, but clearly stated they were the work of his heavenly Father, the only One God of heaven and earth Who is greater than him (Jesus)
“17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work. 18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show him, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, even so the Son also giveth life to whom he will. 22 For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son; 23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that {1} hear shall live. {1) Or [hearken]} 26 For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself: 27 and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.” (John 5:17-27 ASV)
“27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. 28 Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe. 30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing {1} in me; {1) Or [in me. But that…I do, arise etc]} 31 but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” (John 14:27-31 ASV)
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April 16, 2015 at 15:05
Ok cut to the chase. How is a person saved? What if they are not?
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April 16, 2015 at 15:12
By the way have you read Isaiah 9 6 lately?
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April 16, 2015 at 15:34
Are you saying all those gods which are worshipped by people are the Real God, when those people do not resist against it?
Though you give the impression Jesus let him to be worshipped, but when you read more carefully in Scriptures this is not so and Jesus clearly learns people not to pray to him but to his and “Our Father”.
Please do also look at the original text where there is written “reverence” or giving a certain honour or looking surprised for what happened which is not the same as giving worship to a godhead.
In Matthew 14:33 we get a public acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah son of God not as the God.> “Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” There is not written you are god the son, which is something totally different.
Hebrews 1:8.“1 God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, 2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in {1} [his] Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the {2} worlds; {1) Gr [a Son] 2) Gr [ages]; Compare 1 Ti 1:17} 3 who being the effulgence of his glory, and {1} the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; {1) Or [the impress of his substance]} 4 ¶ having become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, {1} Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? and again, {2} I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son? {1) Ps 2:7. 2) 2 Sa 7:14} 6 {1} And when he again {2} bringeth in the firstborn into {3} the world he saith, {4} And let all the angels of God worship him. {1) Or [And again, when he bringeth in] 2) Or [shall have brought in] 3) Gr [the inhabited earth] 4) De 32:43 (Sept); compare Ps 97:7} 7 And of the angels he saith, {1} Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame of fire: {1) Ps 104:4} 8 but of the Son [he saith], {1} {2} Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of {3} thy kingdom. {1) Ps 45:6 f 2) Or [Thy throne is God for etc] 3) The two oldest Greek manuscripts read [his]} 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” (Hebrews 1:1-9 ASV)
HEBREWS 1:8 “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”
PROBLEM: Since the Father addresses the Son, “O God”, this is taken by trinitarians as proof that the Son is “very God”.
SOLUTION:
1. There is some uncertainty as to the precise translation of this verse. Two possibilities exist:
a. “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (A.V.)
b. “God is thy throne for ever and ever” (RSV mg.)
Since only the first of these translations is useful for the trinitarian, it will be assumed that this is the correct translation. though they forget that a god is also just a high person like Apollo, Zeus, Pharaoh, Moses and angels are called god in the Bible.
But let us take it in an English translation way preferred by trinitarians.
2. “Therefore God, even thy God” (vs. 9) is evidence that Christ is not the “Eternal Son”. Since the Father is the God of Jesus, then clearly Jesus is not himself “Very God”. (See also John 20:17).
3. Hebrews 1:8 is a quotation from Psalm 45:6. In this Psalm the Hebrew word “elohim” is translated “God”. The word “elohim” is used of Moses relationship with Pharaoh: “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god {elohim} to Pharaoh”. (Exod. 7:1). It also is used of the judges of Israel. (Psa. 82:6 cf. John 10:34; Exod. 22:9, 28). Persons who are divinely appointed and made strong by Yahweh are referred to as “God”, but this does not imply they are persons within the Godhead.
4. In “the world to come” (Hebrews 2:5), the Son will be called “The mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6), although “now we see not yet all things put under him.” (Hebrews 2:8). In the Kingdom Age, the Son will reign with the power and authority of his Father. (1 Cor. 15:24–28). The writer to the Hebrews points out, however, that the “more excellent name” obtained by the Son is by virtue of his personal worthiness and elevation by his Father, and not by the Son re-claiming divested powers of the Godhead, as trinitarians assert: “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” (Hebrews 1:9).
Again in the gospel of John most trintiarians do not see the difference between a god , The God, a word and The Word and mistaking take a substantive like word and wisdom to be a person, in this case even two persons Jesus and God.They also do not seem to see the construction of the whole gospel of the evangelist John who tried to make his book as the bereshtih of the Old World bringing now a Bereshith of the New World. Comparing what happened in the Old World having the creation of the First Adam by the creation of everything else which happened by the Word of God it is by the Speaking of God. Like God spoke and everything came into being, God spoke and the 1° Adam came into being. When the first man did not want to follow God’s orders and ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge, they sinned and got punished. But God straight ahead made a promise to provide a solution against the death which was brought over man.
That promise made in the garden of Eden was the man who would bring salvation, God’s only begotten beloved son, the 2° Adam. Being spoken of long before Abraham was born and already written in the book of life, like many of us can perhaps also be written down in that book of life or otherwise be written down in the book of death Jesus like we are already foreknown before Abraham’s birth. therefore also in our languages spoken here (Hebrew, Yiddish, Dutch, Flemish, German and French) we still use the same expression as the Messiah and say about people who have come to wisdom or who are older than 50 years old that they have seen Abraham or have been born before Abraham. Do you really think this writer of this comment is so many millenia old because it is said of him that he has seen Abraham? do you think that all those people who have that saying to have been born before Abraham are God?
Jesus was the fulfilment of the promise given in the Garden of Eden and as such became the Word spoken in the garden of Eden a reality some two thousand years ago. By the Word of God a young girl became pregnant and was told she would bear the son of God, which was confirmed by God Himself that Jesus was that son by his baptism in the river Jordan by his cousin.
“but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,” (Galatians 4:4 ASV)
“21 Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. 23 And Jesus himself, when he began [to teach], was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the [son] of Heli,” (Luke 3:21-23 ASV)
Did God not tell the truth there according to you? Because when it was God Himself standing there would God not have said “See Me here standing”, though that would again be against the saying of God that nobody could see God or they would die. Many people could see Jesus and did not fall death, the opposite some even became alive again.
Back to the beginning of John’s gospel:
Yah Chanan (#Jo 1:1-3): In the beginning the Word having been and the Word having been unto God and God having been the Word he having been, in the beginning, unto God all through his hand became: and without him not even one being whatever became. (Aramaic New Covenant; ANCJ Released: 1996 Contents: New Testament Source Used: Exegeses Bibles (1996) Location: Tyndale House, Cambridge, United Kingdom )
Or: “In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.” (Emphatic Diaglott – interlineary side)
This passage is usually the chief reference on which the pre-existence and deity of Christ are argued.
SOLUTION:
1. Christ was not literally the Word. He was the word “made flesh”. (#Jo 1:14). The Greek word “logos” translated “Word” expresses the divine intention, mind, or purpose.1 Young defines “logos” as “a word, speech, matter, reason.”2 In the a.v. “logos” is translated by more than 20 different English words and is used for utterances of men (e.g., #Jo 17:20) as well as those of God (#Jo 5:38).
2. “In the beginning was the Word … all things were made by him.”3 “logos” does not in itself denote personality. It is personified by the masculine gender in the a.v., The Diaglott avoids confusion by translating the pronouns in the neuter-“through it every thing was done.”4 An Old Testament parallel to the personification of logos is the personification of wisdom: “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” (#Pr 8:22, 23). In this passage, wisdom is personified as a woman. (#Pr 8:1, 2).
3. “All things were made by him”-John is apparently alluding to the creation recorded in Genesis. God spoke, and it was done (e.g. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (#Ge 1:3). Notice another allusion- #Jo 1:7, 8). But this creation was not accompanied by Christ, but by the “logos” of God. This is indicated by several passages:
a. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” (#Ps 33:6, 9). See also #Ps 107:20; 147:15, 18, 19; Isa. 55:11).
b. ” … by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water … But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” (#2Pe 3:5, 7).
c. See also (#Heb 11:3) cf. (#Jer 10:12, 13).5
4.Angels, prophets and Christ have been vehicles by which God has expressed his logos. Christ is the complete manifestation of the logos-“in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (#Col 2:9). It was the “logos” which was in the beginning with God, not Christ. When the “word was made flesh” (#Jo 1:14) then, and then only, Christ became the “Word”. Christ is called the Word (#Re 19:13) cf. (#1Jo 1:1; Lu 1:2) since his doctrine and words came from his Father (#Jo 7:16; 17:14). He was the logos lived out in speech and action, not merely written on scrolls.
+ Notes:
1 This can be supported by evaluating all references to “logos” in the New Testament and the Septuagint.
2 Robert Young, Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible, (London: Lutterworth Press, 1965). a.v. Authorized King James Version of the Bible e.g. For example
3 It is sometimes argued that the “beginning” referred to in John 1:1 is the beginning of Christ’s ministry. 1 John 1:1 is offered in support of this interpretation. It should be noted, however, that John’s allusions in John 1 are drawn from Genesis 1 as point 3 outlines, thereby implying that the beginning refers to the same narrative and not to the ministry of Christ.
4 Benjamin Wilson, The Emphatic Diaglott, (Brooklyn: International Bible Students Ass., Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1942).
5 It is also noteworthy that although the writer to the Hebrews speaks in exalted terms of Christ (e.g. “express image of his {God’s } person”-#Heb 1:3), “logos” is used of God’s message, and not of Christ himself. See (#Heb 2:2; 4:2,12; 7:28; 12:19) and (#Heb 13:7, 22).
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April 16, 2015 at 15:38
Address the salvation question. You are burying this is tons of words.
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