____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ September 22, 1997 ____________________________________________________ Jesus -- His Eternal Nature and Deity by Tom Edwards Without question, God's word points to Jesus as being the ultimate purpose for the writing of this divine book which the Lord graciously gave to man by the inspiration and revelation of the Holy Spirit, and which we call the ``Bible''; its bestowal, therefore, is so that the sinner might look to Jesus, believe, obey, and be redeemed (John 20:30,31). Even prior to the Lord's incarnation, those living at that time had to look ahead by faith to the great Redeemer who would be able to atone for their sins. Numerous references throughout the Old Testament exemplify this statement by showing, repeatedly, God's promise of the coming Messiah. For instance, when pronouncing a curse upon the serpent in Genesis 3:15, near the beginning of mankind, while the earth was populated with only two people, the Father in heaven foretells of the time in which He would ''...put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.'' Since the head symbolizes power and authority, this early, prophetic declaration is, therefore, referring to the time when Jesus would defeat the Devil and take away the power of death that he had formerly held -- thus setting free those who had been tenaciously held in the life-choking bonds of iniquity (Heb. 2:14,15). This liberation from sin, the Lord graciously accomplished by His own excruciating death on the mortifying cross, outside of the city walls of Jerusalem (which is the fulfillment of the Devil bruising the Lord's heel). Longingly, the prophets of old looked forward to this history-changing event when God would lovingly send His Son into the world in order to bring to them salvation, though many of the Jews down through the years did not even fully comprehend the significance of the message and the need for a ``suffering Messiah'' who would willingly pay the ransom price for every hell-bound sinner. Unfortunately, they had conceived the coming Messiah to be a ``reigning King'' who would heroically conquer their enemies and restore their kingdom of Israel rather than being one who would have to suffer at the hands of wicked men. God, however, had forewarned of the public's reception toward His Son and showed it to be a cold rejection, an irrational persecution, and an unjust death (Psa. 22; Isa. 53). Threading through the Old Testament -- to the contrary of those aforementioned -- are the many emblazoned prophecies that form a detailed tapestry which displays this great happening that finally occurred ``in the fulness of time'' -- when God sent forth His Son, born of the virgin (Gal. 4:4,5) -- and culminated upon the cross itself where this price was paid in full by the Lord's sacrificial giving of His very self. In view of this, the Bible spans a wide spectrum of various allusions, as well as lucid historical references, concerning Jesus, which could be categorized under three main topics: the promise of Christ's coming, His actual arrival and His work on earth, and the promise of His return when every person shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air -- and time, as we know it, will be no more. Today, let us consider two major truths which God's word tells us about His Son Jesus Christ: HIS PRE-EXISTENCE Jesus is eternal. Prior to His lowly birth and an animal's feed-trough for His first bed (almost two millenniums ago), the Lord had previously existed in heaven's glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. There was never a time in which Christ did not exist and, therefore, the Bible speaks of His eternal nature. This is refuted, however, by some of our religious friends who believe that Christ did have a beginning. One particular group is the Jehovah Witnesses who actually strip away the deity of Jesus Christ and view Him as being a created being and like that of the angels. If, though, the Lord were created then Colossians 1:16 could not be true; for this passage states: ``For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible....'' Corresponding to this is John's statement in John 1:1-3, which also shows of the deity of Christ: ``In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.'' Verse 14 further describes this ``Word'' by showing that ''...the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.'' Irrefutably, this ``Word'' is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Since all ``created'' things were made by Jesus ``and without Him was not any thing made that was made'' then Christ would have had to have been the one who ``made Himself'' if He were a created being. But how could a non-entity create itself, and especially to the supreme intelligence, the awesome power, and the endless nature which characterizes Jesus Christ? As mentioned earlier, the Jehovah Witnesses believe that Christ was created, so they, therefore, have added the little word ``other'' to Colossians 1:16 to make it read that ''...by Him were all OTHER things created'' -- He Himself then being exempted by this presumptuously inserted term that serves to harmonize to the Jehovah Witness' thinking, but is seen in stark contrast to the true teaching of God's word. The eternal nature of Jesus is actually beyond what our finite minds can comprehend -- other than merely telling ourselves that this means ``always.'' Truly, it is an awesome feat to strive to fathom the implication in the Lord's response to some disbelieving Jews who had said, ''...You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?'' Jesus' answer to this was, ''...Truly, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was born, I am'' (John 8:57,58). This expression ``I am'' -- rather than saying ``I was'' -- sounds most unusual to us, for we are accustomed to viewing time like that of a pedestrian who is walking down a long road that is lined on both sides with numerous buildings. The farther this pedestrian advances, the more he is able to see. But, concerning Christ, it is as if He can already see the entire road with all its surroundings, simultaneously. In eternity, where Jesus is from, there is no beginning nor end, for time there is as one everlasting day. The voice of God through Micah prophesied that it would be in Bethlehem where Jesus would be born (5:2), but also shows that this would not be the beginning of this great ruler of Israel, for He would be one ``whose goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.'' Who among us, whether living or deceased, could ever be referred to as being ``from the days of eternity?'' No one -- not even Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old -- but Jesus only. THE DEITY OF JESUS As seen earlier in John 1:1-3, Jesus is the ``Word'' who was in the beginning with God and ``was God.'' Again, our Jehovah Witness friends want to change this verse to assert that Jesus was ``a god'' rather than stating He ``was God,'' and thus depict him as being very inferior to God the Father and not much more than a mere exalted angel. With regard to this thought of Jesus just being an angel, consider Hebrews 1:4-6: ``having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, `Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee'? And again, `I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me'? and when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, `And let all the angels of God worship Him.'" Clearly, the Lord is seen in contradistinction to the angels in this passage; only He is referred to as a ``Son,'' and He is the one to whom the angels owe their existence (Col. 1:16). There are also many in our time who view Christ as being simply a ``good man,'' ``just another prophet,'' or a ``great teacher,'' but have not come to grips with the Bible's full description of Him. This is sad because Jesus states that ''...unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins'' (John 8:24). Certainly, the Lord implied much more in this than merely that He had been the carpenter's son, a good man, or a great teacher. To believe in Jesus, one must accept the deity of Christ; this is what the Lord meant. The Hebrew writer describes Jesus as being ''...the radiance of His (God the Father's, TTE) glory and the exact representation of His (God the Father's, TTE) nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power....'' How could Jesus be the ``exact representation'' of God unless He was God? The answer is ``He would not be able to unless He truly was God,'' and the fact of this actuality is clearly seen in Colossians 2:9: ``For in Him ALL THE FULNESS OF DEITY dwells in bodily form'' (emphasis mine). Obviously, this explains how that Jesus was able to say to Philip in John 14:9 that ''...He who has seen Me has seen the Father....'' God Himself gives the following testimony concerning His Son in Hebrews 1:8 by saying, ``But of the Son He says, `Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.''' To argue against the deity of Jesus is to argue against God, for He Himself declares this to be so about His Son. It wasn't a vile peasant who gave his life for you on Calvary, nor was it just ``a great man''; but it was much more than that! It was the eternal Son of God, who is just as much God as the Father is, and who willing came into this world in order to pay the price for your redemption by allowing cruel men to torture Him and nail Him to an unsparing cross; and while His life's blood dripped on the ground below Him and the savage-hearted throng mocked, ridiculed, and jeered, the Lord with tender mercy and unfathomable compassion asked His Father to ''...forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing'' (Luke 23:34). Without question, Jesus is eternal, and Jesus is God! To reject these basic truths is to reject the testimony of God's word. May we not only realize these facts about the nature of Christ, but also submit ourselves to Him in view of His greatness by our faith and obedience. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________