The day we can fully wrap our minds around the nature of God is the day we've reduced
Him to our level, thereby making a God in our own image.
The God of the Bible is marvelous and transcendent, without beginning,
without end, rightly called in Judaism the Ein Self, the Infinite One, and according
to the Scriptures, clearly complex in His unity.
Will we accept the biblical witness or will we try to create a God based on our
own limitations and perceptions?
In the Old Testament, the Lord stated categorically that He would share His
glory with no one.
As written in Isaiah 42.8, I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory I give to no
other, nor my praise to carved idols.
Yet we see in the New Testament, Revelation 5, that massive glory and honor
are given to the Son.
As Revelation records, then I looked and heard around the throne and the living
creatures and the elders and the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads
and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was
slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and
blessing.
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the
sea and all that is in them saying, to Him who sits on the throne and to the
Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.
And the four living creatures said Amen and the elders fell down and worshipped.
Either God has gone back on His word and another created being is sharing in His
unique honor and glory or the Son is one with the Father, equally God.
And note here that all creation worships the Lamb, meaning that He Himself is not
created.
Having interacted with religious Jews for the last 47 years, I can assure you that
if the Son did not share in the divine nature, to worship Him like this would be
blasphemous.
That indeed would be detracting from the worship of the only God and engaging in
some form of idolatry.
This is not like one candle lighting another candle without the first candle
losing its light.
This is like the second candle becoming predominant.
In this case, having millions of people praising and glorifying Jesus and to this
day, around the world, often without mention of the Father.
If the Son is not God, then He has taken glory from the Father.
What makes this all the more interesting is that throughout Isaiah 40-48,
God repeatedly says of Himself, I am, or I am He, translated into Greek as
egoimi.
Yet that is the very language Jesus uses of Himself in John, most decisively in
John 8-58, truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.
Not I was, but I am.
So not only does Jesus share in the Father's glory, but He identifies Himself
with the eternal God saying, I am, or I am He, also declaring His eternal
pre-existence.
And just as the Lord says in Isaiah 48-12, I am He, I am the first, and I am the
last, so also in the book of Revelation, both the Father and Son are called the
Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.
So Revelation 21-6, speaking of the Father who says, I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end.
Then Revelation 22-13 where Jesus says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first
and the last, the beginning and the end.
Also see Revelation 1-8.
He is clearly and unequivocally identifying Himself with Yahweh.
No created being could utter such words.
Only the eternal God could say, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first
and the last, the beginning and the end.
The Son is the eternal God.
That's why in the Old Testament, Yahweh's words remain forever,
Isaiah 40, but in the New Testament it is Jesus' words that will remain forever,
Matthew 24.
The Lord declared in Isaiah 43-11, I, I am the Lord, and beside me there is
no Savior.
Yet throughout the New Testament, Jesus is hailed as our Savior.
Either He is one with God, or there is more than one true Savior.
Paul leaves us no doubt, referring to, quote, our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ, in Titus 2-13.
That's the most obvious and clear sense of the Greek.
Jesus is our great God and Savior.
We also learn from the same section in Isaiah that when Yahweh created the
universe, He did it alone.
As written in Isaiah 44-24, I am the Lord who made all things, who alone stretched
out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.
Yet the New Testament tells us explicitly that the Son was involved in creation.
In John 1-1, Jesus, John uses the language of Genesis 1-1 in the Septuagint,
saying that the Word was in the beginning, N-R-K, just like in the beginning God
created, Genesis 1-1, and explaining that what God was, the Word was.
And He continues, all things were made through Him, and without Him was not
anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And John tells us it is this preexistent Word, this Word through which all things
were created, which became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1-14.
That's why John the baptizer explained that Jesus ranks before me because He was
before me, John 1.
That's why Jesus said He was from above, that He came down from heaven,
that He came from God and was returning to God, John 3, John 6, John 8, John 13.
That's why Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8-6, yet for us there is one God,
the Father, from whom all things, from whom are all things, and for whom we
exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through
whom we exist.
Even more emphatically he wrote, Colossians 1, for by Him, speaking of the
Son, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created
through Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
The text is clear.
The Son is eternal.
The Son is uncreated.
All things were created through Him and for Him.
You really have to engage in a hopeless series of exegetical gymnastics to deny
the plain sense of these words.
And remember, in Isaiah, Yahweh said no one was with Him when He created the
universe.
Yet these texts say He created all things through His Son.
That can only mean one thing.
The Father and Son are one God.
And that's why Jesus explained that it was His Father's will, John 5, that all may
honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
There are other texts which explicitly point to the Son's eternal pre-existence.
In John 17, 5, Jesus prays to the Father, And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own
presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.
Once again, the text is clear.
John also tells us in chapter 12 that when Isaiah saw the Lord's glory, meaning
Yahweh in His glory, in Isaiah 6, it was the Son of God he saw, the one who
suffers and dies in Isaiah 53.
Isaiah saw the Son of God and the Son was called Yahweh.
That's why Paul tells us explicitly in Philippians 2 that Jesus existed in the
form of God, yet emptied Himself and became a servant, dying for us.
And that's why Paul uses a text speaking of Yahweh in Isaiah 45, 23, where God
swears that every knee will bow to Him and every tongue swear to Him and applies the
verse to Jesus, saying that every knee will bow to Him and every tongue confess
that He is Lord.
If the Son is not deity, that's blasphemous and it cannot possibly be to
the glory of the Father.
Just think if the verse were referred to an angel rather than Yahweh, it's
unimaginable.
Note also that Paul uses the example of Jesus in Philippians as an example of
humility.
He didn't take what rightly belonged to Him, namely the privileges of deity,
but rather emptied Himself on our behalf.
He who was eternally God came to earth as a servant to die for us.
That's why Jesus said that He often longed to have mercy on Jerusalem, but He was not
willing, Matthew 23.
He was the one moving His people throughout Old Testament times.
That's why Hebrews 1, 8, quoting from Psalm 45, 7, says to the Son, Your throne,
O God, is forever and ever.
Yes, the Son is God and has an eternal throne.
And no one in the New Testament is designated like this other than Almighty
God Himself.
By the way, the plain sense of the Hebrew and Greek is apparent and I'll gladly get
into that if there's any debating of the translation.
And not only so, Hebrews continues, quoting from Psalm 102, a psalm about
Yahweh, the creator of the universe.
Hebrews continues, quoting from Psalm 102 and applying these words to the Son.
And You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens
are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You remain.
They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe.
You'll roll them up like a garment.
They'll be changed, but You are the same and Your years will have no end.
The Son is the eternal creator, the one who always was and always will be.
That's what Scripture states.
We don't need to play games with this text and try to make it say something it's not
saying.
The text clearly and indisputably speaks of the Lord creating the heavens and the
earth, which will ultimately wear out, but He, the eternal Lord, will remain the
same.
Hebrews applies this to the Son.
Psalm 102 makes frequent reference to Yahweh, yet the psalm is referred to the
Son in Hebrews 1.
Not only so, but the Greek speaks of the Lord creating the universe in the
beginning, arkos.
There's no denying the plain truth of these words.
And Hebrews makes the consistent argument that the Son is greater than the angels,
yet in first century Judaism, the very context of these words, there is no one
higher than the angels and God Himself.
That's why Isaiah said in 9.6 that one of the Messiah's titles would be Mighty God,
yet it's Yahweh in Isaiah 10.21 who's called Mighty God.
That's why Thomas said to the risen Jesus, My Lord and My God.
The text is totally clear.
And that's why Paul wrote in Colossians 2.9 that the whole fullness of deity dwelt
in bodily form in Jesus.
Peter is clear as well, writing in 2 Peter 1.1 about the righteousness of our God and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
And it's very likely that Paul speaks of Jesus as God in Romans 9.5, while it's
most likely that in 1 John 5.20 John states that Jesus Christ is the true God.
That's why Jesus could say that the Father was in Him and He in the Father,
John 14.
That's why Paul identifies the Spirit of God with the Spirit of Christ in Romans 8.
That's why Paul could pray to the Father and Son together in 1 Thessalonians 3.13
saying, Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
And he uses a singular verb in the Greek for the Father and Jesus.
And why else would Paul include Jesus in a prayer to the Father, let alone pray to
the Father and Son using a singular verb in the Greek, unless they're one?
2 Thessalonians 2, Paul puts Jesus first, uses the singular verb again, Now may our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal
comfort and good hope through grace comfort your hearts.
That's why prayer is offered directly to the Son in the New Testament.
Stephen prays to Him in Acts 7, Lord Jesus receive my spirit.
We're taught to pray Maranatha, which in Aramaic means our Lord come.
And John calls out to Him in Revelation 22, even so come Lord Jesus.
Jesus even told us to ask Him for anything and He'd do it in John 14.
That's why in Revelation 22, we read that the throne of God and of the Lamb will be
in the New Jerusalem and His servants will worship Him, not them, but Him,
God and the Lamb, one divine being and one throne.
That's why in Revelation 22, we read that the throne of God and of the Lamb will be
in the New Jerusalem and His servants will worship Him, not them, but Him,
God and the Lamb, one divine being and in the end, one throne, not two.
They will see His face, not their faces, and His name, not their names,
will be on their foreheads.
To review, there's no question whatever that the Son is eternal, preexistent and
fully divine, the one through whom all things were created and the one who is
worthy to receive praise, honor and glory and to whom prayer can be directed.
That's why He's called God in a number of texts and that's why we worship Him as
God, one with His Father.
And that's why when Jesus returns to the earth and His feet touch the Mount of
Olives, as promised in Acts 1.11, Zechariah tells us that it will be
Yahweh's feet that touch down, Zechariah 14.
And that's why we baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
A glorified man has no place between the Father and the Spirit.
In fact, as we look at the scriptural evidence, we see that lying to the Spirit
is lying to God, Acts 5, that the Spirit can be grieved, Isaiah 63, Ephesians 4,
that the Spirit teaches, guides, speaks, intercedes, appoints leaders and
bears witness, many scriptures for all of that, that the Spirit is manifest through
wisdom and knowledge and that the Spirit is eternal.
The Spirit is also God.
That's why Paul could speak of the love of the Spirit.
And that's why Paul could invoke this benediction, the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
all, 2 Corinthians 13.
And note, you have fellowship with a person, not with a thing.
That's why Christians concluded that God was triune, one God, made known to us as
Father, Son and Spirit.
In the New Testament, the Father is primarily known as God, the Son is
primarily known as Lord and the Spirit is given various titles to explain His work
and mission, although He's sometimes called Lord too, as in 2 Corinthians 3.
That's why Jesus could say things like this in John 15, 26, but when the Helper
comes, whom I'll send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, He will testify about me.
And that's why blasphemy against the Spirit, not against an impersonal force
but against God Himself, was a damnable sin.
You were damned for sinning against a divine someone, not just a powerful
something.
And it's only when we understand God's triunity that we can understand how people
saw God in the Old Testament, yet the Bible says no one's ever seen God.
The Father remains hidden, it is the Son who makes Him known.
That's why Jesus could say if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
And that's why He could say all things have been handed over to me by my Father,
and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the
Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
You cannot say that God created the world through a glorified man, or that a
glorified man, Hebrews 1, is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of
His nature.
That's why Jacob in Genesis 48 described God as the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this
day, the angel who redeemed me from all harm.
Yes, Jacob had created the one true God with the angel who redeemed him.
This was his way of describing the preexistent Son, who appeared sometimes in
the Old Testament as the angel of the Lord.
Jacob encountered Him too.
And just as Paul prayed to Jesus and the Father as one, using a singular verb,
so also here Jacob appeals to God and His redeeming angel, one being in the singular
as well.
As a Jewish follower of Jesus, there's always been pressure on me to deny
what Scripture plainly teaches, namely that Jesus the Son is eternal
deity, and that God's unity is complex.
But because the Word is so clear on this, I could not and would not yield to this
pressure.
And by the way, there's far more evidence I could bring from the Old Testament to
support this.
Time doesn't permit.
So I urge each of you to fall down at the feet of the glorious Son and worship Him
as God.
This will please the Father, who sent His Son to be the Savior of the world and who
continues to work among us by His Spirit.
And after Paul laid out God's extraordinary plan to save both Jews and
Gentiles in Romans 9-11, he wrote these incredible words from the Old Testament as
well.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments, and how inscrutable His ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been His counselor?
Who has given Him a gift to Him that might be repaid?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be glory forever.
Amen.
So let's stop trying to put the infinite and eternal God into the tiny box of our
limited minds as if we ourselves could figure out or define Him or reduce Him to
a mathematical formula.
And let's instead worship our triune God with reverence and awe.
That is humility, and that is wisdom.
Thank you.