Is Jesus The God of The Old Testament? Part1
The foundation for this discussion is the Bible alone. When it comes to pure doctrine, my only source is, the Scriptures. For word interpretation I will use both the Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries. I try to build bridges when discussing these very serious subjects. I don’t make the rules, I only follow them. I favor no denominational teachings. I use Scriptural evidence only. I believe in a strict chain of command, God the Father who rules from heaven, then God the Son, who has been given all power and authority in both heaven and on earth by His Father. Then the Holy Spirit sent by both the Father and Son. This chain of command shall not be broken.
So, is Jesus God? God meaning Creator, Supreme over all! Lets start with Isa.9:6, “For unto us a child = (Jesus) is born, unto us a Son is given, — and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father.”
Now because Isaiah was a Jew, he worshipped but (one) God. If he meant that the child who was to be called the mighty God was another God, and not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he would have been guilty of blaspheme under the law. From there, he would have been taken outside the city and stoned to death. What he wrote is exactly what he meant. The child to be born is,
1 Tim.3:16, K.J.V. was “God manifest in the flesh.”
Because the nouns, “God and Father,” in Isaiah 9, dominate the sentence, the adj. “mighty and everlasting are only descriptions of those titles. Therefore if Jesus is called the mighty God, or the All-mighty God, or just God, He is God. This is the God of Abraham Isaac Jacob and Isaiah. The word God here is the Hebrew “El.” The word Father here is Ab, or Abba.
Matthew 23:9, Jesus said, “call no man your father upon the earth: for ONE is your Father, which is in heaven.” Now was Isaiah confused as to whom the Father was, or who God was, Of course not! Also notice the upper case and the definite article “the,” used with both God, and Father in Isaiah 9. This upper case and definite article point directly to the one and only God and Father of us all.
Compare the following,
Genesis 1:1, “in the beginning God created the heaven the earth,” with,
Colossians 1:16, “For by Him (Jesus) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth — all things were created by Him and for him,” also,
Hebrews 1:10, where the Father said of His Son, “Thou, LORD (meaning Jesus,) in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.”
John 1:10, “He = (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.”
1 John 1:2, “For the life (Jesus) was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.”
Jesus is the God of the creation, because in its purest interpretation, He is the Creator. John 1, refers to Jesus as, the LIGHT of the world, which is the LIFE of the world. Gen.2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” He gave Adam life then, and he still gives life now. Heb.13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word = (Jesus,) and the Word = (Jesus) was with God = (the Father) and the Word was God.” Take note of the definite article “the.” In the Greek, when you have one, two or more nouns, in this case, Word, and God, and one definite article, “the,” both nouns pick up the definite article. It would then read, “the Word was the God.” This is correct; see Granville Sharpe’s work on the definite article. Also check my dictionary on the definite article.
In Revelation 1, we read, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God (the Father) gave unto Him.” The definite article “The,” tells us that this is a one and only Revelation given by the Father concerning His Son. There will be no further Revelations concerning Jesus Christ coming from the Father. In verse 8, Jesus said,
“I = (Jesus) am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, –which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Therefore Jesus is both the Mighty God of Isaiah 9, and the All-mighty of Revelation 1.
Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day, and for ever.” He is God, He is our Creator, He is Supreme over the creation. Jesus is,
Hebrews 12:2, “the author = (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith.” This authorship began in Genesis 3:15, when Jehovah said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Isaiah 48:16. If you read the whole of chap. 48, you will see that it is Jehovah speaking in ver.16.
Isaiah 48:16, He said, “come ye near unto me (Jehovah,) hear ye this; I (Jehovah) have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God (the Father,) and His Spirit = (Holy Spirit,) hath sent me.” Don’t try to make the argument that it is Isaiah speaking, it is not.
Hebrews 1:3, It is said of Jesus, He, “being the brightness of His (the Father’s) glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power etc.” The Greek word “express” means, the counterpart of the Father’s essence or being. Only God the Son can be in the brightness of the Father’s glory. Who can be like God the Father? It can only be God the Son, for He is the only begotten of the Father.
Isaiah 45:23, God said, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me (Jehovah) every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” Compare with,
Philippians 2:10, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
John 20:28, Thomas, one of the apostles, had doubts as to the person who stood before him. He did not believe that the Jesus had been raised from the dead. Thomas needed physical proof. The Lord told Thomas to, reach here your finger, and behold my hands; and reach here your hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God.” Thomas was the first to give the title of God to Jesus in the N.T. From this point on, the disciples treated Jesus with the most supreme respect.
I sincerely hope this helps to clarify a most difficult subject, a subject which has divided the body of Christ. We must by faith believe that which has been set down before us. If a person does not understand, set the subject aside, remain loyal to the whole of Scripture, and in God’s time all shall be revealed.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com