"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3)
Welcome back to our blog!
Happy World Water Day!
Today we're going to take a deep dive into a topic that has caused some debate.
Is Christ a mere man or GOD in the flesh?
You've read the title, so you already know the answer that I'm going to give you.
The question is how did I arrive at that answer:
The scriptures tell us so, and so does YAHOASHUA Himself.
*note: YAHOASHUA is Christ's given, Hebrew name and it is the one that we prefer to use at Twelve Brothers.
The Eternal Word
John 1:1-15:
"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 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.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me."
Let's begin by analyzing John the Baptist's words.
John the Baptist said, "He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me" (John 1:15).
This is a puzzling statement for a couple of reasons. The main one being that Christ was born after John the Baptist, not before. So what did John the Baptist mean when he said: "for he was before me?"
John the Baptist was referring to Christ's immortality and eternality. YAHOASHUA predates all of creation and is the Creator, GOD. He is the source of all life and light (John 1:4), and the "world was made by him" (John 1:10).
The Gospel According to John states that YAHOASHUA is GOD at the very beginning of the first chapter.
YAHOASHUA is the Word made flesh (John 1:14).
He is the Word in human form.
Look closely at what John 1:1-2 says about the Word:
"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."
The Word was there in the beginning (at creation).
The Word was there with God.
The Word was (is) God.
Knowing that Christ (YAHOASHUA) is the Word, we can rewrite these sentences, swapping out The Word with Christ:
Christ was there in the beginning (at creation).
Christ was with GOD.
Christ is God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:1-3).
We can verify this by taking a closer look at Genesis 1:
"1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
Whenever God (YAHWEH) spoke, Word and Breath came out.
Speech, Breath, and Word
Notice every time "God said..." and created:
light, firmament, water, plants, sun, moon, stars, fowls of the air, sea creatures, beasts of the earth, and finally, mankind.
God created all things through His spoken Word (and Breath).
Remember that we are made in GOD's image (Gen 1:27).
Think about what comes out of your mouth when you speak: breath and word.
GOD, The Holy Triangle:
YAHWEH (God the Father) is the Speaker in Genesis 1.
RUAK HA'KODESH is the Breath.
YAHOASHUA (God the Son) is the Word.
Christ is the Word made flesh; He was there at creation.
Christ is also our creator and the Creator of our world; remember, "all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3).
I EXIST.
Not only do others describe Christ as GOD, Christ also tells us that He is GOD in multiple instances within the gospels. We will look at two of these instances.
The first occasion that we will look at is John chapter 8. In this chapter, the Jews accuse Christ of being a demon-possessed Samaritan. Christ responds:
"49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.
50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."
The key phrase here is, "Before Abraham was, I am" (Christ, John 8:58).
Christ (YAHOASHUA) is referring to his immortality and eternality just as John the Baptist did before in chapter 1 (John 1:15).
I Am.
I Be. I have always Been and will continue To Be.
Additionally, Christ is calling Himself by God the Father's name (YAHWEH).
To understand this fully, we have to go back over a thousand years to the time of Moses. If you are familiar with the story of the Bible, then you may know that the Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians. GOD sent Moses to deliver them.
Here is an excerpt from the conversation between GOD and Moses:
"13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3:13-14).
I Am is the name GOD gave to Moses.
So, in that short sentence in John 5:58, Christ was telling the Jews
1) that He (Christ) is eternal and has always existed, and
2) that He (Christ) is the very same GOD who saved them from the Egyptians (slavery).
It is easy for Christ's meaning to go over a modern-day reader's head.
However, the Jews knew exactly what Christ was saying. He was not trying to hide His identity from them with clever phrasing.
On the contrary, He was giving them a detailed explanation of exactly who He is in one sentence.
This is why the Jews "took up stones" to throw at Him.
Princes Don't Pay Taxes
Later on, in Matthew 17, YAHOASHUA shares His identity as GOD with Peter.
Here is the passage that we will be focusing on:
"24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."
The workers of GOD's Temple were collecting taxes ("tribute money") from the Jews to do work for GOD.
This is similar to how the American government works today; the government collects taxes from the American people and then uses that tax money to pay for things like schools, healthcare, clean streets, etc... Government workers are paid through these taxes.
Likewise, the Temple workers relied upon taxes for their livelihood. The tribute money was also used to maintain the Temple of the LORD. Jews were expected to pay the Temple tax the same way that Americans are expected to pay their taxes each year.
In the excerpt above, Peter is asked whether Christ pays His taxes. Peter answers on His behalf, saying "Yes."
During this time period, Kings collected taxes from citizens but not their own children. Princes and Princesses were free from having to pay taxes.
Christ points this out to Peter as soon as Peter enters the house; "Then are the children free."
Why would Christ point this out to Peter? Surely Peter already knew that royalty did not have to pay taxes.
Christ takes the time to point this out in order to reveal His identity to Peter.
Christ is drawing a parallel between Himself and a King's child:
In this parallel, GOD is the King of the Temple of Israel and Christ is the child of GOD.
Of course, Christ does agree to pay the tax despite this fact(Matthew 17:27).
Christ's purpose was not to get out of paying taxes but to communicate His identity as the Son of GOD.
The Only Begotten Son
Before we close, I want to talk about the significance of Christ being the only begotten Son of GOD.
Humans and Angels are created beings;
GOD created us. GOD did not beget us. And there is an important distinction between the words create and beget.
When you create something, that thing is different than yourself. For example, you create a piece of art: a painting, a wooden puppet, a clay sculpture, etcetera.
When you beget something, that thing has your likeness.
Humans beget baby humans. Dogs beget puppies. Cats beget kittens. Sheep beget lambs. And so on and so forth.
Likewise, GOD begets GOD.
By claiming to be the begotten Son of GOD, Christ was claiming to be GOD—to have GOD's likeness in a way that other humans do not.
This is precisely what the Jews accuse Christ of in John 5:18:
"Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).
Conclusion: Salvation
In conclusion, Christ is GOD.
He created all things and is one of three members of the Godhead.
Christ did not hide His identity from the Jews; He used their thorough understanding of Hebrew scripture to communicate His identity in full.
To be saved from the impending Great Tribulation, you must accept Christ as LORD and Savior. How can you accept Him as your LORD if you don't believe that He is the LORD?
What are your thoughts on this topic?
Have you ever struggled to convince another believer of Christ's identity as GOD?
Share your thoughts and experiences down below.
Thank you for reading and GOD bless!
-Twelve Brothers