Sunday, November 16, 2008

Jesus Didn't Say "I am God"-Revised

Our detractor states: "Jesus never claimed to be God-He never actually said "I am God".

On the contrary. Jesus is co-equal with God. This is the consistent teaching of the whole bible, especially the New Testament. Though not every statement is expressed with equal explicitness, every statement bearing on the nature of Christ proves He is full Deity & humanity in one person, without contradiction. The various names and titles of Jesus are unequivocal of his full Deity.

Just a few verses will bear this out.

Micah 5:2, King James Version But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting

Vs. 2b, New American Standard Bible His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity

Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another...


Isaiah 48:11c I will not yield my glory to another.

John 17:5 [Jesus prayed] And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Psalms 45:6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.


Hebrews 1:8 But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom

John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... [14] The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.


John 5:22-23 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Psalms 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.


Ezekiel 34:31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.

John 10:14 I [Jesus] am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.

Hebrews 13:20 ...our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep...

Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.


Now that you know Jesus is clearly called God throughout Scripture...what will you do with that knowledge?

2 comments:

  1. Greetings! Saw your post in Google Blogsearch and came to read.

    >"1. ... Jesus did not explicitly state in those actual words ,"I am God: Worship Me"."

    While that is a true statement, it is also true that Jesus did in fact say the words "I am", by which He used the Hebrew name of God and did declare himself to be God.

    In respondig to Muslims, I would be more forceful in defending that Jesus did refer to himself as God.

    That provides the opportunity for presenting the reknown trilemma of liar, madman or God.

    You segway into a casual mention of the Trinity at the end of your post. The most effective I've found apologetic for the Trinity comes from Saint Jerome and his example of one wine/three bottles. Once I point out how common the property of three from, and back into, one is among nature, the Islamic apologist is generally answerless.

    If you're interested in apologetics to Islam, I recommend you study Father Zakaria Botros. He's having the most impact of any Christian apologist among Muslims.

    God bless... +Timothy

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  2. Hi Timothy:

    Thanks for posting. Sorry I took so long to comment.

    You're right that I AM is the Name of God from the Hebrew Scriptures. And it is best to follow the path of this Name through Isaiah "ani hu" to show that YHWH is the Speaker of this Title and it's attributes.

    I wasn't so much focused on defending the Trinity with Muslims in this post per se, but only to respond to an oft made claim by Muslim apologists that Jesus did not say "I am God" explicitly.

    My problem with using common objects to demonstrate the "tri-unity" with Muslims is that it often leads to the non- sequitur that we are comparing God to a creature.

    You are right that we should state that Jesus did say He is God and demonstrate that from the Scriptures, which I think was my point.

    The best defense of the Deity of Christ and the Tri-Une Majesty of God is the direct testimony of the Bible. This revelation is not self-evident, but it is theological based on revelation of God about Himself.

    The best explanation of the trinity is to understand that God is One Being, but Three distinct Persons.
    As One Being, He has attributes and is eternal, and the three Persons co-equally share these attributes. Just as you and I share in one being(humanity) and yet are distinct individual persons.

    Examples from nature or objects as you suggest may or may not work. For me, they don't work so well. Jesus never, as far as I know, or the Apostles, to my knowledge, use these kinds of examples to explain the trinity or deity of Jesus.

    Jesus said and did what the eternal Word clothed in humanity would do and say as the Messiah, and the Apostles recognized him for who He is.

    My point is simply that Muslims cannot find their "Jesus" in our Bible, just as we cannot find our Jesus in their Qu;ran.

    When the whole testimony of Scripture is allowed to speak for itself the truth is known.

    Amen.

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