Did Jesus Claim to Be
God?
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Jesus Himself Claims
top be God!
In terms of human
warfare, David was no match for
Goliath, but the giant had a
vulnerable spot right in the middle
of his forehead and one tiny stone
brought him to the ground. When the
Philistine army saw their leader
beheaded, they fled. In a similar
way, I believe JW have a vulnerable
spot right in the middle of their
theology. A day is coming when
“The Stone,” The Rock of
Ages, will his this vulnerable spot
and JW will run for cover. Currently,
I do not expect JW (or any other
religious body) to admit error in
their teachings. When the Great
Tribulation begins and the revelation
of Jesus Christ unfolds, errors and
false teachings will be exposed for
what they are. Until then, we have to
search the Scriptures to test every
doctrine. If we can demonstrate from
Scriptures that Jesus Himself claims
to be God (equal with the Father),
the doctrine of an inferior Jesus
promoted by Jehovah’s Witnesses
can be declared baseless.
The following
statement is made on the JW website:
“Jesus never claimed to be God.
Everything he said about himself
indicates that he did not consider
himself equal to God in any way
– not in power, not in
knowledge, not in age.” Let us
see if their statement is true:
“This is what
the Lord [Hebrew: Jehovah] says
– Israel’s King and
Redeemer, the Lord [Hebrew:
Jehovah] Almighty: I am
the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no other
God.” (Isaiah 44:6,
underlining mine) This verse is a
self-declaration by Jehovah that He is
the first and the last. Remember
this declaration as we proceed and
also remember, the integrity of
Scripture cannot be broken.
“When I saw
him [Jesus], I fell at his
feet as though dead. Then he placed
his right hand on men and said:
“Do not be afraid. I
am the First and the Last.
I [Jesus] was dead, and behold
I am alive forever and aver! And I
hold the keys of death and
Hades.” (Revelation 1:17,18,
insertion mine) These two verses
leave no wiggle room. John saw Jesus.
“The First and the Last”
says that he was dead, but is alive
for evermore. Contrary to what JW may
say, we know that John could not see
the Father in these two verses
because no one has ever seen the
Father! (1 Timothy 6:16, John 6:46)
Going back to Isaiah 44:6, Jehovah
declared, “I am the first and
the last, so how can Jesus make
the same claim if Jehovah created
Him? If Jesus was created, that would
make Him second, not first! The only
way to align Isaiah 44:6 with
Revelation 1:17,18 is this: Jesus was
present at the beginning of
everything with the Father! John is
right: “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.”
(John 1:1) In other words, those two
Gods have to be co-eternal. Both are
“the First and the Last.”
I [Jesus] am
the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the
Beginning and the End.
(Revelation 22:13) Keeping “the
First and the Last” declarations
of Jesus in mind, we find that
Revelation 22:13 that Jesus is the
Alpha and the Omega, as well as the
Beginning and the End! There is no
wiggle room left for a created Jesus
who is less in substance than the
Father. Zero! Jesus is Jehovah; Jesus
is the First and the Last. Jesus is
the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus is the
Beginning and the End. Now, consider
the following verses:
“He [Jesus]
said to me: ‘It is done. I [Jesus]
am the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End. To him who is
thirsty I [Jesus] will give to
drink without cost from the spring of
water of life. He who overcomes will
inherit all this, and I [Jesus] will
be his God and he will be my
son.” (Revelation 21:6,7,
insertions mine) We know that
Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and
the End. As you can see, when the JW
teach that “Jesus Himself never
claimed to be God, “ it is a
false premise. This one tiny stone,
found in Revelation 21:7, kills the
entire argument. Jesus calls Himself
God. Jesus is Almighty Jehovah just
like the Father! Further the Father
Himself calls Jesus, “God”
[Greek: Theos: Supreme
Divinity].
“But about the
Son [Jesus] he [the
Father] says, ‘Your throne, O
[Jesus] God, will last for
ever and ever, and righteousness will
be the scepter of your kingdom.
You [Jesus] have loved
righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore [Jesus] God, your
God [your Father], has set you
above your companions by anointing
you with the oil of joy.’ He [the
Father] also says, ‘In the
beginning, O Lord [Jesus], you
[are the God who] laid the
foundations of the earth, and the
heavens are the work of your
hands.’” (Hebrews
1:8-10, insertions mine) The Father
calls Jesus “God” because
Jesus is also Jehovah God. To further
demonstrate the equality, consider
the following verses. Jesus said that
He is to be honored (worshiped) as
the Father is honored (worshiped).
“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.’”(John 5:22,23) If
Jesus were not equal to the Father in
every way, substance, knowledge,
authority, and power, Jesus would be
robbing the Father of the honor that
He is due (which is blasphemy). By
making Himself equal in honor to the
Father, Jesus and the Father must be
one in substance even though they are
separate and distinct Gods! Paul
agrees:
“[Jesus] Who,
being in the very nature God, did not
consider equality with God [the
Father] something to be
grasped…” (Philippians
2:6, insertion mine) How much clearer
can this get? From this short study
we find at a minimum, there are two
equal, co-eternal Gods in Heaven.
(There are three, but this is not a
study on the Holy Spirit.) These Gods
are separate and distinct beings.
They were together in the beginning
and Jesus is the creative Agent. That
is, He is the Creator of everything
that exists!
“For by him [Jesus]
all things were created: things in
heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers
or rulers or authorities; all things
were created by him and for
him.” (Colossians 1:16,
insertion mine)
“But in these
last days he [the Father] has
spoken to us by his Son [Jesus], whom
he appointed heir of all things, and
through whom he made the universe. (Hebrews
1:2, insertions mine)
There is absolutely no
evidence in the Bible that the Father
created Jesus. In fact, there is
no evidence in the Bible indicating
the Father has created anything. John
plainly declares the opposite, ‘Through
him all things were made; without him
nothing was made that has been
made.” (John 1:3) Bottom
line, “nothing has been made
that Jesus did not make” and we
know that Jesus did not create
Himself.
Dear friends, I hope
you have enough information to help
you see that the JW are misleading
people on the deity of Jesus. The
irony with the JW is that Jehovah
they worship is not the Father. The
Jehovah they worship is the One they
deny, Jesus Christ Himself, The Rock
of Ages!
Note: I believe
about 90% of the references to
Jehovah in the Old Testament pertain
to Jesus. Jesus and the Father is
both called Jehovah. For example, in
Psalm 2:7-11, Jehovah (the Father)
speaks to Jehovah (the Son). The
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are
closely united, and so tight in
purpose, plan, and action, that it is
sometimes difficult to precisely
determine which member of the Trinity
is speaking in the Old Testament, but
90% of the time, it is Jesus.
“He is the
Rock, his works are perfect, and all
his ways are just. A faithful God who
does no wrong, upright and just is
he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
“…For
they [Israel] drank of that
spiritual Rock that followed them:
and that Rock was Christ.” (1
Corinthians 10:4, insertion mine)
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