Jesus – The Alpha &
Omega Book Introduction
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Jesus is God just like
the Father
The idea that
Jesus is equal in every way to God
the Father may be hard to grasp at
first, but it is true. Jesus has all
the power, authority and glory the
Father does. Jesus is not a lesser
God. Somehow the title "Son of
God" seems to make Jesus a
lesser God in some people’s
minds, but this is not the case. I
will explain later how the title "Son
of God" refers to the state of
submission that Jesus entered to save
man. Jesus has existed forever. He
was not created.
Just like the
Father and Holy Spirit, Jesus is an
eternal member of the Godhead. Jesus
is as worthy of honor and worship as
is the Father! (John 5:23) Paul
wrote, "For in Christ all
the fullness of the Deity lives in
bodily form . . . who is the head
over every power and authority." (Colossians
2:9,10) In
Revelation Jesus said to John, "I
am the Alpha and the Omega, says the
Lord God, who is, and who was, and
who is to come, the Almighty."(Revelation
1:8)
Remember,
this same John wrote, "In
the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the
beginning. Through him all things
were made; without him nothing was
made that has been made." (John 1:1-3)
Peter
wrote, "He [Jesus] was
chosen [as the one who could die
for man] before the creation of
the world, but was revealed in these
last times for your sake." (1 Peter 1:20, insertions
mine.)
In the Old
Testament, Isaiah quotes Jesus
saying, "Listen to me, O
Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I
am he; I am the first and I am the
last. My own hand laid the
foundations of the earth, and my
right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them, they all stand up
together . . . This is what the Lord
says – your Redeemer, the Holy
One of Israel: I am the Lord your
God, who teaches you what is best for
you, who directs you in the way you
should go." (Isaiah 48:12,13, 16,17)
Near the end
of Job’s suffering and distress,
Jesus revealed just how little Job
and his friends knew about His
purposes. Jesus said, "Where
were you when I laid the earth’s
foundation? Tell me, if you
understand. Who marked off its
dimensions? Surely you know! Who
stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who
laid its cornerstone – while the
morning stars sang together and all
the angels shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7)
For some
readers it may be hard to grasp that
it was actually Jesus who said to
Abraham, ". . . I am God
Almighty; walk before me and be
blameless." (Genesis 17:1) When the
Jews argued with Jesus about His
claim that He was greater than
Abraham, Jesus responded, "Your
father Abraham rejoiced at the
thought of seeing my day; he saw it[in
vision] and was glad." [The
Jews sneered,] "You are not
yet fifty years old . . . and you
have seen Abraham! ‘I tell you
the truth,’ Jesus answered,
‘before Abraham was born, I
am!’ " (John 8:56-58, insertion
mine.)
One last
point. Old Testament writers were
well acquainted with Jesus even
though they did not know Him by the
name "Jesus." The writer of
Hebrews stated that "He [Moses]regarded
disgrace for the sake of Christ as of
greater value than the treasures of
Egypt, because he was looking ahead
to his reward." (Hebrews 11:26, insertion
mine.)
How did Moses
know Christ before Christ was born?
John knew that Jesus had revealed His
glory to Isaiah 700 years before
Jesus was born. John wrote, "Isaiah
said this because he saw Jesus’
glory and spoke about him." (John 12:41)
How did
Isaiah know about Jesus before He was
born? When Jesus was upon Earth,
notice what He said about Himself by
repeating Isaiah’s words: "He
[Jesus] replied, ‘Isaiah was
right when he prophesied about you
hypocrites; as it is written:
"‘These people honor me
with their lips, but their hearts are
far from me. They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught
by men.’ You have let go of the
commands of God and are holding on to
the traditions of men." (Mark 7:6-8, insertion
mine.) When Jesus began to select His
disciples, Philip excitedly ran to
Nathaniel and said, ". . .
We have found the one Moses wrote
about in the Law, and about whom the
prophets also wrote – Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (John 1:45)
What do these
verses confirm? Jesus lived in Heaven
before He was born to Mary.
Obviously, He did not go by the name
Jesus before His birth, but all the
Old Testament prophets knew Him as
God Almighty or Jehovah God. (Exodus 6:3) Enoch, Job,
Noah, Abraham and Moses even talked
with Him. Jesus is fully God and the
creative agent of the Godhead. Jesus
does so much! He is so much!
Mary Told to Call Him Jesus
Here is a
point to consider. The angel
instructed Mary to call her child by
the name "Jesus." (Matthew 1:21) In other
words, Mary and Joseph could not
choose the name of the Messiah. It is
my opinion that the loss of this
privilege gently imposed
Heaven’s higher ownership of
this baby boy. In ancient times, the
mother usually had the privilege of
naming her offspring at birth. (Genesis
29:32-35; 30:6-13; 1 Samuel 4:21)
This
privilege was suspended for both
Elizabeth and Mary (mothers of John
the Baptist and Jesus) because these
sons were not to be under the
dominion of their respective mothers.
Like the prophet Jeremiah, the Holy
Spirit set them apart from birth. (Luke 1:15,35; Jeremiah 1:5)
The Bible is
very clear that Jesus lived in Heaven
before He created the world. Jesus
was not called by His earthly name
though, until He was born to Mary. It
makes sense then that we do not find
Jesus called by His earthly name in
the Old Testament. Remember, more
than 90% of the references to God in
the Old Testament are references to
the person we now call Jesus! For
example, in Gethsemane Jesus prayed
to the Father saying: "And
now, Father, glorify me in your
presence with the glory I had with
you before the world began."(John 17:5)
Clearly,
Jesus shared glory with the Father
before the world was created. On
another occasion, Jesus revealed
where He had come from: "For
I have come down from heaven not to
do my will but to do the will of him
who sent me. And this is the will of
him who sent me, that I shall lose
none of all that he has given me, but
raise them up at the last day." (John 6:38,39)
On more than
one occasion, Jesus told the
Pharisees that the Old Testament
specifically focused on Him: "And
the Father who sent me has himself
testified concerning me.[The Father
spoke at the baptism of Jesus saying,
‘This is my Son . .
.’] You have never heard
his voice nor seen his form, nor does
his word dwell in you, for you do not
believe the one he sent. You
diligently study the Scriptures
because you think that by[knowing] them
you possess eternal life. [But] These
are the Scriptures that testify about
me, yet you refuse to come to me to
have life." (John 5:37-40, insertions
mine.)
Remember, the
"Scriptures" at the time of
Jesus were the books we now call the
Old Testament. (Luke 24:27) Jesus’
remarks confirm that the Old
Testament is a testimony about
Himself.
Progressive Revelation
The truth
about Jesus is continually unfolding.
In fact, the last book in the Bible
is appropriately called "The
Revelation of Jesus Christ"
because it describes how Jesus
will be fully revealed to the world
at the end of time.
Our knowledge
about Jesus is based on progressive
revelation. In other words, the
revealing of all that Jesus is –
has been progressively unfolding over
thousands of years. Early prophets
did not know as much about Jesus as
people who came later. Each
succeeding prophet stood on the
shoulders of the earlier prophet,
providing a more complete picture of
Jesus and His work.
Notice one
instance of this progression in the
Bible: "God [Jesus] also
said to Moses, ‘I am the Lord [Jehovah]. I
appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to
Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai],
but by my name the Lord [Jehovah] I
did not make myself known to
them.’ "(Exodus 6:2-3, insertions
mine.) This text presents a bit of a
problem because Abraham and Jacob
knew about God’s Hebrew
name Jehovah.
Notice these
two texts: "And he [Jehovah] said
unto him [Abraham], I am the
Lord[Jehovah] that brought thee
out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give
thee this land to inherit it." (Genesis 15:7,
KJV, insertions mine.)
Later, God
spoke to Jacob in a vision as he was
fleeing from his brother Esau: "And,
behold, the Lord [Jehovah] stood
above it [the ladder reaching to
Earth], and said, I am the Lord
[Jehovah] God of Abraham thy father,
and the God of Isaac: the land
whereon thou liest, to thee will I
give it, and to thy seed . . ." (Genesis 28:13, insertions
mine.) These two texts, as well
as Genesis 22:14, indicate
that Abraham and Jacob knew of the
name Jehovah.
So, what did
Jesus mean when He said to
Moses, "by my name the Lord [Jehovah] I
did not make myself known to
them."
I understand
Jesus to mean that Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob did not understand the meaningof
His name Jehovah. In ancient times,
Hebrew names were carefully selected
to describe character, emotions, or
an event at the time of birth. In
this sense, although Abraham and
Jacob knew the title
"Jehovah," they could not
understand that the awesome meaning of
the name would not be revealed until
the time of the Exodus.
At the time
of the Exodus, Jehovah (Jesus)
performed a series of astonishing
miracles. These miracles established
the Hebrews as a nation under His
sovereign leadership. Jehovah sent
Moses and Aaron to speak to Pharaoh.
Jehovah sent ten plagues on Egypt.
Jehovah "passed over" Egypt
at midnight and killed all the
firstborn of Egypt, both man and
beast. Jehovah destroyed Pharaoh and
his army in the Red Sea.
At this time,
the Deliverer of Israel began to
identify Himself with the Hebrew
name Jehovah.Jesus did
this so that all nations would know
the King of the Jews was Jehovah God.
About 1,400 years later, Jehovah was
born to Mary and He died on the cross
with this title written above His
head: "The King of the
Jews." (John 19:19-21)
Sacred Name
Some
Christians today insist that
Jesus must be called by a Hebrew name
such as "Yashua,"
"Yehoshua,"
"Jehovah,"
"Yahweh," etc. I find these
claims to have no merit. From secular
history and Bible history, we know
that the name "Jesus" was a
common Jewish name used at the time
of Christ’s birth. (Acts 13:6; Colossians
4:11)
If it is
inappropriate to call Jesus by His
given name, why was Mary required to
give her son the name
"Jesus?" The basis for
insisting on one sacred name for
Jesus stems from Jewish superstition.
The Jewish people became so
superstitious about God that they
refused to speak or even write the
names "Yahweh" and
"Jehovah." Actually, one
name is no more sacred than any other
title or name which God uses. It is
God Himself who makes a name and
title holy, not a specific name that
makes Him holy.
Regardless of
the name or title you may find in the
Bible to identify Jesus, we should
never use any of His names or titles
carelessly. (Exodus 20:7). One of the
highest and most exalted titles given
in the Bible for God is
"Father" and Jesus
instructs us to address the Ruler of
the Universe with the endearing
title, "Our Father." (Matthew 6:9)
Furthermore, because
"Father" is an exalted
title for God, Jesus forbids anyone
from calling a clergyman,
"Father." (Matthew 23:9)
So, Who is Jesus?
Jesus
is all of the
following:
Jesus said to
His disciples, "Do not
let your hearts be troubled. Trust in
God; trust also in me. In my
Father’s house are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told
you. I am going there to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come
back and take you to be with me that
you also may be where I am. You know
the way to the place where I am
going." (John 14:1-4)
Do you think
our trust in the Father should be any
different from our trust in Jesus?
