Chapter 2

Creation Declares The Deity Of Messiah

Let's turn our attention to Hebrews 1:8-10. " But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands." Let us remember the words of Is.48:13, the last verse we quoted at the end of chapter 1. " Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens." The words of Heb.1:10 says that the foundations of the earth were laid by Jesus and the heavens are the works of His hands. This by declaration of the Father Himself. Yet in Is.48:13, Jehovah that it was He Himself whose hand created.

Col.1:16 says concerning Jesus, " For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." There are several things to notice about this verse. First of all, the message of this verse is so obvious that the Watchtower Society has taken it upon themselves to add the word "other" to the text. This way it reads that "all other things were created by Him". They add the word "other" because they believe that Jesus Himself was not God but rather a created being that God used to create everything else. Text tampering is not permissible and is done only to conform revelation to one's own reason. Furthermore, the text says that not only were all things created by Him, but also "for Him". He did not create for another, He created for Himself. To this agree the words of the apostle John who wrote in Rev. 4:11, " Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." I might add, adding the word "other" to the text of scripture is not necessarily the wisest thing to do in trying to disprove the Messiah's Deity. For if one does that, how are we to interpret Acts 4:12 where the scriptures read, " Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." In this verse the word "other" has not been added to the text. It is in the original. Are we, then, to understand that only in Jesus alone is salvation even to the exclusion of the Father? That there is no other name, other than Jesus, whereby one can be saved to include the name of Yahweh? Does not Yahweh Himself say that other than He Himself there is no Saviour? See Is.45:21-22. So adding the word "other" in Col.1:16 only creates a problem for them somewhere else.

Consider also the words of the prophet Isaiah who wrote in Is.44:24, " Thus saith the LORD (YHWH), thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;" We notice from this verse that Jehovah created ALL things and He did it all ALONE and BY HIMSELF. He did not create someone else to do it for Him. See also Is.45:18.

The apostle John writes in Jn.1:1-3, " 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. ALL things were made by him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." The Word is further identified in verse 14 of the same chapter, " And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." We'll look at this verse again in the next chapter. Jn.1:1 says " The Word was God." Again, the statement being made is so clear that some have resorted to text tampering here also. For example, the New World Translation says, " The Word was 'A' god." To justify this they say that the word God, is not proceeded by the definite article ( i.e. the word 'the' ) in the greek text. This is true but the indefinite article ( i.e. 'A' ) is not in the greek text either. So the indefinite article was ADDED to make it more in keeping with a preconceived idea about the nature and person of Jesus. But in order to be consistent with the explanation given for the text tampering done in the New World Translation the following verses should have been dealt with in the same manner. For example, Jn.1:6, " There was a man sent from A god." Vs.12, "...to them he gave authority to become 'A' god's children." Vs.13, " And they were born...from 'A' god." This clearly would not make any sense. But there is no definite article preceding any of these uses of the word God in the greek text. So why treat verse one any different? It certainly exposes a bias against the Deity of Jesus. I also do not believe John the apostle, who was a Jew, and probably somehow aquatinted with Caiaphas the high priest ( Jn.18:15 ), and was monotheistic in the strictest sense of the word with regards to his faith in the God of Israel, would have even considered writing " a god " in his gospel. For to him there could be only one God, the God of Israel.

Second, to say Jesus was 'a' god ( note the small 'g' ) goes against the clear teaching of scripture. Note, for example, the clear statements of God in Is.43:10, Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: BEFORE ME THERE WAS NO GOD FORMED, NEITHER SHALL THERE BE AFTER ME." This statement is either true or it's not. Is.44:8 God says, " ...Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God: I know not any." Is.45:6, " I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me." Note especially Deut.32:39, " See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me..." John wrote, " The Word was with God." Now if the Word was "a god" there is a contradiction between Deuteronomy and John, one saying there is no God with God and the other saying there is and has been since the "beginning" which would surely predate Deut.32:39. Furthermore, in Mt.1:23 the Bible says concerning the Messiah that His name should be called Emmanuel, which in the greek says, "With us [is] the God." Here the definite article is used. So we did not see the incarnation of a god, but the God.

To use Jn.10:34 which says, " Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" to justify the 'a god' translation of Jn.1:1, or even as others who try to deify man, totally misses the mark. This verse plainly says, " Is it not written in your law...?" Therefore we should turn to the law or the Torah to find the meaning behind Jesus' words. But first let's look up the reference itself in Ps.82:6; " I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." The word "gods" in this verse is translated from the Hebrew word "Elohim". Though it is true that Elohim refers to God most of the time, there are other usage’s for the word in scripture. The context of the word "gods" in Psalm 82 is that of the judges that God had appointed over Israel. Read all of Ps.82 and you will see that God is rebuking His appointed judges for being unjust. Note especially vs. 2; " How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?"

Remember now, Jesus spoke of it being written in the law. When we turn to Ex.21:6; 22:8-9, 28, which is in that portion of the Old Testament scriptures called the law, or Torah, the word "Elohim" is the word translated "Judges". Other usage’s of the word Elohim are found in I Kings 11:5,33 where twice it is translated "goddess" referring to Ashtoreth, " 'Elohim' of the Zidonians." Even the Watch Tower Society recognized this. It is also translated "angels" in Ps.8:5; " For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels (Elohim). The New World Trans. renders it "godlike ones". But Hebrews 2:7 confirms the accuracy of the word, "Angels", " Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ( Gr- aggelos - angel )...". Again, the New World trans. recognized this and used the word "angels" in Heb.2:7.

There is also the usage of the word Elohim being applied to Moses. " And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh..." - Ex.7:1. Was Moses, therefore, a god in the sense of being divine? Notice several things about this verse. First, God said, "I have made thee". So Moses' position was one of divine appointment, not divine nature. Second, it was restricted in its application; " To Pharaoh ". This was a special relationship that God had established between Moses and Pharaoh. Third, let's cross reference this verse with Ex.4:16. "...And he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God." In the same way that Aaron was to be a spokesman for Moses, so Moses was to act on behalf of God, but only at the direction of God. In this office he was appointed to be a god to Pharaoh. But Moses himself was still only a man. The gods and goddesses of this world are such only in the eyes of their followers. In reality they are either mere human beings like any one else, or they do not exist at all. As Paul writes, " For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, ( as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." - I Co.8:5-6.

Another example of someone addressed as a god is Satan. II Co.4:4, " In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not..." Satan is a god to this world but is not deity. He is a created being, a Cherub, who fell from his place through sin. This means Jesus was his Creator and therefore Satan is subject unto Him. Satan is no true god by nature.

Continuing on with the passage of scripture in Jn.1:1-3, the Bible plainly attributes the creation to Jesus, the Word, the Creator. Vs.3, " All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." Many religious founders and leaders have come and gone. One of the things that separates Jesus from these and makes Him truly unique is the fact that He is the creator. This also distinguishes faith in Jesus from all the religions in the world for the Creator of the heavens and the earth is the founder of the faith outlined in the New Covenant. It is not a matter of sincerity, zeal, conviction etc, it is a matter of " Thus saith the LORD..." and that is revelation, and it is not open for discussion.

Declared To Be God In His Incarnation

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