Bible

[Paule]

Is Jesus Yahweh, the Almighty God?
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There are many views on this issue. Some teach that there is picking order of the Godhead.
1.) God the Father
2.) God the Son (Jesus)
3.) God the Holy Spirit
Each one is separated and each has certain jobs and responsibilities. 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 and others.

Another teaching is like this:
1.) God the Father
2.) The Son (Jesus) is a “god”. A created being made by the Father to do His purpose or will.
3.) God the Holy Spirit
This view is common to the JW’s. Any body that has to rewrite the whole Bible to get their point across has a BIG problem.

There are texts in the Bible that could answer their question both ways, Yes and No, depending on a point of view you want to look at. Jesus tells his disciples that no one can come to the Father, except through me. Studying the Trinity (Godhead) requires a lifetime plus some. There are soooo much that in the Bible that our little minds want understand completely or even grasp and this topic is one of them. There are scripture that proves both sides of the issue. Depending on which view point you are trying to stress out. I do believe that something happen when Jesus became human and lived on the earth, but He (Jesus) was still God, because people to worship him and God (Yahweh) does not allow anyone or anything to be worship. Revelation 22:8-9. 19:10, Hebrews 12:28, Luke 4:8.

There are scripture that say the other side of the coin. Does that mean that there is an error in the Bible. "NO" It show us that understanding God Almighty, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit and how everything fix together is beyond out minds. We have not even touched the tip of the iceberg, what the Bible has in it. To me Preterism or Transmill or whatever you want to call it goes beyond out minds. To see God's plan unfold from beginning of time (Genesis) to (Revelation) AD 70 and see how faithful he really is throughout our lives today, words can not express.

Let’s start by looking at some words in Greek and in Hebrew. I will be using the Goodrick/Kohlenberger and Strongs Concordance. I am NO scholar in words and there meaning, but I will do my best.

God

The word “God” in the Greek is “Theos” # 2536 Goodrick/Kohlenberger and #2311 Strongs. The meaning I got is this: “The Triune God, corresponding to the Hebrew title “elohiym” and the name known as the Tetragrammaton “Yahweh”. Regarding the doctrine of God, or theology proper, biblical Christian faith teaches that there is only one true God, namely the God revealed in the Holy Scriptures (Jeremiah 10:10, Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Thessalonians 1:9). He alone is the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of the universe, and is the sole proper object of all worship (Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8). The Scriptures reveal that God is a spirit (John 4:24, 1 Timothy 1:17) possessing true personality and having all His attributes in perfection and completion (Matthew 5:48). Furthermore, the Scripture reveal that the one God exists in three person: Father, Son, Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17, John 10:30, 2 Corinthians 13:14). Finally, the doctrine of the Trinity, though clearly revealed in Scripture and essential to saving faith and orthodox doctrine, is a profound mystery. It is sacred truth founded upon special revelation and not human reason. It is therefore to be cherished, studied and defended by all saints. Because of it inscrutable nature, men are tempted either to neglect or disparage this doctrine or to subject in to vain speculation...”

God is used 3969 times in the NIV Bible. The Hebrew word “elohiym” is used throughout the Old Testament except for the following text: Malachi 1:9, 2:10. In these verses the word “El” is used, which means “God, mighty one” The word “El” appears in the Old Testament as proper names, such as Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14).

Let’s start with John 1:1 “...and the Word was with God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) ....and the Word was God”. (Greek-Theos, hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)

John 5:18 “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) his own Father making himself equal with God.” (Greek-Theos, hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)

John 20:28 Thomas tells Jesus “My Lord and my God.” (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)

The Father is God (Yahweh), the Son is God (Yahweh), and the Holy Spirit is God (Yahweh)

If you look at the Bible, it tells us that there is ONE God not three. At the same time it tell us about the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Also in the Bible that each of them had a part in a plan from the Creation (Genesis) to the New Heaven and Earth (Revelation (70 AD)) and even today. God would not be God without the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit. It takes all three to become one. This is hard to really comprehend. Here are some examples of being “ONE”:

When a man and a woman are join together through marriage, they become one. Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:8, Matthew 19:5, Ephesians 5:31

Jesus says the same thing to the Father, "...I pray that them (the disciples) be one like we are one..." John 10:30, 11:52, 17:21-22.

1 John 5:7-8 “ For there are three that testify in Heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord (Yahweh) our God, the Lord (Yahweh) is one.

To fully understand being “one” is something we will never really grasp. We may have ideas on what it means, but to comprehend completely, I don’t think so. Understanding PERFECT UNITY, PERFECT LOVE, and PERFECT everything is beyond man. It is next to impossible trying to separate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three of them work together in PERFECT UNITY for a common purpose.


LORD

Now let’s look at the usage of the word “Lord”. In the Greek is “kyrios” # 3261 Goodrick/Kohlenberger and #2951 Strongs. The Hebrew meaning is “Yahweh” the Lord. “The covenant name of God, most prominently known in connection with His relationship with the nation of Israel. It was never pronounced by the Jews, who generally substituted a synonym such as “donay”, sovereign, the Lord.” This Hebrew word is used around 6551 times in the Old Testament in the NIV. I am not going to quote all, but here are a few that will make a point or two.

In the Greek the meaning is “might, power. Lord, master, owner. Is spoken of God and Christ. Of God as supreme lord and Sovereign of the universe, usually corresponding to Jehovah (Matthew 1:22, 5:33, Mark 5:19, and others) . The same word is used with a lower case “L” , which denotes master of a household or a title: example “lord” is used in England, and what Sarah called Abraham. (Genesis 18:12, 1 Peter 3:6. KJV uses “lord” while the NIV uses the word “master”)

Psalm 23:1: “The Lord (Yahweh) is my shepherd...” and John 10:11, Jesus says “I am the good shepherd...”.

How could Jesus say that statement, because in Mark 10:18 Jesus says, “...Why do you call me good? No one is good, except God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) alone.”

Jeremiah 23:5-6 “”The days are coming,” declares the Lord(Yahweh), “when I will raise up to David a righteous Brnach a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord (Yahweh) Our Righteousness.””

1 Kings 18:39b “....the Lord (Yahweh) – he is God! The Lord (Yahweh) – he is God.” (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) name by which He will be called: The Lord (Yahweh) our righteousness.”

Isaiah 45:5 “I am the Lord (Yahweh) , and there is on other; apart from me there is no God.


Isaiah 29:5-6 “But your many enemies will become like fire dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in a instant, the Lord (Yahweh) Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.” (70 AD)

Isaiah 40:3“The voice of him that crieth in the wideness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Yahweh), make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)

Mark 1:1-3 “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—“a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord make straight paths for him.’ “

John 1:23 “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ “

Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord (Yahweh) comes.”

Joel 2:31 “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Yahweh)” (Matthew 24:29, Acts 2:20, 70 AD)

What is this telling us? Who was coming? What “day” is the text talking about? 70 AD to all.

Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the Lord (Yahweh) your God is God of gods and Lord (Hebrew word: "Adom", meaning: The usual intensive plural may refer to the plural of majesty of God. Owner, ruler, master.) of lords, the great God, Mighty and awesome who shows on partiality and accepts no brides.

Isaiah 43:3 “For I am the Lord (Yahweh), your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”


Psalm 38:22 “Come quickly to help me, O Lord (Yahweh) my Savior.

I was always taught that Jesus was our only Savior.

1 John 4:14 “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.”

2 Timothy 1:10 “but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus,....”

Jude 1:25 “to the only God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages now and forevermore! Amen.”

Please notice that in Genesis 1:1 it states, “....God (Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) created the heavens and earth”, but in Job 28:1,4 states: verse 1) “The Lord (Yahweh) answered Job out of the storm. He said:” verse 4 “Where were you (Job) when I laid the earth’s foundation?...” So when someone asks you who made the “world” , you can answered the “Lord (Yahweh) God Almighty. It ties in very well. The pronouns like “let us make man in our image”
fits very well with 1 John 5:7-8

Beginning

What does the word “beginning” mean as in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning...”, John 1:1 “In the beginning...” and 1 John 1:1 “...was from the beginning...”

The Greek word for “beginning” in both New Testament texts is “arche”, which means: “beginning, ruler. Christ is called the beginning, because He is the efficient cause of the creation. Rule, authority, dominion, power, position of authority (Luke 20:20, 1 Corinthians 15:24, Titus 3:1). High ranking spiritual being (Romans 8:38, Ephesians 1:21)” In Genesis, the Hebrew word is “Resiyt”, which means: The first as to place, time, order, or rank. Used to signify the beginning of a fix period of time. (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 11:12)


If Jesus is not “Yahweh”, how could He say:

Revelation 22:12-13, “Behold, I am coming soon!...I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was , and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Tell me, who is “the Almighty” and “...who is to come.” What event happen at 70 AD? In Revelation 1:7, who came in 70 AD? Verse 8 has the answer. Who is coming in Revelation 22:12? Look at verse 13 has the answer. The answer to both questions is in verse 16 and 20. Jesus (Yahweh) !!

Isaiah 44:6 “This is what the Lord (Yahweh) says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord (Yahweh) Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is not God.


Who raised Jesus from the dead?

God----Romans 10:9 “...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Jesus----John 2:19 “Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple (Jesus’ body), and three days I (first person) will raise it up.”

I’ll say it again the Father, Son, Holy Spirit is “Yahweh”. We don’t know all the answers or all the ends and outs. We will not be able to understand completely the complexity of the Trinity.

Who is the Rock?

II Samuel 22:2 “And he said, The Lord Yahweh) is my Rock, and my fortress, and my deliver;”

1 Corinthians 10:4 “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock is Christ.”


Who is the true God?

Jeremiah 10:10 “But the Lord (Yahweh) is the true God, he is the living God and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.”

1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Notice that there some names that we do not associate with Jesus, like “Mighty God and Everlasting Father.” Who was He talking about?? In both cases “Jesus”. The Father, Son Holy Spirit is and always will be “Yahweh” !!!

Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.”

There was a discussion on this subject that got started on Ward Fenley’s Bulletin Board recently, a question was asked, “ If you don’t believe that Jesus is Yahweh, will that effect your salvation?” As I stated above YES. I must first state that this person believes that Jesus is the Son of God, but not “is God”. I quoted the following verse:

1 John 2:23 “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” NIV

1 John 2:23 “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” KJV

To translate it into English, If you deny the Son being God you also deny the Father being God, if you acknowledge the Son being God you also acknowledge the Father being God. The foundation of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ and who he is.

If you say that the Father is God, Jesus is "just" the Son of God, the Holy Spirit is God and believe that there is only one God, there seems to be a problem and yes it does effect your salvation. As I stated in this article there are verses that can prove both sides of the issue, but look at the WHOLE picture. If it was just one verse that said, Jesus is God (Yahweh), which there are many, which I have only pointed out only a few, the issue is closed.

Why did Jesus let people worship him, when the law said, “ Thou shall not have any other gods before me” .

As we notice, that the Bible is consistent in everyway. It is man that makes it inconsistent. I would like to think Ward Fenely that inspired me to write this, but most of all the Lord God, Almighty that put this in my heart and the words to write. . I welcome your comments and questions. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but this may help you in you studies.


In His Service,

Richard K. McPherson
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