by Mike Hicks
The Full-Orbed Deity of Jesus Christ by Gordon MageeJesus Is the Father
Plain Statements
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called . . .
The everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6).
“He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).Verses to Compare1. Who raised Jesus from the dead?
John 2:19-22 says Jesus; Romans 6:4 says the Father.
2. Who answers prayer?
John 14:14 says Jesus; John 15:16 says the Father.
3. Who has the drawing power?
John 12:32 says Jesus; John 6:44 says the Father.
4. Who is the Alpha and Omega?
Revelation 1:8 says Jesus; Revelation 21:6-7 says the Father.
5. Who is the coming One?
John 14:3 says Jesus; I John 3:1-2 says the Father.
Surely we cannot think that two persons raised Jesus from the dead, that two persons answer prayer, that two persons draw us to God, that two persons are the Alpha and Omega, and that two persons are coming.
Let’s begin by looking at the author’s sub-title “Jesus is the Father”.
Consider that statement for a while and its implications:
Consider that statement for a while and its implications:
• The Father begat the Father
• The Father was born
• The Father had a mom
• The Father was tempted
• The Father didn’t know the day or hour of His return, only the Father did
• The Father died
• The Father raised the Father to life
• The Father sits at the right hand of the Father
• The Father was born
• The Father had a mom
• The Father was tempted
• The Father didn’t know the day or hour of His return, only the Father did
• The Father died
• The Father raised the Father to life
• The Father sits at the right hand of the Father
These are obvious absurdities and it is very unlikely that the author would agree with these statements. Nevertheless these statements are valid if it is true that “Jesus is the Father.” The Bible is clear that Jesus is “the Son of the Father” (2 John 1:3). To say that Jesus is the Father is to make a statement that the Bible never makes and which flatly contradicts and makes nonsense of Scriptures too numerous to cite. Leading Oneness theologian David Bernard makes the same mistake in his book, The Oneness of God:
“If there is only one God and that God is the Father (Malachi 2:10), and if Jesus is God, then it logically follows that Jesus is the Father.”
However, Bernard later explains further:
“Although we do not believe that the Father is the Son, we do believe that the Father is in the Son (John 14:10)” (Italics in original).
If we put this together in a syllogism based on Bernard’s claims then we are left with the following conclusion:
1. Jesus is the Father
2. The Father is not the Son
———————————-
3. Jesus is not the Son
2. The Father is not the Son
———————————-
3. Jesus is not the Son
Or, mathematically:
1. A = B
2. B ≠ C
———————————-
3. A ≠ C
2. B ≠ C
———————————-
3. A ≠ C
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” John 20:31
If your theology leads you to the conclusion that Jesus is not the Son of God, perhaps it is time to re-evaluate your theology.
Let us now move on to the specific Scriptures raised to support the idea that Jesus is the Father.
1. John 2:19-22 – “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.”
The Bible is abundantly clear that God, the Father, raised Jesus from the dead (that is, restored Him to life),
(Acts 2:24, 32, 3:15, 26, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40, 13:30, 33, 34, 37, Rom. 6:4,
1 Cor. 6:14, Gal. 1:1, Col. 2:12),and so we should be careful not to build a doctrine out of one Scripture that may have another meaning. Jesus was a man and died just as other men die. He was not alive somewhere as a “disembodied soul” just waiting to come back into His body; he was dead. The immortality of the soul is a false doctrine that comes from Plato, not the Bible. This being the case, it is important to note that Jesus, in saying that he would raise up his body, was not saying that he would restore life to himself, but simply that he would rise again or raise himself up off of his burial stone. It would be similar to a believer testifying “when Jesus returns I will raise this body up out the ground.” The statement does not necessarily imply that I am the cause of my life being restored, but rather that I will in fact lift my body out of the grave.
(Acts 2:24, 32, 3:15, 26, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40, 13:30, 33, 34, 37, Rom. 6:4,
1 Cor. 6:14, Gal. 1:1, Col. 2:12),and so we should be careful not to build a doctrine out of one Scripture that may have another meaning. Jesus was a man and died just as other men die. He was not alive somewhere as a “disembodied soul” just waiting to come back into His body; he was dead. The immortality of the soul is a false doctrine that comes from Plato, not the Bible. This being the case, it is important to note that Jesus, in saying that he would raise up his body, was not saying that he would restore life to himself, but simply that he would rise again or raise himself up off of his burial stone. It would be similar to a believer testifying “when Jesus returns I will raise this body up out the ground.” The statement does not necessarily imply that I am the cause of my life being restored, but rather that I will in fact lift my body out of the grave.
2. John 14:14 – “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
First of all, this Scripture (from the King James translation) does not say that disciples are to pray to Jesus. It does not tell us who it is that we are asking; however it is implied in the context that we are asking the Father in the name or authority of Jesus. Different translations are varied in whether or not they add the word “me” after the word “ask”, as both textual variants exist. However, when comparing this verse with John 15:16 and 16:23 it appears that the KJV rendering is the correct one.
Secondly, we are told in 1 John 1:3 that “our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son
Jesus Christ.” Fellowship includes conversation. As Christ is the head of the body, the church
(Eph. 5:23), it only stands to reason that the body of Christ would communicate with its head. There is a word for a body that does not communicate with its head: paralysis.
Jesus Christ.” Fellowship includes conversation. As Christ is the head of the body, the church
(Eph. 5:23), it only stands to reason that the body of Christ would communicate with its head. There is a word for a body that does not communicate with its head: paralysis.
We can see a parallel of the relationship between God and Christ in the relationship of Pharaoh and Joseph:
“Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt…And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.” – Gen. 41:40-44, 55
God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ, and so it is appropriate to communicate with him through prayer as well as to the Father.
3. John 12:32 – “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
The argument that Jesus is the Father because the Bible ascribes “drawing power” to both he and his Father is strained. Is it not true that as ambassadors of Christ our job as Christians is to draw men to Jesus? If Jesus does it all by himself then what need is there to preach to the lost? In John 6:44-45, Jesus was rebuking the Jews for their lack of insight into the Scriptures, which were given by the Father to the prophets, which plainly spoke of him. Does the fact that the prophets actually penned the words that God gave them to write detract from the fact that it was God who was drawing them to believe in Jesus? Would it be wrong to say that the prophets were attempting to draw men to God by preaching His word to the people? Of course not.
4. Revelation 1:8 – “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
Just because many red-letter Bibles put this passage in red and thereby define the speaker as Jesus does not necessarily make it so. Nowhere in Scripture is Jesus ever referred to as the Almighty and it is clear that although he has been given “all power in heaven and in earth”
he is still, nevertheless, subordinate to his God and Father (1 Cor. 15:27, Rev. 3:12).
he is still, nevertheless, subordinate to his God and Father (1 Cor. 15:27, Rev. 3:12).
... God’s representatives, be they human or angelic, can bear the titles of God and even be called “god” as they speak for Him. ...
5. 1 John 3:1-2 – “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
The author says, “Surely we cannot think that two persons…are coming.” We have already proven from the Scriptures that Jesus and His Father are in fact two [beings]. Jesus is the Son of God the Father. The question is whether or not these two [beings], God and Christ, Father and Son, are both coming to the earth at some point.
Genesis 3:8 describes God “walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Whether this is a metaphor for God’s invisible presence ... the fact remains that God, who is omnipresent, was present with Adam and Eve before their sin in a way that He has never been with man since.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” – Revelation 21:1-4
When sin has been completely done away with, the Bible says that God will once again dwell with man on the earth. While we may not know specifically what that means and how exactly it will play out, it seems safe to assume that our relationship with God will be restored to the point where He will be present with us in the same way that He was present with Adam and Eve.
Jesus will return physically to the earth to establish the Kingdom of God, where He will reign for 1000 years. Following that, “when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” – 1 Cor. 15:28.
The Oneness assertion that “Jesus is the Father” steps far outside of Biblical language and logic. In attempting to disprove the doctrine of the Trinity, which is also false, they prove too much.
