The God of Jesus by Brother Kel
Jesus was a Jew born under the Law.1 The grace of God was upon him and he grew in wisdom and grew in favor with God.2 As a Jew under the Mosaic Law, Jesus was required to observe the Law and keep that covenant just like any other Israelite.3 Jesus later declared that he considered the Shema to be the foremost commandment of the Law,4 “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might.”5 We also know that Jesus interpreted the words from the Shema, “the LORD is one” to mean the LORD is one single “He”6 and nobody else, "He is God and there is no other but Him."7 But he did not need to explicitly state this to us, as he did, since we also know that he obeyed the Shema commandment by recognizing only one person as his God and that one single "He" was his Father alone and nobody else.
It should also be obvious that Jesus also walked in truth so we can be sure he did not obey this commandment in one way while secretly and deceitfully interpreting those words to mean something else. The Shema says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord OUR God, the LORD is one.” The Shema commandment referred to the God of all Israel, every single Israelite; and Jesus was one of those Israelites. Since Jesus was an Israelite under the Law, his God was necessarily identical to the God of every other Israelite; his God was also "OUR God," the exact same God as the rest of his Israelite brethren since the Shema says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Hence, since Jesus of Nazareth's God was nobody else but his Father, we can be absolutely certain that Jesus interpreted the Shema to mean his Father alone, and nobody else, was the one God of all Israel, the God of every single Israelite including he himself. It is for that reason that Jesus interpreted and obeyed the Shema commandment in a unitarian manner just as every other Israelite did. His testimony concerning the Shema demonstrates to us precisely what those words mean.
The Scriptures also show us that the Father of Jesus and the Father of Israel were the one and same Father8 and the Jews believed that their God was their Father.9 Jesus also testified they were quite correct concerning the identity of their God when concerning the worship of the Father in Jerusalem, saying, "we worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews."10 He did not believe his Jewish brethren were ignorant about who they were really worshiping. His God was one single person, his Father, and since Jesus of Nazareth's God was necessarily identical to the God of Israel in order to obey the Shema commandment along with his Israelite brothers, we can be absolutely certain that Israel's God was only the Father just as the God of the Israelite Jesus was only the Father. "He is one and there is no other but Him." The one true God of Israel was Jesus of Nazareth's Father who gave Israel the Shema commandment, the commandment which Jesus himself obeyed by loving only his Father with all his heart, all his soul, all his might.
It is quite impossible to say Jesus obeyed the Shema commandment unless his God was identical to the God of every other Israelite. If Jesus' God was not a three-person-being, and Israel's God was a three-person-being, Jesus the Israelite could not have recognized the God of the Shema as "OUR God" and could not have obeyed this commandment. If we suppose, for the sake of argument, that a three-person-God actually existed, and this Triune being was the God of Israel, Jesus would have been required to refer to "his God" versus "their God" since his God was not a Triune being and since his God, the Father, is not a Triune being. A one-person-God and a three-person-God are not the same God. The Israelite Jesus would have been recognizing a different God than every other Israelite.
The Scriptures also show us that the Father of Jesus and the Father of Israel were the one and same Father8 and the Jews believed that their God was their Father.9 Jesus also testified they were quite correct concerning the identity of their God when concerning the worship of the Father in Jerusalem, saying, "we worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews."10 He did not believe his Jewish brethren were ignorant about who they were really worshiping. His God was one single person, his Father, and since Jesus of Nazareth's God was necessarily identical to the God of Israel in order to obey the Shema commandment along with his Israelite brothers, we can be absolutely certain that Israel's God was only the Father just as the God of the Israelite Jesus was only the Father. "He is one and there is no other but Him." The one true God of Israel was Jesus of Nazareth's Father who gave Israel the Shema commandment, the commandment which Jesus himself obeyed by loving only his Father with all his heart, all his soul, all his might.
It is quite impossible to say Jesus obeyed the Shema commandment unless his God was identical to the God of every other Israelite. If Jesus' God was not a three-person-being, and Israel's God was a three-person-being, Jesus the Israelite could not have recognized the God of the Shema as "OUR God" and could not have obeyed this commandment. If we suppose, for the sake of argument, that a three-person-God actually existed, and this Triune being was the God of Israel, Jesus would have been required to refer to "his God" versus "their God" since his God was not a Triune being and since his God, the Father, is not a Triune being. A one-person-God and a three-person-God are not the same God. The Israelite Jesus would have been recognizing a different God than every other Israelite.
But there was only one true God for Israelites, and as an Israelite among Israelites, he was required by the Law to recognize and serve the exact same God as every other Israelite. For this reason, we can be absolutely certain that his God, and the God of all Israel, was not a three-person-being. Therefore, the testimony of Jesus himself demonstrates to us beyond any doubt whatsoever that the one true God, the God of Israel, was his Father alone, the only person Jesus recognized and served as his God and "OUR God," the God of Israel. It is absolutely impossible to reasonably suppose Israel had been serving a three-person God, whether in ignorance or not, while Jesus served a one-person God when the God of Israel was for Jesus "Yahweh OUR God." And that should not surprise anyone since there is no three-person-being mentioned absolutely anywhere in the entire Scriptures.
Jesus of Nazareth's Father who called him out of Egypt was the same Father as the Father of Israel who called His firstborn son Israel out of Egypt.11 Yahweh his Father declared that nobody else is God when He said, “I, I am He, and there is no God besides Me.”12 It was the Father to whom David said, “there is none like You and there is no God besides You,” in response to the Father’s promise to David concerning Jesus, “I will be a Father to him and he will be a Son to Me.”13 It was the One who spoke out of the fire who promised to raise up the prophet, his servant-son Jesus.14 Therefore, Moses was necessarily talking about the Father of Jesus when he said, “Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard and survived?..... Yahweh, He is God and there is no one else besides Him.”15 The Scriptures testify abundantly and clearly that everyone but the Father is excluded and nobody else is the God of Israel but the Father alone.
Jesus of Nazareth's Father who called him out of Egypt was the same Father as the Father of Israel who called His firstborn son Israel out of Egypt.11 Yahweh his Father declared that nobody else is God when He said, “I, I am He, and there is no God besides Me.”12 It was the Father to whom David said, “there is none like You and there is no God besides You,” in response to the Father’s promise to David concerning Jesus, “I will be a Father to him and he will be a Son to Me.”13 It was the One who spoke out of the fire who promised to raise up the prophet, his servant-son Jesus.14 Therefore, Moses was necessarily talking about the Father of Jesus when he said, “Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard and survived?..... Yahweh, He is God and there is no one else besides Him.”15 The Scriptures testify abundantly and clearly that everyone but the Father is excluded and nobody else is the God of Israel but the Father alone.
The Father of Jesus, the God of Jesus, was the God of Israel, ... and nobody else. "He is God and there is no other but Him." We are called to serve our Lord's God and no other.
- For us there is one God, the Father, and for us there is one Lord Jesus Christ.16
- We have one God; we also have one Lord.
- The one God, the Father, is the God of our one Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Our one Lord's God is the Father.17
- The one Head of every man is our Lord Jesus Christ.
- The one Head of our Lord Jesus Christ is his Lord and God.18
- There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.19
- We must leave our idols behind to serve a Living and True God and to wait for His son who will deliver us from the coming wrath.20
Notes
1. Galatians 4:4.
2. Luke 2:40,52.
3. Matthew 4:4. See Deut 4:1-2; 5:2; 8:3.
4. Mark 12:28-34.
5. Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
6. Mark 12:32,34.
7. Deuteronomy 4:35; Mark 12:32.
8. Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:15.
9. John 8:41,54. See Exodus 4:22-23; Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Malachi 2:10.
10 John 4:21-22.
11. Matthew 2:15; Hosea 11:1.
12. Deuteronomy 32:6,20,39.
13. 2 Samuel 7:11-22.
14. Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Acts 3:22-26.
15. Deuteronomy 4:33-39.
16. 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:4-6.
17. Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 11:31; Ephesians 1:3, 17; Colossians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3.
18. 1 Corinthians 11:3.
19. 1 Timothy 2:5.
20 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.
