READ and THINK!

What follows is a collection of succinct articles that I came across whilst surfing the Net. I am confident you will find them most edifying! 
(Some editing has been performed upon each of the articles) :-

1) God and Christ

Many times the Bible mentions Jesus Christ as Son.

-         81     Son of man

-         27     Son of God

-         17     Son of David

-           8     beloved Son

Jesus, Son of God, NEVER called God The Son. 

Although the ONE GOD, the Father, has made Jesus the Messiah,

Lord of all; [Acts 2.36, 10.36]; nevertheless Jesus is submitted to his God:

Mark 13.32 : No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come – neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son ; only the Father knows.

1 Corinthians 11.3 : But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

1 Corinthians 15.27-28 : For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And 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.

It is most evident that the ONE GOD who put all things under
Jesus' feet is NOT included in this subjection. Rather the Son himself namely Jesus is subject to GOD!

God is One.

John 17.3 : And eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

1 Corinthians 8.6a : yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live, and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, …

1 Timothy 2.5 : For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus

The Bible shows what we have to believe :

There is only One God.

Jesus was sent by God as Mediator, Saviour and Lord, for our salvation and eternal life.

2) Read Mark 12.28-34

Mark 12:28-34, from King James Version (KJV)

We are talking about the first and the second commandment of God, as spoken of by our lord Jesus.

We read and quote many times, Deuteronomy 6:4 as shown in verse 29. Therefore our faith and understanding of who God is comes from the Jewish creed. Let us remind ourselves of the commandment of that verse:

"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:"

28 "And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all ?"

- A scribe is a theologian. This man wanted to test Jesus about the real faith.

29 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord :"

- The answer is: an unitarian answer, that is: God is not 3 or more, but One God, One Person.
Jesus Christ is not member of a Godhead, the Holy Spirit is not member of a Godhead. Yahweh the Eternal is One.

30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

- God is love, God is our Heavenly Father, we have to love Him with our full heart and mind. If we don't love God, we can't love the one He sent to us, namely Jesus of Nazareth.

31 "And the second is (like the first), namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

- We have to be in peace with our own self and love ourselves in order to love others as we love ourselves! If we can't love our neighbor that we can see how can we love God that we don't can see.

32 "And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he :"

- The scribe confirmed with Jesus, the Jewish creed, the Biblical creed; he agreed with Jesus's creed about the unity or oneness of the Creator.

33 "And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

- The scribe confirmed the answer and teaching of Christ, concerning belief in solely ONE GOD who is ONE Person, and in loving others. These two commandments are the very essence of the christian faith.

34 "And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question."

- Therefore, the real faith gives an open door to the Coming kingdom of God.

3) Jesus talk about the day when he his coming back.

Here are some texts from the Bible, when Jesus speaks of himself coming back with the future kingdom of God.

Mark 13.32. But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Matthew 24.36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Acts of the Apostles 1.7. And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority.

-These comments from Jesus were answers to questions from his disciples about the end of this present evil age which is dominated by the devil; and Christ's return; and the restoration of the Kingdom.

Regarding the question: when will Jesus come back? The answer is very clear for Jesus, and it ought to be clear for us too!

• No one knows !
• No angels know !
• Jesus himself don’t know.
• Only God, the Eternal Father, knows it !

Trinitarian christians believe that Jesus is God or that he is one of the 3 persons of a so-called trinity!

And as such Jesus is all-knowing! However the very words of Jesus refutes such an idea!

The Bible is very clear about it.

In John 14.6. Jesus says who he is :

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus, the Christ of God [Luke 9.20], is not God. He is the mediator between God and humankind. (1 Tim. 2.5).

Jesus is the Way to the One God.

As the Way to God, Jesus can’t be at the same time both the Way to God, and also God! 

Rather there is solely ONE GOD!! Namely the Father (1 Corinthians 8.4,6)

4) Who is God to Jesus, and to his disciples?

Note the words of Exodus 3.6, when God (YAHWEH) introduced Himself to Moses. He said : "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

In Acts 3.13, Peter said to the people :

"The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go."

For Peter, Jesus is The servant of God.
[See also 3.26, 4.25 (David), 4.27, 4.30 - same Greek word, pais meaning servant!
Therefore in the KJV, "holy child" ought to be translated "holy servant"!]

At many times, God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, these men were patriarchs of the Faith.

So is God also called the God of Jesus?

We shall read some verses from the New Testament to get the answer:

2 Corinthians 1.3 :

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,"

2 Corinthians 11.31 :

"The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not."

Ephesians 1.3-5 :

3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will."

Ephesians 1.17 :

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:"

1 Peter 1.3 :

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

Just as in the O.T., God is the father of the patriarchs; well in like manner in the N.T., God is the God of the Lord Jesus Christ! In the N.T., the Apostles testified clearly of the real difference between God and Jesus. The apostles never show any kind of equality between God and His Messiah. The position of Jesus is indeed above the angels and also above humankind; however the Lord Jesus is second to and submitted to God his Father. 

We read in the Gospel of John 20.17 :

Before he goes up to heaven, "Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

- In light of these verses of the Bible, we see that Jesus informs us that God is his Father, and 'his God' - there is no 'co-equality'

That fact is: Jesus never told us anywhere that he is God; Jesus never told us anywhere that he is a member of a so-called trinity.

So who is Jesus?

Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah of God, Savior and Mediator between us and God (YAHWEH)
The apostle Paul clearly states in 1 Timothy 2.5 :

"For there is one God and one mediator 

between God and mankind, 

the man Christ Jesus,"

Amen !

Was Jesus Making Himself God? by Kermit Zarley

The Gospel of John records a narrative in which Jesus’ Jewish interlocutors accused him of “making yourself God” (John 10.33 NRSV and throughout). This is one of two texts in this gospel that traditionalist Christians cite to support that Jesus was God, the other being John 5.18. But they misinterpret both texts by claiming that these accusations were true of Jesus–saying he indeed was “making himself equal to God” (5.18) and making himself God (10.33). On the contrary, in both texts the author means that this is what Jesus’ opponents alleged, which is not true. The author makes this plain by quoting Jesus’ response in both cases. In John 5.19-47, Jesus rebuts the allegation that he makes himself equal with God, and in John 10.34-38 he does likewise.

Regarding the John 10 text, Jesus was attending the Feast of Dedication at the temple in Jerusalem (v. 22). His interlocutors questioned him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (v. 24). This request reveals what scholars have called “the Messianic Secret.” It is prominent in all four New Testament gospels, but especially in the Gospel of Mark. It means that Jesus did indeed remain publicly quiet about his messiahship until at the end, when the high priest made the same inquiry to Jesus that prompted the Sanhedrin’s condemnation of him at his trial or hearing.

Jesus answered the question at the Feast of Dedication by relating about his ministry and relation to God as his Father (John 10.25-29). Then he said, “I and the Father are one” (v. 30). Jesus’ opponents then took up stones with which to stone him for blasphemy because they perceived he thereby was making himself God. But Jesus denied it by first saying, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’ If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’–and the scripture cannot be annulled–can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said,
‘I am God’s Son’?” (vv. 34-36).

Jesus here quotes from Psalm 82, in which the psalmist rebukes Israel’s judges for judging unjustly (vv. 1-4). He then says of them, “You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you” (v. 6). In the Hebrew text, the word here translated “gods” is elohim, the common Hebrew word for “God” that appears in the Hebrew Bible
(=Old Testament) more than 2,500 times. Does the psalmist mean those men actually were gods? Hardly! In the Hebrew Bible, elohim occasionally was also applied to men and angels. When it was, it meant only that those so called were powerful.

Jesus meant that if the psalmist, inspired by God’s spirit, spoke the word of God, which was true and therefore cannot be annulled, how can it be wrong for Jesus also to so identify himself as an elohim like those judges of Israel since he claims to be “God’s Son”?

The obvious answer is that it would not have been wrong for Jesus to do that as long as it be understood that neither he nor those judges of Israel were actual gods in the sense that the God of Israel is God.

Again, Jesus said he was “doing the works of my Father,” which included actual miracles (John 10.37). Then he explained what he meant by, “I and the Father are one,” by saying, “the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (v. 38; cf. 14.9-11). .... So, rather than identifying himself as God, Jesus merely was claiming that God indwells him and he indwells God. These Jews still thought that was blasphemy since “they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands (v. 39).

Many Christians have erroneously thought like these enemies of Jesus did, that in claiming a mutual indwelling with God the Father, Jesus was claiming to be God. Quite the contrary, the Johannine Jesus soon taught his apostles at the Last Supper, “You will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you…. Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14.20, 23). 

This teaching of Jesus is what is called God-in-Christ Christology. Traditionalists believe this but also believe Jesus is God, called classical Incarnation Christology which means God-is-Christ Christology. ...

On the contrary, God indwells Jesus and God indwells each of us Christians by means of his Holy Spirit. But that does not make us or Jesus “the only true God” as the Johannine Jesus soon called the Father (17.3). And in that prayer to the Father concerning his disciples, “that they may be one, as we are one” (v. 11). So, if the “one” (Gr. hen) Jesus said in John 10.30 means Jesus is God, then Jesus was asking the Father to make his disciples “God” as well, which is ludicrous.

In conclusion, the Gospel of John never says that Jesus claimed to God, neither in John 5.18, 10.33, nor anywhere else.

The above article was taken from:
Was Jesus Making Himself God?