Bible study series, Part 4: Is Jesus God?

In this section, we are going to see if Jesus is God with the same power and authority.

Let us deal with this section in a reasoning way. Agree with me if I am right or bring forward your reasons if you think I am wrong.

Bible has clearly mentioned in several places that ‘Jesus is not God.’

No son can be his own father. No son has the same age as his father’s. Fathers are older than their sons. We know that God was, is, and will be forever and so is His mission. But the son’s mission has a start point in 2000 years ago.

Please turn with me to Luke 4:1-2

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil .

Jesus is God. Jesus is tempted. God could be tempted.

Besides, if God was tempted for forty days, is there any guarantee that He will not be tempted anymore in this life?

Also Luke 4:2

He (Jesus) ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry .

Luke: 4:5

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

Jesus is God. Jesus is led by the devil. God could be led by the devil.

Luke 4:6-8

And he (the devil) said to him (Jesus), “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’

Jesus is God. Jesus worships God. God worships and serves another person.

Luke 4:9

The devil led him (Jesus) to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

Jesus is God. Jesus is led by the devil. God could be led by the devil.

Luke 4:9-12

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’

Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

Jesus is God. Jesus admits God as his Lord and God. God refers to another person as his Lord and God.

Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Spirit is God. Jesus is God. Spirit has anointed Jesus to preach. God has anointed God to preach.

Also grammatically,

Has anointed” is in present perfect tense.

Present perfect tense: a work that is started in a certain time in the past and has continued up to present.

Points:

1- Jesus was anointed later when he wanted to start his mission.

2- Jesus was anointed by the spirit . Apparently, spirit has started his mission before Jesus . How could it be if Jesus was God? Bible says, God was, is and will be forever.

3- In bible, it is always God that sends his commands through his spirit to people, including Jesus, like what we see in the verse above. If Jesus is God and has the same power as God does, why is it that Jesus never sends God to do something? In the above verse, why Jesus did not anoint God or the Holy Spirit?

Luke 4:23-24

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum .’ “I tell you the truth,” he continued, ” no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

Jesus is comparing himself with the prophets. He has put himself in the prophets’ category. If you go through the Jesus’ words in all New Testament, you will notice that Jesus is always trying to convince people to accept him as a person sent by God. Unfortunately during his lifetime, the majority of the people did not even accept him as a prophet, which is painful. He never tried to tell people that he was God. Rather, he always tells the people that the God who is greater than him has sent him.

Mathew 15:24

He (Jesus) answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel .”

1- Jesus is God. Jesus is sent by God. God is sent by another person. God has not come by himself.

2- Jesus is God. God is sent to the people of Israel only. What about other people? Are they already saved? Or, God is the God of Israel only?

His mission, during his lifetime, is limited to one tribe only. His mission is not a worldwide mission. How could it be that God is dealing with one tribe only?

Acts 2:22-23

“Men of Israel , listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Points:

1- Jesus was a man.

2- Jesus was a man who was accredited by God.

3- God did the miracles.

4- God did the miracles through Jesus who was sent by God.

Jesus is God. God did miracles through another God.

So, this sentence should be correct: Mr. Davis delivered a speech through Mr. Davis!

There is one possibility here that Mr. Davis the father delivered a speech through Mr. Davis the son. No son is the same, has the same age, or has the same power and capabilities as his father’s. Otherwise, Mr. Davis the son could deliver the same speech through Mr. Davis the father!

Did you get the point? If Jesus had the same power as God’s, he could do the miracles through God.

Once more, please turn with me to Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus is starting his mission by these verses. So, these verses are describing what he is going to do.

God has sent Jesus.

To do what?

1- To preach good news.

What is the good news?

A- Love saves you (love God and love your neighbor).

B- The teachers of the law have gone far from the original message of Moses. So, God has sent a new messenger to help people. This is great news to know that God has sent somebody to prune the society. He expands the Law of Moses by removing the heavy yoke of ‘religious rules’ used as tools in the hands of teachers of the Law.

2- To proclaim freedom for the prisoners.

Jesus never attacked a prison to release a prisoner. So, who are the prisoners he has been sent for and what is the freedom he is talking about?

The prison is the religious yoke imposed by religious teachers on people and the prisoners are those caught in such religious rules introduced by teachers. Jesus did all he could to stand against the religious teachers while he remained loyal to Moses until the end of his mission.

3- Recovery of the sight for the blind.

Who are the blind? Is it just that blind beggar on Jesus’ way to Jerusalem ?

If you asked your bible teachers, they would give you more examples of healing some physical eyes. But, such physical eyes are not what Jesus came for. God had not sent a doctor.

Bible says the blind are those who have eyes but do not see; those who have ears but do not hear.

Let us see this in Isaiah 42:18-20

“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD

You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.”

I encourage all of you to look for the roots of blindness.

4- To release the oppressed.

Who are the oppressed? Are they those few persons who were lame or blind? Did Jesus come to cure a few physically disabled persons? Had God sent a physician?

The oppressed are those who have been suffering in the hands of the religious teachers and the oppressors are such teachers.

Let us see this in Zephaniah: 3:1-5

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.

The city described here is the city of ‘Religions’. Explore ‘ Jerusalem ‘, ‘the city’, and even ‘ Israel ‘ in different verses and you will see that they stand for ‘religion’ in many verses in bible. The teachers are the oppressors and the people, in the hands of such teachers, are the oppressed.

Jesus came to save the oppressed. For God’s sake, do not make another city of oppression based on his teachings.

God will destroy such arrogant cities one day. Then, the oppressed will be released. On that day, people will be in direct contact with the God of all.

5- To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

What is the favor?

The religious teachers have turned the Law of Moses into a tool in their hands to rule over their nation. Now the Lord has sent a new messenger to free people from such teachers. This is a big favor God is doing to people. People should celebrate such a favor.

For those of you who think that the above-mentioned verses refer to the time when Jesus was living as a man on the earth, I would like to present some other verses from the book of Revelation that has happened after the Crucifixion of Jesus.

Please turn with me to revelation 1:5-6

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father

Jesus is God. He, however, is making people a kingdom to serve his God. God is working for another person. God has a God!

Revelation 3:2

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.

Points:

A- Jesus is not very happy with the deeds (action) of his followers.

B- Your deed is not complete in the sight of my God.

Jesus is God. God calls another person ‘my God’. God has a God.

He is judging people’s deeds from God’s point of view not based on his own standards.

You see how loyal Jesus is to the One who has sent him. even after his Crucifixion, he is still calling God ‘my God’.

Revelation 3:5

He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels .

How humble you are Jesus!

Still now, he is giving full credits to his father and his father’s angels.

Revelation 2:7

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes , I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Points:

1- Overcome what? Nothing is remained to overcome if faith alone could save you.

2- The tree of life is in the paradise of God . God was, is, and will be the owner of everything.

Isaiah 48:13 “My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens.

Also, Isaiah 42:8 = “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.

Revelation 2:18

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God , whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

Son of God . Jesus, you have never said ‘I am God’. You have never focused on yourself. You have sacrificed yourself for the will of God who sent you. You have been so obedient to God. Will you pray for your followers to follow your example?

Revelation 3:12-13

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God . Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God , the new Jerusalem , which is coming down out of heaven from my God ; and I will also write on him my new name . He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Point 1:

Here is another example where ‘ new city ‘ means ‘new way’ or ‘new religion’. Bible says, “A new way will come in which people will have only God’s name written on them, not the name of messengers. Such a person will have a new name. This new city and this new name are coming down from God. This city is not a physical city dedicated to one tribe only. This is a city where everybody has only God’s name written on him. Everything will be God’s property. There is no temple in this city as bible says. People are in direct fellowship with their God. There is no need to ask for another person to connect you to God here. Is it not what The Reminded Way is telling you now?

Point 2:

How many times do you want to see Jesus calling God ‘my God’? God never calls another person ‘God’. Is it really hard to understand?

To end this part, I invite you to read the following verses more deeply.

Zephaniah 3

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.

Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame. I have cut off nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are destroyed; no one will be left—no one at all.

I said to the city, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’ Then her dwelling would not be cut off, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did. Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger. “Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.

From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings. On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill.

But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD.

The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths.

They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.” Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy.

The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem , “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” “The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.

At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.

At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the LORD.

Download this part | Download the complete message

Bible Study Series

  1. Preface
  2. Is ‘just believe and you are saved’ true?
  3. Is Jesus the only way?
  4. Is Jesus God?
  5. Reminder and Reminded Way in the bible

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