05 - APPENDIX
(Extracted from a Series of Articles in Volumes 2 and 3 of The Berean Expositor, entitled ‘The Doctrine of Christ’).
(NOTE: These charts are best viewed in full-screen mode) THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST ‘God is not a man that He should lie’
It is our desire to lay before the reader the testimony of the Scriptures to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We shall seek grace to refrain as far as possible from comment, preferring to let the whole responsibility rest upon the inspired Word of God. The first thing we would do is to draw attention to the marked difference everywhere observable between man, the creature, and God, the Creator. The Scriptural Testimony As to man As to God
‘We are but of yesterday, and‘Thou art from everlasting’ (Psalms 93:2). know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow’ (Job 8:9).‘High and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity’ (Isaiah 57:15)
‘Who art thou, that thou‘And forgettest the LORD thy shouldest be afraid of a man thatMaker, that hath stretched forth shall die, and of the son of manthe heavens, and laid the which shall be made as grass’foundations of the earth’ (Isaiah 51:13).
(Isaiah 51:12).
‘Put not your trust in princes, nor‘Happy is he that hath the God in the son of man, in whom thereof Jacob for his help, whose is no help. His breath goethhope is in the LORD his God: forth, he returneth to his earth; inwhich made heaven, and earth, that very day his thoughts perish’the sea, and all that therein is:
(Psalms 146:3-4). which keepeth truth for ever’
‘The thoughts of man ... are‘The counsel of the LORD vanity’ (Psalms 94:11).standeth for ever, the thoughts
of His heart to all generations’ (Psalms 33:11).
‘How much less in them that‘The heaven and heaven of dwell in houses of clay, whoseheavens cannot contain thee’ foundation is in the dust, which(1 Kings 8:27). are crushed before the moth?’
(Job 4:19). ‘The Lord God Omnipotent’
‘All flesh is grass, and all the‘The glory of the LORD shall goodliness thereof is as theendure for ever’ (Psalms 104:31). flower of the field’ (Isaiah 40:6 thew:6 thew:6).
‘A man that shall die’ (Isaiah 51:12) ‘Who only hath immortality’
‘... turneth wise men backward,‘The immutability of His and maketh their knowledgecounsel’ (Hebrews 6:17). foolish’ (Isaiah 44:25).
‘If ye then are not able to do that‘With God all things are thing which is least’ (Luke 12:26).possible’ (Matthew 19:26).
‘There is none righteous, no, not‘There is none good but One, one’ (Romans 3:10).that is, God’ (Matthew 19:17).
We refrain from giving any further examples of the teaching which must be patent to every reader of Scripture. The difference everywhere seen and enforced between God and man is not one merely of degree, but the difference between the Infinite and the finite, the Eternal and the temporal. The difference is aggravated by reason of the fact that man is a sinner, but even though we go back to Adam unfallen, still he is of the earth, earthy, the creature, not the Creator, man and not God.
God has not only repeatedly prohibited man from trusting in man, but he has also declared that He is jealous for the honour of His name. ‘Thou shalt worship no other God: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God’ (Exodus 34:14). The Lord declares Himself to be the self-existent one, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, almighty, incomprehensible, holy, righteous, the creator, and the upholder of all things in heaven and earth, the searcher of hearts, and the judge of all. He it is Who alone can redeem, forgive and bless. He it is Who rightly claims our praise, our admiration, and our wholehearted love. He allows no one to approach to the high dignity which alone belongs to Him. ‘I am the LORD (Jehovah): that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another’ (Isaiah 42:8). Lucifer, who said, ‘I will be like the Most High’, thereby pronounced his own doom.
What shall we say, then, when we find that every attribute of Deity, every claim to that which is the sole prerogative of God, is unreservedly given to the Lord Jesus Christ? The jealous God, Who has so fully testified to the gulf fixed between the nature of man and of God, has given not one word of caution, or warning, when in the inspired Scriptures He testifies concerning His Son. If the Lord Jesus Christ were a creature (as indeed He must be if He be not God, for there can be nothing intermediate), we should expect that the Word of the jealous God would give continually some such warning as, ‘If thou shouldest feel tempted to worship him (i.e. Christ) do it not, he is but the instrument of redemption, worship God. Though arrayed in all the majesty of God, beware, he is but a creature after all; honour God. Beware of idolatry, let your faith, hope, and love be centred in God, not in Christ’. Do we find anything that even approaches to this? We must all confess that we do not. In the multitude of passages where Divine titles, honours, and prerogatives are given, claimed or accepted by the Lord Jesus Christ, not once do we hear from Him anything approaching to the words of the angel, ‘See thou do it not’. Everywhere the man Christ Jesus is seen to be more than man, and subsequent studies will demonstrate fully the absolute Deity of Him Who though He took upon Himself the ‘form of a servant, and the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself even unto death’, could unhesitatingly accept, in all the fulness of the terms, the belated confession of a once doubting, but now convicted, apostle, ‘MY LORD AND MY GOD’. In John 14:28 there is recorded a statement by Christ, which is often quoted by those who deny His Deity, ‘My Father is greater than I’. If the Lord Jesus were only a creature, however high in the scale of life He may be, the gulf between creature and Creator would still be so immeasurable and so incomparable, that the utterance of the words quoted above would not only be absurd, but profane. What should we think of anyone standing up in our midst and declaring with all solemnity that the Almighty Father was greater than he? Should not we reckon him either mad or grossly irreverent? This apparent inferiority is really a witness to the eternal distance between the Lord Jesus Christ on the one hand from all created beings, and on the other to the voluntarily assumed form of a servant, wherein in our room and for our salvation He humbled Himself even unto death. Upon the authority of this passage, and that of Matthew 11:27, we would lodge a most emphatic protest against that impious and dishonouring intrusion of human reasoning into the ‘mystery of Godliness’. We know the Father only as revealed by the Son, but the Son Himself is equally and awfully a mystery, presented to faith and heart not for speculation, but for adoring praise, worship, and thanksgiving.
‘All should honour the Son even as they honour the Father’
We have drawn attention to the way in which the Scriptures severed God in His attributes, Person and ways from man. We now seek to set before the reader parallel passages of the Word of truth, wherein the attributes and titles of God, which are positively denied to man as such, are freely and unreservedly given to the Lord Jesus Christ.
GOD THE LORD JESUS CHRIST First and Last
‘I am the first, and I am the last;‘I am Alpha and Omega, the and beside Me there is no God ...beginning and the ending ... I Is there a God beside Me? yea,am Alpha and Omega, the first there is no God; I know not any’and the last ... Fear not; I am
(Isaiah 44:6-8). the first and the last’ (Revelation 1:8, Revelation 1:11, Revelation 1:17).
GOD THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Eternal
‘From everlasting to everlasting, ‘Whose goings forth have been
Thou art God’ (Psalms 90:2). from of old, from everlasting’
(Micah 5:2).
‘Thy throne is established of old: ‘Unto the Son He saith, Thy
Thou art from everlasting’ (Psalms 93:2). throne, O God, is for ever and
ever’ (Hebrews 1:8). Omnipresent
‘... whither shall I flee from Thy ‘Where two or three are
Presence? If I ascend up intogathered together in My name, heaven, Thou art there: if I makethere am I in the midst of my bed in hell, behold, Thou artthem’ (Matthew 18:20). there. lf I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the‘Lo, I am with you alway, even uttermost parts of the sea; evenunto the end of the world there shall Thy hand lead me,(age)’ (Matthew 28:20). and Thy right hand shall hold me’ (Psalms 139:7-10).‘He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things’ (Ephesians 4:10).
‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?‘That He would grant you, saith the LORD’ (Jeremiah 23:24).according to the riches of His
glory, to be strengthened with
‘For thus saith the high and lofty might by His Spirit in the inner
One that inhabiteth eternity,man; that Christ may dwell in Whose name is Holy; I dwell inyour hearts by faith’ (Ephesians 3:16-17). the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and‘If a man love Me, he will keep humble spirit, to revive the spiritMy words: and My Father will of the humble, and to revive thelove him, and We will come heart of the contrite ones’ (Isaiah 57:15).unto him, and make Our abode
with him’ (John 14:23). Immutable
‘I am the LORD (Jehovah), ‘Jesus Christ, the same
I change not’ (Malachi 3:6). yesterday, and today, and for
ever’ (Hebrews 13:8).
GOD THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Almighty
‘I am the Almighty God’ (Genesis 17:1). ‘I am ... the Almighty’ (Revelation 1:8).
‘All things were made by Him’(John 1:3). ‘By Him all things consist’ (Colossians 1:17). ‘All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth’ (Matthew 28:18).
‘Whatsoever the LORD (Jehovah)‘What things soever He doeth, pleased, that did He in heaven,these also doeth the Son and in earth’ (Psalms 135:6).likewise’ (John 5:19).
Incomprehensible, while comprehending all
‘Canst thou by searching find out ‘No man knoweth the Son, but
God?’ (Job 11:7). the Father’ (Matthew 11:27).
‘As the Father knoweth Me’ ‘Even so know I the Father’
(John 10:15). (John 10:15).
‘Thy footsteps (LXX Ta ichne‘The unsearchable sou) are not known’ (Psalms 77:19).(anexichniaston) riches of
Christ’ (Ephesians 3:8).
‘O the depth of the riches both of‘The love of Christ, which the wisdom and knowledge ofpasseth knowledge’ (Ephesians 3:19).
God! ... His ways past finding out’ (trackless - anexichniastoi‘Lord, Thou knowest all
Romans 11:33). things’ (John 21:17).
‘The LORD seeth not as man‘And needed not that any seeth; for man looketh on theshould testify of man: for He outward appearance, but theknew what was in man’ (John 2:25).
LORD looketh on the heart’
‘The LORD searcheth all hearts,‘And Jesus, perceiving the and understandeth all thethought of their heart’ (Luke 9:47). imaginations of the thoughts’
‘Thou, even Thou only, knowest‘I am He which searcheth the the hearts of all the children ofreins and hearts’ (Revelation 2:23). men’ (1 Kings 8:39).
GOD THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Judge
‘Shall not the Judge of all the‘We must all appear before the earth do right?’ (Genesis 18:25).judgment seat of Christ’
(2 Corinthians 5:10). ‘When the Son of man shall come in His glory ... then shall He sit ... and before Him shall be gathered all nations’ (Matthew 25:31-32). ‘The Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son,
even as they honour the Father’
(John 5:22-23). (Notice the ‘even as’ in this connection). The Holy One
‘I am the LORD (Jehovah) thy ‘Ye denied the Holy One (ton
God, the Holy One (LXX - hohagion) and the Just’ (Acts 3:14). hagios) of Israel’ (Isaiah 43:3).
‘That Holy Thing which shall
be born of thee’ (Luke 1:35). The King
‘The King of kings, and Lord of‘KING OF KINGS, AND lords’(1 Timothy 6:15).LORD OF LORDS’ (Revelation 19:16).
‘My glory will I not give to‘Worthy is the Lamb that was another’ (Isaiah 42:8).slain to receive power ... glory’
‘Thine is the kingdom, and the‘The kingdoms of this world power, and the glory’ (Matthew 6:13).are become the kingdoms of
our Lord, and of His Christ’ (Revelation 11:15).
GOD THE LORD JESUS CHRIST The Rewarder
‘He that cometh to God must‘Behold, I come quickly; and believe that He is, and that He isMy reward is with Me, to give a rewarder of them that diligentlyevery man according as his seek Him’ (Hebrews 11:6).work shall be’ (Revelation 22:12).
‘Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand ... His reward is with Him’ (Isaiah 40:10 hew:10 hew:10).
‘Thou renderest to every man according to his work’ (Psalms 62:12).
The Strengthener
‘God is our refuge and strength’ ‘I can do all things through
(Psalms 46:1). Christ which strengtheneth me’
(Php 4:13).
‘Blessed is the man whose‘He said unto me, My grace is strength is in Thee’ (Psalms 84:5).sufficient for thee: for My
strength is made perfect in weakness ... the power of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).
‘Strengthen Thou me according unto Thy Word’ (Psalms 119:28).
The Hope of His People
‘Lord ... my hope is in Thee’ ‘Blessed are all they that put
(Psalms 39:7). their trust in Him (the Son)’
(Psalms 2:12).
‘Blessed is the man that trusteth‘Jesus Christ, which is our in the LORD, and whose hope thehope’ (1 Timothy 1:1).
LORD is’ (Jeremiah 17:7).
‘Christ in (among) you, thehope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27).
GOD THE LORD JESUS CHRIST The Only Saviour
‘I, even I, am the LORD ‘Christ Jesus came into the
(Jehovah); and beside Me there isworld to save sinners’ (1 Timothy 1:15). no Saviour’ (Isaiah 43:11).
‘He became the author of eternal salvation’ (Hebrews 5:9). ‘He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him’ (Hebrews 7:25). ‘Neither is there salvation in any other (cf. Isaiah 43:11): for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).
‘Let Israel hope in the LORD ‘The great God and our
(Jehovah) ... and He shall redeem Saviour Jesus Christ; Who
Israel from all his iniquities’ gave Himself ... that He might
(LXX kai autos lutrosetai ... ekredeem us from all iniquity’ pason ton anomion autou) (Psalms 130:7-8).(hina lutrosetai ... apo pases
anomias) (Titus 2:13-14). The Lord Jesus makes a claim in John 5:17-19 which is unsurpassed in the range of inspiration for its stupendous and unqualified claims. ‘What things soever He (the Father) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise’. Could such language be used by a creature? He who can do all the works of God, must Himself be God; unlimited power is omnipotence, and omnipotence is an attribute of God. The creature, however greatly endued with power, must stagger and fall beneath such a burden. The reader has before him quotations from the Scriptures wherein some of the essential attributes of God are mentioned. Do we read that God is First and Last? so do we read that this is a title of Christ. The passage quoted from Isaiah 44:6-8 adds the words, ‘and beside Me there is no God’, yet the Scriptures as freely give this wondrous title to the Lord Jesus as to the Father or to Jehovah. The attributes of eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence, and immutability, most emphatically denied to man as creature, are unreservedly given to the Lord Jesus Christ. He it is Who searches the hearts; mere man can only judge of the outward appearance. He it is Who is the rewarder, the judge, the strengthener, the hope, and the only Saviour of His people. With these Scriptures before us, let us hear the words of one who professes to vindicate the honour of God:
‘You have taken the honour, position, and attributes of my Father, God the Creator, and have given them to His Creature, and Servant-Son, the man Christ Jesus’. In the light of the Word of God before quoted we brand this statement not merely as a lie, but as blasphemy. The honour, position, and attributes of God are given equally to both Father and Son, and to speak of One who bears such titles as a creature is nothing short of blasphemy:
‘Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father’ (1 John 2:23).
‘All (men) should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him’ (John 5:23).
‘This is life eternal, (in order) that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou has sent’ (John 17:3).
‘His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life’ (1 John 5:20). The Word of God plainly sets forth that:
(1) Jesus Chris t was sent from God.
(2) That He was born of a virgin, and was very man.
(3) That He is the true God and is entitled to every attribute of Deity.
We are not called upon to explain that which Scripture does not explain, but we are bound to believe that which God has written. The attack upon the true Christ is among the final preparations for the false christ, the man of sin. Let us ‘honour the Son’, even as we honour the Father, for this, and nothing short of this, is in harmony with the Word of truth.
‘AT (IN) THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW ... AND THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER’.
If we were asked to select one passage of the Old Testament which declared most definitely the absoluteness of God in all the infinitude of His Deity, we could not find a better passage than Isaiah 45:21-25, yet we shall find that the Scriptures have used equally definite and absolute terms with reference to Christ. Let us consider them:
O.T. WITNESS TO GOD N.T. WITNESS TO CHRIST
‘There is no God else beside Me;‘The Word was God’ (John 1:1). a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me.‘Jesus Christ the righteous: and
He is the propitiation for our sins’ (1 John 2:1-2).
‘Look unto Me, and be ye saved,‘Behold the Lamb of God, all the ends of the earth: for I amwhich taketh away the sin of
God, and there is none else. the world’ (John 1:29).
‘Neither is there salvation in any other’ (Acts 4:12).
‘I have sworn by Myself, the‘We shall all stand before the word is gone out of My mouth injudgment seat of Christ. For it righteousness, and shall notis written, As I live, saith the return, That unto Me every kneeLord, every knee shall bow to shall bow, and every tongue shallMe, and every tongue shall swear.confess to God’ (Romans 14:10-11).
‘At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth’ (Php 2:10).
‘Surely, shall one say, in the ‘That we might be made the
LORD have I righteousness righteousness of God in Him’
(2 Corinthians 5:21). ‘Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption’ (1 Corinthians 1:30).
O.T. WITNESS TO GOD N.T. WITNESS TO CHRIST
‘And strength: ‘I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me’ (Php 4:13). ‘Without Me ye can do nothing’ (John 15:5).
‘Even to Him shall men come; ‘Come unto Me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28). ‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life (the true and living way): no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me’ (John 14:6).
‘and all that are incensed against ‘The enemies of the cross of
Him shall be ashamed. Christ: whose end is
destruction’ (Php 3:18-19).
‘In the LORD shall all the seed of ‘By Him (Christ) all that
Israel be justified, believe are justified from all
things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses’ (Acts 13:39).
‘and shall glory’ (Isaiah 45:21-25). ‘God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6:14).
Again we pause to consider the blasphemy of those who, with mistaken zeal for the glory of God, relegate the Lord Jesus Christ to the position of the ‘creature’, and at best, give Him a place somewhere parallel to that occupied by one of the gods of the Roman pantheon. While the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth He certainly entered into a condition of service for the accomplishment of redemption; shall we therefore use his very condescension and unspeakable grace to tarnish His mercy, defame His throne, and sully His glory? What base ingratitude!
There is another passage in the Word to which attention has been drawn, viz. the prayer which the Lord taught His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13, viz.:
GOD THE FATHER THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
‘Our Father which art in heaven, ‘The Son of man which is in
heaven’ (John 3:13).
‘Hallowed be Thy Name. ‘That the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ may be glorified’ (2 Thessalonians 1:12).
‘Thy kingdom come. ‘The everlasting kingdom of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 1:11).
‘Thy will be done in earth, ‘Ye serve the Lord Christ’
(Colossians 3:24). ‘Ye call Me (Christ) Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am’ (John 13:13).
‘As it is in heaven. ‘Jesus Christ ... is gone into
heaven ... angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him’ (1 Peter 3:21-22).
‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘I am the living bread which
came down from heaven’ (John 6:51).
‘And forgive us our debts, as we‘Forgiving one another ... even forgive our debtors.as Christ forgave you, so also
do ye’ (Colossians 3:13). ‘The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins’ (Mark 2:10).
‘And lead us not into temptation, ‘He ... leadeth them out ... My
sheep ... follow Me’ (John 10:3, John 10:27).
‘but deliver us from evil: ‘Jesus Christ, Who gave
Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world (age)’ (Galatians 1:3-4).
‘For Thine is the kingdom, and‘He shall reign forever’ (Revelation 11:15). the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen’ (Matthew 6:9-13).‘To Him be glory and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen’ (Revelation 1:6).
Again we perceive how closely the parallel continues. How this ‘witness of God concerning His Son’ should cause us to hesitate to say one word that would lower the glory, or supremacy, accorded to the Saviour. There is much more evidence in the Word, however, and as our primary object is to demonstrate the fact that the Scriptures give equal honour to the Son as to the Father, we will append some more instances:
GOD ABSOLUTE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
‘I, even I, am He that blotteth out‘The blood of Jesus Christ His thy transgressions for Mine ownSon cleanseth us from all sin’ sake’ (Isaiah 43:25).(1 John 1:7).
‘When He had by Himself purged our sins’ (Hebrews 1:3). ‘Blotting out the handwriting ... which was contrary to us ... nailing it to His cross’ (Colossians 2:14).
‘Forgiving iniquity’ (Exodus 34:7). ‘Son, thy sins be forgiven thee’
(Mark 2:5).
‘He maketh the storm a calm, so‘He arose, and rebuked the that the waves thereof are still’winds and the sea; and there
(Psalms 107:29). was a great calm’ (Matthew 8:26).
‘I have satiated the weary soul’ ‘Come unto Me ... and ye shall
(Jeremiah 31:25). find rest unto your souls’
‘This is the love of God, that we‘If ye love Me, keep My keep His commandments’commandments’ (John 14:15).
(1 John 5:3).
‘If I be a Master, where is My‘One is your Master, even fear? saith the LORD of Hosts’Christ’ (Matthew 23:8).
(Malachi 1:6).
‘Him shalt thou serve’ (Deuteronomy 10:20). ‘Ye serve the Lord Christ’
‘Thy Maker is thine husband, the ‘He that hath the bride is the
LORD of Hosts is His name’ (Isaiah 54:5). Bridegroom’ (John 3:29).
‘The bride, the Lamb’s wife’ (Revelation 21:9).
GOD ABSOLUTE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
‘By the grace of God I am what I‘Be strong in the grace that is am’ (1 Corinthians 15:10).in Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 2:1).
‘The grace of God that bringeth‘Through the grace of the Lord salvation’ (Titus 2:11).Jesus Christ we shall be saved’
(Acts 15:11).
‘The love of God is shed abroad‘The love of Christ in our hearts’ (Romans 5:5).constraineth us’ (2 Corinthians 5:14).
‘Them that love God’ (Romans 8:28). ‘If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema’ (1 Corinthians 16:22).
‘Love the LORD thy God with all‘Let the Word of Christ dwell thine heart’ (Deuteronomy 6:5).in you richly’ (Colossians 3:16).
‘Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee’ (Psalms 119:11).
‘Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, ‘Our Lord Jesus, that great
Thou that leadest Joseph like aShepherd of the sheep’ (Hebrews 13:20). flock’ (Psalms 80:1).
‘The chief Shepherd shall appear’ (1 Peter 5:4).
‘The flock of God’ (1 Peter 5:2). ‘My lambs ... My sheep’ (John 21:15-17).
‘I will seek that which was lost’ ‘The Son of man is come to
(Ezekiel 34:16). seek and to save that which
was lost’ (Luke 19:10).
‘Jehovah (The LORD) is my ‘The Shepherd ... of your
Shepherd; souls’ (1 Peter 2:25).
‘I shall not want. ‘My sheep ... shall never
perish’ (John 10:27-28).
‘He maketh me to lie down in‘The Lamb ... shall feed them, green pastures: He leadeth meand shall lead them unto living beside the still waters’ (Psalms 23:1-2).fountains of waters’ (Revelation 7:17).
‘That God may be all in all (ta‘Christ all, and in all (ta panta panta en pasin)’ (1 Corinthians 15:28).kai en pasin)’ (Colossians 3:11).
GOD ABSOLUTE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
‘God and our Father: to Whom‘Our Lord and Saviour Jesus be glory for ever and ever.Christ. To Him be glory both
Amen’ (Galatians 1:4-5). now and for ever. Amen’
(2 Peter 3:18).
Once again we pause. Here such Divine prerogatives as the forgiveness of sins, the calming of the storm, the satiating of the weary soul, the supplying of all sufficient grace, the object of our supreme love, the title and attributes of the Shepherd of Israel, the ‘all in all’, and the glory and dominion are all given without reservation or qualification to both the Father and the Son. The Scriptures represent God as being Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, Shepherd, Lord, King and Judge; yet these are the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Creator, for ‘all things that are in heaven, and that are in earth’, were created by Him. He is Preserver, for ‘by Him all things consist’ (Colossians 1:16-17). He is Redeemer, for ‘Christ hath redeemed us’ (Galatians 3:13). He is the Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, the Great Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. He is Lord and King, for ‘He is Lord of lords, and King of kings’ (Revelation 17:14). He is Judge, for ‘all judgment is committed unto the Son’ (John 5:22). Surely those who believe the Word of God cannot help seeing that the Son, equally with the Father, is ‘God, blessed for ever!’ (Romans 1:25; Romans 9:5).
‘THOU SHALT WORSHIP THE LORD THY GOD, AND HIM ONLY SHALT THOU SERVE’ (Matthew 4:10).
‘O COME, LET US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN: LET US KNEEL BEFORE THE LORD (JEHOVAH) OUR MAKER’ (Psalms 95:6).
We have sought to show that the Scriptures ascribe the same honours and attributes to the Lord Jesus Christ as they do to God. The issues of this great subject have been somewhat confused by the failure on the part of many to discern between the Persons in the Trinity and the One absolute God. Some say because Christ prayed unto the Father, therefore Christ cannot be God. What they ought to have said is that therefore Christ cannot be the Father.
We do not believe that there are ‘gods many’, we believe that there is ‘One God’, and that the One God has been manifested in the Persons of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. One of the most remarkable statements concerning Himself that the Lord Jesus uttered is recorded in Matthew 11:27 :
‘No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him’ (cf. Luke 10:22). The Lord Jesus not only declared the mystery of the Divine Sonship to be equal to that of the Divine Fatherhood but by the omission of any statement concerning revelation it was indicated that the mystery of the Sonship was one that had not yet been explained. This being the case, how dare any of us presume within the veil and analyse, nay dissect the very nature, soul and body of the Lord from heaven?
We would now direct the reader’s attention to the use of the word ‘worship’, as offered to God (considered as God absolute) and to Christ. Proskuneo is often used by the classical writers to mean that reverence paid to those superior to us; but we are not here concerned with the classical usage, but with the Biblical usage of the word. The word occurs sixty times, and the noun (proskunetes) once. Idolatrous worship is repudiated in twelve passages or more. (Matthew 4:9; Luke 4:7; Acts 7:43; Acts 10:25; Revelation 9:20; Revelation 13:4, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 13:12, Revelation 13:15; Revelation 14:9, Revelation 14:11; Revelation 16:2; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:4). An angel refuses worship in Revelation 19:10, and Revelation 22:8-9.
There are two instances only of the use of this word as a salutation, viz. Matthew 18:26; Revelation 3:9. Five instances of worship used intransitively (i.e. without the object of worship stated) are given in John 12:20; Acts 8:27; Acts 24:11; Hebrews 11:21; Revelation 11:1. We have twenty-two instances of worship offered to God the Father or to God absolute, five of Divine worship, fifteen of worship to the Lord Jesus Christ, seventeen of idolatrous worship condemned, and two only of allowed salutations to man. Of these two, one is found in a parable (Matthew 18:26), and the one who there received the worship typified God Himself. We are therefore reduced to one solitary instance of the usage of the word ‘worship’ in a lesser sense than that ascribed to God. This being the case, those who say that the worship paid to Christ was but the rendering of ordinary civility should also declare upon equal authority that the twenty-two cases of worship rendered to God are of a similar nature which would manifest the absurdity of their position. This is not all, however. When this worship was offered to men or angels, the action was immediately rebuked, and the worship directed to the Creator alone. Are we then to admit that Peter before Cornelius, Paul and Barnabas before the priests of Jupiter, and the angel before John, were more concerned about the proper reverence of God than the Lord Himself! If the worship paid to Him was not right, how is it that He never once said ‘See thou do it not’, or ‘Stand up, I myself also am a man’. Surely if ever there was a fitting opportunity for the Lord Jesus to disillusion His followers, it was when Thomas bowed before Him with the words, ‘My Lord and my God’. The Lord’s acceptance of these words must mean one of two things, and we speak plainly because of the issues at stake. If, as some have said, the Lord Jesus Chris t was but the ‘Creature and the Servant-Son of God’, He must have wittingly and knowingly accepted that which He should have utterly repudiated. This would make our Saviour a gross deceiver, and a fearful blasphemer. The only alternative is that the Lord Jesus rightly accepted the worship offered to Him, with the accompanying titles and ascriptions of Deity and that we too, with Thomas of old, can unreservedly and withunqualified adoration bow before Him and say, ‘My Lord and my God’. Those who attempt an explanation based upon the idea that Thomas merely ejaculated the words, ‘My Lord and my God’, evidence such ignorance of the times, people and customs, that their ideas are not worth refuting.
Believers were styled those who ‘called upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord’. This word ‘call’ has reference to prayer: ‘If ye call on the Father’ (1 Peter 1:17); ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Acts 2:21). It is not one or two that call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but all that are saints in every place do so. We may be able to help one or two who are in trouble, and at the same time listen to their grievances and keep them distinct, but if the number increased to four or five, all of them seeking our decision or our help in matters of vital interest, we should despair of ever keeping pace with them, or of keeping their several separate interests before us. If the number grew to twenty or thirty, we should give up the work as beyond human power, yet all in every place who are saints call upon the Lord Jesus to undertake for them in their multifarious paths and difficulties, and to them He can give the assurance that He ‘fainteth not, neither is weary’. He can still say, without the slightest reservation so far as His power is concerned, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. While we contemplate and enjoy the blessed fact of the omnipotence of that One upon Whose name we call, let us look forward into the future with reference to that day of universal worship and adoration which is yet to dawn:
‘God hath highly exalted Him, and graced Him with the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Php 2:9-11 author’s translation).
Here the entire universe prostrates itself at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Once again the whole tenor of Scripture brands as a lie the teaching that ‘Jesus Christ is the Creature and Servant-Son of God’, and confirms the oft-repeated claim of the equality of the Son with the Father. The worship of the Son equally glorifies the Father, but this is entirely untrue if the Son be not God, for God Himself has declared that He will not give His glory to another. When Peter wrote the words, ‘To Him be glory and dominion, for ever and ever, Amen’, did he not mean us to understand that he offered supreme worship and praise to the infinite God? and shall we dare to alter one word of the ascription of praise in Revelation 1:5-6 :
‘Unto Him that loved us, and washed (loosed) us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen’.
Here the words both in the English and in the Greek are identical, the worship is the same whether offered to the God of all grace, or to the Saviour Who died. The utmost homage that heaven can pay is given to the Lamb and to God in Revelation 5:8-14. In this passage the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders render worship to the Lamb alone; then ‘ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands’ of angels worship the Lamb alone; then the whole universe worships the Lamb and the Eternal God together, and lastly the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders worship God alone. To rob the worship given to the Lamb of its utmost value is to rob the worship given to God also; both stand or fall together.
One more reference must suffice before we pass on to the concluding passages:
‘I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory’ (Isaiah 6:1-3).
Here again we have seraphim rendering the highest worship of heaven to the Lord Who sat upon His throne. Who is the One they worship? Is He a ‘creature’? is He a ‘Servant-Son’? No, for His name is Jehovah. John, writing afterwards of this chapter says, ‘These things said Isaiah, when he saw His (Christ’s) glory, and spake of Him’ (Christ). The Lord of Hosts of Isaiah 6:1-13 and the Lord Jesus Christ are One, and claim our undivided love, worship and service. Let us then honour the Son even as we honour the Father.
‘The title Jehovah is the grand, the peculiar, and incommunicable name of God. It neither is applied to any created being throughout the Scriptures, nor can be applied in reason, for it imports the necessary, independent, and external existence of the Most High’ (Serle).
If we find prophetic declaration concerning Jehovah fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have inspired interpretation and unchallengeable warrant for believing that Christ is Jehovah, for otherwise the Scriptures would be proved to have spoken falsely, and the whole basis of our faith destroyed. Take for example the following:
‘The voice of Him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD (Jehovah), make straight in the desert a highway for our God’ (Isaiah 40:3 thew:3 thew:3). This was fulfilled in Christ, for Matthew 3:3 declares:
‘THIS IS HE that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias (Isaiah) saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord’.
Christ therefore is Jehovah, and Christ therefore is God. Luke 1:76 adds another testimony to this by saying concerning John the Baptist:
‘And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways’. Or compare the language of the following:
‘Sanctify the LORD (Jehovah) of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel’ (Isaiah 8:13-14).
‘Unto you therefore which believe He (Christ) is precious: but ... a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word’ (1 Peter 2:7-8).
Here again the Scriptures themselves by direct interpretation declare that Christ is Jehovah Himself. Who then blaspheme? They who believe this, or they who deny it? Or yet again:
‘And I (Jehovah, verse 1), will pour ... the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced’ (Zechariah 12:10).
‘Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds (tribes) of the earth (land) shall wail because of Him. Amen’ (Revelation 1:7). And again another Scripture:
‘They shall look on Him Whom they pierced’ (John 19:37).
Here Scripture interprets Zechariah 12:1-14 of Christ. The One Whose name is Jehovah, ‘Which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him’ is none other than the Christ Who died on Calvary’s cross, and Who is yet to come again to reign. The passage from Isaiah 6:1-13, to which we have already referred, must be repeated here again:
‘Mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts’ (Isaiah 6:5).
‘These things said Esaias (Isaiah), when he saw His glory, and spake of Him (Christ)’ (John 12:41).
Again we read:
‘I (Jehovah) have sworn by Myself ... That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear’ (Isaiah 45:23). The apostle Paul, writing by inspiration, says:
‘We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God’ (Romans 14:10-11).
If Christ be not God, if Christ be not Jehovah, where is the argument or the force of the apostle’s words? If Christ is a subordinate creature, what an unwarrantable distortion is found in Romans 14:1-23 : ‘We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (a creature), for it is written, Every knee shall bow to Me’ (the Lord, Who is not a creature, but the Creator). When we consider also that in verse 21 of Isaiah 45:1-25 Jehovah says, ‘There is no God else beside Me’ argument is superfluous, nay, it is infidel. These passages bring us to this solemn alternative:
(1) Either Jehovah and Christ are one, or
(2) The Scriptures are not only utterly untrustworthy, but are derogatory to the supreme glory of God, for He Who declares that there is none else beside Himself is definitely and unreservedly associated with Christ in the glory of His incommunicable name. The word Kurios (Lord) occurs 737 times in the New Testament. Of these, in eighteen instances it is applied to men. In 54 instances it appears in the discourses and parables of Christ, where it represents either Christ, or the Father. In 665 occurrences, the great remainder, the title is applied indiscriminately to the Father and to the Son. Christ is declared to be ‘Lord of all’ (Acts 10:36). ‘The Lord from heaven’ (1 Corinthians 15:47). ‘The Lord, the righteous Judge’ (2 Timothy 4:8). Ephesians 4:5 declares, ‘There is one Lord (heis Kurios)’, and in 1 Corinthians 8:6 we read, ‘To us there is but One God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord (heis Kurios) Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him’. With these passages compare the great monotheistic declaration, ‘Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God (Elohim, plural) is one Jehovah’, which the LXX renders, ‘Kurios ho Theos hemon, Kurios heis esti’. They who emphasize the first part of 1 Corinthians 8:6 to the exclusion of the Lord Jesus Christ from the Godhead, must also equally exclude the Father from the title Lord, which would rule out every reference to Jehovah in the Old Testament. The apostle uses the very words, with reference to Christ, to which the Jews so tenaciously clung, as establishing the doctrine of the unity of the Godhead.
Consider again the words of Christ Himself in John 8:58, ‘Amen, Amen, I say unto you, before Abraham came into being (genesthai) I AM’. If the Lord Jesus was not here claiming the title of Jehovah as revealed in Exodus 3:14, His words are not even grammatical or common sense. If the words ‘I am’ merely mean the same as when used by us as ordinary parts of speech, they are used ungrammatically. If the Lord Jesus had merely intended that He existed before Abraham did, He would have said ‘Before Abraham was, I was’; instead he used the words ‘I AM’. The highest seraphim, or the archangel Michael, could not have thus replied; they could only have said, ‘Before Abraham was, I was’. The Lord Jesus does not speak like this; He says ‘I AM’. The words thus used constitute a claim to essential Deity, ‘I AM’ being an exclusive name of God. In Exodus 3:14-15 we read, ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you ... The LORD (Jehovah) God of your fathers’. Bishop Wordsworth says:
‘The name Jehovah is a word of higher import (than Elohim); it is derived from the old verb havah, to be, and signifies self-existence. Its proper meaning seems to be He is (see Gesenius, p. 337). It was rarely uttered by the Jews, on account of their reverence and awe for the divine Being ... but in its stead, they uttered the word Adonai. Christ unreservedly claimed this awful name; His claim was understood though not acknowledged, for immediately upon saying the words in John 8:58 we read, "Then took they up stones to cast at Him"‘. The words of Revelation 1:4, ‘Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come’, are a paraphrase of the Hebrew word Jehovah. This title, with certain modification, occurs four times in the Revelation.
Revelation 1:4 is undoubtedly referring to God the Father, for verse 5 says, ‘and from Jesus Christ’. In Revelation 1:8 the title is linked on the one side with the words, ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending’, and on the other with the word ‘Almighty’ El Shaddai of the Old Testament. In Revelation 4:8 we have the title again set in the highest place. ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come’. Again in Revelation 11:17 : ‘We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned’. This reigning is the subject of the great voices in heaven, ‘The sovereignty of this world is become the sovereignty of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign unto the ages of the ages’ (Revelation 11:15).
There can be no doubt in the minds of our readers as to Who it is that is destined to be King over this world. He Who was born King of the Jews is yet to hold the universal sceptre and reign. Prophecy is full of glowing prediction of the coming days when the Lord Jesus Christ shall reign and sit upon the throne; but every added prophecy to the kingship of Christ, every added testimony that Christ is the One to reign as predicted in Revelation 11:15, is so much added testimony that He is ‘the One Who is, and was, and is to come, the Almighty’, the Jehovah Elohim of the Old Testament. This title is echoed in the words of Hebrews 13:8, ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and unto the age’, and is established by Colossians 1:16, for He Who created all things (past), Who upholds all things (present), and for Whom all things were created (future), is the Lord Jesus Christ. If the present and future glories here are personally true of Christ, what is it but a foregone conclusion which seeks to make the passages which speak of the creative work of Christ impersonal, being, as they say, the work of the Father in view of the fact that Christ was to be born. Is it to say the least, honest?
Every title and attribute which is the exclusive claim of God is given by the Scriptures to Christ with one important exception - invisibility. The Lord Jesus Christ is everywhere acclaimed as ‘God over all, blessed for ever’. The Scriptures compel the reader to choose between two alternatives:
(1) A Saviour Who is truly man and truly God, or (2) A man who was blasphemously impious in His claims. The rational alternatives have always been the same: stoning Him or worshipping Him! In the full warrant of the Word of God we bow before the Lord Jesus Christ, rendering to Him that supreme adoration which Deity alone can rightly demand or receive, saying:
‘Unto Him that loved us, and washed (loosed) us from our sins ... be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen’ (Revelation 1:5-6).