Is Jesus God?

 

Kenny Song at Harvest Revival Centre

Today is Palm Sunday and at our church this morning, the preacher spoke about Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people laid palms along his path, often used to greet royalty. They were waving them too, shouting Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of David. 

But they were expecting a different Jesus. They were expecting the Messiah King, a military King who would come to deliver them. They had been under Roman rule for more than 90 years and they thought this Jesus  would finally come to free them. These same crowd, would a week later be shouting crucify him. They were expecting a different Jesus. 

I grew up as a devout Buddhist and because I was born 11 years after my brother, my dad had more time with me and I would follow him to the temple every 1st and 15th day of the lunar month, follow all his religious rituals and go "cheng beng" with him. My dad was a very religious person so I just followed being a filial son. He would also come out to Penang every time before my exams to see a particular medium to bless me and for me to take the burnt "hu" - burnt fish paper.

Of course, years later I would discover that this was not exactly Buddhism per se. But that was my experience growing up. 

With this background, I grew up with a very specific concept of god and the deities.

First, they are not all powerful, because my dad will sometimes tell me one god is more powerful than another and sometimes we switch allegiance when results were not favourable.

Second, each god had a specific portfolio. One to bless your business and studies, a different one for protection, a different one to ward off evil and so on.

Third, they don't always work together. So even when I wear a talisman, it had to be odd numbers so that they don't "fight" each other.

So, my concept of God was always transactional. I do this and I get that. Or I do this and bad omens won't happen. I do this and I earn favour. There was no relationship and definitely no concept of love with the deities.

So it was extremely difficult for me to understand an all powerful creator God when the gospel was shared to me, especially when that God came in the form of a man who was bloodied and died suffering on the cross. But I did accepted him as Lord and Saviour and lo and behold so did my whole household including my religious dad, non religious mom and all my siblings.

That testimony of my family's salvation will have to be for another sermon, another day.

So why am I introducing today's sermon this way? It is because Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is next week, and it revolves around that one man I mentioned who died bloodied on the cross. Who exactly is Jesus? Is he just a prophet like Muhammad? Or a great teacher who did much good works?

Jehovah’s Witness will say he believes in Jesus. But to him, Jesus is “Michael the archangel, first creation of Jehovah-God, who came to earth as a man, died and rose as a spirit.

To the Mormons, Jesus is similar in that he is also an angel. A Spirit child of Elohim who is in the class of Spirit. He is the Spirit brother of the Lucifer who became the Devil.

To the Moonies, Christ failed in His earthly mission leaving Rev. Moon to finish the task.

How can Christians call him a God? The answer to this question is critical to our faith. If Jesus, the Son of God is not deity, then you and I are all here worshipping in vain and believers all over the world for all time would have followed a lost cause.

Do the Scriptures claim that Jesus possessed the unique characteristics of God? Has He existed eternally as the eternal Creator? Is He all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), and everywhere present (omnipresence). Is He unchanging (immutable)?

Certain characteristics are unique to God. No one but God - surely no created being - can possess them. Let us consider whether or not Jesus possesses these qualities. If He possesses the character which only Deity can possess, then this confirms that He possesses Deity. To claim He possesses these qualities when He is not Deity would be blasphemy.

Note that some passages already studied make general claims which necessarily imply that Jesus possesses the qualities of Deity. He possesses all the fullness of Deity (Colossians 2:9). He is the very image of the Father (Hebrews 1:3), and had the form of God (Philippians 2:6). He also wears the unique names of God. It follows that He must possess the characteristics of God.

Let us consider these qualities individually to see whether or not the Bible affirms that Jesus did possess them. Remember that, if Jesus ever possessed these qualities, then He has always possessed them and always will possess them (Hebrews 13:8). Deity cannot cease to be Deity and cannot lose the characteristics of Deity.

If we have time, I want to cover 5 aspects this morning about the characteristics of Christ.

1. Eternally Existent

Eternal existence is a unique characteristic of God.

Time is a concept that applies only to created beings. I used to love the science fiction - "The Time Machine". Later "Back to the Future" movie series. That's fiction. In real life, everything around us is bound by time. A beginning and an end. We are all bound to now. You cannot go back in time to undo nor can you go into the future to see. God has given all of us only the "now".

But Jehovah the true God has always existed and always will exist. He was not created. There was never a time when God did not exist. He is the everlasting Maker or Creator of all temporal, created things. The power of eternal existence is inherent in His nature (self-existence). He is the "living" God.

It is easier for us to comprehend that God is eternal. But what about Jesus, the Son of God?

Psalms 90:1-4

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place

throughout all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born

or you brought forth the whole world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust,

saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”

4 A thousand years in your sight

are like a day that has just gone by,

or like a watch in the night.

Jehovah is "from everlasting to everlasting you are God"

Job 36:26

How great is God—beyond our understanding!

The number of his years is past finding out.

Do Jesus possesses the characteristic of eternal existence? Jesus is not a created being but existed eternally.

Isaiah 9:6

6 For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

He is called "Everlasting" Father

Psalms 102:24-27

24 So I said:

“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.

25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them

and they will be discarded.

27 But you remain the same,

and your years will never end.

His "years are throughout all generations." The heavens and the earth are temporary so they will perish, but His "years will have no end."

How do we know this is talking about Jesus?

Hebrews 1:8,10-12 prove this was spoken to Jesus.

Hebrews 1:8, 10-12

8 But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;

a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

10 He also says, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

11 They will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

12 You will roll them up like a robe;

like a garment they will be changed.

But you remain the same,

and your years will never end.”

Many passages show that Jesus was not created but is the Creator of all created things.

John 1:1-3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This eternal existence of Jesus is a very important characteristics of a deity. 

2. All-powerful (Omnipotent)

Unlimited power over all created things is a unique characteristic of the true God.

Men and created beings may have some power over some other created things, but this power is limited. Only God's power is unlimited or absolute such that He has all power over all created things. Nothing is impossible for God. He has the power to do anything with His creatures that He chooses to do.

Matthew 19:26

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

And in my dictionary, what does ALL means? Everything and anything.

Jeremiah 32:17

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

Note the connection between creation and unlimited power. God possesses all authority over all that He created. Because He made it, it belongs to Him, and He has the right to do all whatever He chooses with it.

There is however one thing that God cannot do. Anyone knows the answer?

Don't ask me the question - Could God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it?

This question is frequently asked by skeptics of God, the Bible, Christianity, etc. If God can create a rock that He cannot lift, then God is not omnipotent. If God cannot create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it, then God is not omnipotent. 

So, the first part of the question is based on a false idea - that God being almighty means that He can do anything. In fact, the Bible itself lists things God cannot do - like lie or deny Himself (Hebrews 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:13; Titus 1:2). 

The other thing is God cannot make you love him simply because he gave you free will. The freedom of choice. If he did not, then we would be just like the animals God gave us dominion over. Ruled by instincts not by moral choice.

So the question of the rock is actually asking if God can make a contradiction - which He cannot. Because a rock is material which cannot be infinite while only God is infinite.

That's God.  Jesus possesses unlimited power because He made and owns all things.

Matthew 28:18 - Jesus possesses all authority in heaven and on earth.

Colossians 1:16

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

All things were created through Jesus and for Him. This is exactly the point we mentioned already regarding Deity. Jesus made everything, so all exists for His purposes and pleasure.

Note that unlimited power does not mean that God does everything He has power to do; rather, it means He has the power to do whatever He wills or chooses to do. For example, God still has power to destroy all men by means of a flood, but He voluntarily limits His power and does not exercise it because He has so chosen (Genesis 9:8-17).

Likewise, while on earth, Jesus still possessed all power because He was still God. But in order to fulfill His purpose here as a human servant (Philippians 2:6-8), He limited His use or exercise of His power, so He did not use it in any way that would conflict with His purpose as servant (Matthew 26:53,54).

Remember on the night Jesus was arrested and one of his companions drew sword and cut the soldier's ear? Jesus told him to put his sword back.

Matthew 26:53-54

53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

He was often said to completely conform to the will of the Father even as all humans should. After His resurrection, all His glory and privileges were given back to Him by the Father, so He again fully exercises all power which was His by right from the beginning.

3. All-Knowing (Omniscient)

Unlimited knowledge is a unique characteristic of Deity.

This characteristic is strongly tied to God's unlimited power. Because God has power to do everything He chooses to do, it follows that He has the power to know everything He chooses to know. God is unlimited in wisdom and knowledge in the same sense that He is unlimited in power. Unlimited power implies and results in unlimited knowledge.

Psalms 139:1-6

1 You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

Our finite mind cannot comprehend an infinite God. That is why I always believe you cannot reason a person into the kingdom of God. God saves. Not us. We are to just preach the gospel, share the good news. Conviction of the heart is by the Holy Spirit.

I mentioned that I grew up as a religious boy because of my father. God gave me a Christian classmate that Sat by me for three year sharing the gospel. But I was not moved and in fact argued with him.

At one time, I was supposed to play a badminton match but refused and pulled out of the competition because I found out the match would be played in a church badminton Hall! I was that against Christianity.

But one day, my sister from Singapore called up and told my father that she needs everyone in the family around as she has a very important news to share.

She flew up and told all of us she's become a Christian. My father almost fell off the chair. She's had an encounter with God on a Friday and she called us on a Saturday and flew up on a Sunday. Because she said she cannot risk not sharing with us by delaying. If anything happens to us, she would not see us in heaven. Her conviction was so strong.

She shared the same gospel I've heard umpteenth times. But it was different. God stirred my heart. And I made a very simple prayer. If there is a God, the creator God whom my sister mentioned, if he's real, I want to know him. And that's why I'm now here.

I'm glad someone planted the seed when I was in school. His words were never in vain.

You can never win an argument in order to win a person to Christ. God had to do the saving.

Psalms 147:4-5

4 He determines the number of the stars

and calls them each by name.

5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;

his understanding has no limit.

Note the connection between His power and His knowledge.

The ability to know everything He chooses to know and, in particular, to know what is in the hearts of men, is a unique characteristic of God.

Jesus possesses this unlimited wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2-3

2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

John 2:24-25

24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Jesus had the ability to know what was in the hearts of all men without being told. Remember, he also knew that Judas would betray him when none of the disciples had any inkling.

Note that this was expressly stated to be a unique power of Deity, yet Jesus possessed this power and He exercised it even while on earth.

Again, this unlimited knowledge rests on the Divine power to do whatever God wills. God knows because He chooses to know. But we learned previously that God's power is exercised or not exercised according to His will. He knows things only when it suits His purpose to exercise His power to know them.

In this way, while He was on earth accomplishing His purposes as a servant, Jesus did not always exercise this unlimited power to know all things. Mark 13:32 lists one thing in particular that He did not know.

Mark 13:32

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

We conclude, based on the above passages, that it did not serve His purposes on earth to exercise His power to know this matter.

Yet Jesus possesses the Divine power to know all things that He chooses to know, just as He possesses Divine power to do all things that He chooses to do.

4. Everywhere Present (Omnipresent)

The ability to be everywhere at once is a unique characteristic of God.

Man is limited by a physical body, hence he can be only in one place at any one time. God, however, is spirit and can be everywhere in the universe at the same time. This power, however, is also related to His unlimited power to act and to know. God is present everywhere in the sense that everything everywhere is in His presence - He can see, know, and act in all places at once.

Psalms 139:7-12

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

Wherever man is, God is there seeing him and knowing what man is doing.

Acts 17:27 - Men everywhere can find God because He is not far from each of us.

That is why we say God is only a prayer away.

It is because of this unique characteristic of God that He is able to know all things that men do, to read the hearts of all men, and to hear and answer the prayers of all of His people wherever they are.

Jesus also possesses this unique characteristic of God.

Do you think it is possible for Jesus to be at two places at one time? Not if you are thinking of Jesus in the flesh that walked this earth 2,000 years ago. Yet, scripture tells us that Jesus today is ever present.

Matthew 18:20

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 28:20

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We have already seen that Jesus has all power and can know all things, including what is in the hearts of all men. This is the fundamental concept of being present everywhere.

While on the earth, Jesus limited His power by taking on a physical body, being physically present where that body was. Nevertheless, He possessed the power to be everywhere at once, a unique characteristic of God, in that He is able to see, know, and act upon events no matter where they are.

5. Unchanging (Immutable)

Immutability is also a unique characteristic of God.

I often quote this. The only constant is change. The world we live in change. People change. We change.

You know how young couples just see how perfect the person they fell in love with is? They can do no wrong. And they say I love you just the way you are. Never change. You are perfect.

Then what happened? They got married.

When they were courting, they hold hands at the mall everywhere they go. So romantic. After marriage the husband says, we still always hold hands. If I let go, she shops!

Fortunately I married a practical wife. When at the mall, we split. She goes where she wants and likewise me. Then we meet at an agreed time and place. And she don't window shop. To my wife I say…don't change.

Man's character is flawed, hence we must continually be changing our character to make it what it ought to be. But God's character is perfect - without flaw - therefore it never needs to change and never does change. We have already studied certain characteristics unique to God. These characteristics He has always possessed and always will possess.

Malachi 3:6 - I am the Lord, I do not change.

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Numbers 23:19

God is not human, that he should lie,

not a human being, that he should change his mind.

Does he speak and then not act?

Does he promise and not fulfill?

To suit His eternal purpose, God has changed the laws and commands He has given to men, and He has at times changed what He does to suit His purposes. But His own character is what never changes. It follows that God can never lose His Divine characteristics. God cannot cease to be God and cannot cease to have the character of God.

Jesus possesses this characteristic of never changing.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hence, Jesus also possesses this unique characteristic of Deity. He is not like men who change but like the Father who does not change.

Note again that, since Jesus possesses this particular characteristic, but in order to accomplish His purposes, God may voluntarily choose at times not to exercise or use certain abilities. Jesus did this while on earth in order to fulfill His role as a human servant.

Philippians 2:6-8

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Conclusion

Jesus possesses all the unique characteristics of God. Jesus possesses true Deity even as does the Father and the Holy Spirit. These three together constitute the Godhead, the one true and living God we worship

So even as we approach Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday next week, let's be mindful that this Jesus that died bloodied on the cross did not have his life taken away. He gave his life. And he laid down his life for you and me. The creator God making the ultimate sacrifice so that we may be reconciled back to God.

Love for us drove him to the cross and because Jesus is not just a man, he rose again on the third day and conquered death. No man no matter how great has done that. They all died.

We have a glorious hope because of that and I pray, you will see Jesus in a very different light after today.

I leave with you a quote I wrote some time back.

"‎Many great men have left their mark on this world, but only one man bore marks on His hands and feet for all men for all times. We salute all these great men, but we worship only one!"