The Bible tells us so much about Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and Savior. He was seen by men, slept, died, had a will separate from God, learned obedience, was born of a woman, became tired, knew discouragement, suffered pain, didn’t know the date of his own return, was tempted in all points like we are, and grew in his understanding of the word of God. None of these attributes can be applied to God. In fact, the Bible specifically says that none of the items listed can be true of God. Not only do we have a host of verses to show that Jesus and his Father were two separate beings, we have many Scriptures about Jesus that CANNOT be about God.
Trinitarians acknowledge this fact, but are not swayed by the impossible situation it creates for their doctrine. Instead Christ is divided into two parts; he is both God and man simultaneously. Terms are created such as the Hypostatic Union proposing that Jesus had two distinct natures: divine and human. Or the Communcatio Idiomatum (Latin for “communication of properties”) which is the teaching that the attributes of both the divine and human natures are ascribed to the one person of Jesus.
Again, we see confusion instead of clarity. Both divine and human characters existing simultaneously in one being? Both mortal and immortal natures present at the same time? Why create conundrums and paradoxes where none exist?
What the Bible student should be paying attention to is the word of God:
“Jacob’s well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour” [Our God is never weary.] (John 4:6).
For as by one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s [Christ’s] obedience many will be made righteous. [How can God be obedient?] (Rom 5:19).
“But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law,” (Gal 4:4).
“and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen” [Yet, multitudes saw Jesus.] (1Tim 6:15-16).
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage… Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted [God has never been tempted or had our nature.] (Heb 2: 14-15, 17-18).
“For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).
“Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,” (Heb 5:8).
“and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore,” [God alone has Immortality: God Cannot Die!] (Rev 1:18).
Along this vein of thought, some of the events in the New Testament would be quite implausible if Christ were God, and the Apostles understood this to be the case. What these events really show is that even Christ’s closest friends had much to learn about his role as Messiah, when he would claim his kingship, and why he had to die. The fact remains that these incidents would be quite puzzling if Christ were indeed God.
- Would Judas have betrayed God? Could he even have considered such a thing possible if Christ were God?
- The disciples all fled when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied him three times, and most were afraid to even attend the crucifixion. If they had known he was God the Son would they have behaved this way?
- Why would Peter use his sword in the Garden? Would he think God was incapable of defending Himself?
- At the Transfiguration the disciples offered to build three tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. If Christ were God, wouldn’t this be inappropriate? It almost makes Elijah and Moses equal to God.
- In John 15, Jesus commanded the disciples to love one another. He told them they were no longer his servants but his friends. He had made known to them all he heard from his Father. Did they think he was God?
- If they understood Christ was God, would Peter and the other disciples have given up and gone back to their fishing in Galilee?
Christ was still a MAN after his resurrection
The Trinitarian dogma of Christ’s combined divinity and humanity should end at his death and resurrection. After he was raised from the dead to sit at the right hand of God, his human nature would no longer exist. Yet the Scriptural record continues to describe Jesus as a man, even after he ascended to the right hand of his Father.
“because He (God) has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, and of this He has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Tim. 2:5).
Plus — Paul ties this belief to salvation in verses 3 and 4, “God, who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,” (Rev. 1:1).
The Father is Christ’s God
Without a shred of doubt, the Biblical record demonstrates that the Father is described as Christ’s God. Again, our Trinitarian friends will counter that this was a description of the relationship between the Father and His Son during Christ’s human life on earth. But, in truth, the description of the Father as God continues AFTER his resurrection and ascension to Heaven. How is it remotely possible that one person of the Godhead can be the God of the other? Particularly when such language is NEVER used in the other direction or in regard to the Holy Spirit?
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ ” [A quote from the Old Testament – Psa 22:1] (Matt 27:46).
[The next verses are all AFTER his resurrection]
“Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’ ” (John 20:17).
“May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:5-6).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,” (Rom 15:5-6)
“..that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,” (Eph 1:17).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Pet 1:3).
“..to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen” (Jude 25).
“He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name” (Rev. 3:12).
God and Christ are clearly identified as two separate persons
While similar to the verses used earlier, the Bible clearly differentiates between God and Jesus. Jesus prays to God, God hears his prayers, He is the God of Christ, Christ turns the Kingdom over to Him in the end, etc.
“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12).
“…yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:6).
“But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor 11:3).
“For God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection under him,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one” (1 Cor 15:27-28).
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Tim 2:5).
“and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel” (Heb 12:23-24).
Christ’s own growth and personality
The New Testament record tells very little about Jesus’ childhood. But it does show us that he grew up just like we do, learning from his experiences and gaining knowledge about God. The following two verses from Luke 2 are almost identical to the description given to us in 1st Samuel about the childhood of Samuel himself. Again, these are great descriptions of a Son growing to be a man, but odd for a God.
“And the child [JESUS] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him” (Luke 2:40).
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 5:7-9).
God is greater than Jesus
Another set of verses in the Bible show that God the Father is greater than his Son. Again, this hierarchy applies to both before and after Christ’s resurrection from the dead and elevation to the right hand of God.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren — him you shall heed —. ….I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him” (Deut 18:15, 18).
“He said to them, ‘You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father’ ” (Matt 20:23).
“I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30).
“You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I’ ” (John 14:28).
“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority’ ” (Acts 1:7).
“Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).
“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs” (Heb 1:1-4).
Two separate wills
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt 26:39).
“I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30).
“And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8).
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One