Is Jesus GOD? Yes.
Is Jesus human? Yes.
Is Jesus the same Person as GOD? It depends on our definitions. Let me explain.
The nature of Jesus and His relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit is simultaneously simple and complex, the more we think about it. This is largely due to the limitations of human thinking and the laws of mathematics GOD has set up as to how this earth works.
The nature of Jesus was one of the hotly debated topics among Christians of the first several centuries A.D.
There is one GOD.
Moses told Israel:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
(Deut. 6:4 NIV)
Yet that one GOD is comprised of three personalities which are separate Beings:
- Father,
- Word / Son and …
- Spirit.
We see this in the Genesis creation account:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. …
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
(Gen. 1:1-3, 26 NIV)
All three can be seen in the planning.
The Father may be seen in the speaking and overseeing GOD’s plan.
The Spirit was present, moving about.
And the Word was the executioner of the will of GOD.
What the Father spoke, the Word did.
We see the same in John 1:
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 1:1-3 NIV)
The three Persons of the trinity—Father, Word / Son and Spirit—are completely and totally unified.
On one occasion, when Jesus was confronted by the Jews about His nature, John wrote:
22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
(John 10:22-39 NIV)
Jesus and the Father, though separate and independent Persons with unique roles, were so unified as to be “one.”
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
(John 5:19-23 NIV)
While Jesus was on earth, the Father remained in heaven, yet His Spirit continually fills the planet at all times.
He is everywhere present at the same time.
So, yes, Jesus and the Father are both GOD.
And yet, Jesus and the Father are distinct separate Beings.
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