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WHOWAS JESUS?
(Continuedfrom page 19)
they are on the same plane and leve!
of existence as yourself. They are
not
inferior beings like animals. Jesus
was equal with God in the sense that
he existed on the same God-plane
that the Father does. True, the one
whom we know as the Father was
and is greater in authority- "my
Father is greater than 1" (John
14:28, KJV).
Continuing his discussion with
the Pharisees, Christ drove home
the point that he was indeed God's
Son: "Truly, truly, 1 say to you,
the
Son
can do nothing of his own
accord, but only what he sees the
Father doing;
for whatever he does,
that
the Son
does likewise. For
the
Father
!oves
the Son,
and shows
him all that he himself is doing;
and greater works than these will
he show him, that you may marvel.
For as
the Father
raises the dead
and gives them life, so also the Son
gives life to whom he will" (John
5:19-21 ). Jesus possesses the same
powers that the Father does,
because he too is God.
Jesus Christ said: "l and the
Father are one" (John 10:30). Not
that they are the same being, but
they are one in purpose, one in plan
and, most of all, one in the sense
that they are members of the same
God family.
If anyone in that generation saw
Jesus, they saw how one in the God
family would act if he were here on
earth- and specifically the Father.
"And Jesus cried out and said, 'He
who believes in me, believes ¡not in
me but in him who sent me. And
he
who sees me sees him who sent
me'"
(John 12:44-45).
Jesus Resumed Glorlfied Godship
We have firmly established the fact
that Jesus was God before his human
birth. Notice just one more verse to
that effect: "And now, Father, glori–
fy thou me in thy own presence
with
the glory which
1
had with thee
before the world was made"
(John
17:5). Jesus was a glorified God–
being before there ever was an angel
or man on earth. In fact, Jesus has
eternally existed as God.
But he divested himself of his
former glory and carne down to this
44
earth as a human being to (among
many other things) die for the sins
of all mankind.
Paul wrote to the Philippian
brethren: "Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ
Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped, but
emptied himself, taking the form of
a servant, being born in the likeness
of men. And being found in human
form he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even
death on a cross" (Phil. 2:5-8).
Paul then brings out the fact that
Jesus is
now
restored to his former
glory: "Therefore God has highly
exalted him and bestowed on him
the name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow [God does
not allow human beings to worship
other human beings or even
angels--only members of the God
family], in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue
.confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father"
(verses 9-11 ).
John also wrote of Jesus' resum–
ing his Godship. Notice Christ's
words in the true Lord's prayer:
"And now
1
am no more in the
world ... and
1
come to thee"
(John 17:11, KJV).
Earlier Jesus had said to his dis–
ciples: "What and if ye shall see the
Son of man ascend up where he was
before?" (John 6:62, KJV.) Later
they did see just that (Acts 1:9).
Notice John 7:33 (KJV): "Then
said Jesus unto them, Yet a little
while am 1 with you, and then 1 go
unto him that sent me."
Concerning the occasion of
Christ's last Passover, J ohn begins:
"Now before the feast of the pass–
over, when Jesus knew that his
hour was [very soon to] come that
he should depart out of this world
unto the Father ... " (John 13:1,
KJV) .
John repeats this vital theme
over and over again. "1 carne forth
from the Father, and am come into
the world: again, 1 leave the world,
and go to the Father" (John 16:28,
KJV).
lnc r edible Dest i ny of Man
Jesus was God before his human
birth; he was God in the fiesh
while a human being here on
earth; and he is
now
very God at
the right hand of the Father in
heaven. But must we stop there in
our knowledge?
Jesus said to Mary Magdalene:
"Touch me not; for 1 am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go to
my brethren, and say unto them,
1
ascend unto my Father, and your
Father; and to my God, and your
God" (John 20:17, KJV).
. In this verse, Jesus was equating
himself ( though he was their Lord
and Master-John 13:13) with his
disciples and future apostles. What
is the real significance of this state–
ment? Jesus himself gives us the
true answer in John 10. "The Jews
took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them, '1 have
shown you many good works from
the Father; for which of these do
you stone me?' The Jews answered
him,
'It
is not for a good work that
we stone you but for blasphemy;
because you, being a man, make
yourself God.'
Jesus answered
them, 'ls it not written in your law,
"1 said,
you are gods"?
[see Psalm
82:6] If he called them gods to
whom the word of God carne (and
scripture cannot be broken), do you
say of him whom the Father conse–
crated and sent into the world,
"You are blaspheming," because 1
said, "1 am the Son of God" ?' "
(verses 31-36).
This very vital passage of Scrip–
ture reveals, believe it or not, that
man's ultimate destiny is to
become
a part of the God family.
Notice John's first letter once
again: "Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he [Christ] shall
appear,
we shall be like him; for
we shall see him as he is"
(1 John
3:2, KJV). Can you grasp what
John is saying here? Even as God
became man, so man may become
God
under certain conditions.
Man is to become just as much
God as Christ is God. That in a
nutshell is the transcendent pur–
pose of human life!
What can one do to ensure that
this wonderful event does indeed
happen to him? Verse 3: "And
every man that hath this hope in
him purifieth himself, even as he
[Christ] is pure."
o
The PLAIN TRUTH