Page 2977 - Church of God Publications

I

N LAST

month's "Per–

sonal' ' we said that we

would finish the answer

to the question: Is Jesus

God?

and 1 am the last; besides me

there is no god.' "

Now turn to Isaiah 48:1 1-12.

" 'For my own sake,

1

do it, for

how should my name be profaned?

My g1ory

1

will not give to another.

H earken to me, O Jacob, and

Israel, whom 1 called! 1 am He, 1

am the first , and

1

am the last.' "

Verses 17- 18 show it was

Yahweh

speaking. And also in l saiah 4 1:4,

"Who has performed and done

this, calling the generat ions from

the beginning?

I,

the Lord, the

first, and with the last;

1

am He."

There is great confusion to–

day among religious leaders

concerning the true nature and

office of J esus Christ. Almost

no one, it seems, understands

that the Lord of the Old Testa–

ment- Yahweh

in Hebrew-is

the " Word" of the New Testa–

ment, who was made fl esh.

Here is the promised proof

that the Word or Jesus

Christ, not God the Father,

was

Yahweh,

or Lord of the

Old Testament.

As a fragment of the evi–

d ence, compare lsaiah 8: 13-

14 with

1

Peter 2:7-8,

Autho–

rized Version .

Jsaiah said , "The Lord of

hosts" (YHWH) shall be "a

stone of stumbling and ... a

rock of offence...."

Peter said , in quoti ng this

text in reference to Christ, he

is "a stone of stumbling, and

a rock of offence." J esus is

therefore the Lord - the

Eterna! of the Old Testament.

1

JE

Now compare Isaiah 40:3

with Matthew 3:3 and Mark

1:3. J ohn prepared the way

before

Yahweh

(I sa. 40:3) ,

who wa s Ch r ist ( M a rk

1:14-) 5).

I n R eve l ation 1 : 1 7

(Revised Standard Version

th roughout, except where

noted) we read , "When 1

saw him, 1 fell at his feet as

though dead. But he laid his right

hand upon me, sayi ng, 'Fear not,

l am the fi rst and the 1ast.' "

Again Revelation 22: 13, " I am

the Alpha and the Omega, the

first and the 1ast, the beginning

and the end." Study a1so

Revelation 22:16 for proof it was

Jesus

speaking. Jesus Christ calls

himself the A1pha a nd the

Omega, the Beginning and the

End, the First and the Last. Now

compare these texts with Isaiah

44:6: "Thus says the Lord, the

King of Israel and his Redeemer,

the Lord of hosts: ' 1 am the first

May 1986

•

All of these scriptures show that

Yahweh

is the First and Last.

Christ is the

Yahweh

of the Old

Testament.

In 1Corinthians 10:4, the " Rock"

of the O ld Testament is called

Christ. " For they drank from the

supernatural Rock which followed

them, and the Rock was

Christ"

(verse 4).

JI

Samuel 22:2-3: " He

said , 'The Lord

[Yahweh]

is my

rock,

a nd my fortress, a nd my

deliverer, my God, my

rock,

in

whom

1

take refuge, my shield and

the horn of my salvation, my

stronghold a nd my refuge, my

savior; thou savest me from

violence.' " See also verse 32.

In Psalm 18:1-2, thissame " Rock"

is Yahweh.

When Moses was talking

to

Yahweh,

and asked him his name

(Ex. 3:4-5, 13), he answered that his

name was

" 1

AM"

(verse 14) and

Yahweh - the

Eterna} One (verse

15). See also Exodus 6:2-3. In John

18:5-8, as soon as Jesus identified

himself as

"I

am" to the mob led

by Judas (the "he" in italics is added

without inspiration, and was not in

the or iginal), they went backward

and fell to the ground. Again in John

8:56-58, J esus called himself:

" 1

am." For we read, "Jesus

said to them, 'Truly, truly,

1

say

to you , before Abraham was,

l

am'"

(verse 58).

The person of the Godhead

who is our Redeemer is Jesus

Christ. John 4:42 says this:

" T hey said to the w0man,

'It

is

no 1onger because of your

words that we be1ieve, for we

have heard for ourselves, and

we know that this is indeed the

Savior of the world.' " " But

o u

r

com mon wealth is in

heaven, and from it we await a

Savior.

the Lord Jesus Christ"

{Phil. 3:20). Read also Titus

2:10- 14, Luke 1:68-69.

That Jesus, the Savior, is

Yahweh;

see Isaiah 49:7 and

60:16, where

he- Yahweh

- isa/so

"the Mighty One of

Jacob" (to be

O F

Jacob

means a son, or descendant of

Jacob)-the Mighty One of

all J acob's children. Also in

Isaiah 48:17,

Yahweh

is

called the R edeemer, and the

Holy One of Israel- the One

of Israel who is Holy! The

same is expressed in Isaiah

43:14, " Thus says the Lord, your

Redeemer, the H oly One of

Israel. ..." Also note the next

verse ( 15),

Yahweh

is l srael's

Hol y One , Creator of Israel ,

Israel's King. Now notice in Acts

3:14-15 that the Christ who was

denied was the same "Holy

One"- Yahweh!

" But you denied

the Hol y and R ighteous

One ... the Author of Ji fe...."