Basic HTML Version
has come in the .ftesh
is of God, and
every spirit which does not confess
Jesus is not of God." He was con–
ceived in and boro of the human
vi rgin, Mary. "Now the birth of
Jesus Christ took place in this way.
When his mother Mary had been
betrothed to Joseph, before they
carne together she was found to be
with child of the Holy Spirit" (Matt.
1:
18, RSV). He was made not on ly
flesh , but
human
flesh and blood.
Notice Hebrews 2: 14: "Since then
the children are sharers in
blood and
.ftesh,
himself also in like manner
partook of the same" (l van Pan in
translation).
Jesus called Himself the Son of
MAN repeatedly, and also the Son of
God. Matthew wrote: "Now when
Jesus carne into the district of Cae–
sarea Philippi , he asked bis dis–
ciples, 'Who do men say tbat tbe
Son of man is?' And they said,
'Sorne say John the Baptist, others
say Elijah, and others Jeremiab or
one of the prophets.' He said to
them, ' But who do you say tbat I
am?' Simon Peter replied, 'You are
the Christ, the Son of the living
God .' And Jesus answered him,
' Biessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona!
For llesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father who is in
heaven'" (Matt. 16:13-17, RSV).
Jesus, in nature, is equal with
God- "Jesus: who, existing in God's
form, counted not that
being on an
equality with Goi1
ought to be
grasped at , but emptied him–
self ... being made in likeness of
meo" (Phi!. 2:6, Panin translation).
He is
called
God in Titus 2:10, 13.
Therefore He
is
God. The Bible
.contains so much on these points
that the above is a mere fragment of
the evidence.
Yes, Jesus is also "Jehovah," al–
though this word is a
mistranslation
used in the American
St~ndard
Ver–
sien. The original name; in the He–
brew, contained the consonants
"YHVH." The precise pronuncia–
tion of the name is not definitely
known since it ceased being pro–
nounced long before tbe time of
Christ. The
meaning,
in English, is
"THE ETERNAL," or "THE EvER-LIV–
ING," or the "SELF-EXISTENT." lt is
commonly supposed that YHVH,
or, as commonly called, "Jehovah,"
or, as in the Authorized Version,
The
PLAIN TRUTH June 1977
"the LORD," of the Old Testament
was God the F ATHER of J esus
Christ.
This is a.ftagrant error!
YHVH was the God of Israel, the
only One of the Godhead known to
ancient Israel. When He carne in
human flesh they did not recognize
Him. "He was in the world, and the
world was made by bim, and the
world knew him not" (Jobo 1: 10).
Neither did they know God the
Since God the Father created
a/1 things by Jesus Christ, and
since al/ things, including man,
were made by Jesus Christ,
He is our Maker and therefore
God, and His lite which He gave
was of greater value than the
sum total of al/ human beings.
Father (Matt. 11:27 and Luke
10:22).
In Genesis
l ,
the Hebrew name
translated "God" is
Elohim.
This is
a uniplural word (a collective noun)
such as "church," or "family." A
cburch or a fami ly consists of more
than one person, ye t is
one
church,
or
one
family. Jn this same sense
Elohim-the
God Kingdom- in–
cludes both God the Father and
YHVH (who was the
Logos
or the
WORD of God), and also their Spirit
emanating from them, the Holy
Spirit, the LIFE, CHARACTER, and
POWER of God. Jesus, in praying for
the welfare of the Church, prayed
that its many members might "be
ONE, asweareone"(John 17: 11,21 ,
Moffatt). The Church is ONE body,
yet composed of many members
(1 Cor. 12: 12). A husband and wife
are ONE FLESH, yet two persons.
The word "God" has two mean–
ings-t be God Kingdom or the
Family of God, AND the
persons
cornposing that Kingdom or Fam–
ily. Christ and the Father are ONE
God,
not two
Gods- one
Elohim.
That is why
Elohim
said: "Let us
make man in OUR image" (Gen.
1:26).
YHVH was the "WoRo" or
Spokesman of the Godhead- its sec–
ond member. As soon as God began
to SPEAK to man, it was always
YHVH wbo spoke (transla ted
"LoRo" in the Authorized, and "Je–
hovah" in the American Standard
Version-see Genesis 2: 16, 18 and
Exodus 20:2). Almost always it is
YHVH in the original Hebrew- the
"WORD" who was made ftesh. The
proof of this is a long study in–
volving hundreds of passages.
As a fragment of the evidence,
compare Tsaiah 8:13-14 with
1
Peter
2:7-8. Jsaiah said, "The LORD of
hosts"- YHVH- shall be "a stone of
stumb1ing and a rock of offence."
Peter said, in
quoting
tbis text in
reference to
Christ,
He is "a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offence."
Jesus is the LORD- the Eterna! of
the Old Tes tament.
Now compare lsaiah 40:3 with
Matthew 3:3 and Mark 1:3. John
prepared the way before YHVH
(lsaiah 40:3) who was CHRIST
(Mark 1:14-15).
In Revelation 1:17 we read:
"When
1
saw him, 1 fell at his feet as
though dead. But he laid his right
hand upon me, saying, 'Fear not,
1
am the first and the last.' " And in
verse 8:
"'1
am the Alpha and the
Omega,' says the Lord God, who is
and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty." Again Revelation
22: 13:
"1
am the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end." Study also
Revelation 22: 16 for proof it was
Jesus
speaking. Jesus Christ calls
H imself the Alpha and 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 and I am the last; besides
me there is no God.' "
Who ls Our Redeemer?
Now turn to Isaiah 48:11- 12. "For
my own sake, I do it, for how should
my name be profaned? My glory
1
will not give to another. 'Hearken to
me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom 1
called!
1
am He, 1 am the first, and I
am the las t.' " Verses 17-18 show it
was YHVH speaking. And also in
lsaiah 41:4: "Who has performed
and done this, calling the genera–
tions from the beginning? 1, the
LORD, the first, and with the last;
1
am He.'' All of these scriptures show
that YHVH is the First and Last.
Christ is the YHVH of the OId Tes–
tameo
t.
(Continued on page 38)
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