Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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Christ Is God
Chapter 17 – Two Gods?
Although the New Testament consistently presented God and Christ as a pair, it was always with God in charge and Christ as His primary servant. In every other respect, the two were equal. Equal in power, and equal in virtue.
That’s why we should not be surprised when the New Testament occasionally uses the word “God” to describe each of them. These occasions are rare, but noticeable.
Consider, for example, these references in the beginning of the Gospel of John. Notice how both beings are variously described as God.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
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John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
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John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Later on in the Gospel of John, something interesting happens once Jesus has been raised from the dead. Specifically, notice that Thomas calls Jesus “my God,” even though in a separate scene earlier in the chapter, Jesus had spoken of His Father as “my God.” Therefore, Jesus could be called God, but He Himself had a God – who was THE God.
John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
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John 20:28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Why would John have been able to write this without getting confused, or without concern that he might confuse the people for whom he was writing? Because this very concept of God and Christ both being called God was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Let me explain.
In the following passage from Hebrews, Paul is quoting Psalm 45. (I added the actual Psalm 45 passage after it so you could see how closely the quotation aligns with the original.) Psalm 45 is foreshadowing New Testament times by addressing the king as God, and then noting that this king himself has a God – THE God. (It’s almost as if the psalmist had an advance copy of the Gospel of John passages we read above.) Paul tells us that the first God is the Son.
Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son He says,
“YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
Hebrews 1:9 “YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS;
THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU
WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”
Psalm 45:6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
Psalm 45:7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your fellows.
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