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 19 – One God, One Lord!
Having “two Gods” or even “twin Gods” in the 1st century wouldn’t have been all that unusual. After all, it was still a polytheistic world. Practically every nation had its own god or collection of gods. And there were all sorts of local deities as well.
What made ancient Jews of the Old Testament and ancient Christians of the New Testament different from everyone else back then was the difference between believing there was one true God among all the gods (which is what the Jews and Christians believed) or that there was no one true God among all the gods (which is what most everyone else believed). For this reason, we find the expression “God of gods” in the Bible as a way of identifying the one true God.
(In modern times, we can use upper and lower case initial letters to distinguish the true “God” from all the other, and therefore, false “gods.” Recall that the ancients formed all their letters in the same way and therefore had no way to capitalize a word. The Bible is understandable, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that it is an ancient text. It cannot use punctuation the way we do.)
It’s easy enough to see how the Jews in the Old Testament made clear that they only believed in one God. But what about the ancient Christians? In the beginning, they were all Jewish…so they weren’t about to turn their back on the idea that there was only one God. How then did they acknowledge the exalted position God was obviously giving to Jesus? They used God’s language from Psalm 110:1. As a result, they didn’t have two Gods – they had “one God and one Lord.”
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.
1 Corinthians 8:5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
The one David called “The LORD” is the one Paul is calling the “one God.” And the one David called “my Lord” is the one Paul is calling “one Lord” – that is, Jesus Christ.
This “one God, one Lord” distinction is seen also in the following passage from Paul.
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
And, although not using the word “Lord” per se, this verse follows the same pattern:
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
1 Timothy 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
This is the revelation that came out of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead according to the Scriptures.
For this reason, although not always in one sentence, we do see “God” and “Lord” – or their synonyms – consistently paired throughout the New Testament. And they’re always ranked the same way: God over Christ.
The Old Testament had foreshadowed what God would do through Christ.
Genesis 41:55 …Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.”
Pharaoh and Joseph in the Old Testament were an analogy for God and Christ in the New Testament.
| Realm | Owner | Manager | |
| OT | Egypt | Pharaoh | Joseph |
| NT | Universe | God | Christ |
Thus the Resurrection revelation of “One God, One Lord” meant a Supreme Being served by a supreme creature.
(The Second Coming happened in the 1st century AD. The revelation that came with it showed that the supreme creature was more than a creature. We’ll study this later in the book. For now, let’s just keep growing in our understanding of what was revealed at the Resurrection of Christ.)
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