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
Appendix B: Objections and Answers
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Objection: If Jesus was God, how could He pray to God?
Answer: Jesus prayed as a man because He had the consciousness of a man. (Refer back to Chapter 44 – “The Nature of Consciousness.”) The consciousness of a man would not allow Jesus to know that He was God. For how could a man know that He was God and still be a man? It is the nature of being human to have limited knowledge. Jesus could not have been “tempted in all things as we are” (Hebrews 4:15) if He had had retained the consciousness of God.
It appears that Jesus did remember some things from His past. For example, consider verses like John 17:5 (where He remembers the time before creation), and Matthew 23:37 (where He remembers being the angel of the LORD (YHWH) in Old Testament times). But the memory that He Himself had been the invisible God that launched everything else was hidden from Him. He designed that into the plan when He originally formulated it as the Father (Acts 2:23).
According to the pattern illustrated by the story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, Jesus’ consciousness as the invisible God was restored to Him in the Second Coming.
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Question: If Jesus was “the only true God,” why did He call His Father “the only true God” in John 17:3?
Answer: There has only ever been “one true God.” That is the clear and consistent message from the Bible – both testaments. When God chose Himself to be the one who would die on a cross for our sins, He needed a way to do that. After all, He was invisible. How could anyone crucify an invisible being?
The invisible God took on flesh gradually. That is, he first became a heavenly being: the angel of the Lord. As the angel of the Lord, He created and governed the universe on behalf of the invisible God’s will. From that role, He transitioned to an earthly being: Jesus of Nazareth. At the time Jesus spoke the words in John 17:3, He was rightly referring to the one true God – the One in whose name and by whose power Jesus could live and speak. Only later would it be revealed to everyone – including Jesus – that Jesus was the one true God, humbling Himself before the world He had created.
The one true God had put the world on autopilot by virtue of “the predetermined plan” – which fully conveyed His will (His “last will and testament”) in all matters – until He could return to active and personal governance of the universe. He had to solve the problem of sin and death before really trying to accomplish anything else with us.
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Objection: If what you’re saying about God (God’s journey, Christ is God, etc.) is true, why is it just now coming to light? If it were true, wouldn’t people already know it? And who are you to be the one to share it?
Answer: First of all, I don’t know that I’m the only one to share it. I can only say that I didn’t not learn it from anyone else. I learned it from reading and studying the Bible. Anyone can do what I have done. Maybe others have done it. I’m not God, so I can’t say who does and doesn’t know these things. I do know that a lot of Christians deny that the Second Coming has already happened…but that doesn’t make it untrue. The same would therefore apply to any and all implications that flow from it. In all my books, I show you where in the Bible you can find the answers to questions like these. Once you see the answers in the Bible, you don’t need me anymore (John 4:39-42).
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If you have other objections to this book, say so in the comments box for this book and I’ll answer them there. And, if appropriate, I’ll add that question and answer to this appendix.
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