Many people make Christ out to be much less than what he is proclaimed to be in the Bible. He is called a good teacher, or a prophet. Never accept any “Jesus” who isn’t fully divine and fully man. Be completely and unashamedly biblical in the Jesus you worship. Christ himself warned us of false Messiahs. He said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.” Mathew 24:4-5.
From the misinformed corruption and man-made traditions of early church history, to the prosperity gospel today, believers are inundated with false teachings.
Key to Jehovah’s Witness doctrine is the denial of the trinity. They will point out the error of believing that Jesus is God by directing attention to scripture that supports their views, such as, “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I.” John 14:28. Jehovah’s Witnesses will tell you that God cannot die and that Jesus never claimed to be God. In reality, the Bible clearly states that Jesus claimed to be God, resurrected himself, and that he in fact was present at the creation of the world and the universe.
Isaiah 9:6 foretells of the coming Messiah, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The original Hebrew word used for Almighty God is El Shaddai. Mighty God is written as El Gibbor. While these two words have different meanings, they are both used to describe Jesus and God (Isaiah 10:21). The Gospel of Mathew tells us, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). John begins his gospel by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1. Jesus is the Word that became flesh.
In the second chapter of John, Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” John 2:19. He said “I” will raise it up. His disciples recalled him saying this after his resurrection (John 2:22). It is written that, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.” Acts 2:32. If God raised Jesus, and Jesus raised himself, the scripture clearly demonstrates that Jesus and God are the same being! Paul wrote that, “For in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form,” Colossians 2:9. Titus 2:13 says “while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Each time the Jews challenged Christ about his identity, Jesus was accused of blasphemy. In the eighth chapter of John, Jesus is accused of claiming to be greater than Abraham. John wrote, “’Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born I AM!’” John 8:58. They immediately picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy. Later, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” John 10:30. Not one in essence but one in being. The Jews responded by picking up stones to stone him. Jesus asked them, ‘”I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ We are not stoning you for any good work,’ they replied, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.'” John 10:32-33. Jesus was intentional in his choice of words and the Jews knew full well what he meant which is why they picked up stones. You cannot twist this passage to mean Jesus’s words did not offend his audience. Furthermore, if Jesus never claimed to be God, there wouldn’t have been any charges laid against him for blasphemy and he would never have been crucified!
Jesus allowed and accepted worship and praying to him is biblical as is evidenced by Stephen who prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” as he was being stoned to death. Acts 7:59. Furthermore, Thomas finally believed Jesus after feeling the holes in his hands and his side and proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28. There can be no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. He either is who he claimed to be or he was simply a lunatic and blasphemer. If he is God, then we must worship him, put our faith in him and base our life on his teachings. By making Jesus out to be substantially less than he is, Jehovah’s Witnesses have changed Christ into more human and less God therefore they deny the Son of God and thereby risk their very salvation because of their lack of belief.
Jesus is God’s perfect man and man’s perfect God. As the exact embodiment of the Father, Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. To gain an appreciation of this concept, I think Nabeel Qureshi nailed it with his explanation of the Trinity. He conveyed that you and I are human beings. That is what we are. Who we are is identified by our names. In the same way, the Creator of the universe is God. That is what he is. Who he is can be expressed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus was submissive to the Father in his role as Son in the same way that I am submissive to my father because he is the head of the family. That doesn’t make me any less of a human being than my father, nor does it make Jesus any less God than the Father.
Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Emanuel who is God with us. He is the way and the truth and the life. The Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counsellor, the Almighty God. Jesus is the Word and the Truth, he is the culmination of all of God’s promises, perfect yet humble. “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16-17.
It is my sincere prayer that you will seek the Lord with all of your heart and all of your mind and all of your soul. That you will pursue Christ, holding nothing back as he held nothing back for you. That as you live your life you will stand faithful knowing that you are a child of the Most-High God, The Almighty. That you be filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed with peace in the knowledge that there is absolutely nothing in heaven or on earth that can pluck you from the Father’s hand. I pray that you allow the spark of Christ to ignite in you an eternal flame deep within your soul, that each time a new door opens that the flame is fanned and continues to burn bright and hot. That you will become a city on a hill, giving light to the darkness that surrounds you. May your faith be strong like a lion and as gentle as a lamb. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26.
