The Deity of Jesus

The Jehovah’s Witnesses, as opposed to the rest of the Christian world (as far as I know), believe that Jesus was not God in any way shape or form. They believe He was simply the first-created angel, and the head of their organization. As amazing as this idea is, you have to understand what the Witnesses stand for, what makes them unique. That is that they are all about Jehovah, the God of the old testament, and His glorification. There is only one “God” to them. What is so ironic about this belief is how close to the Truth they really are.

The Witnesses start out by saying that the King James Translation is a good one, but then go on to use their own translation. In their translation, the New World Translation (NWT), they substitute Jehovah for every reference to God in the Old Testament, and for Jesus -when referenced in his role in salvation – in the New. Now one can argue about whether or not to substitute Jehovah in for LORD, but substitution in the NT for Jesus is simply wrong. No credible Bible scholar supports this view. But that’s not all.

See, the Bible makes many, many references to the deity of Christ. None of them say “Jesus was God” per se, so we are forced to collect the references and examine them as a whole. This is actually very fortunate. If God chose to say in only one place in the Bible that Jesus was God, that reference could have been lost or changed, and we would not understand this truth. Instead, we have many scriptural passages like:

John 1:1-15, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.”

Which clearly deify Jesus. Another example is:

Matthew 26:62-65, “And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

Which shows Jesus claiming that He was the Son of God. Now then, what did it mean to be “the Son of God?” It meant something very specific to the Jews. See my explanation in my study on the Godhead.

Eliminating the word Jesus from the New Testament is only part of the battle when the war is being fought over the divinity of the Christ. You also have to remove complicated references as above which simply work from the assumption that Jesus was God and continue from there. The NWT doesn’t stop with name substitution, it goes on to horribly mangle the passage in John chapter 1 in a way that has drawn criticism from every credible critic. In fact, the men responsible for the NWT didn’t even know Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. They just thought that they knew how it should have been translated, I guess.

Why would the Witnesses trouble themselves so much with the name of God, when the Bible (KJV) clearly indicates the importance of the name of Jesus? Allow me now to digress and explain what the whole idea of the “name of God” is all about. Perhaps a clear understanding of who God really is will follow.

Acts 4:11-12, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Philippians 2:5-12, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The first passage says that salvation is through the name of Jesus, not Jehovah. It might be significant here to understand that Jehovah is the “basic” name of God. He had many appendages. Jehovah-jireh means “the Lord my provider.” Jehovah-shalom means “the Lord my peace.” Jehovah-nissi means “the Lord my banner.” Jehovah-jehoshua, or Jehovah-joshua, is the Jewish which was transformed in the Greek to Jesus, and it means, beautifully “the Lord my Savior.” It is in this last incarnation that the revelation of the Lord has matured for this age.

See, God didn’t even have a name when he created Adam and Eve, at least not that is recorded. It was during the time of the end of Genesis chapter four that “men began to call upon the name of the LORD.” Here is the first time that the name tetramagon was used. In the Hebrew writing fashion, there were no vowels, only consonants. Therefore the name of God was written JHWH. But the name was so holy that no one would speak it. So much reverence was given the name of God that exactly how to pronounce it became lost. No one really knows if it should be Yahweh or Jehovah, and I am not about to start a discussion on which one is correct.

When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he asked who he should say sent him. In Exodus 3:14-15, God replied the “I AM.” In John 8:58, Jesus makes the claim that He, too, is the “I AM.” A mistake? A lie? A misinterpretation? No. As the OT unfolds, we see that God is revealing parts of Himself to us through the ages. The current “dispensation” that we are in know God in the fullest as Jesus, the Lord our Savior.

After the resurrection, God will have a new name. Surprised? Read about it:

Revelation 3:12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”

God is continually revealing Himself, not just through the ages, but in each of our lives. Whether or not we choose to follow the increasing understanding that God is trying to teach us, or cling to our own prideful way of thinking, based upon only what we can grasp or prove, is our choice. When it’s more important to be “right” that to please God and take scripture at face value on faith, there can be no more growth, no more understanding. And then…

Romans 1:17-25, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

(Emphasis mine, of course.)