Board index ‹ The Trinity

[jimwalton]

OK, here’s the full scoop from the Bible on Jesus, if you want to avoid the way people try to explain and let the Bible explain it. I’ll let the Bible speak for itself, and you tell me what you think.

Deuteronomy 6.4: There is only one God. No bones about it. Although to be honest I have to say the Hebrew word for “one” (‘echad) is in a plural form, the same form of the word used in Gn. 2.24, “…the two shall be one flesh.”

Psalm 110.1: God says to God, “Sit next to me and rule with me.”

Isa. 9.6: The prophecy of a male child to be born who will be Mighty God (el gibbor) and Everlasting Father. He will be divine and the possessor of eternity. But he’ll be a human child.

John 1.1: The Word (who we later find out is Jesus) is with God, and he is God. This Jesus “was” in the beginning (the tense used signifies continuous existence). The pronoun “with” conveys a sense of not only proximity but active communion/engagement/mutuality. And Jesus was God, “was” again signifying continuous existence.

John 1.2: It is emphasizes that Jesus was with God, separate but communing.

John 8.58: Jesus made seven “I AM” statements, equating himself with YHWH. This is one of them, as an example.

John 10.10: Jesus, who has been talking to God all his life as if God is “up there,” says, “I and the Father are one.” He labels “the Father” as a separate entity, but uses the word “one” (hen). If he meant “one person” he would have used heis, but he called him by a different name and used hen, meaning one in essence of nature. If he meant separate persons, he would have used the plural, but he used the nominative singular.

Phil. 2.6: “[Jesus] who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…” The word for “very nature” used here is morphe: form, shape. It was a word used of statues. It speaks here of God’s attributes, since God has no shape. Whatever God is, Jesus is. And that wasn’t something he had to achieve or earn. It was eternally in his possession.

Colossians 1.15: “Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” The word used here is eikon. Manifestion; likeness. A representation to make something more real. Resemblance in some essential character.

Hebrews 1.3: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” God’s glory shines in Christ, just as light at the sun lights the earth. Whatever glory God has, Jesus has. Jesus is the exact representation of his being. “Representation” is character, used of the impression on coins: the very stamp of God’s substantial nature and essence. Whatever substance God is, Jesus is.

And yet it’s undeniable that Jesus was human. He was born from a woman as a baby. He got hungry, tired, he bled, he cried. In addition to that, he did things only God can do. John 1.3 says he was the creator, for instance. He claimed to forgive sin.