Evaluating the Responses...Round 3

Remember, this series of posts is based on the following statement from the survey:

The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.

Let's get started...

"Who do you say that I am?"

That is the question our Lord asked Peter.

That is the same question the Lord asks those who profess to believe in Him today...

"Who do you say that I am?"

Without going into a massive amount of detail, I'd like to hit the high points of two major groups of professing "Christians".

The first group believes Jesus was the first "spirit child" born to God the Heavenly Father and one of his multiple wives.  They do not recognize Jesus as the one true God but hold that He BECAME God just as they will all eventually become gods.  They believe that Lucifer was the second "son" born to God.  Therefore, Jesus and Lucifer are "spirit brothers".  This group is known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...AKA the Mormons.

The second group believes Jesus is the archangel Michael.  Thus, Jesus is a created being for them as well.  Logically, this belief leads to the denial of Jesus' deity and, by extension, a denial of the doctrine of the Trinity.  This group also rejects the penal substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross, paying the penalty for sin. Instead, it opts for a "ransom" theory...that Jesus' death was a "ransom" payment for Adam's sin.  This group is known as the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Both of these groups have been classified as cults because their beliefs fall well outside the boundaries of orthodox, biblical Christianity.  However, there is a growing number of professing Christians, including the creator of The Chosen series, Dallas Jenkins, who balk at the notion that Mormons worship a different Jesus.  They believe that Mormons are our brothers and sisters in Christ, worshipping the same "jesus" we worship.  That could not be farther from the truth.

Why am I starting this post in this fashion?  The reason is simply this:

There are an alarming number of professed evangelicals that hold beliefs which are absolutely identical to heretical cults.  This is astounding and disturbing at the same time.

In this edition, we are going to consider two statements in one post.  The reason we are going to examine the responses to two statements in one post is because the two statements are basically joined at the hip.  Here are the two statements:

Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.

Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.

So, who do evangelicals say Jesus is?

A mind numbing, dumbfounding 73% of professing evangelicals agree with the first statement while nearly half, 48%, agree with the second.

As Christians, we establish our doctrine on what the Bible teaches.  What DOES the Bible teach on these matters?  

Let's open the Bible and see what it has to say.  John 1:1-3:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

These three verses tackle those two statements head-on.

I'm going to rely on www.blueletterbible.org a good bit from here on out.  It's such a good resource.

"In the beginning was the Word".  The Greek word translated as beginning means, strangely enough, "beginning" or "origin".  

John uses "the Word" to refer to Jesus.  John's use of "the Word" to describe Jesus is full of meaning to both his Greek and Jewish readers of the day.  It is an interesting study that would take up much more space than is available in this post.   

The verb "was" is a small word but very important.  The Greek word translated as "was" means "to be, to exist, to happen, to be present".  It is in the imperfect tense.  This verb tense represents continual or repeated action.  It is in the active voice.  This means that the subject...in this case "the Word"...is the doer or performer of the action.  Lastly, it is in the indicative mood.  That is a simple statement of fact.

Tying all of that together, those six words mean this:

In the origin, or beginning, the Word was continually being, continually existing, continually happening, continually present.

These words "In the beginning" from John 1 are linked together with Genesis 1..."In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".  John 1 is referring back to Genesis 1.  When everything was created "In the beginning" in Genesis 1:1, the Word was already continually existing "In the beginning".  This does not refer to someone or something that was created.  The Word (Jesus) was not created because the Word (Jesus) was before anything was created.  We will see this in a moment.

As we continue on in verse 1, we read "the Word was with God".  The Word was in a continual state of existing or being with God "In the beginning".  Again, this is all before creation.

Continuing to the end of verse 1, we read "and the Word was God".  This clearly states the deity of the Word.  The Word (Jesus) was continually existing, continually present as God.  The Greek sentence structure is even more clear.  The original Greek reads, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and GOD WAS THE WORD."  That is unambiguous.

In verse 1, both statements are refuted.  Jesus was not created because He continually existed.  Jesus WAS God because John, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, clearly says exactly that.  Let's jump to verse 3.

In verse 3 we read:

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

The phrase "came into being" translates a single Greek word that means "to become" or "to come into existence".  The "Him" in this verse is referring back to the Word (Jesus).  Verse 3 is saying that all things became, came into existence through Him and apart from Him nothing became or came into existence.

Since John 1 and Genesis 1 are linked, let's go back to Genesis 1..."In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  Who created?  God created.  Jumping back to John 1:3, all things came into existence (were created) through Him (Jesus) and apart from Him nothing that was created has been created.  John 1:3 refutes both statements as well.  This verse clearly presents Jesus as the creator of all things.  Genesis 1 says God created the heavens and the earth.  By simple logic, we can conclude that Jesus was God.  In addition, Jesus being the Creator of all things implies that He CANNOT be a created being.  Jesus can either do the creating or be a creation.  He cannot simultaneously be a created being and the Creator of all things.  That is not possible.

The idea that Jesus was God's greatest creation and that He was not God dies a well-deserved death with some basic knowledge of the Bible and what it says.  The pages of Scripture could not be any more explicit on these subjects.  Sadly, it is completely misunderstood or, even worse, unused in the vast majority of households today.

Although I believe John 1 was more than effective in dismantling these two statements, here is a list of scriptures that declare the deity of Jesus and, by default, show that He was NOT a created being.  This is not a complete list as the list would take up too much space but it's a start:

Matthew 14:33

Matthew 28:9

John 1:14

John 3:16

John 10:33

John 14:9

Colossians 1:16-17

Colossians 2:9

Philippians 2:6

Titus 2:13

Hebrews 1:2-3

Hebrews 1:8

1 John 4:9

1 John 5:20