Only One God?
What about Jesus? Was He not God?
Question
A member of the Jehovah’s Witness sect with substantial knowledge of the Bible and a great deal of zeal in his beliefs posed a question in the form of this statement:
“My understanding was that Jesus is God but also a separate individual person/personage from the Father and that Jesus has always existed also from eternity as the Apostle Paul’s explanation of ‘Melchizedek’ seems to indicate.”
Response
It is in thinking of God as “persons” that I disagree with your assessment. The “Word” was NOT a person but was God when speaking the universe into existence. As John wrote, in the beginning the Word WAS God. Melchizedek was God as the priest of Salem. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, He was
3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Hebrews 7:3 (NIV84)
Only God is without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life.
When God became the Father of Jesus, Jesus was not God but was the Son of God. He learned first-hand what it is like to be a mortal human being.
When Jesus fulfilled His mission, living a perfect life and of His own free will giving His life for us, He was “born again” and the aspect of God that had been the Logos was the first “person” to become a member of God’s family.
Before Jesus, there was only God no matter what aspect of Him we hear or read about. As a human being, Jesus was capable of sinning (God cannot sin) but He did not sin. He had to live this life without sin to fulfill His mission and He did!
After Jesus’ resurrection, He became God having been given “all power in Heaven and in earth” [Matthew 28:18]. He will relinquish that power when He has completed God’s plan for the salvation of mankind.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:20–28 (NIV84)
Until Jesus was born again, there was only one God; now there is the Father and the Son and at the end, when the Son returns to establish His Kingdom, there will be many Gods but God will remain “all in all”.
If you find this difficult to understand, then join this old man in experiencing that difficulty.
It has been difficult for all who have contemplated the subject and it is only when we give human characteristics to God that we inject confusion into the subject.
God is a spirit; a spirit can be many places at one time since time and space are human concepts and are meaningless to an eternal, all-powerful Being.
That doesn’t mean that what God does in one place and what He does in another place is done by two different persons; it only means that God does not share the human characteristic of concentrating on one (or a few) things at the same time.
After all, we must remember that it is God who sustains the universe while giving each of us the “breath of life” and hearing every word we speak and seeing everything that we do. Facetiously, He is the ultimate “multi-tasker”.
A part of Him is in me and a part of Him is in you; yet there are not two “persons” with one person inhabiting me and another inhabiting you. It’s the same God in both places at the same time.
Jesus now shares those God characteristics. Yet He still taught us to pray to the Father and gives all honor to the Father.
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. Mark 10:17–18; Luke 18:18-19 (NIV84)
After death is destroyed [II Corinthians 15:26], Jesus will relinquish His power to the Father and become “just” our “older brother”, should God’s grace be so all-encompassing that we find our names written in the “Book of Life”.
As to the JW’s, I think you’ll find the same mind-set there that you found in the hierarchies of the various human religious organizations with whom you have had contact.
It need not be a waste of time, however. As with all such human religious organizations, its adherents have certain points that to them are immutable and should they doubt them, they will doubt their whole concept of their faith.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have much of the truth in their doctrines like almost all Christian churches and such organizations. It’s just that their leaders have led them astray on a few points – just like the leaders of all human religious organizations.
Many are filled with zeal and have good hearts and minds and they should be treated as God’s children, just as all who believe in Him should be treated – regardless of whether they are confused by certain concepts developed by human men and women.
God’s true religion is a personal, individual relationship with God and does not demand that you know and understand every concept of that religion.
It does demand that you believe in God and that you are open to what He wants to teach you and that your faith is as strong as you are capable of holding it. It requires you to exert maximum effort to understanding all that you are capable of understanding.
That faith and that belief in God will lead you to obey His laws and to struggle against your own human nature to acquire the Godly characteristics that come from that struggle.
Finally, God knows our hearts, our innermost being that we never share completely with anyone other than God. In spite of our being composed of dirt, in spite of our best efforts falling short time and again, God loves us and it is not His will than any should be eternally destroyed when our life cycle is over.
Thank You Father, thank You God, for being the epitome of love and for giving us the opportunity to try to become what You made us capable of becoming. Amen.
