The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Part 1. The Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, and is God blessed forever

The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Part 1. The Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, and is God blessed forever.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

ROM 9:5 “whose are the fathers” = the regenerate ancestry of Israel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the line of the Jewish race, the line of the seed of Abraham, because each one was born again, and eventually each one reached maturity.

Pateres - patevra" = the regenerate ancestry of Israel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the line of the Jewish race, the line of the seed of Abraham, because each one was born again, and eventually each one reached maturity.

No Jew can ever be a true Jew until he becomes a vessel of honor, once he has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The secret to the foundation of the Jewish race is regeneration.

While they are Jews by physical seed of Abraham, they are not Jews by regeneration. They have not followed the pattern of Abraham, GEN 15:6, who believed in the Lord and it was credited to his account for righteousness.

2. While Isaac had a stepbrother, Ishmael, Isaac is the chosen one through regeneration.

The same thing is true of Jacob and Esau; they were twins, one is a true Jew, one is a Gentile.

And = intensive use of the conjunction kai - kaiV = in fact.

Definite article to - toV - the accusative of general reference - “the one coming.”

Kata - kataV plus the accusative singular - sarka - savrka = “in the flesh.”

Epi + genitive plural of pas = over all
God blessed forever. Amen.

Jesus Christ, although true humanity forever, continues to be eternal God forever, and as God, He still has all of the attributes of God as well as the attributes of perfect humanity; He is then the last Adam.

Eulogeetos - eu*loghtoV" = being praised, or being blessed referring to the eternal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Doctrine of the Deity of Jesus Christ.
Point 1. Definition

Deity = the essential nature or condition of being God. Jesus Christ is eternal God.
GEN 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

He is now different than the Father and the Holy Spirit, because He is also true humanity. Therefore, He is unique!

COL 1:15 “And He [Jesus Christ] keeps on being the exact image of the invisible God, the privileged first-born with reference to all creation.”

“First-born” - prototokos = the privileged one of a new creation.

ISA 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” -
fulfilled in MAT 1:20-23.

1. The first-born had the privilege of rulership.
2.The first-born in the Levitical tribe had the priesthood of the family.
3.The first-born had the privilege of heirship.

COL 1:15 - He is called the first-born of every creature.

“Creature” - Ktiseos = creature or the original creation, including angels.

We do not know what type of redemption angels had, but verses like this and
HEB 2:2 seem to leave a door open for some eternal mystery concerning angelic redemption.

Ktiseos - genitive of reference = “Christ was the first born with reference to all created beings.” COL 1:15.

The passage does not say He is the first-born among creatures, but the first-born with reference to all creation or creatures. The Williams translation -
“Who existed before any created thing.”

COL 1:15 “And He [Jesus Christ] keeps on being the exact image of the invisible God, the privileged first-born with reference to all creation.”

It is the uniqueness of Christ that leads to the uniqueness of His Savior-hood.

1. The first-born had the privilege of rulership.
The rulership of Christ is discussed in such passages like COL 1:18.

2. The first-born in the Levitical tribe had the priesthood of the family.

3. The first-born had the privilege of heirship.

Heirship included the double portion, and Christ has the double portion in eternity of both Israel and the Church.

Point 2. This Doctrine Deals with the Syllogism of Deity.

A syllogism is a logical formula consisting of two premises and a conclusion; a major and minor premise, plus a conclusion derived from deductive reasoning.

Every virtue is admirable (major premise).
Kindness is a virtue (minor premise).
Therefore, kindness is admirable (conclusion).
The Trinity is eternal.
Christ is a member of the Trinity.
Therefore, Christ is eternal.

We have the omniscience of God the Father mentioned by the word foreknowledge.
We have the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit sanctifying the believer.
We have the obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

2CO 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”

MAT 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,”

The syllogism is that the Trinity is eternal; Christ is the member of the Trinity; therefore, Christ is eternal.

Point 3. Scriptural Documentation.
MIC 5:2 - during the incarnation, Jesus Christ is eternal God. Our Lord fulfilled this in MAT 2:5-6.

This same Hebrew word for “eternity,” olam, is used to affirm the eternal existence of the Father in many passages,
GEN 21:33; PSA 41:13; 90:2; 103:17; ISA 40:28.

GEN 21:33 And Abraham called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting [olam] God.
PSA 41:13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From [olam] everlasting to [olam] everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

“I am” = I had always existed.
“I am” - ego eimi = “I am.”

Jesus was not saying, “Before Abraham was, I have been” as in the New World translation of the Jehovah Witnesses’ Bible. In other verses in the same chapter, as well as, a host of other passages in the New Testament, they translate ego eimi as “I am.” JOH 8:24, 28.

Our Lord used the same terminology that the Father used to describe Himself in EXO 3:14 (Septuagint Version) - ego eimi - “I am.”

Jehovah is the traditional translation of the Hebrew consonants JHWH - the special name for the one true God.

EXO 3:14, we know that JHWH was derived from the verb “to be.”
EXO 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel (This is what you are to say to the Israelites), ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Those are the ten “I AM’s” of the Gospel of John. Ten represents the number of completion of the Divine order.

Author of Eternal Law; Bridegroom; Redeemer; Light; Shepherd; Savior; Rock; Forgiver of Sins; Judge.

PHI 2:10-11 “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

He was beginning to teach that the “unity” of God involved a true uniting of three “persons” in the Godhead or in the Divine nature; and He was claiming to be one of them.

COL 2:9 “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,”
TIT 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;”

ROM 10:9 “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord [Jehovah], and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved;”