Why Knowing God Matters (Part II)

In the first part of this study, I had touched upon the importance of knowing God and that God is pleased to see people come to the true knowledge of Him. I had also touched upon the danger that awaits those who neglect or reject the opportunities to know Him and how Satan deceives the entire world to think that it is impossible to know who God is.

In this part of the article, I wish to address the identity of this God that the Bible labels as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Though I may be dealing with a very familiar topic, as far as the majority of our readers is concerned, I hope that you can gather some new insights surrounding this issue.

Abrahamic Religions

Let me start by mentioning that the Abrahamic religions that comprises of Judaism, Christianity and Islam revolve around the monotheistic belief and rejects the idea that there are many gods who rule over the universe. However, it is worth mentioning that these religions do not share the same idea about God. For instance, Judaism’s teaching of God differs from the Christendom’s view of God in that, Judaism believes that the Father alone is God and He has a literal Son, who is also divine, to give whereas, popular Christianity teaches that the Messiah is not a ‘Son’ in the literal sense yet He is both divine and God Himself. Islam, on the other hand, considers Christ as a mere prophet and it does not acknowledge His divinity and His pre-existence.

You may wonder why I am bringing into the picture the teachings and ideas of these three religious groups. The reason is because Christendom is mix of these three ideas. There are those who adhere to the Jewish understanding of God whereas, there are those who, like the Muslims, do not acknowledge Christ’s pre-existence and divinity. And of course, you cannot ignore the overwhelming majority of Christians who believe in the Trinity, an idea that is almost alien to the teachings of Judaism and Islam but nonetheless have some elements of both these groups (Judaism and Islam). Regardless of these differences, all these Christian groups claim to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So, which group has the correct understanding of God’s identity? This is what we are going to explore in this study.

The Teachings of Paul

The Bible clearly tells us that there is but one God and this one God is none other than the Father. How do I prove this? I invite you to look at what Paul says to the Corinthians concerning the eating of meat that is offered up as sacrifice to the idols.

“As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is none other God but one. (5) For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) (6) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” (1 Corinthians 8:4-6)

In the above passage, Paul draws a distinction between the beliefs of a Christian and that of a heathen. While the pagans believe in the existence of multiple gods, the Christians belief only in one God (verses 4 and 5). And Paul, in verse 6, tells us in a ‘simple and straight to the point’ language that this God is none other than the Father. This fact finds its expression in the words, “but to us there is one God, the Father.”

The Source and the Channel

To further reinforce this statement, Paul highlights the position held by the Father as the source or “the of whom” of all things and describes Christ as the One who holds the position of the Channel, “the Way” or “the by whom” through which all things are. In other words, God the Father is the source of all things. All things originate from Him “whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities or powers” (Colossians 1:16) and all these things come into existence through Jesus. If Christ were God Himself, He should be the source. However, “the Source” cannot be “the Channel” and vice versa.

The words of Paul refute the Trinitarian doctrine that Jesus does not receive anything from the Father. The fact that Jesus is the channel demonstrates the fact that He receives all things from the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 3:35) which includes power and authority (Matthew 28:18; John 5:27), life (John 5:26) etc. which He in turn distributes it to His followers.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

To doubt the words of Paul means to doubt Christ Himself because Paul backs His teachings with the evidence that he supplies in his letter to the Galatians.

“But I certify you, bretheren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11,12)

If the preaching of Paul is revealed to Him by Jesus Christ Himself, who are we to question or doubt its authenticity? And this same Jesus Christ who reveals this truth to Paul also declares that the one true God is the Father.

“These words spake Jesus, and lifted his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, … this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God.” (John 17:1-3)

What Jews Believe

This revelation of Jesus concerning the Father is also shared by the Jews. On a number of occasions, we find that the Jewish nation emphatically acknowledge and declare that their God was the Father.

“Then said [the Jews] to Jesus, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” (John 8:41)

“Jesus answered, If I honour Myself, My honour is nothing: it is My Father that honoureth Me; for whom ye say, that He is your God.” (John 8:54)

These two verses are extracts from a conversation that Jesus had with the Jews at the temple. The latter declared that they took the Father to be their God and thirteen verses later, the Former confirmed this fact. Years later, Saul, the Pharisee who was feared by the followers of Jesus as the persecutor of the Way, though he later became a Christian himself and even had his name changed to Paul, did not alter his understanding of who God is. Here is what he wrote to the believers in Ephesus concerning the God of the Bible.

“There is … one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Notice the words of the apostle, he clearly says that there is one God and this God is the God and Father of all. The word “all” here is inclusive of both the Jews and the Gentiles because these were the groups of people that made up the early Christian church.

Jesus too has a God!!!

Interestingly, Jesus bears witness that the Father is also His God! Look at the words spoken by Jesus to Mary Magdalene shortly after she discovered the empty tomb where the body of Jesus was laid.

“Then Jesus said unto her, Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father; and unto My God and your God.” (John 20:17)

Again, long after His resurrection, Jesus through His devout disciple and apostle, John, referred to the Father as His God.

“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.” (Revelation 3:12)

In Revelation 14:1, we find that the 144,000 will have the name of the Father written on their foreheads.

“And I looked and lo a Lamb stood on the mount of Zion, and with Him (the Lamb) an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1)

Additional prove can be obtained from the manner in which John’s fellow apostles in the faith, Paul and Peter, opened their letters.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3)

“We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” (Colossians 1:3)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3)

From the compelling evidences that is provided here, it therefore goes without saying that Jesus was addressing the heavenly Father when he cried out, “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Up to this point, the teachings of Christ and the apostles of the early Church challenge the understanding of many Christians today. If we profess to be the followers of Christ, how can we adhere to idea that God is a Trinity? The God of the Bible is, unquestionably, the God of Jesus. So, where should Christendom stand on this point? Should it cast its lot with Jesus and His apostles or cast its lot with the popular tide of human reason and human philosophy?

The Basis of Christ’s Divinity

At this junction, one may ask, “If Jesus has a God, then why do the opening lines of the gospel of John say that He is God?” The answer to this question lies in yet another aspect about God that is deemed as anathema by the Christian world. Popular Christianity does not believe and teach that God can actually give birth. Islam shares this same idea about God. Therefore, Christ cannot be a literal Son of God. Some have even opined that if God had a literal Son, then God should have had a wife. People who say these things are ignorantly denying God’s ability and power to do all things. However, the word of God tells us that the Jews were seeking an opportunity to kill Jesus because of what He declared Himself to be.

“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He …. said also that God was his Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)

“Say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John 10:36)

“The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” (John 19:7)

If one cares to analyse these verses, one will notice an interesting scenario is at play here. The Jews also claimed that they had God as their Father. In other words, they considered themselves the sons and daughters of God. There was nothing wrong or sinful if anyone said that he or she was a child of God. But these same people (Jews) who went about saying that they were God’s children, accused Jesus of blasphemy and tried to kill Him for the same “crime” they supposedly committed. This was so because when Jesus declared Himself to be a Son of God, He meant that He was a Son in a special way, thereby making Him equal to God. No other being in the entire universe is a Son of the living God in the way that Jesus was and still is today.

In John chapter 8 an incident is recorded where Jesus was speaking to the Jews in the temple where He pressed on the fact that He was the Messiah. This is what the Jews had to say in response to His claim:

“Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication, we have one Father, even God.” (John 8:41)

It is clear the Jews also considered themselves to be sons of God. They insisted that Jesus was a man like any other and that He was God’s son in the same manner as they were. Hence, they tried to insinuate Him by alluding to the circumstances of His birth. In other words, to them, He was simply a son of Joseph and Mary. In response to their sayings, this is what Jesus said:

“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” (John 8:42)

To put it in a simple way, Jesus was telling them, “Well you suppose that I simply descended from the line of Joseph? The truth is, I am the Son of God because I ‘proceeded forth from God’. In other words, the Father Himself gave birth to me!”

Jesus had gone on to say in verse 58 of the same chapter that he existed even before Abraham came into existence. To a first century Jew, the only human who had the right to say such things was the Messiah whom they were waiting for. And in the next verse, verse 59, the Jews who heard what He said, took up stones to stone Him.

In short, the God of the Bible had a literal Son to send. Jesus is not a Son in a metaphorical sense of the word nor is He a Son because He was conceived by the Spirit and begotten by Mary. His sonship extends from eternity to eternity. In other words, Jesus is the of God before anything was created.

“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:3)

So there was a time when God was alone and before He created anything, He first gave birth to a Son. Jesus, under the name of wisdom declared through Solomon thus:

“The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.” (Proverbs 8:22-30)

The LORD is the Father who gave birth to Wisdom, who is Jesus, before anything came into existence. This Son that God gave birth to also shared the same exact divinity in equal measure that the Latter had. (Colossians 1:19; 2:9). This is what made the Word divine or God. But at the same time, the Son is not the God but rather God in nature. This destroys the belief that denies the pre-existence and divinity of Jesus.

Finally, to put this issue into perspective, the Bible reveals that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did send to us a Son and His name is Jesus Christ and He also glorified Him.

“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go” (Acts 3:13)

This is the God that the apostles and the early church knew. I am glad that I came to know this God and I am sure you are glad too. As for the rest of you who still do not know what to believe or have made up your mind not to believe what is presented here, I take the liberty to quote the words of Joshua that says:

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose ye this day whom ye will serve; … but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

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