John 17:3 – God is One; The only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent

John 17:3 summarizes this article, for it makes the three points discussed in this article:
1 – God is One; There is but one true God.
2 – Jesus is contrasted with the one true God.
3 – The Father is greater than the Son, for He sent Him.

The previous article explains the three views of the Son of God:

(1) A created being
(2) Derived from the Father
(3) Always existed; co-equal with the Father.

The current article compares the Son to the Father.

This is an older article, and has been replaced with two other articles, namely Jesus is not the same Person as God and God is the Head of Christ.

GOD IS ONE.

The Bible declares that God is One;

“There is no other God besides Me …
For I am God, and there is no other” (Isa 45:21-22).

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”. (Deut 6:4-5)

When the scribes asked Jesus what the most important commandment is, He started by quoting this truth from Deuteronomy:

“The foremost is, ‘hear, o Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord …” (Mark 12:28-30).

And James also wrote God is One:

Christianity and Judaism are monotheistic religions, compared to the surrounding cultures with their multitudes of gods.

THE BIBLE CLEARLY AND REPEATEDLY DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN GOD AND JESUS.

For instance, while Joseph and Mary were still carrying the baby Jesus around, God told Joseph where to go (Matt 2:12, 22). And Jesus said:

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

This verse confirms that God is one, and then continues to contrasts Jesus to God. Paul similarly wrote:

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5)

“He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), which implies He is not “the invisible God“.

“God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 6:13).

The book of Revelation several times contrasts Christ with God, for instance “the throne of God and of the Lamb (Christ)” (Rev 22:3; see also 14:4; 11:15; 21:22-23; 22:1, 3).

These are merely a few examples of the many, many instances where the Bible contrasts God with Jesus, implying that Jesus is not equal to God. One may protest by noting that these quotations all apply—not the Son of God before He became a human being—but to the human being named Jesus. We must also remember the point made in the previous article, namely that “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:6-7).

The Father is greater than the Son.

The names Father and Son imply that the Father is greater than the Son. The quotations below also indicate that the Father is greater than the Son. As stated, to become a human being, the Son emptied Himself (Phil 2:6-7). It may therefore be argued that the statements below have been made in the context of the Son after He emptied Himself. However, the phrases in bold orange seem to say that the Father was greater than the Son even before He became a human being, and will always remain greater than the Son:

“The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing” (John 5:19; cf. John 14:31).

“I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me” (John 8:28; cf. 5:30).

“The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:36).

“My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16, cf. 17:3).

The Father therefore told His Son what to do and the Father has sent His Son to this world. These things happened before He became a human being and provide evidence of the Son’s eternal subservient position, relative to the Father.

John 14:28 records Jesus saying, “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I”. He made this statement while talking about going to the Father, implying that the Father will be greater than Him even after He has returned to the Father.

“The Father … has given all things into His hand” (John 3:35).

“The Father has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22).

Paul concluded, “the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ” (I Cor 11:3). Paul made this statement long after Jesus ascended to heaven. We therefore need to accept that the Father always has been and always will be greater than His Son.

CONCLUSION

This article states that God is One and that the New Testament contrasts Jesus with that one true God. The New Testament also claims that the Father is greater than the Son. If this was all we knew about Jesus, we would have had to conclude that He is not divine. But in the articles to follow statements will be analysed which seem to confirm the Son’s divinity. The last article in the series combines all this evidence into a conclusion.

SERIES OF ARTICLES

This is the second in a series of seven articles:

(1) The three views of the Son of God.
(2) God is One, the Son contrasted with God and the Father is greater than the Son.
(3) What the Son does: He created and upholds all things.
(4) What the Son is: fullness of Deity
(5) The Son is worshiped.
(6) The Son is Yahweh of the Old Testament.
(7) Conclusion: Is He created, derived or eternally co-equal?

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The Son of God emptied Himself to become a human being, but is He God?

Some people propose that the Son of God is a created being. Others say that He was derived from the Father. A third view is that He always existed; co-equal with the Father.
When He became a human being, He emptied Himself of wisdom, power, knowledge. He became a helpless human baby.

Three views

Created – Some people propose that the Son of God is a created being; the first created being, who created all other things, yet still a created being.

Derived – A second view, held for instance by the Fathers of the Christian church, is that the Son of God, as to His divine nature, was not created, but was “derived” from the Father; eternally generated by God the Father; came forth from the being of God. Hence, the Nicene creed speaks of him as:

“Begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made”.

Co-equal – A third view is held by those who hold that a derived being cannot in any proper sense be “God.” They argue that His Son always existed; co-equal with the Father.

Emptied Himself

This discussion is complicated by the information that, when He became a human being, “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). He emptied Himself of the form of God and of equality with God. He became fully and truly human, having to learn like any other human being. But although He emptied Himself of supernatural powers, He remained the same Person as before. We need to keep these things in mind when we think about Him. For instance, He said that He only does what the Father tells Him to do. If that was because He “emptied Himself,” then His dependence on God does not help us to understand Who He eternally is.

Humility Required

This subject requires humility, for humans are not able to understand God. “His judgments are unsearchable and His ways are unfathomable” (Rom. 11:33). The Lord warned:

“as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

We must accept that “we know in part … see in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor. 13:9-12). It is our privilege to study about Him, but we must do it with humility, for “the secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons” (Deut. 29:29). Even with what is revealed in the Scriptures, we may feel frustrated because we do not understand, but we need to accept our inability to understand with joy, for then we also realize a little bit of His greatness. If we were able to understand Him, then He would have been a very small God indeed.

We do understand to some extent, and in the new heavens and new earth we will always continue to learn more and more about Him, but there will always remain an infinity beyond. That may scare us, but let us rejoice that God has revealed Himself in Jesus as trustworthy and merciful.

Logic distorts

We must not use logic to supply that which the Bible does not reveal. Human logic will only serve to lead us away from the truth.

Summary: The three views of Jesus Christ

Created: Some propose that He is a created being; the first created being, who created all other things, yet still a created being.

Derived: The Fathers of the Christian church proposed that He was eternally generated by God the Father; that He came forth from the being of God; begotten not made”.

Co-equal: A third view is that He always existed; co-equal with the Father.

Articles in the series: Is Jesus God?

1. The three views of the Son – Current article
2.   Jesus existed prior to His birth in the form of God. Next
3.   Jesus in Colossians
4.   Did Jesus empty Himself of equality with God?
5.   Who is the Word In John 1:1?
6.   Jesus is not God.
7.   God is the Head of Christ.
8.   In the Bible Jesus is called God.
9.   He is the Only Begotten Son of God.
10. God created all things through His Son.
11. We must worship Jesus.
12. Is Jesus God?
13. Summary of the series of articles
14. Where do we find Jesus in the Old Testament?

Recommended listening: Does the NT teach that Jesus is God? (White vs Malik)