The Trinity 16 - The Deity of Christ 5
Christ in the OT
2/24/13
I want to begin this morning by reading to you Colossians 1:9-10; “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
I read those verses during my quiet time a couple weeks ago. Those verses made me think of you, that is those who are a part of MCCBC. For it is true that pretty much since the day I arrived here in Milford I have prayed for you almost every day. I pray for you those things that Paul mentions here. I pray that you would be in God's will. That God would indeed grant you spiritual wisdom and understanding. I pray that you will indeed walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bringing Him glory. I pray for you to bear fruit. And I pray that you would definately increase in the knowledge of God. That is indeed my prayer for each of you, and again, it is a prayer I pray almost every day.
I pray that prayer because first and foremost I want God to be glorified through each one of you. But I also pray that prayer because I do indeed love you and I know that if God is gracious in answering that prayer in the affirmative, I know that it will be what is best for you.
But I also have a call to do more than pray for you. While I pray for you to increase in the knowledge of God, I also know that I have a responsibility to help you attain that. And that is one of the reasons that I have been going through the series on the Trinity. Because through these messages, I want you to gain knowledge of God. Thus I not only pray that for you, I strive to give it to you.
I am sure that there are some of you who have grown tired of this series. But I believe we must examine these truths. Because we do not grow in the knowledge of God by trying to figure how to get stuff from God, we grow in that knowledge by striving to know who and what God is, and what He desires from us. That is knowledge of God.
Today we continue into our look at the Trinity. We have looking at the deity of Christ over the course of the last four weeks. Last week we looked at passages of Scripture that show Christ in the OT, specifically passages that show that the writers of the NT say Christ as God in the OT.
Last week we ended by comparing what is written in Isaiah 6 with what John states in his gospel in chapter 12. I want to go back to Isaiah this time let us turn to Isaiah 9:6-7 a passage many of us are familiar with.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
The passage in Isaiah is obviously taking about the Messiah, of that there is no doubt. It talks of the One whose rule with be for ever. One whose peace has no end. Every Jew knew that this passage spoke of the coming Christ.
But this passage also tells us that the Messiah will be called a wonderful counselor, that is one who gives counsel, but we will also be called mighty God. In other words He will be deity. He will be God. There are some who say, well it says “mighty God” not Almighty God, therefore this is not a reference to deity. But the next name does away with that thinking. He will be called “Everlasting Father”. The word everlasting means eternal. It denotes that the Messiah is eternal. And there is only one who is eternal and that is God Himself.
We should also understand that the name “father” here is not referring to a relationship, but to headship.
So what we see is that the child who is born to us, that child would be Jesus Christ, shall be called these things Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, those are His titles, and thus we see the teaching of the deity of Christ here in Isaiah 9:6-7.
Staying in Isaiah please turn to Isaiah 7:14 where we have another prophecy concerning the coming Messiah.
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Here the prophet Isaiah gives a prophecy concerning God sending us a sign. A virgin will conceive, which naturally speaking is a contradiction. The virgin will have a son and His name shall be called Immanuel.
Turning over to Matthew 1:22-23, we read of the fulfillment of this prophecy. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”
Matthew tells us that it was Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Some may point out that no where in the NT do we see Jesus being called “Immanuel”. But that is not the intent of Matthew. Notice how Matthew adds for us the meaning of the name. God with us. It is clear that what Matthew intends to communicate to his readers is not that Jesus was called Immanuel in the sense he was called Jesus. But that Immanuel is His name in that what the name means finds its fulfillment in Christ.
He is indeed God with us, God manifested in the flesh. God coming to where we are. It is clear from what we read in Isaiah 7:14, (as well as Isaiah 9:6) that the Messiah was to be deity, and it is clear that the NT writers, such as Matthew, understood that, and saw it’s fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
I want to look at one more passage from Isaiah. This time Isaiah 45:21-23; “Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’”
In the book of Isaiah, from chapters 40-46 we have what some folks call the “Trial of the False Gods”. Over and over again in this section we have God saying that He alone is God, He alone is sovereign. He alone is to bowed down to and worshiped. It is a very powerful section of Scripture.
Here in Isaiah 45:21-23 that is what He is saying. There is no other God besides Him, He alone is Saviour, to Him every knee should bow and to Him alone. To Him alone are we to swear our loyalty to. That is the context of these verses.
Now turn over to Phil. 2:9-11: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Those verses sound very much like what we read in Isaiah 45. God tells us in Isaiah 45 that He alone is to receive worship, that to Him alone is the knee to bow, that we are to confess our allegiance to Him alone. Yet in Phil. 2 we are told that we are to give those things to Jesus Christ. We are to acknowledge that Jesus is highly exalted. That His name is above every name. That it is at the name of Jesus, that is at the authority of Jesus, every knee is to bow. That is earthly creatures as well as the heavenly hosts. And every tongue is to confess the Jesus Christ is LORD! To the Father’s glory.
In light of the context of Isaiah, in God dealing with false gods, how anyone can look at this passage in Philippians and still make the claim that Jesus Christ is nothing more than an exalted angel. That He is a created being.
Also, can a person honestly read Philippians chapter 2 in light of Isaiah 40-46, and say that Paul did not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. Paul made the connection between them so clear, one has to be spiritually blind not to see it. It is quite clear that Paul in the book of Philippians equates Jesus Christ with the Lord, the Saviour, the God that is speaking in Isaiah.
I believe that when we read, “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” What that is saying is that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is God, that He is the second person of the Trinity. There will come a time when every tongue will know that to be true and it will be done to the glory of God the Father.
The next passage I want us to look at comes from the prophet Joel. Let's look at Joel 2:28-32; here we have a prophecy of a time when the Holy Spirit will come upon many.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”
This passage is quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descends on the followers of Christ. But I want us to focus on vs. 32; “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
I want to point out that the LORD, you may recall, that is the way the Lord’s name was written in the OT. This literally says “…everyone who calls on the name of the LORD (Yahweh) shall be saved.” That is salvation is found in God and God alone.
Now turn to Romans 10:9-13; “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
What we see is Paul, in his letter to the Romans, gives to us a concise form of the gospel. Confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, believing in your heart that God has has raised Him for the dead. Notice Paul states that there is no difference between Jew and Greek, God is God to all. Here I believe Paul is looking back to what the Prophet Joel says, because then Paul quotes Joel, For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Keep in mind who Paul is. Paul knows his Bible, he was a Pharisee, he call himself “a Hebrew of Hebrews” a strict Jew, yet Paul has no problem, equating the Lord of Joel, with the Lord Jesus Christ.
He takes a passage in the OT that clearly refers to Yahweh, that is God, and equates it to Jesus Christ. To call upon the name of Yahweh for salvation was the same as calling on the name of Jesus for Salvation. In Paul’s mind there is no difference, because Jesus Christ is God.
Looking at another Minor prophet, this time the prophet Micah. 5:2, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”
Here we have a prophecy given as to where the Christ, or Messiah would be born. We are told that He will be born in Bethlehem.
This prophecy is quoted in Matt. 2:5-6. When the wise come and visit Herod, they tell him they have seen the star of the one who is born king of the Jews. Herod inquires to the chief priests and scribes as to where the child will be born and they quote Micah 5:2;
“They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”’”
Matthew 2:6 does not give a full quote of Micah 5:2, but it is important that we see what else Micah says about the Messiah. He states concerning the Christ, “…whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.” A more literal translation would be from “eternal days”. That word ancient literally means eternal or everlasting. So what Micah says is that the Messiah is eternal, he has no beginning. And if he had no beginning that means He must be deity, He must be God.
Another Minor prophet that speaks of the Messiah being God is Zechariah. Look at 12:10; Keep in mind that this is the LORD (Yahweh) speaking, ““And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”
We read of the fulfillment of this prophecy in John 19:34-37; “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness––his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth––that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.””
Again we have a very clear example of something being said about the LORD God in the OT directly attributed to Jesus Christ in the NT.
I believe it would be very difficult for someone to make the case that the men who wrote the NT, John, Paul, Matthew, and so on, did not know what they were doing when they attribute the things of God to Christ. I believe it is by far a stronger case to make in that they knew exactly what they were doing because they believe that Jesus was in fact God.
One more example from the minor prophets, this time Malachi 3:1; ““Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”
Again, please take note of who is talking. It is the LORD of hosts. He is saying that he will send a message to prepare a way before Himself.
We see this fulfilled in John the Baptist. Note Mark 1:2-3; “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,”’”
Also Luke 1:76 which speaks of John the Baptist, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,”
I will point out that there is a very similar prophecy in the Isaiah which Mark makes reference to, but there is no doubt that Malachi is speaking of the same prophecy. But notice Malachi states He will come to His temple. Whose temple was in Jerusalem? Was it not God? So what we can see is the John the Baptist is said to prepare the way of the incarnation of God, which we see in Jesus Christ.
One last passage I want us to consider today. Jude 1:5-6. Jude only has one chapter. “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day––”
I understand that some translation of the Bible have this “that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt…” But it is quite clear that many of the older and more reliable manuscripts have Jesus.
It is quite clear to Jude that it was Jesus who lead the Hebrew people of Egypt, that is was Jesus who poured out His wrath upon those who did not believe. It was Jesus who cast the angels who rebelled into “gloomy darkness” awaiting judgment in the last day.
But when you look to the OT, it was the LORD God who did these things. Once again we see things clearly attributed to God in the OT, clearly attributed to Jesus in the NT.
To say that Jude here does not have that in mind, is to ignore the plain meaning of the text. He clearly views Jesus as being eternally God.
So we have seen in passage after passage the deity of Christ as seen in the OT. I could give more examples. I believe they give a very compelling case for the deity of Christ, yet we will be looking at stronger evidence still.
In closing, my prayer is that you see how important these passage are to our understanding that Christ is indeed God. They are important if we are indeed to grow in the Knowledge of God. They are important because through them we become firm in our faith.
They are important because of what Jesus states in John 8:24 “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am (he) you will die in your sins.” To believe the Jesus Christ is God is necessary for salvation, it is part of the gospel that is the power of God to salvation. The gospel that calls on us to repent and believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He rose from the dead, and sits that the right hand of the Father as the eternal Son of God. May God grant you the grace to believe in that gospel.
LET US PRAY
