God and His Messiah


John 17:3

"This is eternal life: that they may know you (Father), the only true God, and the one you have sent - Jesus Christ."


To fulfill our Purpose of loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we have to grow in our knowledge of him. Here, we try to understand who God is and who Jesus is by seeing what Scripture says about them. 


Churches, and Christians in general, have often misunderstood and confused who God is. You can see evidence of this by viewing most churches statements of faith. Most typically,  churches have very little to say about GOD, other than he is a “trinity” of the Father, Son, and Spirit who are all co-equal and co-eternal. There are usually statements about who Jesus is, as well as the role of the Holy Spirit, but these statements of belief are often woefully silent about the Father. Surprising to most Christians is that of the 1300+ times the Greek word for God is used in the New Testament, 98% of the time it is referring to the Father (the remaining 2% of occurrences refers to false gods, pagan gods, the unknown god, the stomach, Satan, the Israelites, and Jesus) (see Harris, Jesus as God, 1992). Recognition of the Father, who alone is God, is true Biblical monotheism.  


How can churches fail to describe the Father in a statement of their beliefs when he fills the pages of the Old and New Testaments and is the one almost exclusively called God throughout Scripture?


We hope to clarify from Scripture the differences between God and his Messiah since Scripture clearly makes a distinction. Unfortunately, many claims about who Jesus is are also confused and not found in Scripture but formed in Emperor dominated, Catholic Church councils from the fourth and fifth centuries. The creeds from these councils, written hundreds of years after the Bible, represent an unfortunate drift from the clear, strait forward language of Scripture. These later creeds contain constructs not found in Scripture that led to historical difficulties in understanding God and his Messiah, whose relationship is relegated to being a “mystery.” The outcome of these later creeds is a “three person monotheism” derived from these Emperor dominated, Catholic councils rather than the monotheism described in the Bible. The doctrines formed in these councils were then enforced by both government and church authorities over the next 1300 years. History is very clear about this and will be acknowledged by most historians. It should be noted that the following statements are fully consistent with the most ancient of creeds, the Old Roman Symbol, later known and slightly modified as the Apostle’s Creed.


We think it is important to emphasize what Scripture emphasizes by highlighting rather than ignoring our God and Father. This is so important that it is one of our stated Values. We believe it is problematic that many Christians have confused the roles of God and his son so thoroughly that they really know neither. John 17:3, quoted above, tells us that the essence of eternal life is knowing both the Father and the Son.


Obviously, much more could be said about the subject, this is simply an introduction. You may hover over the Scripture reference to view the verse in the ESV.


2 Peter 1:2 (NET)

“May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!”



 

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT ABOUT SCRIPTURE

Our sole and absolute authority is the inerrant Word of God. By this we mean the most reliable manuscripts available for the 39 books of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures and the 27 books of the Greek New Testament Scriptures, which together constitute the canon of the Scriptures. The whole of the Bible, particularly, the New Testament (which depicts life under the new covenant) must be considered the only statement of faith that is authoritative. Even if we were to select only direct quotes from Scripture, this would still be a manmade statement because verses were selected on a limited, and likely biased basis. We acknowledge this, even for our own selected verses below. 

One of our stated Values is:  “Acceptance of one another on the basis of love despite differing interpretations of Scripture as long as there is willingness to base beliefs on Scripture alone and not tradition, creeds, human authorities, opinions, or majority view.” It is important to let the Bible speak for itself rather than reading into it our own preconceived notions. 


ABOUT GOD

There is one and only one God, and He is one Person
—Dt.6:4; Mk.12:29; Jn.5:44; 17:3; Rom.16:27; 1Cor.8:6; 1Tim.2:5; Jude 1:25

The personal name of God is Yahweh (יהוה, YHWH-found over 6800 times in the OT)
— Ex.3:15; 15:3; Jer.16:21

There is no God besides Yahweh, the only true God
— Ex.20:2-3; Dt.4:35; 1Sam.2:2; 1Ki.8:60; Isa.44:8; 45:5-6,21-22; 46:9; Mk.12:29; Jn.17:3; Rom.16:27
                              
God is eternal, immortal, invisible
— 1Tim.1:17; 6:16; Jn.1:18; 1Jn.4:12

God is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present
— Job 11:7; Ps.139:2-8; Mt.19:26; Lk.1:37; 1Jn.3:20

God is holy, compassionate, and loving
— Lev.19:2; 20:26; Ps.99:9; 1Pet.1:16; Ex.34:6; Ps.78:38; Ps.136:1; Jn.3:16; 1Jn.4:8,16
                                                      
God is Spirit
— Jn.4:24, 2Cor.3:17-18

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Yahweh
— Ps.51:11; 139:7; Isa.11:2; 40:13; Micah 3:8; Mt.10:20 with Lk.12:12; 1Cor.2:11

Yahweh is the one who gives us his Holy Spirit through Jesus.
Luke11:13, John 14:26, 15:26, Acts2:33, 5:32, 2Cor.5:5, Gal.3:5, 1John4:13

Yahweh alone is the Creator of the heavens and the earth
— Ex.31:17; Isa.44:24; 45:12; Neh.9:6; Jer.51:19; Acts 4:24; Rev.14:7

Yahweh is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
— Ex.3:6,15; 4:5; Mt.22:32; Acts 3:13; 7:32; 24:14

Yahweh is the God and Father of Jesus Christ
— Matt.27:46; Jn.20:17; Rom.15:6; 2 Cor.1:3; Eph.1:3,17; 1 Pet.1:3; Rev.1:6; Rev.3:2,12

Yahweh is the one who raised Jesus from the dead
— Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:30; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 1 Cor. 6:14; 2 Cor. 4:14; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:20; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Peter 1:21

Yahweh is the God and Father of those who are in Jesus Christ
— Jn.1:12; 20:17

We worship Yahweh alone
— Ex.20:3; 34:14; Mt.4:10; Dt.6:13; Dt.8:19; Jer.25:6


ABOUT JESUS

The Lord Jesus is the Christ/Messiah, the Son of God
— Mt.16:16; Jn.20:31; Heb.1:5; 2Pet.1:11; 2Pet.2:20; 3:18  

There is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ
— 1Cor.8:6; Rom.1:7; 1Cor.1:3; 2Cor.1:2; Gal.1:3; Eph.1:2; Phil.1:2; Phm.1:3
                                             
Jesus Christ is not Yahweh
— Jn.17:3; Acts 7:55; 1Cor.11:3

Jesus Christ is man, the Son of Man, and the last Adam
— Acts 2:22; 1Tim.2:5; Mt.8:20; Mk.14:62; Jn.8:28; 1Cor.15:45 

Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He was crucified; died; buried; and was resurrected from the dead on the third day by the Father.
— Mt.1:18-25; Lk.1:35; Ps.22:1; Isa.53:3-12; Mt.27:22-50; Acts 2:31-33; Rom.8:34; 1Cor.6:14
                                              
Jesus Christ was exalted to the right hand of God, who made him Lord and Christ, and will come back to earth to establish God’s Kingdom and render God’s Judgment. He is lower than the Father and can do nothing apart from Him, yet has been exalted by God to be His plenipotentiary (agent or representative given full power and authority to act on behalf of God)
— 1Pet.3:22; Acts 2:36; Rom.1:4; Mt.24:30; Acts 1:11; Phil.3:20; Heb.9:28; Jn.14:28; 5:19; 6:57; 12:49-50; Acts 2:22; 1Cor.11:3; 15:27-28
             
Jesus Christ is the only Perfect Man, and the exact image of the invisible God
— Heb.2:10; 4:15; 5:8-9; 7:28; Col.1:15; 2Cor.4:4; Jn.14:9; Phil.2:6

There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
— 1Tim.2:5; Jn.14:6; Rom.5:19; Heb.8:6

Jesus is the way of salvation, the Lamb of God who was slain to take away the sins of the world
— Mt.1:21; Acts 4:12; Jn.1:29; Rev.13:8

Man is created in the image of God; man has fallen into sin and is redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ
— Gen.1:27; Isa.59:2; Rom.3:23; 5:12; John 3:16; Eph.1:7; Titus 2:14

God dwelled (tabernacled) in Jesus Christ, the temple of God, such that all the fullness of God dwells in him bodily; as a result, God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself
— John 1:14 (literally “tabernacled among us”); Jn.2:19-21; 2Cor.5:19; Col.1:19; 2:9

The Church (universal) is the body of Christ and the temple of God, composed of the redeemed in Christ, with Christ as the head of the body
— 1Cor.12:27; Eph.5:23; Col.1:18,24; 1Cor.3:16-17; 6:19

The mission of the Church is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ
— Mt.7:21; 28:19-20; 2 Tim.3:15-17; Heb. 5:9, 1 John 3:9; 5:2

References are adapted from the Christian Disciples Church

Learn more about the Bible says about God and his Messiah. 

Explore answers to common objections.

Read about the Christology of Restoration Movement pioneers. 
What would you add?