Interesting Questions-57
"Did Christ Jesus claim that He
was the Father
in John 14:7-11?"
Letter to the Editor:
PASUGO, February 1998, p.2
I BELIEVE IN your teaching that Christ is man.
However, He is also God because He claimed that He was the Father
(John 14:7-11). Also, then were times when God became man (Isaiah
42:13; Exodus 15:3).
Johnstiff B. Malnegro
Davao City, Philippines
Editor's reply:
The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is man proves
that He is not God. God is not a man nor would He ever want to
become one. He Himself declared: "For I am God, and not man" (cf.
Hosea 11:9, NKJV). Neither does God change nor vary or have a
shadow of turning (cf. Malachi. 3:6; James. 1:17). Thus, God
would never change His state of being to become a man because He
would never go against His own words (Numbers
23:19).
I will
not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again
destroy Ephraim. For I
am
God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will
not come with terror. (Hosea 11:9, NKJV)
“For I
am
the
Lord,
I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. (Malachi 3:6, NKJV)
Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from
the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or
shadow of turning. (James 1:17, NKJV)
God is not a man; he will
not lie. God is not a human being; his decisions will not
change.
If he says he will do
something, then he will do it. If he makes a promise, then
he will do what he promised. (Numbers 23:19, Easy to Read
Version)
The Lord Jesus Christ declared that He is a
man (cf. Jn. 8:40). Furthermore, He clarified His distinction from
God by saying that God is spirit, without flesh and bones, unlike
what He has (cf. Jn. 4:24; Lk. 24:36-39)
But
now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth
which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. (John
8:40)
God
is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit
and truth.” (John 4:24, NKJV)
Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself
stood in the midst of them, and said to them,
“Peace to you.”
But they were terrified and frightened, and
supposed they had seen a spirit.
And He said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Behold My hands and My
feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit
does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (Luke
24:36-39, NKJV)
You said that Jesus claims He is the Father in
John 14:7-11. These verses, however do not say so:
7 “If you had known
Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know
Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the
Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with
you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen
Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the
Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not
speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me
does the works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the
Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the
works themselves. (John 14:7-11, NKJV)
It is clear in these verses that Christ did not
claim that He is the Father. He simply said,
".... He who has seen me has seen the Father." Why,
then, did He say this? We must take note that God, being
spirit, cannot be literally seen but is manifested through His
eternal power, by the things that He has made (cf. Rom. 1:19-20)
because what may be known of God is manifest
in them, for God has shown it
to them.
For since the creation of the world
His invisible
attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (Romans
1:19-20, NKJV)
On the other hand, Christ is a man attested by God
through miracles, wonders, and signs (cf. Acts 2:22). God performed
the works through Christ merely as His instrument. This is why
Christ said that those who have seen His works are also said to have
seen God.
“Men
of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man
attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did
through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
(Acts 2:22, NKJV)
Moreover, according to Christ Himself, He did not
speak His own words but the words of the Father who had sent Him
(cf. Jn. 14:24). The works that He did were not His own but that of
the Father (cf. Jn.10:37-38). He admitted that by Himself, He could
do nothing (cf. Jn. 5:30) which further proves that He is not God.
HHe who does not love Me does not keep My
words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the
Father’s who sent Me.(John 14:24, NKJV)
If I do not do the
works of My Father, do not believe Me;
but if I do, though you do not believe Me,
believe the works, that you may know and believe
that the Father
is
in Me, and I in Him.” (John 10:37-38, NKJV)
I can of Myself do nothing.
As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not
seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. (John 5:30,
NKJV)
You cited Isaiah 42:13 and Exodus 15:3 in claiming
that there were times when God became man. Let us quote these
verses:
The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall
stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he
shall prevail against his enemies. (Isaiah 42:13, KJ V)
"The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name."
(Exodus 15:3, Ibid)
These verses do not mean that God at one time
became a man. The expressions "as a mighty man" and "man of war" in
these passages were used figuratively, the former a simile and the
latter a metaphor, both of which show likeness or analogy. As we
have pointed out earlier, God has emphasized that He is "God, and
not man"—He would never want Himself to become man.
Isaiah 42:13 is further clarified in this version:
"The Lord shall go forth LIKE a
mighty man; He shall stir up his zeal LIKE a man of war. He shall
cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies." (NKJV,
emphasis ours)
God is not man in nature, as could be gleaned from
the preceding verse, but His stirring up of His zeal was likened to
a man of war. In the same manner, a war-ship, which is a thing, is
also called a man-of-war (cf. Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged
Dictionary of the English Language) but not, of course, in the
literal sense a man.
___________________
Note: Verses in smaller font
were added for clarity. Emphasis ours.
Bible Study
Suggestion: If you have further questions, please feel free
to visit the
Iglesia ni Cristo congregation nearest you. A minister or
an evangelical worker would be happy to answer any biblical question
you have in mind.