Interesting Questions-66

Are Christ and Jehovah one and the same God?
(Genesis 17:1)

Letter to the Editor:
PASUGO, December 2002, p.2

I BELIEVE THAT  'there is only one true God; He is invisible and His name is Jehovah or Yahweh. Although I do not believe in the Trinity, I believe that Christ is God incarnate or else who would the Bible be referring to as Jehovah Who appeared Himself to Abraham in Genesis 17:1?

Belinda Alvarez
Naga City, Philippines

Editor's reply:

     To begin with, the word “Jehovah” is not the correct rendition of YHWH-the tetragrammaton or the Hebrew word for one of the names of God. The tetragrammaton is never spoken out loud by the Jews, and because it is composed of consonants only, the correct way of pronouncing it has long been forgotten. Whether it is rendered as “Jehovah” or “Yahweh,” we firmly believe that it does not refer to our Lord Jesus Christ.

     Your conclusion that Christ is God rests on the premise that Christ is Jehovah Who appeared before Abraham. Such premise relies on two basic assumptions that are biblically untenable.

     First, you are assuming that the mention of God appearing to Abraham in Genesis 17:1 means that Abraham saw God in the flesh as Jesus Christ. However, as you yourself have pointed out, the true God is invisible, which means, as clarified by Christ, that God cannot be seen in His form (Jn. 5:37; I Tim. 1:17). The way God manifest Himself to man is by means of His power through the things that He made (Rom. 1:19-20). And so, what Abraham saw were the manifestations of God’s power and not Christ appearing as God or “Jehovah.” The belief in Christ as God incarnate is not biblical.

     Second, you are assuming that Christ somehow has pre-existence, yet the Bible teaches otherwise. Christ did not exist during the time of the patriarchs and the prophets; He was not there before He was born (Is. 7:14; Mt. 1:20-24). Hence, Abraham, who lived during the dispensation of the patriarchs, could not have seen Christ in the flesh because the promise concerning Christ was not yet fulfilled (Rom. 1:2-3).

     If we were to take your premise that Christ is Jehovah as true, then we would end up with inconsistencies. For example, “Jehovah” is described as the Most High, yet Christ is called the Son of the Highest or the Most High (Ps. 83:18; Lk. 1:31-32). How could such be possible if Christ and “Jehovah” were one and the same God, as you claim? In addition, “Jehovah” is God Almighty, yet Christ is not Almighty because He will submit to the Almighty God (Exo. 6:3;  and    I Cor. 15:27-28).

     These biblical verses, and a host of others, prove conclusively that Christ is Himself not God. Christ, therefore, can never be the one true God.

     The teaching of the Bible is very clear; the one and only true God is the Almighty Father in Heaven who created all things (Jn. 17:1-3; I Cor. 8:6).

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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.