Jesus is God the Son
“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him.” (John 5:22-23)
Hello Saints,
Can there be any clearer text, spoken by Jesus Himself, that He is equal to, indeed one with the Father! Our belief in the person and work of Jesus the Christ is not an alternative religious option we get to choose from a myriad of other options and ways to have a relationship with God. The writer of the fourth Gospel has one mission…to prove without doubt that Jesus is the 2nd person of the Godhead come down to earth (John 1:1-14), “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31). If you read John chapter 5 (and you should regularly), you soon understand that Jesus stands against all other religions, even Judaism and declares very clearly that He is equal to God (John 5:18). He knows God, is in relationship with God, and has received His mission from God the Father – a mission that not only includes ‘taking away the sins of the world’, but judging those who refuse to put their faith in Him. The reason God ‘entrusted all judgment to the Son’ is so the Son might be honored (revered, highly esteemed, receive homage) even as one honors the Father. Only God is judge (Psalm 75), but that judgment has been entrusted to God the Son, so that Jesus might be honored as God – God decided that should be the way it is! Now this would certainly rock the Jewish leaders’ world – Jesus is God the judge!!! Oh...but it gets even more intolerant Jewish leaders…if you don’t honor the Son, you don’t honor the Father who sent Him! God the Father sent God the Son to be worshipped and honored as God. Now let that sink in! Every Jew, every Muslim, every Hindu, Every Buddhist, Every Sikh, Every Pantheist, Every agnostic or atheist person who thinks they are worshipping God are actually not worshipping Him at all unless they worship God the Son. Oh, what a narrow way! One cannot be a Muslim who worships God because they don’t honor and revere Jesus as God. One can’t choose how they worship – if you don’t worship Jesus, you don’t worship God. That’s what Jesus says! How many ‘Christians’ I meet who ask me, ‘why does it have to be only through Jesus?’ Because only Jesus is God, and if you don’t revere Him you don’t revere God either: “no one comes to the Father except through Jesus” (John 14:6). Any attempt to worship God without revering and worshipping Jesus is futile. Jesus very clearly indicates that He has an intimate love relationship with God the Father, knows His will, sees what He wants, does what He does, and shares the ability to give life as does the Father (John 5:19-23). Jesus has the power to raise the dead, is the source life, even life eternal and has authority to judge (John 5:24-27). Jesus was sent by God the Father to accomplish that which the Father gave Him to do (5:36-38). Jesus is the fulfillment of the written word of God and the source of true life (5:38-39). He closes out the interaction with the religious leaders by pointing out how misguided their faith is – they know so much but refuse to see the truth of who Jesus really is. Their faith is just empty religion! God is standing in front of them, and they want to bring an accusation against Him for healing on the Sabbath – they worship God with their lips but their hearts are far from Him (Matt. 15:8) - Jesus tells them that they have a heart problem (John 5:42).
Friends…we need to speak the truth! Jesus is God; you can’t worship God without worshipping Jesus. “But I worship God in my own way”, says the rebel. If one will not acknowledge and worship Jesus, one is not worshipping God, no matter how sincere they may seem: ‘whoever rejects Me, rejects the One who sent Me’ (Luke 10:16; John 13:20). As John affirms in his letter: ‘Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also’ (1John 2:23). People can’t say “yes” to God and “no” to Jesus. We don’t get to pick and choose how we worship God! In a world of syncretism and apostasy, we need faithful, fearless, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus who worship Jesus in Spirit and truth, who boldly declare, “No other way! No other name! No other God! It’s time to choose which side we are on! Are we the ones who “wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)? Are we the ones who proclaim: “Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, AND Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (John 17:3)? Jesus is God! He will be worshipped as such – that’s the book of Revelation! It’s time to start speaking the truth while there is still yet time; but time is running out. Pharisees are very religious, and study the scriptures diligently, yet they are blind to the truth. Let’s not be like them: "Where is Your Father?" they asked Him. "You do not know Me or My Father," "If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well." (John 8:19) To know Christ is to know God; it’s the only way!
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11)
BE BOLD!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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