“Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58)

1)            Whether Jesus Christ is truly, very God of very God is strictly a theological matter. I have, very often, heard some people argue, “Jesus never called himself God;” so let us take a good trip through the Christianity corpus of revelation, the Bible, also known as the Scriptures or the Word of God, to, kind of, demystify the true person of Jesus Christ. The fourth word of the first sentence of the entire words of the Bible is the Hebrewאלהים  which has the translation ‘ĕlôhı̂ym (el-o-heem’) is defined as: ‘Gods, magistrates or mighty ones;’ It is the plural of ‘ĕlôahh. The salient question will simply be, “Is the Christ one of the ‘ĕlôhı̂ym of Genesis 1:1?” Let the infallibility of the Scriptures do this justice.

We know that the latria is offered strictly to the Divinity seated eternally on the celestial throne. The latria is seen given to God the Creator, the First Member of the Godhead, in Revelation 4:4; 4:8; 4:10 and 19:4. It says explicitly in Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:” well,interestingly, is the understanding that the first ‘God’, the second ‘God’ and the third ‘god’ in Deuteronomy 10:17 have the same Hebraic ‘elôhîym albeit the third is in reference to idols and idolized entities. Incredible but true is the account of Revelation 5:8 “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.”

Jesus receives latria in heaven

What will doubters of the Divinity of the Second Member of the Godhead, Who is also the Lamb of God, say to “fell down before the Lamb”? Piptō (pip’-to) is the Greek for ‘fell down’ meaning: ‘to be prostrated, fall prostrate.’ The word ‘before’, enōpion (en-o’-pee-on) is: ‘in the presence of.’ What does this act mean? It means that while the Eternal Father, the First Member of the Godhead, sits on the empyrean throne of the Rainbow Administration, the closest creatures to the throne, four awesome angels together with the twenty-four elders, turned to Jesus and performed the same latria (offered to the Father) to Him, the Second Member of the Godhead! Indeed, the Father and the Son share the celestial worship. The worship of verse eight led to that of verse thirteen, “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” This culminated in the act of the fourteenth verse, “And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:13-14).

“…the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb” Revelation 5:8

Is it possible that the four angels around the throne of Majesty together with the twenty-four elders will ever prostrate before a created being in worship even where the Father is seated? Will the host of heaven bow in adoration before Jesus if the Christ is not Deity? Not forgetting the definitions of Elohîym, let me show you something in Romans 14:10-12 10) “But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11) For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12) So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Elohîym means: ‘Judge, Deity and mighty or strong One.’ Jesus Christ being accorded the latria in Revelation 5:8 is seen in the above verses seated as the Judge, in heaven.

This makes Jesus Christ One of the Elohîym of the opening verse of the Bible. Philippians 2:5-11 reads, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The word ‘form’ is morphē (mor-fay’) and means: ‘the external appearance.’ Jesus Christ, Whose appearance is exactly of the Father, ‘did not think it as something to brag about’ is what thought it not robbery to be equal with God of verse six is saying. He that is very God of very God took upon Himself the likeness of a servant for the actuation of the soteriology. Is God alone not regarded as the Saviour; how does one explain the fact that Jesus also is the Saviour of the world? Simple: Jesus is wholly Divine, and is one with the Father!

Get born again. Say this sinner’s prayer.

“Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”

(…to be continued…)

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