Jesus is God, not just a man God worked through.
Peter's Address on the Day of Pentecost
NASB Act 2:22
"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know--
Deu 6:4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible tells us that there are two valid ways of interpreting the
Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4. It is possible to translate, "Yahweh, our God, is one Yahweh"- in which case the Shema affirms that Yahweh can not be divided into several Yahweh manifestations (poly-Yahwism), like the Baals of different sanctuaries [or we might add the Trinity of later Nicene Christianity]. Or we may translate: "Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone"-in which case the Shema affirms that Yahweh is the only and the unique God [we will soon see that Jesus affirmed this creed and John 17:3].
Both of these nuances are given in other Old Testament passages. The person of God is indivisible and he has no other in His class for He is alone and unique. He is a single divine individual.
Deu 4:35 "To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is
no other besides Him….39 "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the
LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below;
there is no other.
Deu 32:39 'See now that I, I am He, And
there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to
death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can
deliver from My hand.
Isa 44:6 "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am
the first and I am the last,
And there is no God besides Me.
The New Testament clearly states Jesus has a God and Father, both before and after his
resurrection. We know the Bible does not contradict.
Jesus Speaking:
John 20:17
- "I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
Matthew 27:46 -
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
Revelation 3:12 - "
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God."
Revelation 3:2 - "
for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God."
Paul:
Ephesians 1:3 - "
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 1:17 -
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father..."
2 Corinthians 1:3 - "
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
2 Corinthians 11:31 - "The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ knows, He who is blessed forever, that I do not lie."
Romans 15:6 - "
that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Peter:
1 Peter 1:3 - "
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
John:
Rev 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave him
H. N. Snaith in his book, “
The Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament,” writes “
Christianity itself has tended to suffer from a translation out of the Prophets and into Plato.” (p161) “Our position is that the reinterpretation of Biblical theology in terms of the ideas of the Greek philosophers has been both a widespread throughout the centuries and everywhere destructive to the essence of the Christian faith.” (p187.). Snaith also makes this remark that if his “thesis” is correct:… “then neither Catholic nor Protestant theology is based on Biblical theology. In each case we have a denomination of Christian theology by Greek thought… We hold that there can be no right (theology) until we have come to a clear view of the distinctive ideas of both Old and New Testaments and their differences from the pagan ideas which have so largely dominated Christian thought.” (p188.).