Different views are extant among Christians about the Godhead, the Deity. Such as, the Unitarian view; but is it scriptural? How about the purported Oneness doctrine; is it scriptural? Also, does scripture indicate there’s complete equality in the Godhead; Deity in all respects?
John wrote this about Jesus/Yeshúa. Jn.1:1-4, 9, 14 “In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God…The true Light…The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” This reflects a high Christology. The Word/Light, who also was God, was made flesh. John identifies Him as Jesus.
Targum Neofití Ge.1:1, written in Aramaic pre-200 AD, “In the beginning, with Wisdom the Mémra (the Word) of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth”. The Memra (Aramaic), the Word (English), the Lógos (Greek)…are equivalent terms. Then Ge.1:26 “Let Us make man in Our image.” In the Old Testament text, when YHVH was anthropomorphized (appeared as human) or there were plural YHVHs…the second YHVH was called the Memra (Word) in Aramaic Targums.
Ancient writings such as: the Aramaic Targum paraphrases (written when most Jews no longer knew Hebrew), the intertestamental Apocrypha, Philo and Josephus of the 1st century AD, other non-canonical literature…has much historical value, and some of it may be inspired.
The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria was born around 20 BC (prior to John). Philo referred to the Word (logos Strongs g3056) as involved in the Creation, and as the second God. The Works of Philo: p.541, The Special Laws 1 “Now the image of God is the Logos, by which all the world was made.” p.747, On Providence 1 “The second God, who is the Word.” p.293, Who Is the Heir of Divine Things “The Logos is continually a suppliant to the immortal God on behalf of the mortal race.” Philo exemplifies a more ancient path of Hebrew thought than the rabbinics of the Middle Ages!
John 1 regarding the Word, quoted above, resembles somewhat the writing of Philo (who wrote in Greek) and the Targum Neofiti Ge.1:1 (written in Aramaic).
Jeremiah had prophesied in Je.23:5-6. “I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch. This is His Name [shem Strongs h8034, Hebrew] by which He will be called, YHVH our righteousness.” He will become the God-man. He will be YHVH and the Son of David…both! Philo On the Unchangeableness of God, p.162 “God is not as a man…God is as a man.” The Targum Jonathan and the Talmud Lam Rab 1:51 also agree that the Branch in Je.23:6 refers to the Messiah. Fulfilling v.5-6 via the virgin birth, Jesus is both…Son of God and Son of Man! Mt.1:20 Jesus as Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit…God. (see the topic “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)
{Sidelight: Je.33:15-16 the English word “name” in v.16 is in italics, meaning that word wasn’t in the actual Hebrew text of the verse. It was added by translators. Furthermore, the Cháldee, Syriac and Vulgar Latin all render Je.33:16 without the “she”…rather, “whereby they shall call Him.”}
Jesus is God! Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. (see “Jesus Is the Messiah”.) He said in Jn.10:30, “I and My Father are One”. Father and Son are both of the same essence and God-kind. Kind begets kind. Ge.1:11, 21, 25-26 reflect this biogenesis.
De.6:4 “The Lord is one”, echád (h259) in Hebrew. God is unified, but not numerically or solely, one. e.g. in Ge.2:22-24 Adam & Eve also were one/echad…the two of them! Ezr.2:64 an assembly of 42,360 was as one/echad!
Following are several New Testament (NT) verses which confirm Jesus is God.
Again, Jn.1:1, 14 the Word who became flesh “was God”. Mt.1:23 Jesus is “Emmanuel, God (is) with us”. Jn.20:28 Thomas called Jesus, “My Lord and my God”. Php.2:5-7 the apostle Paul said Jesus had “existed in the form of God” (not in the form of angels, but as the Word/Logos of God) prior to His human birth. Col.2:9 in Jesus Christ “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”. He.1:3 Jesus the Son is “The radiance of His (Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature”. He.1:6-8 “Let all the angels of God worship Him. Of the Son He says, ‘Thy throne, O God, is forever.”
In Re.1:8 Jesus calls Himself “the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty”. Jesus says in v.17-18, “I AM the first and the last, the living One, and I was dead”. Re.22:13 “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.” In v.16 He specifically identifies Himself by Name, “I, Jesus”. Jesus Himself says He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty (God)!
Again, in Je.23:6 the Messiah would also be YHVH. Re.5:11-14 “Worthy is the Lamb! And they fell down and worshiped.” In Re.5, all those angels, living creatures and elders seen around the heavenly Throne are worshiping the sacrificial Lamb Jesus…they aren’t idolators! They’re worshiping Jesus because He also is very God! It’s plain that the many above verses show…Jesus is God/YHVH too!
Compare Jn.8:57-59 & 18:5-6, where Jesus calls Himself “I AM”, with…Ex.3:14 “I AM” in the LXX/Septúagint. Again, Jesus is of the God-kind. Jn.6:62 Jesus refers to Himself as “ascending where He was before [His human birth]”. Also Jn.6:51 “I AM the living bread.” And v.54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” These astounding words of Jesus aren’t the words of some deranged human martyr!
Even the opposing Jewish leaders understood Jesus as saying He’s more than a mere man. Jn.10:33 “You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” And Jn.19:7 “He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.” They understood Jesus was indicating He is God!
Unitarianism ignores some of the NT scriptures. It’s the belief that Jesus is the Son of God but isn’t God the Son; that Jesus isn’t divine, isn’t Deity.
Jesus declared in Mt.28:18, “All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. In Ac.7:56, 59 the dying Stephen saw Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven, and said, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit”. (Ec.12:7 “The spirit returns to God who gave it.”) Ruling at God’s very throne, Jesus is more than a good man!
Yet Jesus indicated in Mt.28:18 that Someone else gave Jesus His power.
Jesus has a God! Following are several verses which attest to this.
Jesus said in Jn.14:28, “My Father is greater than I”. His Father is God Most High! The angel Gabriel spoke of the unborn Jesus to the virgin Mary in Lk.1:32. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Jesus the Son isn’t the Most High God…His Father is.
Jesus cried out while on the cross in Mt.27:46. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The human Jesus at that time called upon His God. Soon afterwards, Jn.20:17 “I ascend to My God and your God”. Here the resurrected Jesus spoke of ascending to His God. He.1:9 also refers to Jesus’ God. “God, Your God.” Paul wrote in 1Co.3:23, “Christ belongs to God”. And, “God is the head of Christ.” (1Co.11:3) Paul indicates in 1Co.15:27-28 that at the end Jesus will still be in subjection to His Father God! Finally, in Re.3:12 Jesus refers to “My God”…four times! Here in Re.3:12, even the glorified Jesus (ref Re.1:13-15) affirms that He still has a God!
So from the preceding passages, it is also plain that God the Father and Jesus are both God…but not equal in authority or position.
Jesus has been given all authority (Mt.28:18), except…the Father’s authority is greater. Again, Jesus said in Jn.14:28, “My Father is greater than I”. The Father, God Most High, is Jesus’ God.
Mt.20:23 Jesus said in regards to ruling with Him in the Kingdom,“To sit on My right and My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father”. God’s Word Translation paraphrase “I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at My right or left.” Pulpit Commentary Mt.20:23 “The boon was solely at His Father’s disposal.” The Father has greater authority than Jesus.
Jesus isn’t His Father! When Jesus was only a few weeks old, in Lk.2:21-24 Joseph & Mary brought Him up to Jerusalem to “present Him to the Lord”. To presume they presented baby Jesus to Himself would be nonsensical! Here “the Lord” referred to His Father God.
At Jesus’ water baptism in Lk.3:21-22, “The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in a bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, with You I Am well-pleased”. That wasn’t Jesus on earth saying He loved Himself; nor was that Jesus speaking in heaven above! And a being in the order of heavenly angels didn’t lie and call Jesus “My beloved Son”. Again, in Lk.1:32 the angel Gabriel as God’s agent told Mary that Jesus is the “Son of the Most High”; not even Gabriel referred to Jesus as ‘my Son’! Lk.3:21-22 indicates the voice from above belonged to Father God, not an angel. Jesus heard Father God’s voice. The Two exist simultaneously.
Before Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus fell face-down on the ground in Mt.26:39 and supplicated in prayer. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will”. No need for Jesus to lay prostrate if He was just talking to Himself! Rather, He entreated Someone else.
Again, while hanging on the cross, Jesus cried out in Mt.27:46. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus wasn’t crying out to Himself! He was addressing His Father as His God.
In Jn.8:17-18, Jesus cites God’s law about plural witnesses (cf. De.19:15), indicating His Father is a second witness. “I AM He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” According to Jesus, He and the Father comprise two witnesses (not one). They’re not the same entity or ‘Person’ or hypostasis. They’re echad (h259), of the one essence or God Family, yet distinct.
Furthermore, Re.3:12 precludes us from assuming that after Jesus’ ascension His Person assimilated or melded into the Father’s Person. Again, in that verse even the glorified Jesus says He still has a God!
Oneness ignores some of the NT revelation, as seen in the preceding verses. It’s a form of Modalism belief that God is no distinction of Persons, that God is only one ‘Person’ or entity, that Jesus is also His/the Father, that there’s no ‘Trinity’. Wikipedia: Oneness Pentecostalism “It first emerged in America around 1914. Oneness believers state that Jesus is the one name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” But the NT doesn’t specifically name the Father and/or the Holy Spirit…‘Yeshua/Jesus’.
Is.9:6 is in regards to Jesus the Messiah. Is.9:6 the child/Son will be called the “Father of eternity” (Hebrew). Is.9:6 Alexandrian LXX “The Father of the age to come.” To Jews, the Messiah is the father of the Messianic age. Benson Commentary Is.9:6 “Christ, the father of the new and eternal age.” Barnes Notes “The Chaldee renders this expression, ‘The man abiding forever’. The Vulgate, ‘The Father of the future age’. The Hebrews used the term ‘father’ in a great variety of senses.” Is.9:6 LXX “His name is called the Messenger of great counsel.” This verse didn’t mean Jesus is Father God.
Some try to make a case for either Oneness or Unitarianism, based on part of the scriptural evidence. But as we examine & compare more of the whole of the Bible…we see both of those views are lacking.
{{Sidelight: God said in Ge.2:18-20, it isn’t good for the human (LXX ánthropos) to be alone. There was then no one else, no other person, of the human-kind with Adam. How lonely Adam must have been! Adam’s singularity was not good, according to God! All the other creatures had another of its kind (Ge.1:24-25), except for Adam. Imagine you being on the proverbial deserted island for your lifetime with no one else, no other person, of your kind in existence…only creatures of a different kind than you. Loneliness personified! But have we ever thought it is somehow good for God to be alone (for eternity!), with none other Person of His God-kind in existence?}}
Father God is the Source of all Life! In Jn.17:24, Jesus said that the Father gave Jesus His glory! “My Glory, which You gave Me.” Jesus didn’t have glory of Himself. And Jesus said in Jn.6:57, “I live because of the Father”. Also Jn.5:26 “the Father…gave to the Son to have life in Himself.” Jesus attributed His own Existence to the Father! Jesus said in Jn.5:19, “The Son can do nothing of Himself”. Furthermore Jn.5:30, “I can do nothing on My own initiative”. Jesus only did the will of the Father who sent Him! Jn.14:10 “The Father abiding in Me does the works.” Jesus so subjugated His own will to His Father’s will! The Father did the miraculous works through Jesus, we may say.
How is it that Father God has more authority, and Jesus only did that which His Father willed for Him? First, we understand that fathers precede their sons. Orthodox Study Bible “The Son is begotten before all time and ages from the essence of the Father. The Son (has no beginning but) has the Father as His Source from eternity.” The oldest manuscripts of Jn.1:18 render Jesus as the “only begotten God”. Begotten, not created. Philo On Flight and Finding, p.331 “The Word of God…God being His Father, who is also the Father of all things.” The Father had generated or emanated the Word in prehistory. (see “Godhead in Prehistory”.) Again Jn.17:24, the Father had given Jesus His glory…and Jn.6:57, Jesus lives because of the Father. The Father has precedence and is greater (than all).
Where in scripture might we see the Word/Jesus originating from eternity? Ge.1:2-4 on the 1st day God brought forth cosmic Light! Yet no sun, moon, stars (luminaries) were visible until the 4th day (v.14-19). In v.3, both the Hebrew and the Greek LXX terms for “light” differ from their terms for “light” in v.14. The Light in the beginning was different. In 2Co.4:6, Paul said that God caused “Light to shine out of darkness in the face of Christ”. Jesus as the great primordial Light! (In analogy, at the least.) Jn.1:5 the Light of the Word (Logos) shined! Jn.1:9, 14 identifies Jesus as that true Light. In Jn.8:12, Jesus Himself said, “I AM the Light of the world”! Jesus/the Word was Light and came as Light. (Moses’ face even shined after speaking with Him, Ex.34:29. see “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”. (Also ref Mt.4:16, Ac.9:3.) He/Jesus is the emanating radiance of His Father’s glory (He.1:3). The Father gave Jesus His glory (Jn.17:24).
Jesus is subordinate to His Father because…the Father preceded Jesus, and the Father has greater authority! Anciently God and the Word didn’t flip a heavenly coin to determine Who would serve as Father and Who would become Son Jesus on earth. No, the Father always had precedence. Fathers precede their sons.
The form of Trinitarian belief that thinks Father God and the glorified Jesus are completely co-equal in all respects is not in agreement with the entirety of the scriptural evidence. Again, 1Co.11:3 “God is the head of Christ.”
And yet, a person who doesn’t honor the Son of God doesn’t really honor Father God either. Jesus said in Jn.5:23, “He who does not honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent Him”. Father and Son are One, unified in purpose and as the God-kind (Jn.10:30)…both are God. Praise God!
Bible Topic Exposition 