Bishop's Epistle: THE DUAL NATURE OF CHRIST (Chapter Two)

Christ Pantocrator, Sinai

Chapter Two

Jesus is Yahweh God

The teaching of the dual nature of Jesus of Nazareth we call the doctrine of the Incarnation. The teaching of the Incarnation is the understanding of how Yahweh came to dwell in a human form. We can discuss the physical manifestations of Yahweh in the Old Testament and call them Theophanies or Tabernacled Presences; but, in respect to the New Testament appearance of Jesus of Nazareth we must say of Him that He is the consummation of all Theophanies and is the ultimate Tabernacled Presence of the Almighty Yahweh. The Apostle John opens his gospel with the thundering proclamation that, “In the beginning was the Word, …and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, …” ( John 1:1, 14)

As far as the Incarnation is concerned the deity that was tabernacled in Him was the same One Who spoke through the prophet Jeremiah and promised to raise up a Righteous Branch from the descendants of King David Whose name would be THE LORD (YHWH) OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, we are assured that the Incarnated One was Yahweh the Creator.

The following texts will show that the deity which was incarnated in Christ was Father God. In Isaiah 7:14 we have a prophecy concerning Christ: “Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign: Behold , a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” This was fulfilled in Matthew chapter one. Matthew 1:23 “…and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Emmanuel was an indicator of His proper name. JESUS; which in the Hebrew was Yeshuwah – literally, Yahweh has become Salvation. A fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6 which states that the ”son given” will be “the mighty God, the everlasting Father.”

We look now to Isaiah 9:6 which states: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Cousellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Here, in this one verse we have the two natures of Jesus spread before us in words no sensible person could doubt. The child that was born, the son that was given (a reference to the cross) was to ALSO be the “Mighty God” and the “Everlasting Father!” One might ask how can Jesus of Nazareth be at the same moment the Son given and the Everlasting Father who gave the Son? The answer is in His dual nature. Remember the promise that Father God gave to His prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD (YHWH), that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby his shall be called, THE LORD (YHWH) OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5-6). That the passage from Jeremiah and this one from Isaiah have Jesus in view, both the Modalist and Trinitarian agrees. The Trinitarian, however, must do something very strange to this Isaiah text in order to maintain his doctrine of distinct persons within the Godhead; he must say that Jesus was the “mighty God” in a limited sense: that He was “a” mighty god – with a small “g.” The Modalist’s objection is emphatic, and to this miscarriage of truth he introduces Revelation 1:8 where Jesus is said to be the Almighty. To say that there is more than one Almighty is a contradiction of terms. There cannot be ‘an’ Almighty, there can only be ‘the’ Almighty. Moreover, it is clear to the Modalist that Jesus is called “the everlasting Father” in this Isaiah text. The Modalistic view has no problem with Jesus being called the “Son” and the “Everlasting Father” at once within the same text; it is understood that in His man nature He is called the ‘child born’ and the ‘son given’ and in His God nature He is the ‘Mighty God and the Everlasting Father.’ Again, the Pluralist view must qualify the term ‘everlasting Father’. He is the Father, they say, not in the same sense as Father God, but in the sense that He has children born unto Him in the new birth; ‘everlasting’ in the sense that He will always be their Father. To this, the Modalistic objection is forcefully set forth in that:

· Malachi 2:10 declares that we have but one Father. If the Trinitarian view of Isaish 9:6 is correct we would have not one (as the Bible teaches), but two Fathers; and

· The Hebrew has no word for ‘everlasting,’ this is an interpolation. The Hebrew could only say: “the child born, and the son given,” was to be, “the Father of eternity.” Now that is much better! The Pluralist say that He was a Father because He had children born to him; in contrast to this the Hebrew says that He is the Father of eternity; we would ask: What made Him the Father BEFORE children were born unto Him since He has been the Father from eternity?

There is but ONE Almighty God (Isaiah 9:6 – Revelation 1:8); there is but ONE Father of Eternity (Isaiah 9:6 – Malachi 2:10).

For those who say that within the Godhead are different beings, the Modalistic Monarchian can invoke the earliest of Christian creeds (Creed of Nicaea – the formula of the 318) in his defense and in anathematizing the view of different hypostases within the Godhead.

Creed of Nicaea – Formula of the 318 (AD 325)

We believe …in one Lord Jesus Christ, …God from God, light from light, true God from true God, Begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, (homoousion to patri) …But for all those who say, ..the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance, or is subject to alteration or change – these the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes.

Tthe above passages have shown Jesus of Nazareth to have been both the Almighty God and the Everlasting Father. We are also told that Jesus is the CREATOR. In Genesis 1:1 we read that “God created.” However we are told in John 1:1-3,14 that Jesus (as the logos) created all things. When we add to these passages Malachi 2:10 which tells us that only ONE created, then we must conclude that Jesus of Nazareth of the New Testament is the Creator of the Old Testament.

In John 20:23 Jesus is called the “Lord and God” by the Apostle Thomas. “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” The Greek here is profound, “Ho kurios mou kai ho theos mou.” “The Lord of me and the God of me.” From this it is clear that the apostles worshipped Jesus as their God. Now, if Jesus was not the ‘Only true God,’ if Thomas was mistaken, if Thomas had his object of worship confused, surely the Lord would have corrected Him. If Jesus was not the Lord God of Israel, the “Only True God” of which He spoke in John 17:3, then surely He would have rebuked Thomas. Jesus had told Satan, in Matthew 4:10, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” The Lord had rebuked Simon Peter in a similar manner; so, He would have had no problem in rebuking Thomas had he been in error. But, instead of a rebuke we find a commendation. Notice verse 29, “Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Thomas had seen Christ and now believed in the resurrection; but, more than that he had proclaimed his faith in Jesus by crying: “ho kurios mou, kai oh theos mou.”

John 10:30 is another passage where Jesus is seen to be one and the same as Father God. Here Jesus says, “I and my Father are one.” The question will, no doubt, be raised: Is this a oneness in being or in unity. The Modalist will say the former; the Pluralist will say the latter. The Greek word for ‘one’ in this passage is ‘hen.’ According to Vine’s expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Word, Fleming H. Revell, Co. Copyright 1981, page 137: The neuter one ‘hen’ may show a oneness of unity or it may show the cardinal numeral to signify one in contrast to many. In order to ascertain which, we should look to the context. By this we can determine the manner in which His hearers understood Him. It is safe to say that they were in a more favorable position to discern His meaning than are we, being two thousand years removed from the event. I feel certain the Lord spoke plainly enough for them to get His meaning. I will give the text and include the Jew’s response:

“I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy: because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”

The Jews understood well the meaning of Jesus’ words, “I and my Father are one.” They did not understand Him to be declaring a oneness in unity with Father God. They understood, clearly, that Jesus was saying He had a oneness with the Father in being. For this they were preparing to stone Him. They, as so many in our time, could not see beyond His human person.

Here are a few other ‘Jesus is God’ passages from the New Testament:

· Jesus is called “The Great God” (Titus 2:13). “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

· Jesus is called “God Blessed Forever.” (Romans 9:5), “Whose are the Fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.”

· Jesus is called “The True God.” (1 John 5:20), “And we know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”

· Jesus is called “The Only Wise God.” (Jude 25). “To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

· Jesus is called “The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father.” (Isaiah 9:6), “For unto us a child is born , unto us a son is given: and government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

In conclusion of this matter we need to consider three last things:

1. There is but ONE God. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29). “”Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.”

2. The ONE Only God is the Father. (1 Corinthians 8:6), “…to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him;”

And lastly:

3. There is but ONE Father. (Malachi 2:10), “Have we not all one father; hath not one God created us?” And Jesus said in Matthew 23:9 “for one is your Father, which is in heaven.”

Therefore, from the Scriptures viewed we must deduce that it is impossible to accept Jesus as God unless we can accept Him as the Father.

THE DIVINE NATURE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH IS FATHER GOD.

The Icon at the top of this essay is Christ Pantocrator, Sinai, which has different facial expression for each side of its face to represent the Dual nature of Christ: God and man. Here each side is mirrored to show the two personas.

Hear The Apostolic Bishop's Podcast: Fully God & Fully Man
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-uipiv-b7b848?fbclid=IwAR0Q42tiB6cvFqx80rF7JGxGBar3nyDpZNocGmTlJ6xkhVuJHJSmV-QeITA#.XSmSBTgm8EQ.facebook

Be sure to continue reading the Dual Nature in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at the links provided here:

Chapter One: Introduction to the Fact
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-dual-nature-of-jesus-of-nazareth.html

Chapter Two: Jesus is Yahweh Godhttp://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-two.html

Chapter Three: Jesus is Human
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-three.html

Chapter Four: Distinctions Between the Two Natures
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-four.html

Chapter Five: The Test of Deity
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-five.html

Apostolically Speaking
☩☩ Jerry L Hayes
(Mar David Ignatius)

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Godhead Theology is a study of Christian Godhead theology. ... Was He God or not? In Godhead Theology Bishop Jerry Hayes follows that debate through the first 300 years of the Church's history. Our book is in five sections: Section One ... demonstrates Modalistic Monarchianism as the original orthodoxy of the Chruch; Section Two introduces the Apostolic Creed ... ; Section Three is an affirmation of Modalistic Monarchianism; Section Four is Modalism's responses to objection from the pluralists Trinitarians, Binitarians, Arians and Semi-Arians. Included are two comprehensive indexes: Subject Index and Scripture Index. 613 pages.

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The Jesus Debate is a written debate between Bishop Jerry Hayes and Prof. Willy Olmo. This book contains all papers submitted between this two knowledgeable men. Bishop Hayes affirms and defends the Oneness of God; Prof. Olmo affirms and defends Arian Unitarianism.

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The Hayes vs Mulbah Debate is a formal written debate on the subject of the Godhead, between Bishop Jerry L Hayes (Onenessarian) and Minister Andrew Mulbah (Trinitarian). This work contains the debate in its entirety plus other related material. Included are the two Creeds from which both disputants argue their respective views: The Apostolic Creed (the statement of faith for the Oneness/Modalistic Monarchian theology) and the Athanasian Creed (the official statement of faith for the Trinitarian theology).

Own this remarkable debate today, by ordering it from the link provided here:https://www.amazon.com/Hayes-Mulbah-Debate-Oneness-Trinity/dp/1727358953/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+hayes&qid=1554244653&s=books&sr=1-8

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Bishop's Epistle

Saturday, June 29, 2019

THE DUAL NATURE OF CHRIST (Chapter Two)

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