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Jehovah's Witnesses - 04_11 - Answers - Who is God - Jesus or the Father?

Doctrine Article - D.0300_04_11

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1. You asked:

 

1Cor 15:24-28

24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God (The Almighty), even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he (God Almighty)is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son (Jesus) also himself be subject unto him (Jehovah Almighty God) that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

(Does Paul not say that God placed all things under Jesus to the exception of himself? When it's all said and done, does the Son Jesus not subject unto God Almighty?)

 

a.  No; neither of these is quite accurate.

 

b. Paul said that "the Father" put all of these things under the Son; not that "God" did so.  Read verse 24 again carefully.  The end is God, but it specifies that it is the Father who initiates the process. Everything is assembled in order – the Father placing all things, except himself, under the Son, the Son then subjecting himself to the Father, so that "God", the composite nature in complete unity can be all in all in the end.

 

c. Keep in mind also the several verses that say, "The LORD (the Father) said unto my Lord (Jesus), Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? (Matt 22:44; Ps 110:1; Luke 20:42,43; Acts 2:34,35; Heb 1:13)

 

d. These verses are describing the interaction between persons in the Godhead.  Once the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have everything submitted to and unified under God, then "God" will be all in all.  Remember that Jesus prayed, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:21)

 

e. This is like the secretary of the board reporting to the chairman of the board so that the "board" can function effectively with proper channels of communication and authority, and that the "board" can speak with one voice when all members have contributed their individual parts.

 

f. So, Jesus is submitted to the Father, within the Godhead called "God".

 

2.  You asked:

 

Eph 1:1:15-17

I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him…

(Does Paul pray to the Lord or to the God of our Lord for the Ephesians to receive the knowledge of God? Remember only the knowledge of the true God gives life eternal (John 17:3). If Jesus is the Almighty God why does Paul give thanks in his prayers to someone other than Jesus?) Please answer

 

a.  The passage does not specify to whom Paul has addressed his prayer; only that the purpose of his prayer is, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him…", etc

 

b. This type of thing is only a 'problem' for those who think there are multiple Gods or who otherwise misunderstand the nature of the Godhead so as to think they are praying to someone who isn't actually God.  The solution continues to be an understanding of the Godhead – ONE God in substance or nature, composed of three persons.

 

c. It is unnecessary for me to speculate about to whom Paul had addressed his prayers, but it is reasonable to assume that he would have followed what Jesus had taught in addressing prayers to, "Our Father which art in heaven".  Because the Father is the one true God (remember?), then it is obviously he who gives life eternal (John 17:3).

 

d. If you keep thinking that there are multiple Gods (the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, God Almighty, Jehovah, God ….) then you will never sort this out and will always be confused about who is speaking to whom.  There is ONE God composed of three persons.  Unless you have a broken home, your mother and your father's wife are not two different persons.

 

e. So, if you told me that you asked your mother for something, I would be wrong to get upset when you told me later that you had asked your father's wife for it, or that you had asked "Elizabeth" (her personal name) for it.  It is only slightly more complex than that with God, because we would be referring to the name of God, himself, or to the nature/substance of God, or to a component/office within the Godhead that is a part of the nature when speaking to or about him.

 

3.  You asked:

 

Col 1:3

We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you…

(Who does Paul pray to, Jesus Christ or his Father and God?) Please answer.

 

a. In this passage, Paul is giving thanks "to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" – in this case, to the collective ("God") and to the chief component ("the Father").  That should be understandable by this point - ONE God; composed of three persons.

 

b. It may not be a perfect analogy, but if you said, "I would like to thank the board and the chairman for honouring me with this appointment" would you be thanking two different people?  No, not really.  The "board" is not a person.  It is a collective body of persons that wouldn't exist apart from its individual members.  You would be collectively thanking a collective body (substance, nature) that is called "board" and specifically mentioning a PERSON, by his title, ("chairman") who is distinct from that board but is at the same time inseparably linked to that body – as a member – and specifically linked by virtue of that TITLE "chairman".  If neither the chairman nor any of the other members existed, then the board would not exist.

 

c. Likewise, if the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost did not exist, then GOD would not exist.

 

4. You asked:

 

Rev 1:1-2

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

(Who does the Revelation come from God or Jesus?) Please answer.

 

a. It is the Revelation OF Jesus, and it comes FROM God.

 

b. To further explain by continuing with the analogy:

 

"The board (which includes "Terry" as a member of that board) has unanimously decided to promote Terry to the position of Senior Corporate Spokesman. A news release will be given tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. to reveal this decision, and to publicly introduce Terry. (The general public has been hearing about Terry for years and has been reading about his work behind the scenes, but few have really known him). Terry will thereafter bare record to the decisions made by this board and will testify publicly in daily press conferences as the Spokesman, Mediator, Liaison, or Public face for our board.  Congratulations, and thank you, Terry."

 

c. In a similar way, as a member of the Godhead, Jesus will fulfill this role when he returns to earth (Acts 1:11, I Thess 4:16, Rev 19:11-16, etc).  He will be revealed in all of his glory, as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS and will reign for 1,000 years on earth before this heaven and this earth pass away and before the new heaven and new earth are revealed.

 

5. You asked:

 

Rev 1:5-6

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead,(can God Almighty die?) and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

(Does John state that Jesus made them Kings and priest for God his Father?) Please answer.

 

a. No, God Almighty cannot die.  The verse doesn't say that God died.  It refers to the fact that Jesus Christ (the flesh that God incarnated) died and is now the first begotten of the dead because he was the only one who could conquer death.  When the flesh (body) of Jesus died on the cross, Jesus, himself, the Son of God, the Word, Emmanuel, went to Paradise (along with the thief on the cross) and preached (I Pet 3:19, Eph 4:9) from which he also led captivity captive (Eph 4:8).

 

b. Yes, John states that Jesus made "US" (those who are disciples of Christ, not "them") kings and priests unto God and his Father.

 

c. Surely you understand now that Jesus and his Father are component members of the body (nature/substance/collective) called "God".

 

6. You asked:

 

Rev 3:2 Jesus said: Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 

(If Jesus is the head of the church/congregation does he not have the authority to judge how humans worship his Father? If not why is Jesus transmitting God's requirements in the book of Revelation?)answer please.

 

a. Yes, certainly, Jesus is the head of the church and he has the authority to judge all things.

 

b. Again, as a member of the Godhead, Jesus is by nature "God".

 

7. You didn't ask; but you quoted these verses:

 

Eph 1:20-22

Which he (God Almighty) wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church (included is how humans worship his Father and God), 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

 

a. I have to assume what you might be asking here, because you haven't actually posed a question.  I think you have trouble picturing how someone can sit at their own right hand, or how someone sitting at the right hand of 'someone else' can be the same person as the one beside whom he is sitting.

 

b. A King can appoint himself to any position or office that he wishes.  Likewise, Presidents, Prime Ministers, chairmen, judges and other authorities have the power to appoint themselves to certain positions, and even to create positions to which they subsequently appoint themselves.

 

c. In Israel, for example, the Foreign Minister, the Finance Minister and the Defence Minister are all considered to be sitting in the most important offices, "at the right hand" of the Prime Minister, depending on the political situation at the time (political crisis, financial crisis or military crisis).  Benjamin Netanyahu is a brilliant Finance Minister and when last elected as Prime Minister created a position of Finance Strategy Minister and appointed himself to it.  So, if the Finance Strategy Minister is the Prime Minister's "right hand man", and Netanyahu is the Finance Strategy Minister, then how can he be sitting at his own right hand?  And if he is the Prime Minister and the Finance Strategy Minister, is he two separate persons?  Of course not.

 

d. Given that the Godhead is ONE God within which are three persons, as we have repeatedly seen, God (the nature, substance, character, "board") can appoint any of his members to any position.  The Lord Jesus Christ is a member of the Godhead (a member of the "board") and he can therefore be appointed to sit at the right hand of God and/or at the right hand of the Father and/or to perform the most pressing of tasks when his appointment requires his attention and action.  At all times he continues to be an active, functioning member of "God", the Godhead.

 

 

 

 

 

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