Doctrine of ChristPart 2

Part 2: His Incarnation for the Office of Mediator

Section 2: The Unqualified Deity

of the Mediator

Part 2: Preview—Outline of Par 2• Introduction: An Overview of the Confessional

Statement of the Incarnation• Section 1: The Specific Personality of the Mediator• Section 2: The Unqualified Deity of the Mediator• Section 3: The True Humanity of the Mediator • Section 4: The Sinless Integrity of the Mediator • Section 5: The Mysterious Complexity of the Mediator• Excursus on the Historical Development of the

Doctrine of the Person of Christ• Excursus on the Virgin Birth• Excursus on the Impeccability of Christ

Section 2: The Unqualified Deity of the Mediator

• Introduction:

• I. Christ as God (Theos)

• II. Christ as Yahweh (=Lord)

Introduction:• A. Unqualified Deity?• Church history records many attempts to make sense of the Trinity

and the Person of Christ by qualifying (=diluting) Christ’s deity.• The Logos Christology in the Early Church led to Subordinationism

= the idea that Christ’s deity is less than the Father’s deity.• “Unqualified Deity” affirms the opposite against Subordinationism.• B. Paragraph’s 2 Witness to the Deity of Christ• The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very

and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one substance and equal with him who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all things he hath made, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature …. which person is very God and very man yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.

Introduction:• C. Assumption of the Argument• If the evidence for the deity of the Son is to be

appreciated, we must not forget that Old Testament monotheism was a monotheism jealous to guard the unique dignity of God.

• Isaiah 48:11 "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.

• Isaiah 42:8 "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.

Introduction:• C. Assumption of the Argument• NT monotheism manifests the same jealousy!• Acts 14:13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside

the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM.

Introduction:• C. Assumption of the Argument• Acts 10:25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell

at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter raised him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am just a man."

• Rev 22: 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 But he said to me, "Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God."

Introduction:• C. Assumption of the Argument• When …

– the names, attributes, and prerogatives of God are attributed to others,

– the person of God (the Father) is closely associated with others in a way that connotes something approaching equality,

– and others receive worship with the Father,

• the significance of this cannot be over-estimated. • It is amazing for God’s glory to be given to others. • Only one justification can be given for it in context with

such monotheism—such persons must be the one God!

Introduction:• D. Approach to the Deity of Christ• Systematic theologies cite many evidences for the deity of

Christ.• Grudem• 1) Direct Scriptural Claims• 2) Evidence that Jesus possessed the Attributes of Deity• Berkhof:• 1) explicitly asserts the deity of the Son• 2) applies divine names to Him• 3) ascribes to Him divine attributes • 4) speaks of Him as doing divine works• 5) accords Him divine honor

Introduction:• D. Approach to the Deity of Christ

• I. Christ as God (Theos)

• II. Christ as Yahweh (=Lord)

I. Christ as God (Theos)• A. John 1:1-3

• John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• 2 He was in the beginning with God.

• 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• A. John 1:1-3• The 1st use of God in v 1 has the article and refers to the

person of the Father: the Word was with God (ho theos).• This name for the 1st person attributes to Him primacy in the

Trinity and identifies Him as the God who created the world. • The 2nd use of God in John 1:1 does not have the article. • and the Word was God (theos)• Since there is no indefinite article in Greek, it would be

possible in the abstract to translate a god as some cults do. • Contextual considerations refute such a translation. • They create a clear preference for another possible meaning

of a noun without the article. • A noun without the article sometimes stresses its quality.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• A. John 1:1-3• A noun without the article in Greek may be and often is translated

in 1 of 3 ways.• (1) A God (Sometimes the indefinite article is to be supplied.)• (2) The God (Sometimes the definite article is to be supplied.)• (3) God (Sometimes no article is to be supplied. This translation

stresses the quality of the noun.)• The considerations that require this last meaning are these:• 1—A god does not do justice to the contextual emphasis on

the Word being the creator of all that has come into being. • The Word did not come into being and is not merely a god.• 2—The translation a god does not do justice to the contextual

emphasis on the Word being in the beginning with the God. • John says the Word was with the Father before creation in eternity.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• A. John 1:1-3• 3—The translation a god does not take into account

that, if the article had been used, the Word would have been identified as the person of God the Father.

• This is the meaning of the God in verse 1. • The author of the gospel of John clearly distinguished

the person of the Word or Son from the Father• The use of the article here by that author would be

unthinkable.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• A. John 1:1-3• 4—For the same reason, though it is possible for an

indefinite noun in some cases to have a definite force, to supply the article in the second occurrence of God in John 1:1 would be wrong.

• Such a translation would be clearly modalistic—equating the person of the Father with the person of the Son.

• 5—The qualitative translation is, then, the only one that makes good sense of the passage.

• It does not identify the Word with the Father, but attributes the divine essence to the Word.

• This, as the following passages make clear, is in perfect accord with the other statements of John the Apostle.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• B. John 1:18

• John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

• 1. The Textual Issue

• The NKJ embodies the older reading of John 1:18:

• No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

• Metzger prefers only begotten God, monogenh.j qeo,j, and gives it a B reading.

Metzger’s Comments• With the acquisition of î66 and î75, both of which read qeo,j,

the external support of this reading has been notably strengthened. A majority of the Committee regarded the reading monogenh.j ui`o,j, which undoubtedly is easier than monogenh.j qeo,j, to be the result of scribal assimilation to Jn 3.16, 18; 1 Jn 4.9. The anarthrous use of qeo,j (cf. 1.1) appears to be more primitive. There is no reason why the article should have been deleted, and when ui`o,j supplanted qeo,j it would certainly have been added. The shortest reading, o` monogenh,j, while attractive because of internal considerations, is too poorly attested for acceptance as the text. Some modern commentators take monogenh,j as a noun and punctuate so as to have three distinct designations of him who makes God known (monogenh,j( qeo,j( o` w'n eivj to.n ko,lpon tou/ patro.j…).

I. Christ as God (Theos)• B. John 1:18 • 2. The Translational Issue• a. The Wrong Translations• Metzger is right—the reading given in the NASB and other

modern versions has the support of ancient manuscripts and fathers.

• But this reading is difficult. • If only begotten is taken as an adjective modifying God, it seems

to make a Christ a distinct God from the Father.• The NASB is harsh: the only begotten God.• The NIV is even worse: God the One and Only, who is at the

Father's side• The ESV is no better: the only God, who is at the Father's side

I. Christ as God (Theos)• B. John 1:18

• 2. The Translational Issue

• b. The Right Translation

• The likely meaning and translation is suggested by Metzger: the only begotten (Son)—who is God—who is in the bosom of the Father.

• These are three distinct designations of Christ.

• The NET reflects Metzger’s suggestion: No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• B. John 1:18 • 3. The Teaching Issue• (1) However one solves these difficult translational issues, the

text clearly attributes deity to Jesus Christ.• The only begotten Son is qeoj. • The implication that the monogeneis is essentially God is

undeniable.• (2) Additionally and incidentally, one can also see even from

the better rendering of the NET how inadequate a translation “only one” is of monogeneis.

• To make sense of the passage monogeneis really needs to be translated “only begotten (Son).”

I. Christ as God (Theos)• C. John 5:18 … the Jews were seeking all the more to

kill Him, because He … was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

• D. John 10:33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

• No more serious accusation could be made by the Jews than the charge that one was claiming to be God.

• It absolutely required a swift and unequivocal denial. • Jesus offers no such denial.• Rather, the context of John 5 (verses 19-28) and John 10

(verses 30, 37, 38) suggest that the accusation is true and justified.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• E. John 20:28 • Thomas … said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"• The statement of Thomas is unequivocal. • He addresses Jesus Christ as his Lord and God. • Of critical importance is the fact that Jesus does not reject

these words as blasphemy.• He accepts them: Because you have seen Me, have you

believed? Blessed are they who did not see…yet believed.• The contrast with the other occasions upon which divine

worship was offered to mere men could not be more stark. • Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and the angel of Revelation 22

absolutely and swiftly reject such worship• —Jesus accepts it!

I. Christ as God (Theos)• F. Romans 9:5 • whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ

according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

• Punctuations of this text are put forward that make the doxology refer not to Christ, but to God the Father.

• These are forced and without parallel grammatically in Scripture.

• John Murray forcibly defends the reading that describes Jesus as the one over all God blessed forever.

• A proposed theological argument says that Paul never elsewhere describes Jesus Christ as theos, but this forgets the several passages which follow.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• G. Philippians 2:6 • who, although He existed in the form of God, did not

regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,• It is impossible to avoid the implication in this passage

that the Christ possessed equality with God (to. ei=nai i;sa qew/|).

• Paul’s meaning is that he rightfully possessed and gave up a status or form in the heavenly hierarchy that manifested that he was equal to God.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• H. Colossians 2:9 • For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form• There are only two possible interpretations of this passage.• One attributes to Paul the exact Gnostic Christology that

throughout Colossians he is refuting.• The other says he clearly ascribes deity to the Lord Christ. • The choice is clear!• The high Christology of Colossians 1:15f. clearly implies that

the Son is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.• Thus, this ascription of the fullness of deity to the Christ in

Colossians 2:9 is not surprising.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• J. Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the

appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,

• K. 2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

• The Granville Sharp Rule properly understood has no exception in the New Testament.

• This rule requires that we conclude that in both these passages Jesus Christ is described as God.

• Daniel B. Wallace (Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics) convincingly defends this rule and its applicability to the two passages in question.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• L. Hebrews 1:8 • But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS

FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.

• Questions may be raised about the propriety of the human author’s understanding of the term, God, in the Old Testament passage cited.

• But there is no question about the human author’s understanding of this OT passage.

• He clearly regarded it as asserting the full deity of the Son as both the previous and following contexts make clear.

• Thus, the NT author affirms the deity of Christ.• For one who holds an inerrant Scripture this is conclusive.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• M. 1 John 5:20 • And we know that the Son of God has come,

and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

• Does this text identify Jesus as God?• The question concerns who the antecedent of

this (houtos) is.

I. Christ as God (Theos)• M. 1 John 5:20 • In favor of “His Son Jesus Christ” as the antecedent are

these considerations. • First, this epistle begins with the assertions that Jesus

Christ is the eternal life that was with the Father and manifested to us (1 John 1:2).

• Cf. 1 John 5:21: This is the true God and eternal life.• With 1 John 1:1-2: What was from the beginning, what we

have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life-- 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

I. Christ as God (Theos)• M. 1 John 5:20 • Second, His Son Jesus Christ is the closest antecedent. • Third, to make the antecedent God the Father is in terms

of this passage redundant. • The Father is identified in this verse as the one who is true. • the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding

so that we may know Him who is true• If the final phrase, then, refers to God the Father, this results

in the redundancy: The God who is true is the true God. • Fourth, it is not necessary to say the antecedent is the

Son, and not the Father, to make the orthodox case. • There is the possibility that the antecedent may be both the

Father and the Son in their inseparable unity.

II. Christ as Yahweh (=Lord)• Introduction:• John 8:58 teaches that Jesus regarded Himself as Yahweh• —the God who had entered into covenant with Israel through

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.• John 8:58 Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.• Exo 3:13 Moses said...Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?'

What shall I say to them?" 14 God said…"I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 God …said…"Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.

• The Jews tried to stone Jesus showing they understood His claim. • Several places in the NT apply to Jesus OT references to Yahweh.

II. Christ as Yahweh (=Lord)• A. Romans 10:13 with Joel 2:32• Joel 2:32 "And it will come about that whoever calls on the

name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

• Romans 10:13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

• In the context of Romans 10:13 the Lord clearly refers to Jesus Christ.

• Verse 9 requires that for salvation Jesus be confessed as Lord.

• Thus, the Lord Jesus is clearly identified as the Yahweh of Joel 2:32, the passage quoted by Paul.

II. Christ as Yahweh (=Lord)• B. Hebrews 1:10 with Psalm 102:25• Psalm 102:25 "Of old You founded the earth, And the

heavens are the work of Your hands.• The context of Psalm 102:25 makes clear that the “you”

refers to Yahweh God, though the Hebrew of v 25 does not.• Heb 1:10 And, "YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE

FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;

• The LXX contains a reference to Yahweh—not the Hebrew.• Yet the intention of the quotation from the LXX is clear. • It is to say that Christ is God and specifically Yahweh.• In context Lord in Heb 1:10 refers to Christ (Heb 1:2, 5, 8,

13).

II. Christ as Yahweh (=Lord)• C. 1 Peter 2:3 with Psalm 34:8• Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good;

How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!• 1 Peter 2:3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.• The Lord in this passage is the one rejected by men but

accepted by God. • The allusion to Psalm 34:8 is undeniable. • Such allusions are blasphemous unless Jesus Christ is

indeed regarded as Yahweh.

II. Christ as Yahweh (=Lord)• D. 1 Peter 3:14 with Isaiah 8:12-13 • Isa 8:12-13 And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of

it. 13 "It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.

• 1 Pet 3:14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

• The reference to Christ in 1 Peter 3:15 is a textual variant. • But it is supported by all the older manuscripts and versions. • The allusion to Isaiah 8:12-13 is unmistakable except that Christ is

identified as the Lord (Yahweh) of Isaiah 8:13.

Conclusions:• Why did Jesus have to be God to be the Mediator?• To Atone for a World of Sinners!• To Unite Us with God!• To Create a New Creation!• To Deserve Our Worship!• To Preserve God’s Glory!