OceanSide church of Christ
Previous | Return to list of sermons | Next |
JESUS: ETERNAL, NOT
CREATED
Victor M.
Eskew
INTRODUCTION
A.
When the angel Gabriel
appeared to Mary, he told her that her child would be called “the Son of God”
(Luke 1:35).
And the angel
answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God.
B.
At least seven different
persons or groups acknowledged that Jesus is the Son of God during His earthly
ministry.
1.
John the Baptist (John
1:34).
2.
Nathanael (John
1:49).
3.
The demons (Matt. 8:29; Mark
3:11; 5:7; Luke 4:11).
4.
All the disciples (Matt.
14:33).
5.
Peter (Matt. 16:18; John
6:69).
6.
Martha (John
11:27).
7.
The centurion at the foot of
the cross (Matt. 27:54; 15:39).
C.
It is imperative that we
also make this confession if we desire to be saved.
1.
I
John 4:15.
Whosoever shall
confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God.
2.
Romans
10:9-10.
That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
D.
This confession means that
we understand that Jesus is God.
1.
Jesus is deity. Jesus is one of the members of the
Godhead.
2.
The Jews understood that
this is what the phrase, “Son of God,” means (John 5:18).
Therefore the
Jews sought the more to kill him, because he had not only broken the Sabbath,
but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with
God.
E.
There are some religious
groups who would like us to believe they are “Christian,” but they have a
perverted view of Jesus Christ. One
of these groups is the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs).
1.
They do not believe that
Jesus is God.
2.
They believe that in His
pre-human state that He was a created being, an angel, in fact, Michael the
archangel.
3.
We want to deal with this
doctrine in a series of two lessons.
I. THE
CLAIMS OF THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
A.
It is imperative that we
establish the truthfulness of our claims.
To merely assert that the JW’s believe Jesus is a created being is not
proof.
B.
Two
quotes:
1.
In the book, Should You
Believe in the Trinity? Is Jesus
the Almighty God?, published by the Watchtower Society of the JWs, the
following statement is made about the pre-human existence of Jesus on page
14:
“But was it as one of the
persons in an almighty triune Godhead?
No, for the Bible plainly sates that in his prehuman existence, Jesus was
a crated being, just as angels were spirit beings created by God. Neither the angels nor Jesus had existed
before their creation.”
2.
In another publication by
the Watchtower Society, they assert the following about
Jesus:
“This One was not Jehovah
God, but was ‘existing in God’s form.’
How so? He was a spirit
person, just as ‘God is a Spirit’; he was a mighty one, although not as mighty
as Jehovah God is; also he was before all others of God brought forth. Hence he is called ‘the only begotten
Son’ of God, for God had no partner in bringing (sic) forth his first-begotten
Son. He was the first of Jehovah
God’s creations” (Let God Be True, p. 32).
C.
There you have it. These quotes are from the Watchtower
Society of the JWs. They believe
that Jesus Christ is a created being.
1.
We ask: “How could they believe
this?”
2.
Did you listen closely to
one of the quotes? It said: “No, for the Bible plainly states that in his
prehuman existence, Jesus was a created being…” (emp. mine,
vme).
II. THE “PROOF-TEXTS”
THAT JESUS IS A CREATED BEING
A.
There are three major verses
used by the JWs in an attempt to prove that Jesus is a created
being.
B.
Proverbs
8:22.
1.
The Lord
possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of
old.
2.
The
“Jehovah himself
produced me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of
long ago.”
3.
In the context, wisdom is
being discussed.
a.
Some believe that wisdom is a term substituted for the Son of
God.
b.
In the book, What Has Religion Done for Mankind?, the JWs take
this position. Here’s what they say
on page 37: “In the proverbs of
wisdom he (Jesus) speaks of himself as wisdom and calls attention
to his being a creation of
the eternal heavenly Father.”
4.
Answers:
a.
Number 1: Do no deny that
the Hebrew word in Proverbs 8:22 means only “possessed” and not “produced” or
“created.” The context determines
how the word is to be translated.
b.
Number 2: This passage is
not giving us a description of the origin of the Second Person of the Godhead,
but rather sets forth the value of wisdom.
Wisdom is older than the creation and therefore deserves to be followed
by all.
C.
Colossians 1:15, 18.
1.
In Colossians 1:15-18, the apostle Paul sets forth a lengthy description
of the Christ.
2.
The JWs use two of these descriptions in an attempt to prove that Jesus
is a created being.
a.
The firstborn of every creature (Col.
1:15), first created.
b.
Who is the beginning (Col. 1:18), the
beginning of all things.
3.
Answer: The best answer to
their doctrine is found right in the context of these two statements (Col.
1:16).
For by him were
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers: all things were created by
him, and for him.
The text states that Jesus
created “all things.” If He is a
created being, then He had to have created Himself. Such is an
absurdity.
4.
How, then, is Jesus the “firstborn of every creature” and “the
beginning”? He is the origin, the
cause, the author, the active force that created all things. He is the uncaused first
cause.
D.
Revelation
3:14.
And unto the
angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of
God.
1.
The JWs argument stems from
the phrase, “the beginning of the creation of God.” By “beginning,” they believe He was the
first to be created.
2.
Answers:
a.
Number 1: The Greek word
translated as “beginning” is arche (746).
It means “the origin” or “the active cause.” Jesus was the author, the One who
commenced the creation.
b.
Number 2: In Revelation
21:6, God the Father is referred to as “the beginning.”
And he said unto
me, It is done. I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end. I
will give unto him the fountain of the water of life
freely.
1)
The Greek word is “arche,” the same word found in Revelation
3:14.
2)
If Jesus had a literal beginning because He is the beginning, then did
the Father also have a beginning?
No. He, too, is the author
and originator of all things.
CONCLUSION
A.
In this lesson, we have done
three things.
1.
Shown the essential nature
of the confession that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.
2.
Shown that the JWs believe
that Jesus is a created being.
3.
Examined and answered three
proof-texts used by the JWs in an attempt to prove their
doctrine.
B.
These individuals may be
sincere, but they are wrong, dead wrong about the Christ. He is the eternal
God.
C. In a second lesson, we will prove this beyond measure.