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Jews: Behold Your God
Jews: Behold Your Awesome God
The Jews know the God of their scriptures, the Old Testament to the Christians, as an awesome God, capable of fantastic miracles. He has created everything. That’s why it is so difficult for them to accept that their God is a lesser God to another supreme God. They simply are not willing to accept the notion that there is more than one God Being with one being greater than the other, and their God being the lesser one.
We have already proved in chapters 12 and 13 that two God Beings exist, and their existence was known to prophets in the Jewish scriptures. Those prophets were Moses, David and Daniel.
How Really Awesome a God Jesus Christ Is
Many in Islam ask the question, “How can a little God like Jesus also be God?” in order to try and argue that Jesus Christ is not God. And that is the reason even Jews don’t accept Jesus Christ as the God of the Old Testament, despite Moses, David and Daniel having revealed the existence of two God Beings.
We have shown that Jesus Christ as the YHWH of the Old Testament whom John the apostle calls the “Word” was originally created by God the Father. But then everything else has been created by YHWH of the Jewish scriptures. We should understand that the creator will always be superior to what he can create. Jesus Himself said that His Father was greater than Him. But here is how one can get over the notion that Jesus is a little God by knowing how truly awesome a God Jesus Christ really is.
You can do that by imagining that originally there was only one God, and that God was Jesus Christ. In fact, for about 4,000 years of man’s history that is what the world thought, except for Moses, David and Daniel.
So though a few prophets knew of the existence of two God Beings about 2000 years after the creation of man, the Israelite population knew of the existence of only one God Being, their God of the Old Testament. And that God later came to earth as the God [because He was the Son of God] and Man [because He was Mary’s Son] Jesus Christ.
Did the Israelites have the notion that their God was anything less than an awesome God? They and the world around them which had experienced the incredible miracles God did for ancient Israel believed Him to be an all-powerful God worthy of all worship. They did not know that another God Being existed. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself said that He came to reveal the existence of the other God Being, God the Father in Luke 10:22 (NKJV): “…no man knows who the Son is, but the Father, and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
The God of the Old Testament was worthy of all awe and honor and worship. The Israelites knew that their God has existed for a time period which we can describe only as past eternity. So He possesses all the wisdom of the ages of man and spirit beings. He has known the thoughts and actions of every creature that has ever been created.
We know that all the spirit and material universe were created by the God of the Old Testament. Before beginning creation, He planned out the creation of spirit beings as well as the material universe.
He first planned out the creation of spirit beings. He possesses all the spirit or energy with which He could create the spirit world and the material universe. He possesses all the wisdom to conceive of the laws that would govern the spirit world and the universe, and the power or energy to sustain those laws. Then He created the first spirit beings called the 24 elders in Revelation 4, 7 and 14. He planned out what these elders would look like, what attributes each would possess and with what spirit essence they would be created. These elders are pictured wearing crowns of gold. No angel is pictured wearing a crown of gold. This means that the 24 elders have qualified to be called righteous and receive crowns of gold. They therefore must have existed before the angels and had been tested and tried. They must have existed for a very very very long time [perhaps billions, or may be trillions, or even greater number of years] to have qualified to receive crowns of gold.
Then Jesus Christ carried out the next phase of creation with His own power and energy: the creation of hundreds of millions, or possibly billions of angels.
Then Jesus Christ with His own power and energy created the material universe, which may be a few billion years old. He developed the laws of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology to set them in motion to govern the material universe. Laws of physics tell us that energy can be converted into matter and vice versa. All the matter in the universe has been created from energy. Jesus Christ as God possesses that kind of awesome energy. He possesses such an amount of energy that He converted a tiny fraction of it into mass contained in all the planets, stars and billions of galaxies. I hope you can get a glimpse of how awesome a God Jesus Christ really is.
Jesus Christ then created humanity and the animal and plant kingdoms. Since He created humanity, He will always be greater than all of humanity put together, no matter even when tens of billions of human beings qualify to receive eternal life and power greater than any angel. Jesus Christ possesses all this power, abilities and wisdom to have created all these things.
And it is Jesus Christ with His own power and energy who will resurrect every human being to immortal life. He said in John 5:25-29 (NKJV):
"Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live...All who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."
There was no doubt about what He meant. He added in verse 21,"For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will." When Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, He said to Lazarus' sister, Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).
So Jesus made it quite clear that just like God the Father He can resurrect human beings to eternal life. He will actually resurrect all human beings to eternal life. So our eternal life depends entirely on Him.
And don’t forget. All the spirit and material creation is governed by laws which are sustained by Jesus Christ according to Hebrews 1:3. So He sustains the spirit world as well as the material universe. And that too requires tremendous power. Jesus Christ possesses that kind of power to sustain the entire spirit and material creation.
What else distinguishes God from His creation? God has never sinned in thought or action. He has never violated His laws. Only two Beings in the entire universe can make that claim and probably no one else, possibly even including the 24 elders, will ever be able to make that claim. And those two Beings are God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Ultimately God the Father and Jesus Christ are going to make human beings who receive eternal life incapable of sinning because of the character they will have developed, the power and abilities they will be endowed with. But they will never be able to claim that they have never sinned, for every human being as a human being would have sinned. Angels have sinned. But God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ have never sinned. That is how awesome a God Jesus Christ is.
Here is how you can further understand how truly awesome the God Jesus Christ is. The general view is that all spirit beings, that is the twenty four elders of Revelation 4, and the angels have immortal life, that is, life-inherent in them. They never die. They are immortal. If that is so, then why did Jesus make the statement in John 5:26: "For as the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself."
Does this statement imply that though spirit beings like the angels have life that is not dependent on any kind of spirit food for sustenance and can potentially live forever, it can nevertheless be taken away from them by God and Jesus Christ? Or in other words, the spirit beings besides God the Father and Jesus Christ do not have life-inherent in themselves. They do not have life that can never be taken away from them. God the Father obviously is that kind of life. But God the Father has also given that kind of life-inherent to Jesus Christ. He is self-existent. There is not an iota of mistrust or even its possibility between them. Because of perfect harmony and oneness between them, God the Father has chosen to give that kind of life to Jesus Christ.
This also means that only God the Father and Jesus Christ can set creation in motion, either by creating matter, or supplying the spirit [or energy] that can be used to create matter. The 24 elders and the angels are never mentioned creating in that way. But there is the possibility that the twenty four elders and human beings made immortal, and perhaps God’s holy angels may one day in future eternity qualify to receive life inherent in themselves as Jesus Christ did.
There is one more characteristic that distinguishes Jesus Christ from His spirit or physical creation. He is truly one with God the Father in thoughts, actions and attitude. There is not an iota of mistrust between them. Jesus Christ as the Created One is in total submission to His Father. The Father can trust Jesus Christ completely so that He has granted only Jesus Christ in the universe to have life inherent in Himself. Jesus Christ prays to the Father that we all may become one with Him and the Father as He is one with the Father. This is mentioned in John 10:30 and 17:11. We are far from being there yet. That is how awesome a God is Jesus Christ. He is at one with the Father.
We hope Jews can understand how truly awesome Jesus Christ the God of their scriptures is in power, might and wisdom. He is not a little God, but a truly awesome God whose powers we cannot even imagine. But we will have an eternity to understand His mind and His powers as we learn to work with His material creation. As the Creator, He is and always will be greater than all His creation put together. That is why His life was worth more than all the creation put together, and why His death paid the penalty for the sins of all His creation.
Thus we see that Jesus Christ has all the attributes that we can imagine the God of the Old Testament having. If He is the only God that existed, then He would be capable of creating and sustaining all that exists. He would not need help from another God. He is truly an awesome God, except that only God the Father is greater than Him.
God Who Emptied Himself of His Divinity
God has prophesied the kind of life He wants with humanity in Revelation 21:3-4: “3 "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
God desires to dwell with humanity. Can you imagine God trying to dwell with humanity in its current state? They will abuse Him to His face. When He came to dwell with humanity in the form of the man Jesus Christ, humanity collectively murdered Him because they did not like His criticism of their ways. Clearly God would not get the honor and respect He deserves if He came and dwelt with humanity right now.
The problem with humanity is sin. As long as there is even an iota of sin present in any of God’s sons, God’s family cannot live the kind of life as prophesied above and God cannot dwell with human beings unless each and every one reaches that level of perfection.
That is the kind of family God is purposing and is working to create. He wants a family that does not experience tears, pain, suffering and sorrow which the rebellion of Satan and the demons brought into the universe. And becoming part of God’s family involves our free choice. Each and every human being has to choose to become a part of God’s family when God sends that human being His invitation by calling him. Those who choose not to by rebelling against God and His law will not become part of His family.
Again, why does God have such an emphasis on sinlessness? The answer is quite simple. Any transgression of God’s law, or any form of lawlessness always brings pain and suffering without fail. We cannot have perfect love, peace, joy and happiness, a life without tears, pain and suffering when there is any form of sin present in us.The only way to emphasize the total unacceptability of any form of sin is to prescribe the death penalty for sin. That is what God’s Law does.
Each and every human being ever born except Jesus Christ has sinned and earned the death penalty. So each and every human being is worthy to die. That means God cannot have the family He wants. But to make His family a reality, the awesome Creator God chose to empty Himself of His divinity, come as a human being, live a sinless life and die to pay the death penalty on behalf of all His creation.
We ascribe greatness to a human being who does a selfless sacrificial deed for the benefit of someone. That is another attribute of awesomeness that we can add to how awesome a God Jesus Christ really is. He has demonstrated His love for us the depth of which none of us can ever reach.
Now Captain of Our Salvation as our Awesome High Priest
After His sacrifice and resurrection Jesus Christ has regained all the power He had as the God of the Old Testament, and now sits at the right hand of God the Father on His throne in heaven. However He has something more now compared to what He had as the God of the Old Testament. He has experienced life and suffering as a human being and has been perfected by that experience. He has become our perfect captain to lead us and help us gain salvation. Paul states in Hebrews 2:9-10 (NKJV):
“9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
Salvation is not available through any other. Peter the apostle declared to the chief priests and Sadducees in acts 4:11-12 (NKJV), “11 This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Salvation for the Jew, Israelite or Gentile is available only through Jesus Christ. On the Day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. when the disciples received the holy spirit and Peter spoke to the Jews gathered there, they were convicted in their hearts and asked the disciples what they must do to be saved. Peter outlined the steps in Acts 2:38-39 (NKJV), “38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
Here are the steps God outlines for qualifying to receive salvation for any human being:
1) God’s Call – The first step on the road to salvation is God’s call. Unless God calls a person, he or she will not understand the truth. But if God has opened your mind to understand and accept what God’s Church preaches as the truth, then God is calling you. He is inviting you to receive your chance for eternal life.
2) Repentance – The next step on the road to eternal life is repentance. Repentance is turning away from our previous way of life to serving God and living His way of life as described in His Word, the entire Bible. Repentance is changing from the way of sin which is defined as ‘transgression of God’s Law’ (1 John 3:4) to obeying God’s Law. Repentance is also a gift from God because by a miracle God makes repentance possible (Romans 2:4).
3) Baptism and Laying on of Hands – After a sinner deeply repents and now wants to change his way of life, he must then commit to changing his sinful way of life. That commitment is demonstrated by being baptized (by being completely immersed under water) and then God’s true ministers laying their hands on the converted person and praying for him to receive God’s holy spirit. The convert then receives God’s holy spirit. Baptism symbolizes the sinner’s death and burial to his old way of life of sin and resurrection to newness of life, a lifelong commitment to overcoming sin and obedience to God’s Law.
4) Remission (Forgiveness) of Sins – After we have repented and accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for forgiveness of our sins, demonstrated our commitment to live God’s way of life in obeying His law by being baptized and receiving God’s holy spirit, then when we ask for forgiveness through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ all our sins and guilt associated with them is removed from us. Literally our slate of sins is wiped clean. God keeps no score of our good deeds and bad deeds. 1 John 1:9 says, “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
5) Staying the Course and Enduring to the End – After we receive God holy spirit and our sins have been forgiven, we become members of the spiritual body of Jesus Christ, God’s true Church. Before we can reach our final destination – eternal life as God’s literal sons in His Kingdom – many miles of road and years to live lie ahead.
God’s holy spirit will change our minds, enabling us to understand the letter and spiritual intent of God’s Law and giving us the spiritual power to keep it. We will grow in spiritual wisdom, knowledge and understanding. We will learn to think and act as God does. The purpose is to have God’s holy righteous character formed in us. Literally Christ’s character is to be formed in us through this process of spiritual growth (Galatians 4:19, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”)
Many trials tribulations and sacrifices will lie ahead on the road to eternal life. But “13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
We will be required to exercise our free will to choose what to do in all of life’s circumstances. God expects us to exercise our free will to remain faithful to His Law and way of life. If we produce fruit pleasing to God, then God will be pleased to grant us eternal life. If we produce no fruit to perfection, then we will not qualify to receive eternal life and our lives will be permanently extinguished in the Lake of Fire.
6) Resurrection to Eternal Life – At the end of our physical life if the godly holy righteous character of Jesus Christ has been formed in us, then we will qualify to receive eternal life through a resurrection. If we are still alive then our bodies will be changed to a glorious immortal spirit body and we will receive entrance into God’s Kingdom as His immortal sons. If we failed to develop God’s holy righteous character in us, meaning did not produce fruit to perfection, then our lives will be permanently extinguished in the Lake of Fire and even our memory will vanish from the minds of the living.
UCG publishes an excellent booklet titled “The Road to Eternal Life” that explains these steps in greater detail. Free copy of the booklet is available at www.ucg.org.
Help from our Faithful High Priest to Attain Salvation
Ancient Israel demonstrated that human beings are incapable of keeping God’s Law perfectly on their own. But keeping God’s Law is required to attain salvation. Under the Old Covenant God’s holy spirit was not granted to the people. Only the prophets had it. That’s why ancient Israelites were unable to keep God’s Law. But under the New Covenant God gave His called out ones a new heart through a new spirit, His holy spirit. The holy spirit enables the Law to be written on the hearts and minds of the people.
In addition to God’s holy spirit we have personal assistance available from our faithful High Priest Jesus Christ to enable us to keep God’s Law. This assistance from Jesus Christ is available in many forms.
First of all Jesus Christ lives in us through God’s holy spirit. Paul stated in Galatians 2:20, “20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Judaism during the Old Testament days was a temple based worship system. God was supposed to be dwelling in the Temple in Jerusalem. But in the New Testament members of God’s Church are the Temple of God. 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, “16…for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Thus Jesus Christ dwells in us through the holy spirit personally assisting us to live His life (the way He lived) in us.
Jesus Christ lived a life of perfect obedience to God the Father and Kept the Law perfectly. He knows how to do it and can therefore assist us in doing so. Hebrews 5:8-9 (NKJV) states: “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him."
Jesus Christ can also personally assist every person because He experienced life as a human and understands our weaknesses and infirmities. Hebrews 2:17-18 (NIV) states: "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God…Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." The physical high priest under the Sinai Covenant could not provide such help.
Only through continuous access to a living faithful High Priest can we obey God in the manner pleasing to Him. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NKJV) further adds: "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
As the renting of the Temple Veil indicated we now have direct access to God the Father. We can directly pray to God for help in keeping God’s Law. Jesus Christ then provides us all the assistance we need to obey God’s Law, live His way of life and endure to the end.
Help Available
Jews may have many other questions that have not been answered in this book. But help is available from the United Church of God and other Churches of God. Answers to many of the questions may be available from the suggested reading list. In addition answers may be available at the UCG web site www.ucg.org.
In addition, the UCG has dedicated ministers available in any part of the world to answer any questions or for counseling on how to join God’s true Church. We can be contacted at www.ucg.org by email; by mail at United Church of God, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027, USA; or by phone in the USA toll-free at 1-888-886-8632, or from anywhere in the world at 1-513-576-9796.
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