A Series of Questions about Jesus with very short answers (non-scholarly, explaining -- not defending -- the positions)

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Date: Jan 27, 2017
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Was he a good prophet?  If he was a prophet why do you say him God? 

 

Yes, He was both a prophet during His earthly life, and He was the source of prophecy in the Scriptures before His coming to earth.

 

"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets many times and in many different ways. But now in these last days God has spoken to us through his Son. God has chosen his Son to own all things, and through him he made the world. The Son reflects the glory of God and shows exactly what God is like." [Heb 1:1–3.]

 

The prophets searched carefully and tried to learn about this salvation. They prophesied about the grace that was coming to you. The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets, telling in advance about the sufferings of Christ and about the glory that would follow those sufferings. The prophets tried to learn about what the Spirit was showing them, when those things would happen, and what the world would be like at that time. [1 Peter 1:10–11]

 

 

Prophets spoke for God. They functioned as God's mouth. They revealed the heart, will, and character of God.

 

In the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Moses' brother Aaron was a prophet FOR Moses.

 

Here he is called a 'prophet' for Moses:

 

"Then the LORD said to Moses, “I have made you like God to Pharaoh. And your brother Aaron will be like a prophet to you."  (Ex 7:1.)

 

And this was described as being 'a mouth':

 

"What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you. He will be glad to see you. Speak to him. Put your words in his mouth. Tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak. I will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you. He will be like your mouth. And you will be like God to him.  (Ex 4:14–16.)

 

But it was still God speaking, even though He was speaking through someone else's mouth.

 

The message was God's message, and prophets were sent by God to with His message.

 

But there is no reason why God could not speak for Himself--as He often did. He spoke directly to Moses face-to-face, in the Tent of Meeting. He spoke directly to the prophets.

 

"Moses used to take a tent and set it up a long way outside the camp; he called it the “Meeting Tent.” Anyone who wanted to ask the LORD about something would go to the Meeting Tent outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances of their tents, watching him until he entered the Meeting Tent. When Moses went into the Tent, the pillar of cloud would always come down and stay at the entrance of the Tent while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance of the Tent, they stood and worshiped, each person at the entrance of his own tent. The LORD spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but Moses’ young helper, Joshua son of Nun, did not leave the Tent. (Ex 33:7–11)

 

He declared His own glory and character to Moses:

 

Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!”

 

 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

 

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as He called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

 

Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

 

God gave His message to His prophets. The prophets were not the message of God, but were the messengers. They were not the words of God, but they were the speakers. They were not the glory of God themselves, but they revealed God's glory to others in words and deeds. They were not the visible image of God, but could only describe His image.

 

But with Jesus, He was both the MESSAGE and the messenger, both the WORD and the speaker, both the Glory and the revealer of that Glory, and the very image of the invisible God. To see Jesus' face was to see the glory of God. To see Jesus, was to see God the Father.

 

In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. … The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father(John 1)

 

The Son is the image of the invisible God (Col 1.15)

 

In their case (unbelievers) the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  (2 Co 4:4,6)

 

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Heb 1:3)

 

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.” … Jesus answered, “I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14)

 

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me is really believing in the One who sent me. Whoever sees me sees the One who sent me. (Jn 12:44–45.)

 

To see Jesus, is to see God the Father. To trust in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life, is to trust in God the Father.

 

 

He was the only person to actually see God, because He was with the Father before time began:

 

No one has ever seen God. But God, the one and only Son, is at the Father’s side. He has shown us what God is like. (John 1)

 

My Father has given me all things. No one knows the Son, except the Father. And no one knows the Father, except the Son and those whom the Son chooses to tell. (Mt 11:27)

 

Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only he has seen the Father (Jn 6:45–46)

 

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven -- the Son of Man (John 3.13)

 

And He was glorified with the Father before He laid aside that glory and came to earth. He received His glory back again when He returned to heaven.

 

"When Jesus finished saying these things [the night before He gave His life for us on the cross], he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son can glorify you. You gave him authority over everyone so that he could give eternal life to everyone you gave him. This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I shared with you before the world was created." (Jn 17:1–5)

 

"Father, I want these people that you gave me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made. Father, you are the One who is good. The world does not know you, but I know you, and these people know you sent me. I showed them what you are like, and I will show them again. Then they will have the same love that you have for me, and I will live in them.” (Jn 17:24–26.)

 

No other prophets existed before their birth on earth. No other prophet came down from heaven to the earth to reveal the character and glory of God. No prophet came down into the world to save us from our sins and give us eternal life.

 

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (I Tim 1.15)

 

"Christ gave each one of us the special gift of grace, showing how generous he is. That is why it says in the Scriptures,

 

“When he went up to the heights, he led a parade of captives, and he gave gifts to people.”

 

When it says, “He went up,” what does it mean? It means that he first came down to the earth. So Jesus came down, and he is the same One who went up above all the heaven. Christ did that to fill everything with his presence."  (Eph 4:7–10)

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col 1.15ff)

 

This is how you can know God’s Spirit: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human is from God . (I Jn 4.2)

 

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."--John 6.33

 

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.--John 6.38

 

What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!--John 6.62

 

The first man [ADAM] was of the dust of the earth, the second man [JESUS] from heaven. (I Cor 15.47)

 

Jesus was absolutely unique as a messenger--because He was more than just a good human prophet.

 

Of course, Jesus was more than just the perfect prophet--He was also the perfect King and High Priest and Sacrifice…


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