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NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Subject: Who is Jesus' God? |
Bible Note: Jesus’ God is Jehovah. Without question Jesus is to be loved, and honored as the Son of God. He willingly left his heavenly position in the spirit realm became a mere man and died on behalf of mankind as a redemptive offer accepted by Almighty God. John 3:16 Here are a few of the many instances that refer to “Jesus’ God“. This helps me to understand and appreciate who’s who on the matter of Jesus and Jesus’ God. 1) Matt. 3:16, “ After being baptized Jesus immediately came up from the water; and, look! the heavens were opened up, and he saw descending like a dove God’s spirit coming upon him. 17 Look! Also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: “This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.” These verses tell us that God and Jesus are distinct, and says that Jesus is God’s Son. It does not say “the Father’s Son” but God’s Son. Furthermore, God approved of him. Certainly if Jesus were God incarnate (an ancient Egyptian belief) such an approval would be unnecessary. 2) Matt. 4:3, “If you are a son of God,” Jesus is one of many sons of God. This verse does not say that Jesus is God. But John 1:18 tells us that certainly Jesus is to be recognized in his high position by saying that he (Jesus) is God’s only- begotten god, as the most reliable manuscripts call him. 3) Matt. 4:7, “Jesus said to him: “Again it is written, ‘You must not put Jehovah your God to the test.’” Quoting Deut. 6:16 Jesus tells us who God is. Here Jesus was not speaking of himself but of his Father and the succeeding verses then sum it up even clearer by telling us who should be honored as the Almighty God and who should be honored as the Son of God. By saying in verse 10, “ For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’ Jesus was quoting Deut 10:20 4) Matt. 27:46, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus has a God by saying , “My God”. Jehovah never says, “my God”. 5) Mark 1:24, “the Holy One of God.” Speaking of Jesus, he is of God, clearly not God. 6) When Mark 5:7 says that Jesus, is the Son of the Most High God, and James 2:19 says, “ You believe there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well,” how is the fact that Jesus is also called Theos in John 1:1 and John 20:24-29 to be understood? Clearly Jesus’ being Almighty God’s first and only direct “Son” makes him one to be honored as such but not though to be honored as the One from who he came. That honor goes only to the Father, Jesus’ God. 7) John 17:3, RS: “[Jesus prayed to his Father:] This is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God [“who alone art truly God,” NE], and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” Jesus referred not to himself but to his Father in heaven as “the only true God.” Jesus, not being a “false” god but a god in the sense of God’s only begotten god,( John 1:18) is honored as such second only to his God and Father Jehovah. 8) John 20:17, RS: “Jesus said to her [Mary Magdalene], ‘Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” So to the resurrected Jesus, the Father was God, just as the Father was God to Mary Magdalene. Interestingly, not once in Scripture do we find the Father addressing the Son as “my God.” That Jehovah was truly the Father or Life-Giver to this firstborn Son and, hence, that this Son was actually a creature of God is evident from Jesus’ own statements. He pointed to God as the Source of his life, saying, “I live because of the Father.” According to the context, this meant that his life resulted from or was caused by his Father, even as the gaining of life by dying men would result from their faith in Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. John 6:56, 57. Tara1 |