JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

177
granted the Son to have life in Himself. . . . For just as the Father raised
the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is
pleased to give it” (Jn 14:6; Ac 3:15; 1 Jn 1:1-2; Jn 5:26,21).
The word "granted" in reference to the Father granting "the Son to have life in Himself"
clearly refers to Jesus' birth when the second person of the Godhead, God the Word, became
"flesh." Prior to His becoming the God-Man, God the Word already had life in Himself since He
was and is God. This is so by definition. How could a person be God without having life in
Himself? Because He had this life in Himself He was the agent in creating the world.
Therefore to argue that Jesus Christ is created and less than God since life was "granted"
to Him by God the Father is fallacious. This passage is given in reference to Jesus Christ who is
both God and man.
Probably the most emphatic statement made by Jesus in claiming the power of life and
death is found in His words to Martha:
"I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in Me will live, even though
he dies; and whoever believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" (Jn 11:25)
● He will Execute all Judgment (Mt 25:31-46; Jn 5:22).
Judgment in the Hebrew Scriptures is ascribed only to Almighty God. In Genesis 18:25
Abraham refers to God as "the Judge of all the earth." In Joel 3:12 Jehovah proclaims, ". . . there
I will sit to judge all the nations on every side." Yet Jesus claimed that same prerogative:
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will
sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before
Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates
the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His
left" (Mt 25:31-33).
Paul confirms this stupendous claim as he points out on the one hand that judgment
belongs to God (Ro 2:3), he also speaks of Christ as the one who is to "judge the living and the
dead" (2 Ti 4:1) and of the "judgment seat of Christ" (2 Co 5:10).
● He Forgives Sin (Mt 9:2; Lk 7:47).
In the Old Testament God alone has the right and power to forgive sins:
"For I (Jehovah) will forgive their wickedness, and their sin will I remember no
more" (Jer 31:34).