JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

190
When Jesus "is addressed as the exalted Lord, He is so identified with God that there is
ambiguity in some passages as to whether the Father or the Son is meant (Ac 1:24; 2:47; 8:39;
9:31; 11:21; 13:10-12; 16:14; 20:19; 21:14; cf. 18:26; Ro 14:11). For the Jews particularly, the
term kyrios suggested that Christ was equal with the Father.
● He is called "God"
● ". . . mighty God" (Isa 9:6).
Isaiah 9:6 is one of the most powerful verses in the Old Testament which incontestably
declares that Jehovah Himself planned to appear in human form. The verse clearly states that all
government will rest upon the "child born" and the "Son given," whose identity is revealed in the
very terms used to describe His attributes:
"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
The phrase "Everlasting Father" is literally "Father of the Everlasting. The term "mighty
God" is in itself indicative of Jehovah, since not only is He the only God (Isa 43:10-11), but the
term "mighty" is applied to Him alone in relation to His deity. Jehovah's Witnesses dodge this
verse by claiming that Christ is "a Mighty God," but not "the almighty God" (Jehovah). Since
there is no article for "mighty" in the Hebrew text Jehovah is not meant. If this were true,
however, there would then be two "mighty Gods." While such logic is absurd, the Jehovah's
Witnesses persist in the fallacy.
An example would be where Isaiah 10:21 states that "Jacob shall return" to the "mighty
God" (which would mean "Jesus" since the word "mighty" is without the article), yet we already
know that Jehovah is by His own word to Moses "the God of Jacob" (Ex 3:6). Another instance
is found in Jeremiah 32:18 where the prophet declares that He (Jehovah—since it has the article)
is "the Great, the Mighty God." This is two forms of saying the same thing. If we are to accept
this translation advocated by the Jehovah's Witnesses there must be two "Mighty Gods" which is
impossible since there is only one true and mighty God (Isa 45:22).
The "Jehovah" whom Isaiah and his people worshiped, and the "child born" and the "son
given," both are called "Mighty God," since they had to be the same.
"If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord. . . . For 'everyone who calls upon
the name of the Lord will be saved" (Ro 10:9,13).
The question is, "Who is 'Lord'"? Verse 9 states that Jesus is Lord while verse 13 states
that Jehovah (JHWH) is Lord. The same Greek word (kyrios) is used in both verses even though
verse 13 is obviously a quotation from Joel 2:32 (Peter cited this same passage on the day of
Pentecost—Ac 2:21). Therefore Paul identifies both Jesus and the Jehovah of the Old Testament
as Lord (kyrios).