The Nature of God and Christ - Members Site - United Church of God

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THE NATURE OF GOD AND CHRISTDoctrinal Study Papershall split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall movetoward the north and half of it toward the south… Thus the LORD [Hebrew YHWH] my God willcome, and all the saints with You [margin—Him]… And the LORD [Hebrew YHWH] shall beKing over all the earth…” (Zechariah 14:1-5, 9).The New Testament reveals that Christ is the one who will return as a conquering king,that He will reign on the earth for 1,000 years and that the saints will be with Him when Hereturns. Can there be any doubt that Zechariah 14 is speaking of the second coming of JesusChrist? Yet He is clearly identified by the “proper name” for God in the Old Testament—YHWH! It is clear that the name YHWH can be used to identify both God the Father and the onewho later becomes Jesus Christ (the Word). The context determines which one is being referredto as YHWH. Scripture clearly reveals the preexistence of Christ before His human birth and thatHe is often called YHWH in the Old Testament. Thus there is indisputable evidence of two in theOld Testament and confirmation of this fact in the New Testament.TheophaniesOn numerous occasions YHWH appears to various persons in the Old Testament.However, the Sopherim (scribes), in their mistaken zeal of deanthropomorphizing God, changedthe text to read Adonai instead of YHWH in 134 passages in the Old Testament. 16 Christ statesthat no one had heard the voice of God or seen His form (John 5:37). Yet Moses heard the voiceof YHWH and also saw His back parts (Exodus 33:23). Thus, the one who spoke to Moses andrevealed His form to Moses could not have been the Father. An examination of some of the moreprominent theopanies will graphically demonstrate that YHWH was seen and heard by variouspersons in Old Testament times.The 18th chapter of Genesis reports a conversation between Abraham and a beingidentified as LORD (YHWH). Genesis 18:3 is one of the 134 places where the Masoretes changedthe Hebrew YHWH to Adonai. 17 This emendation makes it appear as if Abraham was speakingwith a “lord” but not with YHWH.There are several other places in Abraham’s discussion with YHWH that the Masoreteschanged the name from YHWH to Adonai. The verses include Genesis 18:3, 27, 30, 32; 19:18. Ineach of these verses, the desire to prevent readers from ascribing human qualities to YHWHappears to be the only reason for changing the original text.Another example is found in Psalm 45. This chapter is problematic if one concludes thereis only one being called God in the Old Testament. Notice Psalm 45:6-7: “Your throne, O God,is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You loverighteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil ofgladness more than Your companions.” Hebrews 1:8 provides the key to understanding thisverse: “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter ofrighteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” Is there any doubt that the apostle Paul is16 Ethelbert Bullinger, The Companion Bible, Appendix 32.17 See Appendix 32 of The Companion Bible for the complete list of 134 passages.Page 14September 2005© 2005 United Church of God, an International Association
THE NATURE OF GOD AND CHRISTDoctrinal Study Paperreferring to Jesus Christ as “God” in this verse? The Son is being addressed as “O God.” Theentire first chapter of Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus Christ, the Son, is the only begotten Sonof God and the stamped image of God the Father. In Hebrews 1:3 the Son is described as“…being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding allthings by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the righthand of the Majesty on high.”H.B. McDonald writes, “The word translated ‘express image’ (AV) is charakter, fromwhich we derive our English word ‘character’; and the word for ‘person’ is hypostaseos whichhas the idea of essence. Thus the Son of God has the very character of God’s essential being…Jesus is God thrown on the screen of human life.” 18Paul explains that Jesus is the reflected brightness of the glory of God, which means thatHe is the exact image of His essence. In other words, Jesus is God in all His substance, natureand character. Thus the use of plurality in the Old Testament infers what the New Testamentmakes clear—there are two in the Godhead.We should be careful not to conclude that there are two Gods in the divinity. There isonly one God, although there are, at the present time, two beings in the Godhead—God theFather and His Son Jesus Christ. One analogy that helps explain the nature of the Godhead is theidea of a family. God can be defined as a family—one God family, although currently consistingof two beings. This analogy is used in the Bible to describe the unity of the Father and the Son(John 17; Ephesians 3:15; Romans 8).Angel of God’s Presence and YHWHWho is the one who thundered the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai and led Israelin the wilderness? Is the YHWH who gave the Ten Commandments and led Israel in thewilderness also referred to as the Angel of His presence? And did this one become Jesus Christ?Embedded in the passages in which YHWH spoke the statutes and judgments to Moses isan often overlooked set of verses that are very germane to the questions at hand. These versesdefinitively state that the name of God was given to the Angel (Hebrew malak, messenger) thatled Israel into the Promised Land. “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the wayand to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; donot provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if youindeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and anadversary to your adversaries” (Exodus 23:20-22). The Hebrew word malak that is translated“Angel” literally means “messenger.” It can refer to divine messengers or human messengers.The context determines whether it refers to a physical messenger or a divine messenger. In thiscase, this Angel is God’s divine messenger who has God’s name in Him. Is this Messenger theone who became Jesus Christ? Let’s examine the possibilities. This being has the name of God inHim.18 H.D. McDonald, Jesus—Human and Divine: An Introduction to New Testament Christology, Grand Rapids:Baker Book House, 1968.Page 15September 2005© 2005 United Church of God, an International Association
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