Bible Question: Is Jesus God?

Bible Question:Please explain why a "God," that no man can look upon and live, allowed men (the Jewish and the Roman people) to beat and crucify Jesus? Second, If Jesus, was "God" please explain John 5:18-47. Here, Jesus speaks of another person whom he calls his Father. Clearly, there are two persons. And last, explain John 1:18 and Matthew 3:16-17. If Jesus was "God" how could there be a voice from heaven while he is being baptized here on earth by John the Baptist.

How does this verse apply to your questions? We are mortal men and we think as mortal men and not as God. The following statement echoes that truth. God is speaking and He reminds us of something important.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 (NAS95S)

The message is simple. We are just mortal men who try to understand God and we cannot understand Him completely or fully. The Bible declares that God is a triune being. He is a plural-one. God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Deuteronomy 6:4 declares that God is a plural being and it also says that He is one.

In this verse, the word "LORD" is actually the Hebrew word "Jehovah." The word translated as God is ELOHIM which is plural. That is, God is a plural being. The word translated as "one" means "one." That is God is a plural-one. The Bible teaches this truth in the Old and New Testaments. It is called the Trinity in theology. For an explanation of this concept, we would encourage you to listen to two messages titled "The Trinity Mystery, part 1" and "The Trinity Mystery, part 2." Our God is the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This will explain the events that occurred in Matthew 3:16-17 and John 5:1-47.

In Matthew 3:16-17, God the Father was in heaven, the Holy Spirit descended "as a dove" and God the Son, Jesus Christ, was in the water. It is very difficult for us to understand an awesome God who is beyond our understanding. Frankly, if I could understand God, then God wouldn't be God. Why do we think that we should be able to totally understand God? We do not understand how time started or the smallest particles of matter were created. We do not understand how something was created from nothing. We are not as smart we think we are. We even think that God should be like us. The truth is, God is way beyond us. We are so stupid we do not on our own even know what happens to us after we die. We have to depend upon the sacred scriptures to reveal that truth.

For explanations about John 1:18; Matthew 3:16-17 and John 5:18-47 please visit the following studies "The One and Only," "Baptism of Jesus," and "Who Is Jesus?"

Why Did God Allow Jesus To Be Die? Your first question was about Jesus' death. Why did God allow Him to die. The answer reveals an ugly truth and a wonderful truth. The ugly truth is we are sinners. We do evil things and as a result we deserve to die a spiritual death. Unless we do something, we are going to experience spiritual punishment. Listen to the following statements.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8 (NAS95S)

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19-21 (NAS95S)

These are not encouraging words. But at least God is telling us the truth. Those who object reveal how sinful they truly are that they would challenge God. Doing so is in fact another demonstration of the above statements. It only proves how evil we are.

The wonderful truth is that God has come to our rescue. Listen to these words.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him . . . we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Rom 5:6-11 (NAS95S)

The message of this statement is that God loved us, even though we are ungodly or evil, and in order to rescue us, He sent Jesus Christ to die for us. We deserved to die (Rom. 3:23; 6:23) because we are evil. Because of God's holiness someone had to die, so God the Son died for each one of us. God the Son was sinless. He was not evil and He decided to die for you and me. That is why God had Jesus die on a cross. Jesus Christ was God the Son in human flesh. He was God. Since God cannot die, God the Son became a human so that a physical death could occur. We would encourage you to read "Jesus Our Savior" for an explanation of this truth.

Conclusion:Because Jesus Christ died for us, our sins can be forgiven and we can live forever. If you would like God to forgive you I would encourage you to tell God that you are a sinner and that you would like your sins to be forgiven. God has promised to give you eternal life. Listen to these words,

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. John 3:16 (NAS95S)