Who Is the Lord Jesus Christ?

November 9, 2017 2 comments

by Zhang Li

One morning, when my daughter and I were studying the Bible together, we saw the verses: “Philip
said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the
Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father
that dwells in me, he does the works” (John 14:8-10). Wearing a look of confusion, my daughter
asked me, “Mom, the pastors and elders all said that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God when they
preached, but right here the Lord Jesus said to Philip: ‘he that has seen me has seen the
Father.’ ‘I am in the Father, and the Father in me.’ Mom, how are we meant to accept the
words of the Lord Jesus?” Hearing that, I gave it some thought, but couldn’t think straight. I was
at a loss how to answer my daughter for a moment.

The image originated from the internet

Thus I asked the pastors and elders how they saw this passage of verses for many times, and I’d
like to know whether Jesus Christ was the Son of God or God Himself. However, they all gave me
the same answer: “The Lord Jesus is the Son of God. Belief in the Lord Jesus means belief in the
Father in heaven. There’s no doubt about it. By following the Lord, you can gain entry to heaven.
So following the Lord can’t be wrong.” When I asked more, they hemmed and hawed. I didn’t get
an exact answer from their talks. Still, I couldn’t figure out whether the Lord Jesus Christ was the
Son of God or God Himself. This question became a puzzle to me.

Afterward, I prayed to the Lord for many times, asking Him to enlighten and guide me. Also, I
fellowshiped and sought together with the brothers and sisters in the Lord. Thank the Lord for
listening to my prayers. One day, when Sister Wang and I were studying the Bible, I read these
verses again. Then I raised the question which had puzzled me for a long time.

Upon hearing my question, Sister Wang said to me, “Is the Lord Jesus the Son of God or God
Himself? This is really a problem most believers in the Lord do not understand. When the incarnate
Lord Jesus came to do the work of redemption of mankind, His followers called Him as Christ,
the Son of God with great adoration. At that time, the Holy Spirit testified that the Lord Jesus was
God’s beloved Son, and the Lord Jesus also called the God in heaven Father. In this way, we think
the Lord Jesus was the Son of God, and the notion of this Father-Son relationship was formed. But
we know, in Genesis God didn’t say that He had a son. In the Old Testament times, Jehovah God
didn’t say that He had a son either. This proves that there is only one God, there is no Father-Son
relationship to speak of. But why did the Lord Jesus say that He was God’s Son when He came to
do His work? Was the Lord Jesus Christ God’s Son or God Himself? In John 14:8, Philip asked of
the Lord Jesus: ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us.’ At that time, how did the Lord Jesus
respond to Philip? The Lord Jesus said to Philip: ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet
have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you
then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the
words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the
works’ (John 14:9-10). Here, the Lord Jesus said very clearly, ‘he that has seen me has seen the
Father.’ As you can see, the Lord Jesus is the appearance of God Himself. The Lord Jesus did not
say that He and God have a Father-Son relationship. He just said, ‘I am in the Father, and the
Father in me.’ ‘I and my Father are one.’ Now, according to the Lord Jesus’ words, can we not
confirm that the Lord Jesus is God Himself, there is only one God and there is no ‘Father-Son
relationship’ to speak of?”

Then, she read two passages of words to me, “The incarnate God is called Christ, and Christ is
the flesh donned by the Spirit of God. This flesh is unlike any man that is of the flesh. This
difference is because Christ is not of flesh and blood but is the incarnation of the Spirit. He
has both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. His divinity is not possessed by any
man. His normal humanity sustains all His normal activities in the flesh, while His divinity
carries out the work of God Himself. Be it His humanity or divinity, both submit to the will
of the heavenly Father. The substance of Christ is the Spirit, that is, the divinity. Therefore,
His substance is that of God Himself; …”

“The Spirit within Jesus, the Spirit in heaven, and the Spirit of Jehovah are all one. It can be
called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, and the all-inclusive
Spirit. The Spirit of God alone can carry out much work. He is able to create the world and
destroy it by flooding the earth; He can redeem all mankind, and moreover, conquer and
destroy all mankind. This work is all carried out by God Himself and cannot have been done
by any other of the persons of God in His stead. His Spirit can be called by the name of
Jehovah and Jesus, as well as the Almighty. He is the Lord, and Christ. He can also become
the Son of man. He is in the heavens and also on the earth; He is on high above the universes
and among the multitude. He is the only Master of the heavens and earth! From the time of
creation until now, this work has been carried out by the Spirit of God Himself. Be it the
work in the heavens or in the flesh, all is carried out by His own Spirit. All creatures, whether
in heaven or on earth, are in the palm of His almighty hand; all of this is the work of God
Himself and can be done by no other in His stead. In the heavens, He is the Spirit but also
God Himself; among men, He is flesh but remains God Himself.”

After reading, she said, “Ever since mankind was corrupted by Satan, God has begun His
management plan to save mankind. In the Age of Law, God called Moses to set forth the law and
lead the Israelites to live on earth, and let them know how to worship God. All these were done by
Jehovah God through the means of the Spirit. But in the latter days of the Age of Law, man became
more and more corrupt, and often violated the law and did the things that offended Jehovah, which
put them in danger of being condemned and executed by the law. Therefore, on the basis of man’s
needs, God incarnate came down to earth as the Son of man, and performed the work of
crucifixion to redeem mankind. In truth, the Lord Jesus is the flesh in which God’s Spirit is
realized. From His appearance, the Lord Jesus was an ordinary man, but He concluded the Age of
Law, initiating the Age of Grace, expressed God’s compassionate and loving disposition and
fulfilled the work of mankind’s redemption. At the same time, He manifested many miracles. For
example: One word from the Lord Jesus was enough to bring the dead back to life, and one word
calmed the wind and the sea. The Lord Jesus used five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand
people. … These fully reveal God’s authority and power. The work the Lord Jesus performed can’t
be done by any man. These facts prove: The Lord Jesus Christ is the Spirit of God realized in His
flesh, and He is the utterly complete God Himself, so He and Jehovah God are one. This is the true
meaning of the Lord Jesus’ words: ‘he that has seen me has seen the Father.’”

Hearing her fellowship, I felt that there was light in it. It turned out that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the incarnate flesh of God and He is God Himself, but not the Son of God. In order to redeem man
from sins, God became flesh as the Son of man and did the work of crucifixion. This is God’s great
love to mankind. But I still had a question which confused me, then I asked her: “Why does the
Lord Jesus call the God in heaven Father?”
 The image originated from the internet

She said, “Let’s read a passage of words, and then you will understand. ‘When Jesus called God
in heaven by the name of Father as He prayed, this was done only from the perspective of a
created man, only because the Spirit of God had clothed Himself as an ordinary and normal
man and had the exterior cover of a created being. Even if within Him was the Spirit of God,
His exterior appearance was still that of an ordinary man; in other words, He had become
the “Son of man” of which all men, including Jesus Himself, spoke. Given that He is called
the Son of man, He is a person (whether man or woman, in any case one with the exterior
shell of a human being) born into a normal family of ordinary people. Therefore, Jesus
calling God in heaven by the name of Father was the same as how you at first called Him
Father; He did so from the perspective of a man of creation. Do you still remember the Lord’s
Prayer that Jesus taught you to memorize? “Our Father in heaven….” He asked all man to
call God in heaven by the name of Father. And since He too called Him Father, He did so
from the perspective of one who stands on an equal footing with you all. Since you called
God in heaven by the name of Father, this shows that Jesus saw Himself to be on equal
footing with you, and as a man on earth chosen by God (that is, the Son of God). If you call
God “Father,” is this not because you are a created being? However great the authority of
Jesus on earth, prior to the crucifixion, He was merely a Son of man, governed by the Holy
Spirit (that is, God), and one of the earth’s created beings, for He had yet to complete His
work. Therefore, His calling God in heaven Father was solely His humility and obedience.
His addressing God (that is, the Spirit in heaven) in such a manner, however, does not prove
that He is the Son of the Spirit of God in heaven. Rather, it is simply that His perspective is
different….’ God was incarnated as the Son of man, that is, God’s Spirit assumed the flesh
and became the Son of man to appear to us and do His work. No matter how the Lord Jesus was
expressing His voice or praying to God the Father, His substance was divinity, not humanity.
Because the Lord Jesus still assumed the appearance of flesh, He called the God in heaven Father
in the position of a created being when praying, which showed the humbleness and obedience of
the incarnate God. The reason why we are in such a puzzle is mainly because we don’t know the
incarnate flesh of God nor understand this aspect of truth but instead interpret the Lord’s
word literally.”