JESUS, THE MESSIAH

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will,
but the will of the One who sent me. (John 6:38)

The first commandment in the Old Testament is essentially that we are required to worship God alone, that we should not defy God by having other gods besides Him. The two greatest commandments as preached by Jesus were first to “love your Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest commandment. The second is like unto it, that “thou shall love your neighbor as thyself.” Jesus explains from these two commandments, all the laws are derived.

Is Jesus Divine?

In Isaiah 45:5, we read. “I’m the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me.” The major emphasis of Isaiah 45 is to know that God is One, worship Him

alone, and have no gods beside Him. There are numerous verses which follow along the same lines as that of Isaiah 45. This brings us the question of how is it possible for the Councils in the fourth and the fifth century to conclude that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are to be worshipped as one and the same?

The argument presented to support the trinity seems to be that the three beings equal to one does not violate the law. And three are also to be thought of as separate. The next question follows: If God is to be worshipped as three in the same or thought of as vice versa, why was this quality not “clearly” revealed by one of God’s prophets, messengers, or even Jesus, since it is such a vital component of the practice of Christianity today?

When Jesus states that “I and the father are one,” is it not possible to interpret this as Jesus doing the will of God, and therefore his will and God’s will coincide to be one? A similar scenario would be a man completely devoted to his work, living through his work thus becoming like one with it.

Common Christian thought is that the only way to heaven is through Jesus, whether through intercession in prayer or devotion in worship as part of the trinity. It causes one to wonder if this requirement would exclude God’s prophets and messengers who came prior to Jesus. The Old Testament clearly states that they worshipped and prayed to God alone. Or, is this a new requirement that was placed on humanity only after Jesus?

Continued on page 3