The Divinity of Christ Our Passover

Well, brethren, as we're approaching now, coming up very quickly on the Passover, the days of Unleavened Bread, which are right around the corner, our attention very much so begins to focus on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. What it is that He offered in terms of His life for the sins of all mankind, coming under that sacrifice and under that blood through baptism is one of the most important commitments that anybody can make in their life. We understand through baptism, we're forgiven of our sins, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we're reconciled in relationship to God the Father. And again, as I said, that's the most important commitment that any human can make in their life. John chapter 3 and verse 16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. So God the Father sent the sacrifice, His Son Jesus Christ came as that willing sacrifice and laid His life down. And so today for the message, I'd like to examine what the Bible has to say about Jesus Christ, our Passover sacrifice. Because again, understanding who He was, the sacrifice that He made on our behalf is important. Jesus Christ wasn't simply a man, He wasn't someone that was just simply born in the flesh and lived a perfect life and therefore qualified to be our sacrifice. There's far more to the Lamb of God than that. Today, brethren, we're going to see what the Scriptures have to say about the divine nature of the one who became Jesus Christ. Because again, understanding the point of His divinity will help us to more fully appreciate and understand the sacrifice that was made on behalf of all of mankind.

The title for this message is The Divinity of Christ, our Passover. This is part one. Part two will be yet to follow in the next message, but this isn't something I necessarily wanted to string out in a sermon series such as that, but we'll cover today the divinity of Jesus Christ, our Passover. The handout you received has the Scriptures I'll be going to in this message. We'll have another handout for the next message. There are a lot of Scriptures we'll be covering. I didn't want you to miss any jotting down notes. So buckle up, brethren. We're off. John chapter 1 and verse 1. Let's start at the beginning. John chapter 1 and verse 1. It says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. So first off, that being the one who became Jesus Christ existed, as it says, as God with God. The God who He is with was God the Father. He existed with Him from the beginning, and even before that beginning we would consider in that sense a beginning of creation, but He has existed with God from eternity. The passage also reveals to us that the Word who became Jesus Christ is uncreated. Uncreated. How can we know that? Well, we know He was uncreated because nothing was made that was made apart from His active involvement. That included Himself, all things made by Him and through Him, therefore He did not create Himself. The Word who became Jesus Christ eternally existed. Carrying on here, let's jump down to verse 10. It says, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. God the Father created all things through Jesus Christ. Christ was the active agent of creation. Verse 11 says, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name. Verse 13, who are born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so Jesus Christ existed as God, as God the Word, before He came in the flesh as the Son of God. And I think it's important for us to understand the distinction. Jesus Christ was not actually the Son of God until He was conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit of God, His Father. Before that point, He existed with God, as God, at the time then of His conception, and then birth, He was the Son of God. It's important to understand. Again, verse 14 says, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And from that moment that He became flesh, Jesus Christ's role changed. Jesus Christ went from being God the Word with God from the beginning, again, John 1, 1, to being the Son of God in the flesh. The role Jesus Christ came to fulfill was the role of the Messiah. He was sent to die for the sins of all mankind, to shed His blood for us so that we, through that relationship, could be reconciled to His Father in heaven. Now, that didn't mean that Jesus Christ was not still God in identity. As He walked the earth, He was a man, but He was also God in identity. But now the role in the relationship to the Father as the Son took on a change. Let's go to 1 John, chapter 1.

1 John, chapter 1, beginning in verse 1.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. He says, The life was manifested, and we have seen, and we bear witness and declare to you, that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. So that eternal being, that God being who was with the Father from eternity, John here is saying, was now manifested among us. He came among men, He walked among men, He was seen, He was handled, He was touched.

This Jesus Christ here again, Son of God, who was flesh. Verse 3, That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you, that you may also have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you, that your joy may be full. And indeed, brethren, our joy should be full as a result of understanding these things as well.

The divinity of Jesus Christ is revealed also in the prophecy pertaining to His birth. Again, He was God with God in the beginning, but what would He be considered in the flesh? Prophecy concerning His birth. Here is found in Matthew chapter 1, verse 23.

Matthew 1, verse 23.

It says, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son. And they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us.

God with us. That's the translation of Emmanuel. And you can find back in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, this prophecy made back there. Now we have the fulfillment coming through into Matthew. So that being who existed in eternity with the Father was born in the flesh. He lived in human form. His name was Emmanuel, which means God with us, because that's literally who He was.

Jesus Christ was literally God in the flesh. When Jesus Christ walked the earth, He was human. All right. He was fully human. He experienced all the things that we experience as human beings. He didn't eat for a long time. He got hungry. He got tired if He walked a great distance. He felt pain. He was human in every sense of the word. The crucifixion was a brutal torture to Jesus Christ.

We don't want to minimize that in any way. The fact He was fully human meant He endured these things just as you and I would. He was fully human in every sense of the word, but in spite of all that, brethren, He was also fully God. What do we mean by that? You know how you can be fully human and fully God. Well, a human being is what Jesus Christ was in the flesh. What He was was a human being, but who He was was God. God was the eternal identity of the word of the one who became Jesus Christ, and again, He was called God with us. The Apostle Paul also recognized the divine nature of the one who became Jesus Christ and Jesus in the flesh. Colossians chapter 2, turn there. Colossians chapter 2 verse 9 and 10.

Colossians 2 9 and 10. Paul says, For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

The New Living Translation writes it this way. I'm sorry, let me read verse 10 also. And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. So the New Living Translation, I'll read it in that translation as well, it says, For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you are also complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. So again, the point is Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He was Emmanuel, God with us. He was the Word who became flesh and dwelled among men. And so, in the fact that He came and laid His life down as a sacrifice, brethren, was significant. This wasn't simply, again, a man who happened to live a perfect life or in some ways qualified because he did not sin. This was God in the flesh who came to reconcile us to the Father. Philippians chapter 2 verse 5.

Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5, again the Apostle Paul writing, He said, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And so Jesus Christ, before His human birth, again, was in the form of God.

He was an eternal, all-powerful Spirit God being of the same likeness in the same form as God the Father. That's what Apostle Paul here is saying. Now, as the passage also says, that He had been equal with God. And so there was a time where the one who became Jesus Christ was equal with God who became the Father. He didn't consider that position of equality with God to be something to be grasped that, to be clung to. But again, He came willingly out of this plan and this desire to reconcile all mankind to God. At some point before the foundation of the world, the Word and God the Father worked out this plan of salvation for all of mankind, in which the Word willingly would become subservient to the Father for the purpose of fulfilling His great plan.

And as a reference to that, Revelation 13.8 says, The Lamb Jesus Christ, who was Jesus Christ, slain from the foundation of the world. I'd like to quote for you from an article which appeared in the January, February issue of the Beyond Today magazine, January, February of this year. The title of the article is God's Challenge to Trinitarianism. God's Challenge to Trinitarianism, and it's written by Dr. Donald Ward. I'd like to read you an excerpt from that article. It says, quote, But the skeptic may ask, Do the above verses prove that the Logos existed with the Father? It says the key word is found in verse 6.

Verse 6 says, Being in the form of God, do not consider it robbery to be equal with God. The Greek word translated being means to begin, to come forth, hence to be there, to be ready, to be at hand. And he quotes Thayer's Greek lexicon as the source. Thus the word, he says, was already in the form of God before taking on the form of man. Dr. Ward goes on to say, Now how could the word exist in the form of God and not be God?

You know, he was God, maybe he wasn't, but he was the word, he became flesh. He says, How could the word exist in the form of God and not be God? If one accepts Paul's assertion that he took on the form of man, one must also accept that he existed in the form of God. Furthermore, where some versions translate that he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, the Greek for robbery is a word meaning a thing to be seized or seized upon, or as some render it something to be clung to.

What this means is that he did not consider equality with God something to hold onto, but instead let it go, voluntarily relinquishing it when he emptied himself of his former glory. Clearly, this means that equality with God was something the word already had, and he was giving up of his glory. It was the greatest act of servant leadership the world has ever witnessed. Moreover, his willingness to give up the glory he shared with God the Father is one of the principal reasons the Father has exalted him and placed him over all things.

And it gives the scriptural reference of Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20 through 22. That's the end of the quote. Again, we're still here, brethren, in Philippians chapter 2, verse 6 says, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the stake or the cross.

Here we have an eternal God being with all the rights, all the privileges, all the power of that position, who willingly humbled himself to the point that he was made weekly flesh. And after living a perfect life, apart from sin, perfect life in the flesh, he was flogged, he was beaten, he was ridiculed, he was spit upon, and he was crucified.

God, who had laid his life down, Jesus Christ, his blood spilled out on the ground, brethren, for you and me. Do we fully grasp the significance of this passage? I hope we do. Brethren, don't let it escape you. God died for us.

That's what this says. God the Word divested himself of his glory, came in the flesh, laid down his life for all of mankind. I'd like to read to you a quote from our fundamental belief booklet on our fundamental of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It says, quote, Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. His life, because he is the creator of all humanity, is of greater value than the sum total of all human life. And again, we understand through the scriptures, Father is the creator, created through Jesus Christ. Nothing was made that was made apart from Christ, okay? So he too is the creator of all humanity, and it says his life is of greater value than the sum total sum of all human life. His death is therefore sufficient to pay the penalty for every human being's sin. In paying this penalty, he has made it possible according to God's plan for each person and for humanity as a whole for us to have our sins forgiven and to be released from the death penalty. Again, God the Word humbled himself, came in the likeness of men, and died for the sins of mankind. Now Jesus Christ did not stay dead. He did not stay in the grave. Verse 9, still in Philippians 2, says, therefore God also has exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on the earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord through the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, resurrected him. He was not left in the grave. He resurrected him. He now sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, possessing the name which is above every name, acknowledged also as God, worthy of worship, worthy of praise, even from the angels.

In John 17, verse 5, Jesus Christ was praying to his Father before the crucifixion, following the Passover. He was praying to his Father, and he said, and now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. And so, brethren, the Scripture, the New Testament record, clearly acknowledges Jesus Christ as God before his human birth. It also acknowledges him as Emmanuel, God with us during his physical life.

So, let's see how the Scripture acknowledges Jesus Christ then following his resurrection, following his return to glory. Let's look at some words from the Apostle Paul, Romans chapter 9, verse 5.

Romans chapter 9 and verse 5. Here Paul says, Of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all the eternally blessed God. Amen. Here Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the eternally blessed God. He's not God the Father, but he is God who was the Word, who is Jesus Christ, who is over all things. And that position is the position he was given by his Father following his resurrection to glory. He is God at the right hand of God. He is our high priest, and he is our elder brother. Colossians chapter 1, verse 15. Colossians chapter 1, verse 15. Again the Apostle Paul writing, speaking of Jesus Christ, it says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were made that are in... sorry, back up... by him all things were created that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, whether dominions, principalities, or powers. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things consist.

So Jesus Christ was God with God before there was anything else. Again, John 1, 1. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All that was created in heaven and on earth was created by him. He was the agent of creation, with the Father fulfilling his purpose through him. They worked together. They worked as one. We'll call Jesus Christ's words when he was on the earth. He said, My Father and I are one. It's not like you could get one off into a corner and talk him into something that you couldn't talk the other into. Children had to do that with their parents sometimes. It doesn't work. God and Christ were one. One in purpose, one in mind and character, one in glory, in which they shared from the beginning as well.

Again, Jesus Christ was the agent of creation, with the Father fulfilling his purpose through him. Now Christ sits at the right hand of God, the firstborn over all creation, with all things consisting in him. Titus 2, verse 13. Titus 2, verse 13 says, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. In the Greek structure of grammar, the Granville sharp rule is applied to this passage so that the title great God and Savior is applied to the one it's referring to, which is Jesus Christ. These words are tied together. Jesus Christ, following his resurrection as well, is referenced as God and Savior. So the apostles recognized Jesus Christ's continuing role, following his resurrection as God and Savior, not as the Father. Surely we understand the distinction in the relationship in the authority structure of the Father and the Son, but again Christ is acknowledged as God, whom the Father has granted authority and power over all. The Father is supreme. Jesus Christ subservient to him, but they are one. There's no competition, no diversion.

Isaiah chapter 9 contains a familiar prophecy about the authority of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6 and 7.

Here this was prophesied long before Christ came in the flesh. Isaiah 9, verse 6 and 7. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So God the Father would see to it that the plan was fulfilled, Jesus Christ again as well willing submission to that plan would come.

God did not leave him in the grave. His Father resurrected him to glory. And this is fulfilled as we see it today. And as time continues, we will see it ever more fulfilled at the return of Jesus Christ. But again, one of Jesus Christ's prophesied positions is acknowledged as Mighty God.

That doesn't diminish the Father. It doesn't take away from his glory, from his nature in any way. But again, Jesus Christ has been and is and will always be a Mighty God worthy of worship, worthy of praise, even from the angels. Now, brethren, as we go back to the New Testament, we can see how the Father himself views the resurrected Jesus Christ. Let's go to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 1. We can see the authority and the position that's acknowledged by God in his Son Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 1, beginning in verse 8, it says, but to the Son, he says, and these passages are actually taken from the Psalms brought forward and they're attributed as the Father's words to the Son. It says, but of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. So this is a direct quote from Psalm chapter 45 in verse 6 and 7. Again, it's attributed here in Hebrews as the Father's words to his Son. And here the Father acknowledges the Son as God, God with a throne, God with power, with rulership, God with dominion. Verse 10, and, continuing the Father's words, and you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth. And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain. They will grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will fold them up. They will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail. This is a quote from Psalm 102, verse 25 through 27. And back in the Psalm, it's attributed to the Lord, to Yahweh. But here we see it in the New Testament, as it is attributed, the Father's words, to the Son, Jesus Christ. They acknowledge Christ as Creator in the beginning with God. And they also acknowledge his eternal life and character that will never cease to be. If we continue on in verse 13, it says, but to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool? And the answer is clearly he never did. The position at the right hand of God is not for an angel, it's not for a created being, it is for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was God with God from the beginning.

I want to wrap this first message up here in the New Testament by looking at one more passage in which Jesus Christ himself identifies his own divinity as God, pre-existing his human birth. Let's go to John chapter 8.

John chapter 8, we'll pick it up in verse 56.

John 8 verse 56, Christ is having this back and forth going on with the leaders of his day. John 8 verse 56, he says, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.

Then the Jews said to him, You're not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? And Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus Christ said, Before Abraham was, I am. And wow! That did it! The Jews knew exactly what he was saying. Notice their response.

In verse 59, Then they took up stones to throw at him, and Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

And so they wanted to kill Christ through even saying such a thing. And he was yet able miraculously to slip by and make his way. This wasn't the time for him to be killed.

Brethren, I am is a descriptor that is reserved for God alone.

And it essentially means, I exist.

I exist is an expression of eternal self-existence, apart from the involvement of any creator.

As the word that was God with God from the beginning, Christ had existed as an uncreated, eternal, self-existent God-being.

By using the words, I am, to identify himself, the Jews knew exactly what Jesus Christ was saying. He was equating himself to God and calling himself the Son of God. Because of that, they wanted to kill him.

Jesus Christ said he existed before Abraham was as I am, as an eternal God-being. Again, uncreated.

I am is a descriptor that applies to only two beings in existence.

God, who became the Father, and God the Word, who became Jesus Christ. No other beings share that identity as an eternal, self-existent, and uncreated being.

As we walk now through the second message, we're going to go back to the Old Testament. We're going to look for what I want to call fingerprints of confirmation. Because you see, if somebody walks through the room and they touch a lot of things, they're going to leave fingerprints behind. You can go and you can dust for the prints, and you can find the fingerprints of confirmation in that way. We're going to look in the Old Testament for the fingerprints of confirmation, giving witness to the divinity of Jesus Christ as God. I want to begin back in the beginning of what we would call the Old Testament, Genesis 1 and verse 26.

Genesis 1 verse 26. And here it says, Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him male and female. He created them.

So again, here in chapter 1 verse 26, God said, Let us make man in our image.

The us being referenced here is a reference to God. It's not a reference of God and the angels, but rather it's a confirmation of the two beings in the Godhead that existed together as one God. God the Father and God the Word.

Now, as I said, the us is not God and the angels. Man is not made in the image or the likeness of the angels. We're made in the likeness of God. James 3 verse 9 as a reference says, Man was made in this Militude of God. So the us here are the two beings that are involved in creation. They are God. That said, brethren, we need to be careful not to conclude that there are two gods in divinity. There is only one God, although there are two God beings in the Godhead. God the Father and the word Jesus Christ existing in a unified relationship as one. Again, Christ said, My Father and I are one. They were such as He was on the earth in spirit and in agreement, but they've always functioned as one in unity and purpose and reconciled relationship. They've always been together in a relationship as one. Again, Christ said, My Father and I are one. I don't have time in the message today to go through the technical aspects of the unity and the oneness of God in Christ, but I encourage you to do so. I encourage you to study into those things. Just be aware that the oneness and unity of the Godhead is evident in Scripture throughout the Old and the New Testament. And we'll see that unity throughout the Scriptures we address in the sermon today. In the Old Testament, the formal name for God is Yahweh. When you turn through passages and you see capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that is Yahweh, that is a formal name for God. It's not a title like L, which is translated God. L is a title that is not a name. Yahweh, as vested we can understand, appears to be the personal name of God. Now, I'm not hung up on the pronunciation. I think we understand that that may or may not be the correct pronunciation. But the point I bring in reference is to the fact that this is a name.

Let's look at some Scriptures pertaining to the name Yahweh and see what we can learn about God in the Old Testament. The next four Scriptures, you have these on your handout, so I'm not going to turn to them for time, but I will read through them, and I encourage you, if you like, go follow them up in the context of the passage.

These four Scriptures in your handout, Isaiah 45 and verse 5. And it says, I am the Lord, I am Yahweh, and there is no other. There is no God besides me. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 35. To you it was shown that you may know that the Lord Yahweh himself is God. There is none other besides him. Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 39. Therefore know this day and consider it in your heart that the Lord Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on earth beneath, and there is no other.

And finally, Deuteronomy 32 verse 39 and 49. The context is Yahweh, and it says, So, brethren, all these Scriptures, they describe an eternal God called Yahweh, of whom there is no other God besides him. That's what these Scriptures say. There's no God apart from Yahweh, and if you do your research, you can find many more Scriptures, including the same thing. So, brethren, the conclusion is clear that according to the Old Testament record, there is no other God besides Yahweh in heaven above or on earth beneath. Yahweh alone is God, and there is no other.

That's what the Scripture says. Now, obviously, God the Father is Yahweh. Okay, we won't question that for the purpose of the message today, but the question I do have for us today is, is he the only one? Is the Father the only one in Scripture who is referenced to and called by the name Yahweh?

This question we need to ask and answer today. Another question we need to ask ourselves is, what about the Word who became Jesus Christ, the one who was God, with God, in the beginning? Was Jesus Christ truly God, or is he not? Did the Word, brethren, function with God as God in the Old Testament, or did he not?

Again, John 1-1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And yet we see from Scripture as well that there is no other God besides Yahweh. How do we reconcile these things? Because you see, if there is no other God besides Yahweh, then either the one who became Jesus Christ was not God, or he was also God in Yahweh along with the Father.

If there is no other God in heaven above or on earth beneath besides Yahweh, then either the one who became Jesus Christ was not God, or he was also God in Yahweh along with the Father. And brethren, if that is so, then there would be scriptural support for it, whether or not. Well, let's see what we can find in the Scriptures today. Now, some churches, some religions, teach that Yahweh is God the Father exclusively, and that he's the only one who is called by the name of Yahweh.

And yet that is not the teaching, that is not the position of the United Church of God, and there are a number of scriptural reasons why that is not our teaching. Our teaching is that there are two God beings in the Godhead. God the Father, the Word who became Jesus Christ, two God beings who are called Yahweh, and the context determines which one is being addressed. But again, just like there are not two gods, there is one God. Two God beings working together as one.

There are not two Yahwehs. There is one Yahweh, but two God beings who work together as one who are Yahweh. So brethren, let's look at some Scriptures where Yahweh, the reference, is clearly to the Word. The One became Jesus Christ. Because sometimes we can come from the perception of, well, this one called Yahweh was seen or heard or interacted, and then therefore it had to be Christ.

And that is one way that sometimes these things are evaluated. But today I want to come from a little different direction. I want to look at Scriptures pertaining to Yahweh that relate directly to Jesus Christ.

So let's begin in Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10. Zechariah chapter 12. Verse 10. This is a prophecy of the messiahship of Jesus Christ and what he would endure. Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10. And the context here is Yahweh speaking. He says, Again, this is Yahweh prophesying. And he states about himself that they will look on me whom they pierced. Now the hymn who they pierced was Jesus Christ as he came in the flesh, but in the prophecy it's me. This being says, They will look on me whom they pierced.

Where do we see this fulfilled? Let's go to John chapter 19 and verse 32. John chapter 19 and verse 32. This is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And it says, Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other, who was crucified with him. But they came to Christ, and they saw he was already dead, and they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified. So John says, I saw it with my own eyes. This is my testimony.

And his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe. For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled. Not one of his bones shall be broken. And again, another scripture which says, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

The one who was pierced was Jesus Christ. Reference to this again in Revelation chapter 1, verse 7. Revelation 1 and verse 7. It says, Behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so, Amen. So the word who became Jesus Christ was Yahweh speaking about the piercing he would receive.

They would look on me whom they pierced, the piercing that they would visualize and see both before and after his resurrection. You recall Thomas, after Christ's resurrection, Thomas doubted, Christ appeared, and Thomas was like, I'm not going to believe until I see the holes in his hands and of his side. And what was Thomas's response to Christ? He said, My Lord and my God. And in the Greek, it's literally, The Lord of me and the God of me.

Thomas acknowledged Jesus Christ as his God. Again, that does not diminish the Father. They work together in relationship. God the Father is the God of all creation, of all mankind. But clearly, Jesus Christ is as well. Another prophecy involving Jesus Christ as Yahweh. This is a millennial prophecy. Zechariah 2, verse 10.

Zechariah 2, verse 10. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion. For behold, I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst, says the Lord. Says Yahweh. So God says, Yahweh says, I'm coming. I will dwell in your midst. Many nations shall be joined to the Lord, to Yahweh, in that day. They shall become my people, and I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. Then you will know that the Yahweh of hosts, the Father, has sent me to you. The Lord here, who is talking about dwelling in the midst of Zion during the millennium, is Jesus Christ. And the Lord of hosts, who sends him, is the Father. And so we have both beings identified as Yahweh in this passage. The Father who sends his Son to establish his kingdom and dwell on earth here in peace and safety for that thousand years, that one who comes is Jesus Christ. And the one who sends him is the Father. Another prophecy, Jeremiah chapter 23 verse 5 and 6.

Jeremiah chapter 23 verse 5.

And in his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. So we know who this is. A branch of righteousness from the line of David in the days in which he is here to reign. Israel will dwell in safety, again, during the millennium. Now this is the name by which he will be called Yahweh our righteousness. In Jesus Christ, the branch of David, returning to reign as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and one of the names he will be called is the Lord our righteousness. And that is a name that pertains to him. It's also a name that would relate to his Father as well. But again, he and his Father are one. Jesus Christ is also called Yahweh in Scripture, and his name will be acknowledged as such when he returns.

Let's look at some more Yahweh Scriptures pertaining to the self-described characteristics of Yahweh. We'll come back to some others, again, pertaining directly to the word. But I want to look at some which are self-described characteristics of Yahweh and see how they pertain to both God the Father and Jesus Christ. Isaiah 44.

Isaiah 44, verse 24. Thus says the Lord, Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who forms you from the womb, I am the Lord who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by myself. In this passage, Yahweh says that he makes all things, he stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by himself. And, brethren, that is a true statement. Scripture says so. It is so. Let us also ask, was there any other God-being involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth besides God the Father?

What about John 1? Hebrews 1. Colossians 1. We read through those in the last message. Recall Genesis 1, verse 26. God said, let us make man in our image, the two God-beings, working together as one God created all things.

Is there a conflict here? Yahweh says, I am God alone, there is no other, I make all things heaven and earth by myself.

There is no conflict if Jesus Christ is also Yahweh along with the Father. Yahweh alone created all things. That's what the Scripture says. Another Scripture pertaining to Yahweh, Isaiah 44 and verse 8. Isaiah 44, verse 8 says, do not fear nor be afraid. Have I not told you from that time and declared it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is no other rock. I know not one.

Does any Scripture, brethren, come to mind? Yahweh, God alone, there is no other rock and no not one. If Yahweh is the Father exclusively, then he is the only rock. There is no other God besides God the Father. If that's the case, the Scripture calls him the rock. Is there another God who is called the rock? 1 Corinthians 10 Verse 1, Again, is there a conflict here? No other rock besides Yahweh? Was Jesus Christ God? Was Jesus Christ the spiritual rock? Again, there's no conflict because Jesus Christ is also Yahweh. Isaiah 44 and verse 6.

Isaiah 44 and verse 6.

Thus says the Lord, thus says Yahweh, the king of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last. Besides me, there is no God. Again, there is no God besides Yahweh. Yahweh declares himself to be the first and the last. Is that a familiar phrase, brethren? First and the last, it should be. Revelation chapter 1, verse 11. Revelation chapter 1 and verse 11. It says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches. So we say, well, all right, this is apparently Jesus Christ speaking, but how can we be sure? Well, let's go forward, verse 17. Still in chapter 1, verse 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. The one who declares himself to be here the first and the last. The one who was alive, then dead, and alive forevermore is clearly Jesus Christ. To go over one more passage, Romans chapter, Revelation chapter 2 and verse 8. And the angel of the church in Smyrna, right? These things says, The first and the last who was dead and came to life. So again, no question who this is. This is the Word who was with God in the beginning, who died in the flesh, who was glorified once again. Again, Yahweh is called the first and the last. He is also called God. And these two descriptions fit both God the Father and the Word who became Jesus Christ. These are two God beings working together as one from eternity. God the Father and Jesus Christ are co-eternal. They are the first and the last. They are God. And they are both called Yahweh and God in the Old Testament Scriptures. We need to understand when we say that God is one, again, we're not talking about a binity. What a binity is, it's like there's the Trinity, three in one. Take the Holy Spirit out, you have the binity, two in one. We're not talking about a two in one in the sense of a two-headed turtle. You know, an animal with one body and just depends which head or neck sticks itself out from under the shell is who you're talking about today. We're talking about two God beings existing as one in unity and relationship and as God of all creation and all of mankind.

Probably the best comparison, brethren, we could have for the oneness of God is what is reflected through marriage of husband and wife, which God designed. It says the two are to become one. The word is ekad, and it's a union that comes by two coming together as one. It's a word that's used to describe God in the book of Deuteronomy as well. And yet what we understand, when two become one in a marriage, there's still a difference in authority. My wife and I are two who have become one. We are one. And yet there's a difference in the authority structure between who I am and who she is. There is a submission in authority, and yet we are still one. Jesus Christ submits to the authority of His Father, and yet they are still and always have been one. God the Father and Jesus Christ both existed in the Old Testament scriptures as Yahweh, two individual beings, but one in character and purpose in intent. And so when you look through the passages of the Old Testament scriptures and you come across Yahweh, you need to assess which being is being referenced. And you do so by determining the context and balance as well with all the other scriptures that we have pertaining to God. For example, if you find Yahweh in the form of a man walking and talking and eating, as he did with Abraham, then that's not the Father. That is a pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Both Jesus and John said, no one has seen God the Father at any time. John 1.18, John 6.46, 1 John 4.12. So, brethren, there's going to be places in the scripture where you look and you see Yahweh referenced and it's clearly the Father. There's places you're going to look in the scripture and you see Yahweh referenced and it's clearly the Word, the One who became Jesus Christ. And then there's going to be places where you look and you see Yahweh referenced and you might say, well, I'm not sure who that is. Who is it? And I would just say, that's God. And that should be good enough. God the Father, Jesus Christ, worked together as God. Another prophecy concerning Yahweh. Zechariah 14.1.

Zechariah 14.1. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, the day of Yahweh is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished. Half the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Verse 3, then the Lord, Yahweh, will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. Obviously God the Father, also Yahweh, is exacting His judgment on the earth for the sins of mankind. It is called the day of God Almighty. All right? God the Father. But who does the book of Revelation say is the one who actually goes out and fights against the gathered nations? That's Jesus Christ. It was also called Yahweh. Verse 4, And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, whose feet? Yahweh's feet, which faces Jerusalem to the east. The Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach Azel. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. It says, Thus the Lord my God will come and all the saints with you.

Brethren, whose feet will stand on the Mount of Olives at the end of the great tribulation, the beginning of the millennium? Who will come to the earth with the saints at that time? The scripture says Yahweh does. Yahweh does, and that is true. And if Yahweh is God the Father exclusively, then these verses state that the Father is the one coming to the Mount of Olives with the saints at the end of the great tribulation, at the beginning of the millennium, and that the Father will be on earth ruling during the millennium. Again, we need to ask ourselves, how does that fit with the many other scriptures pertaining to Jesus Christ's return in the coming of the Father? 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 17 says that the resurrected saints will meet Christ in the air, and we will always be with Him. Revelation 14, 4 says that the redeemed follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Jesus Christ will return at the beginning of the thousand years and will reign with the saints on earth during that time.

Zechariah is declaring a prophecy of Jesus Christ, who is also Yahweh.

Another passage showing the word as Yahweh. Psalm, chapter 110. Psalm, chapter 110. It's the most quoted psalm in the New Testament, and it's a prophetic psalm, referring to God and Christ. Psalm, chapter 110, verse 1, The Lord said to my Lord, so here we have Yahweh, the Father, said to David's Lord, Adonai. There's a distinction here. We can tell the beings apart. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

And again, this resurrected Jesus Christ, as we've seen, sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Verse 2, The Lord, Yahweh, shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power and the beauties of holiness from the womb of mourning. You have the dew of your youth. Says the Lord, Yahweh has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Again, a reference to Jesus Christ. Verse 5, The Lord, Adonai, is at your right hand. He shall execute kings in the day of his wrath. And so it's clear, it's plain, that the one who is at the right hand of God the Father, who is called Yahweh, is Jesus Christ. If you do a search, you can do an internet search, you can do a hard book search. What you're going to find is that there are 134 passages in the Bible where the sofurum have altered the word Yahweh, and taken the word Yahweh and replaced it with Adonai. And there are various reasons why they did that. But just understand, in our current translations of the Bible, they're not generally translated with those 134 Yahweh's translated back from Adonai to Yahweh. But you can go and research. You can find these things for yourself. There are 134 passages. Appendix number 32 from the Companion Bible has them listed. And again, you can check them through other sources as well. The 134 passages of Appendix 32, in the heading here, says, Out of extreme but mistaken reverence for the infallible name Jehovah, as they call him, the ancient custodians of the sacred text substituted in many places Adonai. And so those who were responsible for the copying of the text, as they made the change from Yahweh to Adonai, they would make a marginal notation. And so they've been able to go back historically and see those places where the Adonai was substituted for Yahweh. It says, the official list given in the Mazara contains 134. And so again, this is Appendix 32 from the Companion Bible. You can go and research that for yourself and find the listing. One of the places where Yahweh was changed to Adonai is right here in Psalm 110 and verse 5. As we read it, in our scripture it says, the Adonai is at your right hand. But in the original text of Hebrew, as David wrote it, the Yahweh is at the right hand of Yahweh.

Again, I encourage you to go back, do your homework, research those things. Another place, brethren, that's significant, and we won't go there today, is in Genesis chapter 18. There are either three or four places in Genesis 18 where Yahweh was substituted for Adonai, and it obscures the fact that it was Yahweh who actually came and sat down at Abraham's table in 8, who walked with him and carried on a conversation. That being was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, and yet he is called Yahweh. Let's look at another passage. Genesis chapter 19, destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis chapter 19, verse 24. Let's read this one verse. Genesis 19, verse 24, then Yahweh, the Lord, rained fire and brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord Yahweh out of heavens. So here we have two beings called Yahweh working together. One on the earth, Yahweh, Jesus Christ, he walked, he talked with Abraham, rained fire and brimstone from another being called Yahweh, the Father in the heavens. Again, Genesis 19.24, the Lord rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens.

Next, brethren, I want to address the one that Scripture calls the angel of the Lord. Angel of the Lord. Your homework assignment from this message, if you are so inclined, is to go home and study every verse you can find on the angel of the Lord, or the angel of God in the Old Testament Scripture. Study them thoroughly. Not every angel that you find referenced is the divine angel of the Lord, so you will have to make that assessment. But the angel of the Lord, who was he? Well, through your studies, you're going to find that he was a divine being and he was not the Father. He was the word who became Jesus Christ. The term angel of the Lord is actually a very bad translation. The original Hebrew is Malek. Malek Yahweh is the name in Hebrew. It means messenger Yahweh. Angel is not what Jesus Christ was. He was God with God. Now, the word Malek is messenger, and it can be a divine messenger, an angelic messenger, a human messenger. Malek Kai was a human messenger, but the Malek Yahweh, as we will see, was divine and he was God.

Again, the context determines what messenger. Genesis 16. This is the first appearance. We're just going to look at a few. First appearance of what the Bible calls the angel of the Lord. Genesis 16 and verse 7. It says, So, as you recall, Hagar ran away from her mistress Sarai, who was abusive to her, in a sense, and now she's run off. And it says the angel of the Lord found her there. Verse 8.

And the messenger of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress, submit yourself under her hand. As conversation ensues, promises are made, prophecy regarding Ishmael. Let's go to verse 13. It says, Then she, Hagar, called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You are the God who sees. For she said, I have I also here seen him who sees me. So there's a couple of significant things we need to notice here, brother. First, Hagar acknowledges the one that spoke to her as God. The one that spoke to her was the Malak Yahweh. It was Jesus Christ. She acknowledges him as God. And secondly, the messenger of the Lord is also acknowledged as Yahweh. It says, Then she called the name of the Lord, the Yahweh, who spoke to her, You are the God who sees. Who acknowledged the Malak as Yahweh? Was it Hagar? No, it was not Hagar. Hagar did not say, Now I call the name of the Lord, you know. It was Moses. Moses, brother, is narrating the account, and he recorded that this being that she spoke to was Yahweh. It says, Then she called the name of the Yahweh who spoke to her. Moses wrote that. He recorded the account. He knew who this being was, and he was not confused. Another passage, Zechariah 3, verse 1 and 2.

Zechariah 3, verse 1 and 2.

So again, we have another example here of the messenger of the Lord, who is called Yahweh, and he rebuked Satan in the name of Yahweh. Who is the second one here called Yahweh? Well, it's God the Father. Here we have the word Jesus Christ, rebuking Satan by the authority of His Father. But again, we have two beings here called Yahweh, the messenger Yahweh, who is Jesus Christ, and the Father Yahweh as well.

Brethren, how many scriptures do we have to see before it is so? How many times do the Ten Commandments have to be listed before we acknowledge? Yes, we have to keep all ten. How many scriptures pertaining to tattoos do we find in the Bible before we say as Christians we shouldn't get tattoos? There's one.

How many times does the being who became Jesus Christ have to be acknowledged as Yahweh before we acknowledge that it is so? Let's go down to verse 6, still in Zechariah chapter 3. It says, And so here we see now the messenger delivering a message for the Father, and he says, He's drawing a distinction here that this isn't me speaking now. This is the message I brought you from God. So there are times where you're going to see Yahweh, the messenger Yahweh, expressing something as himself and as God. And there will be other times where he is expressing and bringing a message from the Father, and generally the scripture makes it clear, which is which.

Another example of the messenger being referred to as God in Yahweh, Genesis chapter 28.

Genesis 28.

Beginning in verse 11. Here this is Jacob. He's left his parents. He's heading eventually towards where his father-in-law is. Genesis 28 verse 11 says, And behold, the Lord Yahweh stood above it and said, So right here we have the acknowledgement that Yahweh is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob. Yahweh is our God. Verse 14.

Verse 15.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, And he was afraid and said, And Jacob rose early in the morning, took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of the place Bethel, but the name of the city had been previously Luz. And Jacob made a vow, saying, And so we see an acknowledgement here of who Jacob's God was. Again, it was Yahweh. Yahweh is the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses recorded this as Yahweh. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not know that name, but Moses did. And Moses wrote the account. And Yahweh is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now the question might come up, which being was speaking to Jacob here? We get the answer in Genesis chapter 31. Genesis chapter 31 and verse 10. Verse 11.

Verse 13.

The messenger of God, Jesus Christ, appeared to Jacob and said, Jesus Christ was the being, was Yahweh, who appeared to Jacob at Bethel. Again, Yahweh is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Yahweh is both God the Father and God the Word. Brethren, who did Jacob wrestle with? Who did he wrestle with? Genesis chapter 32. I guess the second question would be, how did he acknowledge the one he wrestled with? Genesis chapter 32 and verse 22.

And he took them and sent them over the brook and sent them over with them what he had. Verse 24.

This was not an ordinary man. This was a divine being. It appears as a man, just as what had occurred with Abraham. Verse 25.

And he said, Verse 29. And he said, Jacob acknowledged the one who he had wrestled with as God. He said, Hosea chapter 12 verse 3 says that in his strength, in Jacob's strength, he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the angel, with the malek, with the one who was Jesus Christ and prevailed. The one Jacob wrestled with was the Word, the one who became Jesus Christ, and he called him God. He acknowledged him as God. Again, brethren, go through every account of the angel of the Lord, the messenger Yahweh, that you can find in the Old Testament. And what you will find is that he is divine. He is often acknowledged as God. He is often called by the name of Yahweh. And that is consistent with the other scriptures that we've looked at pertaining to Jesus Christ today. One last example of the messenger Yahweh I would like to look at. And it's an account that sometimes, shall we say, leaves people with a burning question. Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus 3. This is the burning bush. The question that sometimes arises is, who spoke from the bush? Exodus chapter 3 and verse 1. The Moses was tending the flock of Jethro's father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the messenger Yahweh, angel of the Lord, appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of the bush, so he looked and behold the bush was burning with fire, but was not consumed. So the messenger of the Lord, again, the word, the one who became Jesus Christ, who is also called God, was also called Yahweh, appeared in the midst of the bush in a flame of fire.

Verse 3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn. So when the Lord, when Yahweh saw that, he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and he said, Here I am. And he said, Do not draw near this place, take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

Again, the question is, who is the Lord and the God who spoke to Moses from the bush? And is that a different being than the one who appeared? In other words, is there a God being who appeared in the midst and one who spoke from the midst in the same place of the bush?

You know, if the word who became Jesus Christ was not also called God and Yahweh, I would say, Yes, definitely. There are two beings here. But Christ was called God. He is referenced as well as Yahweh. So what's the answer? Who spoke from the bush? Verse 5, He said, Do not draw near this place, take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. Moreover, He said, I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Who was Moses afraid to look upon? He was afraid to look upon the one he could see. It says he was afraid to look upon God, and he hid his face. Moses could see God, and God just spoke to him from the bush. Moses was afraid, and he hid his face because he was afraid to look upon God. As the interaction continues, God tells Moses, I'm going to send you to Egypt, send you to deliver my people out of bondage.

Verse 13, Then Moses said to God, Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you. Brethren, as we've gone through this study, I hope you can see that the word Jesus Christ is also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was God with God in the beginning. By the Father's direction, he created all things that were made, including all of mankind.

Thomas said, My Lord and my God! He acknowledged Christ was his God. He also functioned as God and Yahweh in the Old Testament along with the Father. He interacted with the patriarchs as the messenger Yahweh and as Yahweh. Moses acknowledged him as Yahweh when he appeared to Hagar. He revealed himself to Jacob as the God of Bethel and the God of his fathers.

And he wrestled with Jacob at Pentiel, where Jacob acknowledged him as God. And Jesus Christ declared himself to be I Am in John 8, verse 58. Again, that does not mean that Christ is I Am and the Father is not. Brethren, God the Father and Jesus Christ are clearly the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are both I Am. So again, which one is speaking here? Let's read on. Verse 15, It's going to be known by Yahweh forever to all generations.

Verse 16, So who appeared to Moses? The one who appeared to Moses was the messenger Yahweh, the messenger of the Lord, who spoke, the same one who appeared. The one who appeared to Moses is also the one who spoke. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appeared to me, saying, Go and deliver my people. Exodus 4, verse 1, The same Hebrew word here translated appeared is used in multiple other scriptures to express one who is visibly seen. God appeared to Moses. Verse 5, Yahweh that appeared and spoke to Moses was the one who became Jesus Christ.

The Malek Yahweh appeared, and he spoke. That's a clear record of scripture. Acts 7, verse 35 says, In three separate gospel accounts, Jesus Christ reminds the Jews that reading the burning bush passage reveals that God spoke to Moses. That statement is correct. Go back to the burning bush passage. Read it again. Who spoke to Moses? God spoke to Moses. Jesus Christ referenced the scripture correctly. God spoke to Moses, and Jesus Christ was that God.

Brethren, God the Father and Jesus Christ, who are both called God and Yahweh in scripture, are both the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Final scripture for today, Acts chapter 3.

Acts chapter 3, verse 13.

There are many similar New Testament scriptures, such as what we find here in Acts chapter 3, verse 13. Acts 3, verse 13 says, What does this passage tell us? Well, first it tells us, brethren, that God the Father was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that's clear. That's undisputed. God the Father is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Does this scripture mean that Jesus Christ was not also God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Again, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant, Jesus Christ. Let's be clear on this point, brethren, because it's important. Was the Father the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Christ not? The focus here is on who resurrected Jesus Christ. After all, Jesus Christ did not resurrect Himself. God the Father resurrected Him. It wasn't Baal, it wasn't Molech, it wasn't Diana of the Ephesians, it was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who resurrected Jesus Christ. However, this statement does not exclude Jesus Christ from holding that position as well. If I said to you that the parent of Austin and Tabitha gave the sermon today, what would you determine? Well, you would know that Paul gave the sermon, and that he is the parent of Austin and Tabitha. But does that statement mean that Darla is not? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob glorified His servant Jesus Christ, brethren, that does not remove Jesus Christ from having been their God as well. Scriptures recognizing the Father as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are correct, and they are true, and they are in the Scripture. But again, they do not exclude Jesus Christ from also having been their God. So many Scriptures point to the fact that He was their God. Again, the fingerprints are everywhere. We see Jesus Christ acknowledged as God along with the Father, and they were both the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'd like to leave you with a recommended sermon. I would suggest if you have time, if a number of people like to download sermons and listen to them, I'd like to recommend a sermon given by Roy Holliday, January 24, 2009. Again, by Roy Holliday, January 24, 2009, and the title is The Divinity of Christ. I would recommend it's a good listen. Brethren, in conclusion, we're fast approaching the Passover. We're approaching the days of an 11 bread. And our focus is zeroing in on the sacrifice for sin that was laid down on our behalf. I don't believe we can overestimate the value of that sacrifice. The one who was God in the beginning with God came in the flesh and laid down his life for all. What an incredible—what a unifying event, brethren, that is. Jesus Christ died for us. As we observe the Passover this year, let's remember that we will all partake of the same bread. We will partake of the same body. We will all come under the same sacrifice of blood. We are all reconciled to the same God and Father in heaven. In light of those things, let's rekindle our zeal for living as Jesus Christ lived, for laying down our lives as a living sacrifice for one another. Dear brethren, as the Church of God and as the body of Jesus Christ, let us always endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.