dbit 3
Todays scriptural tidbit of truth. You can stick this one in the category of: “Jesus did not walk this earth as a demi-God.” Wait what, who says that? Actually most of Evangelical Christianity. They just never thought of it in those terms, but the word demi-God fits exactly within the framework of the teachings as to how Jesus preformed his miracles and walked a sinless life. I’m only going to talk about the miracles in this tidbit.
John 14: 10 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. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. 12 Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father. 13 And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Jesus walked this earth as a human being. The miracles he did were done by God the Father and the Holy Spirit. That is why he says in verse 12 that the miracles his followers saw through his hands would be available to be worked through the hands of all who believe on him.
The entire Bible teaches that the Jehovah the Word would come, and did come to this earth as messiah, a human being, not a demi-God. In the book of Acts this is abundantly made clear in the Apostles presentation of the messiah to the world as they did not call him God one single time. Out of 159 times the word God is used in the book of Acts it was never used in reference to Jesus except twice in the phrase Son of God. This was used in witness to Jewish folks. Jesus was always referred to as a man that God was with and that God did miracles through. There are two reasons for this. One is because it is not true that Jesus walked this earth as divinity. He was divinity, he laid down the physical attributes of God and came to earth as a human, and then became divinity once more. Paul calls it a great mystery. I would suspect the other reason he was never referred to as God in the apostles evangelistic efforts is that Greek and Roman world are filled with idolatrous beliefs about demi-gods like Achilles, Hercules, Theseus and Perseus. The apostles were not going to present the messiah to that world as the Jewish version of a demi-god. Therefore they kept their teachings about the fact that Jesus is God pretty much in the churches to minimize confusion in their evangelistic efforts.
Why is this important to us? Just because it is true? Hardly. It is important to us because of all the roadblocks the world places in front of us to keep us from what the grace of God made available to his people. We do not need to place our own roadblock to the miraculous by believing Jesus did his miracles because he was divine. We are not divine, ergo we cannot do the works he did, like he did, that is the belief. That Jesus walked this earth as a demi-God, although not worded that way, is in fact the biggest roadblock to the miraculous the evangelical world is facing. The reason a lot of the Pentecostal world does not have an issue with this, and has for the most part accepted that Jesus somehow walked this earth a a human being is because they have experienced God doing miracles through them as he did through Jesus. We all need miracles, our families need miracles, our friends need miracles. Let's not deny them those miracles by not seeking that grace from on high because we don't think it is available to us.