In the previous chapter we have shown that the Mediator had to fulfil four conditions. He must be 1) very God, 2) very man out of man, 3) a holy man, and 4) God and man in one Person. We also have shown the Lord Jesus Christ to be this Surety and Mediator. It is therefore also essential that these four conditions are fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
We first of all wish to affirm that there is only one God, and not two or three gods. There is neither an inferior nor a superior God. God is superior to all creatures, but this is not true in reference to another god, for there is no other god. “For though there be that are called gods … to us there is but one God” (1 Cor 8:5-6).
Secondly, we affirm that this one divine Being subsists in three independent Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost” (1 John 5:7).
Thirdly, we affirm that these three Persons are neither separate from the divine Being, nor from each other. There is but one God. “… and these three are one” (1 John 5:7).
Fourthly, we affirm that these three persons are distinct, so that one Person is not identical with another Person. Each Person is a different Person, and yet not a different God. “Another Comforter (John 14:16) … whom I will send unto you from the Father” (John 15:26).
Fifthly, we affirm that each Person is the one and only true God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is Very God
It is first of all necessary to show that the Lord Jesus is very God. The Socinians and Anabaptists deny this. We, however, uphold this as a major tenet of the Christian religion. This is evident from all those proof texts by which we are convinced that Jehovah is God. We shall prove that Jehovah is God from the fact that,
(1) He is called God everywhere in Scripture. It is without question that whenever Jehovah is called God the reference is not to angels or authorities, but to the eternal God;
(2) He is eternal, infinite, omniscient, and omnipotent;
(3) He has created heaven and earth and still upholds and governs the same;
(4) He must be honored, worshipped, believed, feared, and served.
There is no one who would dare to cast doubt upon these proofs. These proofs being an absolute certainty, the Lord Jesus is therefore very God, for there is abundant testimony in Scripture that these four matters are stated in reference to Him. It is therefore blasphemous if one would dare to deny that the Lord Jesus is very God, and to suggest that He is merely called God because of His miraculous conception, His mission in this world, God’s love towards Him, His miracles, His ministry, His resurrection from the dead, and His glorification. None of these things render one divine. They are the proofs of, rather than the basis for, His divinity.
That Christ is the true, eternal God is therefore evident from the four aforementioned proofs.
First, He is referred to as God throughout Scripture, and the context of these references is such that all evasive arguments are silenced.
(1) Only consider these texts: “Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows” (Ps 45:7).1 That this initial reference to God relates to the Lord Jesus is evident when we read, “But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: … therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee” (Heb 1:8-9).
Without a doubt thy God refers to the true, eternal God. How can this be confirmed? The answer is that He is expressly called God here. Likewise the Lord Jesus, is also here called God as well as is the Father: therefore He is the eternal, true God.
(2) Add to these the texts in which He is called Jehovah. In the entire Scriptures this name is neither attributed nor can be attributed to anyone else but the eternal, true God—a truth which we already have confirmed in chapter three. The fact that the Lord Jesus is called Jehovah is confirmed for instance in Jer 23:5-6, where we read, “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch … and this is His Name whereby He shall be called, THE Lord (that is, Jehovah) OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” That the Lord Jesus is here called Jehovah is confirmed by the fact that He is the Branch, the King of Zion, who is here called by this name. Thus, the Lord Jesus is the true and eternal God.
(3) Add to these from the New Testament, Rom 9:5, where we read, “Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.” In the preceding context no mention is made of God the Father, but only of the Lord Jesus, and He is said to have come from the fathers as concerning the flesh. It is beyond all controversy that the reference here is to the Lord Jesus and His human nature. Of the very same Person it is said immediately (as in one breath) that He is God who is to be blessed for ever. I repeat, as in one breath, for nothing separates these two clauses, neither a period, nor a colon, but only a comma, upon which follow the words oJ w\n (who is), which always refer to the antecedent and relate to whomever had just been mentioned. The Lord Jesus is therefore the God who is blessed forever, this expression being a description of the eternal God. “To whom be glory for ever.” (Rom 11:36); “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory,” etc. (Rev 4:11); “God is … to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him” (Ps 89:7); “For the Lord is a great God … above all gods” (Ps 95:3); “The Lord … is high above all the people” (Ps 99:2).