Father Son and Holy Spirit. All separate Persons, but united in essence to form one God.
The question is then why refer to God, then refer to the Son as a separate entity?
āBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christā 1Peter 1:3
Thats just one exampleā¦
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Servant, I see that you are using a common argument employed by those who deny the Divinity of Jesus; namely, Peter never said Jesus was God. Well, the one refutation of that claim that I have found online ran 7-8 pages, and Iām not going to reproduce all that here. Instead, Iāll spend some time putting together a more condensed response. Perhaps I will have that ready later today.
In the meantime, Iāll respond to your standard objection with the Christianās standard response. There are lots of places where you can find refutations online; this particular version is taken from:
carm.org/religious-movements/islam/did-jesus-ever-say-exact-words-i-am-god
But before I post, I need to remind you that this thread is not about what Peter said. Itās about whether Jesus claimed to be God. Youāre about to see again that He did.
Enjoy!
Jesus never said the exact three words, āI am God.ā But Jesus also never said the exact four words, āI am a prophet,ā or the exact four words āI am a man,ā but we know he was both a prophet and a man. It is not necessary for Jesus to say the exact phrase āI am a man,ā for us to know that he was a man. Likewise, it is not necessary for Jesus to utter the exact three words āI am God,ā in order for us to determine whether or not he is divine. Jesus may not have said the exact sentence āI am God,ā but he did claim the divine name for himself (Exo. 3:14 withJohn 8:58), and he also received worship (Matt. 2:2; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38).
When Moses was up at the Mount speaking to God, Moses asked God what his name was. God said, āI AM WHO I AMā; and He said, āThus you shall say to the sons of Israel,ā āI AM has sent me to you.ā (Exodus 3:14). In John 8:58 Jesus said, āTruly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.ā Right after this the Jews picked up stones to throw at him. Later, in John 10:30-33 Jesus claimed to be one with the Father; and the Jews wanted to stone him again because they said to Jesus, āYou, being a man, make yourself out to be God.ā Jesus had claimed the divine name for his own, and the Jews wanted to kill him for it. Therefore, from Jesusā own mouth we see that he was claiming to be God.
Of course, anyone can say the words āI am,ā and it does not mean that he is claiming to be God. Someone could say, āI am over here.ā That is not claiming the divine name. Likewise, someone could say, āI am hungry,ā or āI am sick.ā Neither example is claiming divinity because the use of the term āI amā in context clearly shows us that is not what is occurring. But, in John 8:58 when Jesus said ābefore Abraham was born, I am,ā the Jews knew exactly what he was saying. Notice that he says before Abraham was born (using the past tense), and then he switches to the present tense when he says āI am.ā Jesus switches tenses of the verbs on purpose, so that when he does so in the context of referencing Abraham, Jesus is clearly drawing the Jewsā attention to the Old Testament Scriptures and then using a present tense form of the verb āto beā by saying āI AM.ā Someone who says āI am hungryā is not drawing attention to the Old Testament Scriptures for context.
Jesus was clearly causing the Jews to reflect upon the divine name āI amā that Jesus used for himself. We know that they understood this because as is said above, they said, āYou, being a man, make yourself out to be God.ā (John 10:33).
It is not necessary that Jesus say a certain phrase in order for the truth of who he is to be made clear. The issue is not if he speaks a certain sentence that we construct in present terms in order to satisfy our theological demands. The issue is what did Jesus say in the context and culture of the time in which he spoke.
John 1:1, 14, āIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . 14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.ā
John 20:28-29, "Thomas answered and said to Him, āMy Lord and my God!ā 29 Jesus said to him, āBecause you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.ā
Heb. 1:8, āBut of the Son He says, āThy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.āā
Oh one more part in keeping with our daily conversationā¦
He was fully human?