28 September 2013

Why Iglesia Ni Cristo Believes That Jesus Is Man in nature And Not God


WHY WE BELIEVE THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS MAN IN NATURE AND HE IS NOT GOD


QUESTION:

“Good evening, I am a born again christian. Why the Iglesia Ni Cristo believe that the Lord Jesus is a man and not God. Is this teaching written in the Bible?”


ANSWER:

It is not only our statement or opinion. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself proclaimed that He is a man:

John 8:40 NKJV
“But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.”

According to this verse, the Lord Jesus did not only made an explicit statement that He is a Man, but also showed that He is different from God. He said, “a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.” Actually, there are many statements of the Lord Jesus that clearly show that He is indeed different from God. These are some of those statements:

John 17:1 and 3 NKJV
“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You…And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God...”

Mark 15:34 NKJV
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”

John 8:42 NKJV
“Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.”

The statement of the Lord Jesus Christ saying that He is “a Man” is also a proof that He is not God. When He said that He is “a man” it is also like saying that He is not God because God explicitly said that He is not man:

Hosea 11:9 NKJV
“I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror.”

God clearly said, “I am God, and not man.” Actually, God also said that “man is not God”:

Ezekiel 28:2 YLT
“`Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart hath been high, And thou dost say: A god I `am', The habitation of God I have inhabited, In the heart of the seas, And thou `art' man, and not God, And thou givest out thy heart as the heart of God.”

It is clearly written in the Bible that God is not man and man is not God. And because the Lord Jesus Christ explicitly said that “He is a Man,” thus, He is not God.

God is not man because God is spirit in state of being (John 4:24), and a spirit does not have flesh and bones:

Luke 24:38-39 NKJV
“And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”

And this is what the Bible says about Man:

Genesis 6:3 NKJV
“And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Therefore, God is not Man because God is spirit, having no flesh and bones. And Man is not God because Man is not spirit, having flesh and bones.
In Luke 24:39, the Lord Jesus clearly said that “for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” Thus, if we are going to accept the teaching that Christ is true Man and true God, then the Lord Jesus Christ does have flesh and bones (for He is true Man), and does not have flesh and bones (for He is true God). This is absurd and confusing.

But others might contend that everything is possible with God. It is true that everything is possible with the Lord God, but it doesn’t mean that God will do an absurdity like being having flesh and bones and at the same time having no flesh and bones. Why God will not do such absurdity and confusion?

I Corinthians 14:33 KJV
“For God is not the author of confusion…”

Let us also take note of the fact that God can’t break His words, and His word cannot change:
    
Heb 6:18 The Message
“God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.”

God said, “I am God, not man.” God also said that man is not God. The Bible says that God is spirit, having no flesh and bones. Remember that God can’t break His words, and His word cannot change.


THEREFORE, IT IS CLEARLY WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE THAT:

(1) Christ Himself said that He is a Man (John 8:40).

(2) That Christ made many statements that show that He is indeed different from God (e.g. John 17:1 and 3; Mark 15:34; and John 8:42).

(3) When Christ explicitly said that He is a man, it is like saying that He is not God because God is not man (Hos. 11:9) and man is not God (Ezek. 28:2).

(4) The Lord Jesus Christ is NOT true Man and true God, because if so, then Jesus does have flesh and bones (true man) and does not have flesh and bones (true God).

(5) Although everything is possible with God, however, He will not do such absurdity and confusion that He is at the same time have flesh and bones and have no flesh and bones, because “God is not the author of confusion” (I Cor. 14:33 KJV).

(6) God said, “I am God, not man.” God also said that man is not God. Remember that God is true to His words, He can’t break His words, and His word cannot change.


THE GOD OF THE IGLESIA NI CRISTO

Although for us the Lord Jesus Christ is not God, however, we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lord, the Savior and God’s greatest messenger. For us, the true God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ because this is what He himself taught to us:

John 17:1,3 NKJV
“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

This is eternal life that we accept the truth written in the Bible and taught by Christ Himself that the Father is the only true God and Jesus Christ is whom He have sent.
 


WHY JESUS IS NOT GOD

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2 comments:

  1. I HAVE BEEN A BIBLE STUDENT FOR 50 YEARS AND WISH TO FELLOWSHIP WITH YOUR CHURCH. I LIVE IN COFFS HARBOUR NSW

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can you explain John 1: 1-14 . And the Word became Flesh.

    ReplyDelete

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