THE DEITY OF CHRIST
(Part 2)

     Although the Greek word "prototokos" can mean firstborn chronologically, it refers primarily to position or rank. In both Jewish and Greek culture, the firstborn was the son who had the right of inheritance. He was not necessarily the first one born. Here are some specific examples:

Genesis 41:51 - "And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh......"
Genesis 41:52 - "And the name of the second called he Ephraim......"
Jeremiah 31:9 - ".....for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."

     Even though Manasseh was the first child born to Joseph, Jacob bestowed the "firstborn" blessings upon Ephraim. Ephraim received the right of the inferitance.

     Exodus 4:22 - Israel is called the "firstborn" among the nations. Does this mean that Israel was the first nation that was created? No. There were other nations in existence before God in sovereignty chose Israel to be His chosen people - they BECAME the firstborn of all nations.

     Psalm 89:20 - "I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him....."
     Psalm 89:27 - "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth."
     David was the youngest of all his brothers, yet it was HE who received the title of "firstborn," which was the position of preeminence.

     Romans 8:29 - refers to Christ as the "firstborn" in relation to the Church.

     Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5 - Jesus is called the firstborn of the dead, even though He was not the first person to be resurrected chronologically. Of all ever raised He is the "preeminent" One.

     In ALL the above cases, "firstborn" clearly means highest in rank and position; not the first created.

     There are many other reasons for rejecting the idea that the use of "firstborn" makes Jesus a created being. Such an interpretation cannot be harmonized with the description of Jesus as 'monogenes' in John 1:18 ("only begotten" or "unique"). If Christ was the ONLY-begotten, could He be FIRST-begotten? And how, if He were FIRST-begotten could He be ONLY-begotten? How could He be the "first" of many in His class and at the same time be the "only" member of His class? Yet such confusion is inevitable if we assign the meaning "first created" to firstborn.

     Finally, if Paul meant to convey that Christ was the first created being, he had a Greek word available to him: "protoktistos," which means "first created." But instead he used "firstborn" because Jesus is the One with the right to the inheritance of all creation.

COLOSSIANS 1:16

     The first major contradiction that must be pointed out here is that the Watchtower translators have inserted the word "other" 2 times in this verse. The words are NOT in the original Greek texts and the Society attempts to make itself look better by claiming that the words were placed in brackets.
     Even so, the addition of these words drastically changes the meaning and intent of what this Scripture is saying.
     It is also significant to be aware that when the Society uses this verse in any of its other publications, it doesn't always put the words "other" in brackets. This can be dangerously misleading to the unwary reader.

     Jehovah's Witnesses claim that Jesus is not the Creator and that according to Colossians 1:16 "all things were created through him."

     In the following verses that deal with creation are the extracted portions that use the phrase "THROUGH him" or "BY him." The Kingdom Interlinear under the Greek side of the text is being used. The Greek prepositional phrase "di' autou" can mean "by him" or "through him." The expressions are identical in meaning as various translations use both renderings.

John 1:3 - "All things came into existence THROUGH him..."
     (Greek 'di' autou' = 'through')

John 1:10 - "...the world came into existence THROUGH him..."
     (Greek 'di' autou' = 'through')

I Corinth. 8:6 - "...Jesus Christ, THROUGH whom all things are..."
     (Greek 'di' autou' = 'through')

Colossians 1:16 - "...All things have been created THROUGH him..."
     (Greek 'di' autou' = 'through')

     Now we come to a verse in which the subject is GOD:
Romans 11:36 - "Because from him and BY him and for him are all things..."
     (Greek 'di' autou' = "through" in the KIT)

     Who is this superlative being that is doing the creating THROUGH God?

COLOSSIANS 1:17

(KJV) "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
(NWT) "Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist,"

     As in verse 16, the Society translators inserted the word "other" twice into the text. This is deliberate manipulation to change the significance of the verse and this is dishonest.

     What is the very first thing that God created?

     TIME

     God needed to create TIME in order to "house" His creation. God had to set the clock ticking because He existed above and beyond time. The Watchtower book, "Reasoning From the Scriptures" admits that TIME had a beginning (p.148). Anything existing before time is uncreated. And the only being that is uncreated is God!

     Jesus was "before all things." A "thing" is anything that has been created, whether visible or invisible.

     The Apostolic Fathers and Early Church Fathers of the 2nd century, Ignatius and Justin Martyr, stated in their writings that the existence of Christ was "before the ages" and "before time began." The only "being" that existed BEFORE TIME was God!

COLOSSIANS 2:9

     The words "divine quality" really mean nothing because all men have a divine quality about them since they are a creation of God.

     The Greek word "theotetos" means "godship" or "godhead," which refers to Deity. Here is how other Bibles compare with their readings at this verse:

"For in Him dwells the fullness of the ______ bodily":
KJV and NKJV - Godhead
NASB - Deity
NWT - divine quality

     In the KIT 1969 edition - under the Greek it says "godship"
In the 1985 edition - under the Greek it says "divinity"
     There are definite word games being played here and it is done deliberately to hide the true identity of Jesus Christ.

I TIMOTHY 3:16

     The New World Translation uses the word "He" instead of the word "God." (Due to the use of a different Greek manuscript source) "He" is a personal pronoun that, according to Greek grammar, must agree in gender (masculine) to its antecedent (noun) in the previous verse (v.15) shown as follows.

I Timothy 3:15"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

     In verse 15 there are 3 nouns:
"church" ("ecclesia" - feminine)
"God" ("Theou" - masculine)
"truth" ("aletheias" - feminine)

     Only the word "God" is masculine and agrees with the word "Who" in gender. Therefore, it was the living God who became "manifest in the flesh."

     The NWT added the words "of the" which are NOT found in the Greek text. It was done to change the impact of the true intent of the verse.

Titus 2:13 uses the GRANVILLE- SHARP RULE of Greek grammar which is:
     "When the word "and" (Gr. "kai") connects two or more contributive nouns, i.e., nouns significative of character, relation or dignity in the singular number, and the Greek article "ho" in any of its cases, is inserted before the first only of such nouns, then they are all of them assured of the same person or thing."

     God the Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ IS the same person.

     Perhaps, most importantly, the New Testament nowhere speaks of the appearing or the Second Coming of God the Father but only of the Son.

HEBREWS 1:8

(KJV) "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom."
(NWT) "But with reference to the Son: "God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness."

     What a difference!

     This verse is a quotation from Psalm 45:6. Even the NWT mentions this in a footnote.
     But by twisting the words around, the Society is trying to say that God is the source of Christ's rule. Yet "throne" is never used in this sense in the Bible but means "a place or the rule itself."
     The Watchtower thinks it can get away with this in the Greek, but it is impossible to do in the Hebrew language. Yet they did this very thing in Psalm 45:6 as well.

JESUS IS JEHOVAH

"COMPARING SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE"

**JESUS said:
Rev. 2:23 ".....and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts...."

     Since Jesus the Son can do what ONLY the Father is alleged to do, then Jesus is also Jehovah.

Psalm 47:5 God is gone up with a shout; with the sound of a trumpet.
I Thess. 4:16 The return of Christ is with a shout and the sound of a trumpet.
Acts 1:11,12 At the ascension from Mt. Olivet, the disciples were told that Jesus will return in like manner.
Zechariah 14:4 In that day His (God) feet will stand on the Mt. of Olives.

     The exact same references pertain to both God and Jesus! For God to "ascend on high" means He first must have had to DESCEND to earth! How many beings ascended to heaven? Zechariah says that literal feet are going to touch the earth. God is a Spirit who has no feet, so the verse must be applying to Jesus, who ascended from the Mount of Olives and will one day return "in like manner."

From the writings of the early Christian Church:
     "Moreover, in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, reference is thus made to Christ: 'God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." Justin Martyr - Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 37

Ecclesiastes 12:7 says - "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
     (At death, man's spirit returns to the one true God.)

Acts 7:59 "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
     [Stephen knew that he was about to die and prayed that JESUS would receive his spirit! As seen in Ecclesiastes, only God can receive man's spirit at death.]

Isaiah 6:1-10 (Use the New World Translation)
     v.1 Isaiah got to see JEHOVAH.
     v.5 Confirms that Isaiah saw JEHOVAH.
     v.8 Isaiah begins to hear the voice of JEHOVAH.

Isaiah 6:10 (Jehovah said:) "Make the heart of thus people unreceptive, and make their very ears unresponsive, and paste their very eyes together, that they may not see with their eyes, and with their ears they may not hear, and that their own heart may not understand and that they may not actually turn back and get healing for themselves."

     In John 12:39-41 Jesus speaks to a crowd of people who question what He is saying but didn't understand the signs he performed and didn't put faith in Him. So this was a fulfillment of what the prophet Isaiah said:
     "He has blinded their eyes and he has made their hearts hard, that they should not see with their eyes and get the thought with their hearts and turn around and I should heal them." Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and he spoke about him."

Isaiah spoke about WHO? About JESUS!

Isaiah 60:19 "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."
Revelation 21:23 "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light."

**Refers to God**:
Psalm 68:18 "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them."

**Refers to Jesus**:
Ephesians 4:8-10 "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)"

     Who "led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men?" Only ONE being did. God!

THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA;
THE FIRST AND THE LAST

     This presentation proves that Jesus Christ is Almighty God manifest in the flesh It uses the book of Revelation and is called "The First and Last" presentation because it uses the first and last chapters of Revelation and also uses the term "First and Last" when applied to Jesus.

**Use the New World Translation throughout this presentation.

Revelation 1:8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says Jehovah God, "the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty."

     Who is this verse speaking about? The Witnesses will say "Jehovah because that's what it says in their Bible. The Kingdom Interlinear Translation shows that the word "Jehovah" is not under the Greek text. Instead, it says "Lord God." Nevertheless, it is the "Almighty" who is speaking and He calls Himself the "Alpha and Omega."

     Let's see if the "Alpha and the Omega" is known by any other names.

Revelation 21:6"And he said to me: "They have come to pass! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end."

     So the Alpha and the Omega is also called the "Beginning and the End."

Revelation - Chapter 22
     There are 4 speakers in this chapter, but we want to focus on the Alpha and Omega. This speaker begins to speak in verse 12 with a double quotation mark. We need to read to the other end of the closing double quotation marks. Context is important.

Revelation 22:12 16
12: This is the Alpha and Omega because he is "coming quickly" (Rev. 1:8)
13: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end
14,15: The apostle John tells us who will be inside and outside the kingdom
16: The speaker in vv. 12 and 13 identifies Himself as "I, Jesus."

     Jehovah's Witnesses will object and try to say that the speaker changes back and forth from Jehovah to Jesus. Keep in mind about the importance of the quotation marks and that they would have changed if the speaker also changed.
     Also, for those who follow Red-letter editions of the Bible will notice that the texts in both verses 12 and 13 are in RED - making Jesus the speaker.
     Nevertheless, what we do learn from verse 13 is that the "Alpha and Omega" has an additional title: "the First and the Last."

Return to Chapter 1 to further identify who the "First and the Last" really is.

Revelaion 1:13- 18
     This is a vision of the Son of Man. Who is "the Son of Man?" The correct answer is "Jesus." Read on down through the vision, but concentrate on:
vv. 17,18
17: "And when I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet. And he laid his right hand upon me and said: "Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last,
18: and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."

     The Almighty "Alpha and Omega" from verse 8 is also known as the Almighty "First and the Last" from Rev. 22:13.

Revelation 1:18 says that the "First and the Last" became dead!

     When did Jehovah die?

There can only be ONE First and ONE Last - not two!

There is no other logical answer but to say that the Almighty who is referred to in Rev 1:8 is JESUS.

     Before the Witnesses published their own Kingdom Interlinear, they published The Emphatic Diaglott. In the Appendix of this book under the entry 'ALMIGHTY' is listed the name of Jesus and referring to Revelation 1:8!

     Remarkably, during the Watchtower's early history, it was believed that although Jesus was a created being, He was considered 'Almighty,' as according to Revelation 1:8--

 .    "It is since his resurrection that the message has gone forth - "All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me." (Matt. 28:18) Consequently it is only since then that he could be called the Almighty (as in Rev. 1:8). - Zion's Watchtower, 4/15/1893 and The Finished Mystery, 1917, p.15

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