Sermon Central
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Is Jesus Jehovah? Series
Contributed by Eddie Snipes on Oct 2, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: Jeremiah 23 says that Jehovah our Righteousness will arise out of the branch of David. In Revelation 22 Jesus said He was the Root and the offspring of David. This takes a deeper look at this topic.
Is Jesus Jehovah?
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is given attributes that the LORD (Jehovah) of the Old Testament identified for Himself. God stated that He would judge the world in the Old Testament, the New Testament states that, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). With the scores of other examples, I have chosen to use the biblical reference to the First and the Last. Look at Isaiah 44
6 " Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ’I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
The LORD (Jehovah) and his Redeemer, the LORD (Jehovah) declared Himself to be the first and the last while affirming that there was no other God. Note that Jehovah identifies Himself as the LORD, the King of Israel and His Redeemer, the LORD of hosts. He identifies both the King and the Redeemer are called Jehovah while affirming that He is one God and there is no other. This is not a contradiction unless you remove the eternal Son from the picture. As we get into the next section, we will see that God identifies Himself in the plural while affirming His singularity throughout the Old Testament. What I want to establish here is that the LORD identifies Himself as the First and the Last. Whenever you see LORD (all caps), it represents the name Jehovah. Now let’s look at some passages in the New Testament.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
The Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End is identified specifically as God. The Almighty is also a reference identified with God in the Old Testament. Later in Revelation, God again identifies Himself as the First and the Last two more times. Revelation 21
6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
7 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Now lets jump back to Revelation chapter 1.
17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
18 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Did Jehovah die? Absolutely yes. The Bible says in Acts 20:28,
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
God purchased us with His own blood. That is why the LORD can say that He will raise up the LORD to redeem Israel. Look at Jeremiah 23
5 " Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Compare this to Revelation 22
16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."
Only Jesus can be the root of David or the One from which David was created and the Offspring of David – the One that comes from the lineage of David. The New Testament identifies this as Jesus Christ and the Old Testament identifies Him as the LORD (Jehovah).
Fully God, Fully Man
Another area of attack is comes from those who claim that Jesus could not be fully God and fully man. The Bible is very clear on this as we saw earlier in 1 Corinthians 15. By man (Adam) came sin and death and by Man (Jesus Christ) came redemption and the resurrection of the dead. The first man was of the earth, the second was the Lord from heaven. The Bible also warns us not to draw our doctrine from deceit, philosophy or traditions of men, but from scripture which confirms that the Man Jesus was fully God. Look at Colossians 2:
