Isaiah 9:6-Eternal Father
When Jesus was on earth as a man he had the power to have a family of his own by natural human means. He did not bring forth that family, but gave up that potential in his sacrifice. As he said: “The Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul a ransom
in exchange for many.” (
Matthew 20:28) Jesus therefore became the “last Adam.” The first Adam brought forth a family, an imperfect one, with bad traits. Jesus Christ the last Adam brings forth a family that attains to righteousness. Individuals can transfer from the family of the first Adam and be regenerated through the righteousness of Jesus Christ the last Adam, and, by putting on the new personality, can come to be ‘in his image.’ They can be cleaned up as sons of the “last Adam.”—
1 Corinthians 15:45, 49.
The Bible calls Jesus “the last Adam,” “a life-giving spirit.” (
1 Corinthians 15:45) He is properly called the “Eternal Father” of the future perfect human race.
Isaiah 9:6 mighty God
The title “Mighty God” applied to Jesus Christ at
Isaiah 9:6 is used to prove that Jesus is God, because
Isaiah 10:21 and Jeremiah 32:18 speak of Jehovah God as “mighty God.” But here again too much is read into the texts. Only the superlatives and the infinites can dogmatically be limited to Jehovah, such as “the Most High.” Jesus is a god, a mighty god, and so is Jehovah a God, a mighty God. But additionally, Jehovah is the mighty God and also the God
Almighty. The term in the Hebrew,
el gibbó
r, “mighty God,” is not limited to Jehovah, but the term
el Shaddái, “God Almighty,” is.—
Gen. 17:1.
Others quote Isaiah 43:10-"Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” but too much is read into this text than it warrants by those who use it to prove that Jesus Christ is equal with God. The claim is made that this text proves that Jesus could not have been created by God but must have existed from eternity, otherwise he would have been a god that came after God, and God says that there shall be no god after him. Such an argument, however, shows a misunderstanding of the text. The point Jehovah is here making is that he had no predecessors, before him no god existed. How could there be a god before him, since he always was? Neither will there be any god after him, that is, he will never have any successors, because he will always be the Supreme Sovereign, Jehovah God. That God Jehovah did produce other gods, the Scriptures show: “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince.’” So also the Logos was a god created by Jehovah.—
Ps. 82:
Far from the Scriptures teaching that Jesus Christ is a coequal deity, a God equal to Jehovah God, they continually show that he is inferior to his Father. He himself said: “The Father is greater than I.” And even after his resurrection he referred to Jehovah, not as his equal, but as his God, saying to Mary: “Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Jehovah is the Father and God of Jesus, but is Jesus the Father and God of Jehovah? No.—
John 14:28; 20:17.
In particular does the apostle Paul show the distinction between Jehovah and Jesus Christ. He did not teach that God and Christ are equals, but clearly reiterated time and again that Jesus occupies an inferior position: “For us there is one God, the Father,
from whom are all things and
for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things and
through whom we exist.” Further, he shows that even as “all things are yours,” so “you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” Yes, even as Christians belong to their Head and Master, Jesus Christ, so Jesus Christ belongs to his Head and Master, Jehovah God.—
1 Cor. 8:6; 3:21, 23.
Referring to the same thing, the apostle farther on states: “The head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” What could be clearer than that? And that this relationship will continue throughout eternity is apparent from the apostle Paul’s further words: “Then comes the end, when [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one.”—
1 Cor. 11:3; 15:24, 28.
In view of the foregoing, what may briefly be said in answer to the question: What does the Bible say about the divinity of Christ? That there was a time when Jesus was not; that before he was born of Mary he had an existence in heaven as a glorious spirit creature, the Word, a god; that upon coming to earth he was wholly a perfect human, not more, not less than the perfect first Adam as far as his nature was concerned; and that since his resurrection he is a mighty, glorious divine spirit, incorruptible and immortal; that never at any time has Jesus been equal to his Father but is ever subordinate to him.
