Here's something I posted on this in another thread; I feel like it needs to be said here, too. :)
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Jesus and God are one and the same. Jesus tells us in His own words that He and the Father are One. Each version of the Bible that I’ve looked at agrees on this. They are one...God is Jesus and Jesus is God. They dwell within one another.
John 10:27-30 (ESV) - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."
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Jesus and God are both EQUAL as well.
John 5:18 - This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
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John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
If the Word is God, and the Word became flesh (Jesus), then Jesus IS the Word, which makes Him God. Just because the Word became flesh doesn’t mean that Jesus’ spirit changed.
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Jesus is stated as the true God and eternal life here:
1 John 5:20 - And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
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And sure, Jesus died...but He ALSO rose from the dead after His death on the cross. Could any mere man do that? Not only did he rise from the dead, but he also saved us from our sins...again, no mere mortal man could do that.
John 19:28-30 - After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
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Thomas also calls Jesus “God”. As it has already been stated, if Jesus wasn’t God, then he would have told Thomas otherwise. After all, if he did NOT tell Thomas otherwise, that would make him a liar, and a sinner. Which we all know is impossible.
John 20:27-29 - Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
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God and Jesus are both stated as being the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
Revelation 1:8 - "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Revelation 22:12-13 - "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
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And no, God never dwelt in sin. Neither did Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake he made him to be sin who
knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus never did anything sinful. He “knew no sin”. And just because there was temptation in His life doesn’t mean that He sinned. Temptation is simply giving a choice - right or wrong. People might WANT to do one thing, but they CAN do the right thing instead. He was allowed to be tempted so that he would be able to help those who ARE tempted. (I think I should add on as well that when God "made Him to be sin" the Bible wasn't talking about making Jesus sinful; it was talking about giving Jesus the RESPONSIBILITY of taking the BURDEN of those sins. Jesus took the consequences of those sins on himself when He died on the cross.)
Hebrews 2:18 - For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
In Jesus’ time of temptation, rather than giving into Satan, he used scripture to make Satan turn and run.
Matthew 4:1-11 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
He was tempted, but never sinned.
James 4:7 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The fact of the matter is, none of us are truly ever able to grasp how it is that God and Jesus are one and the same.
Philippians 2:5-7 - Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in
Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
He was given a human form so that he could set an example for the HUMILITY that His people should have for the Father and for each other.
Philippians 2:8-11 - And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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Here's a breakdown of the Trinity:
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the Trinity. They are all of God.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(The Word and God are the same, yes?)
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(The Word became flesh; Jesus, right? So if the Word is God, and the Word became flesh, then Jesus is God)
John 10:27-30 (ESV) - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."
(Jesus says himself that He and the Father are one)
John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(He is the way, the truth and the life, right?)
John 15:26 - “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
(And the Helper is the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of Truth). If Jesus is truth, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, then they are one and the same.)
Philippians 2:8-11 - And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Jesus’ human form what to show the people in what manner they should be humble and obedient)
Hebrews 2:18 - For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
(And he was tempted so that he could help those who are also tempted. This was why he was allowed to be tempted. After all, who are sinners more likely to listen to; someone's who's actually been there and felt the same kinds of temptations, or someone who's never been there?)
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(He was made to be sin who KNEW NO SIN. He didn’t know sin, yet he was given the responsibility and the punishment for the sins of people who repented and believed in Him.)
Colossians 1:15 - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.