JUDGMENT AGAINST JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES (Part 2)
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-On Wednesdays we are contrasting our biblical belief with that of other religions and cults so that we know what we believe doctrinally, defend the faith, and share the faith. I want us to see why biblical Christianity is the truth and more excellent faith.
-Last week I started looking at the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I talked about the fact that their founder twisted Scripture to come up with many false beliefs and began his own publishing house to print his false teachings which he believed (and it continues through current leadership) that these teachings are even more important than the Bible.
-But because the Bible contradicts so many of their doctrines, they created their own translation of the Bible, even though no one on the translation team had any real training in the original languages. But, strangely enough, their translation of the Bible just happens to agree with all of their doctrines, while all the others don’t.
-Tonight, I want to consider a very important subject, and that is what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in the person of Jesus Christ. This is what the devil desires—to keep people from the true Jesus. The devil doesn’t care if you’re religious, the devil doesn’t care if you are moral, but the devil does care if you come to know the true Jesus Christ. So, what he does is use false teachers and false religions to proffer a false Christ—an antichrist (a substitute Christ).
-And the devil really did a number through the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They teach that Jesus is the first being that God created in the universe, and that He is the archangel Michael. And they teach that God then used Michael to bring about all the rest of creation. They teach that Jesus was nailed to a stake instead of a cross (which they believe is a pagan symbol that the church adopted when Satan took control of ecclesiastical authority in the early church). Then they teach that when Jesus died, He became non-existent and when He was raised He was re-created as the spirit creature Michael the archangel again. They do not believe in a physical resurrection.
-So, this obviously reflects their belief about God—they don’t believe in the Trinity. They think the Holy Spirit is an energy or force like that in Star Wars. And the significance of many of these beliefs will be seen when we talk about their views of salvation and the afterlife.
-I made mention earlier and last week about their Bible perversion to match these beliefs. I mentioned last week how in Colossians 1:16, 17 how they added a word so that their version says that THROUGH HIM ALL OTHER THINGS were created, when in actuality it says:
16 For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together.
-The contrast between the two versions couldn’t be more stark than it is. They make a big deal about the preposition “through”—Jesus/Michael was the tool. However, the Bible says elsewhere that everything was made THROUGH God. This would lend credence to our beliefs that Jesus is God.
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
-This is talking about God the Father. But the Bible is very clear that only God creates:
24 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, Yahweh, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,
-If only God creates, that means that Jesus is God.
-Another example of their perversion of Jesus is found in Colossians 2:9. Their version says that the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily. However, what it really says:
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily,
-Greek scholars over the years have pointed out that this phrase “fullness of Deity” means the totality of the divine powers and attributes; it means the state of being God; that Jesus was, and is, absolute and perfect God. So, their version of things does not add up. Another example of their perversion comes in the Gospel of John. Right from the start they say that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was A god. A small g god. That Jesus was a divine being of some sorts, but was not the One and Only True God. However, the Greek construction just does not hold water. It is
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
-John actually attests to this truth throughout his gospel. And this belief actually goes against the rest of Scripture, because it makes abundantly clear that there is no other god besides the true God. As He told the Israelites:
39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me...
-But they try to argue that Jesus is inferior to the Father, so He cannot be equal to the Father in nature and being. Again, they twist Scripture to get there. But what they fail to distinguish is the two natures of Jesus—His human nature and divine nature. In Jesus the two natures come together in one person, and yet they lose none of what makes those natures distinct. So, to try to explain this difficult subject, the Athanasian Creed state:
Christ is “equal to the Father as touching his Godhood and inferior to the Father as touching his manhood.”
-Jesus willingly in His humanity placed Himself under the authority and leadership of the Father, but that in no way takes away who He is in His divinity. Even when human, Christ is still equal with the Father in nature and character and attributes. Yes, according to Philippians 2 Christ willingly shrouded His divinity in His humanity, and willingly limited Himself within His humanity, but He lost nothing of His divinity in the process. And, yet again, the Jehovah’s Witnesses misrepresent what Scripture says. But, if we have some understanding of what certain verses and phrases mean within Scripture, we would be able to show them the truth.
-For example, they look at Revelation 3:14. Their version has Jesus describing Himself as the beginning of the creation by God. Our versions say something to the effect:
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: This is what the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says:
-They look at that verse and say: see, right there—Jesus is the beginning of God’s creation. They interpret it to mean that Jesus is the first being to be created. But that is not what is meant by the word. The word that is used has the connotation of the one who begins, origin, source, first cause. But what is interesting is that word can also mean ruler.
-I’ve noticed how John in his writings sometimes uses a double entendre—he uses a word that has a double meaning, and both fit. For example, we know that in John 3 Jesus says you must be born again. Well, the word can also mean “from above.” So, if Jesus saying you must be born again or from above? And the answer is yes—you must be born again spiritually, and this new birth comes from above.
-Well, here in the Revelation passage, Jesus probably means both definitions. He is the origin of creation as He is God and created all things, and on top of that He is the ruler of all of creation. One thing that it does not mean is that Jesus is a mere creature rather than the eternal Creator.
-Another verse that they try to use in their argument that Jesus is inferior to the Father is:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
-You notice how rich in theology Colossians is as Paul describes in so many ways the deity of Christ. But this verse says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. So, for the Jehovah’s Witnesses that take that to mean that Jesus was the first being created—He is the first, everything else came second and third, etc. But when you take into consideration the Jewish meaning of the concept along with the meaning of the Greek word that is used here. According to one author, the Jewish concept of firstborn referred to the son in the family who was in the preeminent position regardless of whether or not he was literally the first son to be born.
-We see this within Scripture. For example, David was the youngest son of Jesse, and yet God made him king, and God says of him in:
27 “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.
-It has to do with David’s high position, not of his order of birth. Or think about the story of Abraham. Ishmael was literally born first, and yet Isaac is given the status of firstborn. Or then move on to the next generation: Esau was literally born first, but Jacob is given the position of first born. And then, on top of all this, the Greek word used for firstborn means first in rank, preeminent.
-Or the Jehovah’s Witnesses point to a verse like:
28 “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
-They jump on that and say that Jesus cannot be God is the Father is greater. However, Jesus is not talking about His nature or being, or divine character and attributes within His divine nature. However, He is referring to His lowly position of taking on humanity. Christ humbled Himself to become human, and in His humanity He lived like a humble servant of the Father. But as one author noted, just because He said that God was greater did not mean that God was better. Jesus never became inferior to the Father, but as a humble human He submitted Himself to the Father.
-There are so many other arguments that we can deal with, that we might not have time to do tonight. But they say that Jesus doesn’t receive worship like God, but is only given obeisance. However, the New Testament writers recorded for us times when Jesus was worshipped, using the same wording as is used for the worship of God. And they also must take into consideration the times in the Bible when someone tries to worship an angel and the angel immediately stops them and tells them to worship God. Well, the JWs believe that Jesus is Michael the archangel, and yet He does not do that.
-Or consider that when Thomas sees the resurrected Christ, he makes the open declaration:
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
-If Jesus is less than we say He is—fully God and fully man—this has implications on our view of God, our view of salvation, our view of heaven, and our view about ourselves. Everything changes is Jesus is less than who the Bible says He is. That is why Satan attacks that so much.
-And it is important for us to have this foundation of our belief in Jesus, because Jehovah’s Witnesses are great at persuading those without that solid footing into a state of theological confusion. They thrive at trying to muddy the waters to lead people to their false teachings. As one author noted:
The Watchtower leadership sensed that within the midst of Christendom were millions of professing Christians who were not well grounded in “the truth once delivered to the saints,” and who would rather easily be pried loose from the churches and led into a new and revitalized Watchtower organization. The Society calculated, and that rightly, that this lack of proper knowledge of God and the widespread acceptance of half-truths in Christendom would yield vast masses of men and women...
-And that is why we emphasize discipleship—so we are not deceived. So, today, we want to pray that Christians will not fall into the traps of false teachings, but know God, Jesus, and the Word well enough to discern truth from error...
