Okay. I'm a little baffled but I believe you.
Post 154.
You gotta read it again. I'll sort of break it down for you...
Don't you see that there is no contradiction between the two ideas? There was no "Jesus", per se, prior to Him being conceived in Mary's womb but Jesus wasn't just a human being. The Bible flatly states that He existed, not only before John the Baptist and Abraham but "in the beginning" and that He is the Creator of all things! Who is the Creator other than God Himself?
So here I'm simply saying that the human male, whom we call Jesus, was what was begotten of God approximately 2000 years ago but the bible states as clear as day that He existed before John the Baptist and even Abraham and that He was there "at the beginning" and is the Creator of all things.
The argument there is two fold:
1. There is no contradiction because the "begotten of God" refers to the incarnation; the physical human male we call Jesus and not that which existed before.
2. There is only one Creator. The Bible states plainly that it is was the Creator Himself that become flesh and dwelt among us. If Jesus is the Creator in the flesh then He is God in the flesh.
Not only that, but Jesus calls Himself things like the "Lord of the Sabbath".
No human being could rightly call himself by that title unless, in addition to being human, He was also God.
He took the name of God for Himself,
When He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM.", His audience instantly understood what He was doing. He was taking God's name, which He told Moses at the Burning Bush, for Himself. He was claiming to be God! They wanted to kill Him for it right then and there.
...repeatedly accepted worship from others
Not even angels accept worship from us - only God!
...and repeatedly forgave sins.
Again, only God can forgive sins. A man might could forgive a crime or other offense if it were committed against him personally but sins are offenses committed against God and only God can forgive them.
Not to mention the performance of countless miracles, up to and including raising people from the dead!
This is stated as evidence that Jesus wasn't making false claims. Anyone can make claims of godhood but only one who was telling the truth could raise people from the dead. Miracles are, in a sense, God's calling card. God gives His prophets the ability to do super-natural things as proof that they are acting at His behest. If Jesus hadn't performed such miracles, we'd know that He not only wasn't God but that He wasn't even a good man but rather a liar and a lunatic.
In addition to that, in John chapter 10, He bluntly states that no one was taking His life from Him but that He, by His own power, was laying down His own life and that He, by His own power, would take it up again. (John 10:18)
No one but God has such power over life and death, Jacob. And Jesus doesn't say that the Father has the power to raise Him up again, He says that He will lay down His life and pick it back up by His own power. Here, I'll just quote the verses....
John 10:17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.
I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
So in John 10 we're told that Jesus rises Himself from the dead and then in Romans 10 we're taught to believe that "God raised Him from the dead".
Here, I'm simply drawing a parallel between two passages, both dealing with the resurrection. In the first we have Jesus raising Himself from the dead and in the second we have God raising Jesus from the dead. Both are true because Jesus is God!
There can be no other conclusion! Jesus is either God Himself or the bible is false - period. The bible CLEARLY teaches that Jesus is God. Any denial of this truth means either that you haven't read the bible or that you're openly defying it's clear teaching.
This is just the conclusion. It speaks for itself.
Hope that helps!
Resting in Him,
Clete