 Okay, we'll come back everyone to our second lecture today on interpreting scripture. So we have just gone through this chapter on application, on applying the Word of God. And that brings us to the last chapter in this course, which is difficult topics and passages. So what we want to do in this last chapter is take all that we have discussed about guidelines on interpreting scripture. And we want to apply it to different topics and passages. I'm not saying we will cover everything, we will do our best to cover as many difficult topics. For example, should women, are women allowed to minister the Word of God? And then we will take those passages in Timothy and Corinthians, Paul's episode to Timothy and to the Corinthians and try to explain that. And like that there are other topics and passages that might be of interest and sometimes difficult to explain. So we will deal with that. And the objective is to apply these guidelines to passages in the Bible and also topics. So I want to begin with first two topics, which are very basic or very fundamental, but yet they are also very important. So the first question is, is Jesus God? And this question is important. Let me explain why this question is important because this is Jesus God. So we want to explain that because in the New Testament we have the phrase, the Son of God. Son of God used many times with reference to Jesus. And then Jesus calls God Father and the Bible talks about the head of Christ is God. This is first Corinthians chapter 11, the head of Christ is God. So there are people who will argue against this, oh Jesus is not God. There will be people who, so example now, in the second year course we will have Christian apologetics. We will talk about some of these issues and we will talk about how to share our faith with people of other faith. And so for example, the Muslims, they will say, how can Jesus be Son of God and God? How can God have a son? You're saying Jesus is Son of God. How can Jesus be Son of God and God? It's a valid question. And then there are the Jehovah's Witnesses who will say that Jesus is a created being. Their argument is Jesus was created, he's not God. So like that, so they will say, where in the New Testament does it say Jesus is God? Or did Jesus himself say he was God? Did Jesus claim that he was God? You're only saying he's God, but did Jesus claim he was God? So these are all questions people will ask and sometimes it is very confusing. So we are starting with a very basic question, very fundamental, but people ask this question. So how do we understand this? How do we understand this? Because it is true that in the New Testament, there are many titles for Jesus, right? He's called Son of God, Son of Man. He's called the only begotten of the Father. He's called the first begotten from the dead. Now if somebody is begotten, then how can he begot? Because that means he had a beginning. So these titles and these things make people challenge. So how can you say Jesus is God? So we will break this discussion into two parts. First is, did Jesus himself say that he is God? Second, does the Bible, does the scripture refer to Jesus as God? And if we can show both of these as true, then we can say with full confidence, hey, Jesus is God. And then that leads us to the next topic, which is then what does it mean? And the Bible says, Bible refers to Jesus as the Son of God, Son of Man, only begotten of the Father, first begotten from the dead. What do those titles mean? Okay, so that will be our next topic to understand. But let us try to discuss the first one. Is Jesus God? To break it down, we have broken into two parts. First is, did Jesus himself say that he is God? Second, do the scriptures say anywhere else that Jesus is God? So I want to open up this discussion to people, to all of us in the class. Just share your thoughts and then we will put it all together. So feel free, you can unmute your mic or if you want to type it in the chat, you can. So we are answering this first question, is Jesus God? And part one is, did Jesus claim to be God? Anybody just feel free to share. First in the book of John chapter 8, Jesus answers to the questions. He says, I declare I am before Abraham came to me. There is one scripture which we can use. And also, I think in John chapter 10, Jesus also says, I and Father are one. These two scriptures I can think of now. That's right. So very good. So to answer that first part of the question, did Jesus say he was God? Two good references. First of all, in John 8.58, Jesus is speaking to the Jews. And he says, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. Wait a minute. Jesus is saying, before Abraham was, I am. So he's not only saying, you know, he's only going back in time, but he's using the divine title. I am. I am is a title that only God would use. It's a title for God. I am that I am. In Exodus 3, when God revealed himself to Moses, Moses says, God, what is your name? And God tells Moses, I am that I am. Go and tell the people, I am sent me to you. So Jesus is using the title that God used for himself. No more questions. He says, before Abraham was, I am. First one. Then in John chapter 10 and verse 30. And if you read the whole context there, you know, Jesus said, John 10 30, he said, I and my father are one. I and my father are one. And when, how did they understand it? You see, one of the things we learned in our interpreting scripture is context. So when somebody says, you know, where Jesus said, I and my father are one. Well, they will say, Well, you know, Jesus didn't mean that he was equal with the father. He just meant he is, you know, in walking in alignment to the father. That's how some people argue with John 10 and verse 30. Well, it is true in one sense that Jesus walked in perfect alignment with the father. But if we want to correctly understand John 10 verse 30, we should look at the context. The context is the audience. So when Jesus said, I and my father are one. How did the audience understand it? Well, it is simple. Just two verses down in verse 33. It tells us how the Jews understood that statement. How do they understand it? It says verse 33 of John 10. They say, you are blaspheming because you are making yourself God. You are making yourself God. So what does John 10 30 mean? Well, you should understand it in its context. What did it mean to the people? Well, very simple verse 33. It meant when Jesus said, I and my father are one. It meant he made himself equal with God. And that's why they killed him or they said he's blaspheming and they wanted to kill him. So when Jesus said, I and my father are one. Of course, he meant he's in full agreement with the father. But he also meant he claimed equality with the father. And then there's one more passage that we can refer to, which is in John 17 verse 5 and John 17 verse 5. Let me, yeah. So what did Jesus say in John 17 verse 5? In John 17 verse 5, Jesus is praying to the father. And he's saying father, so Jesus, in John 17, Jesus is on the earth. He's praying to the father. So he is, Jesus is in human form, in his humanity on the earth. He's praying to the father. What's he praying? John 17 verse 5, he says, Father, glorify me together with yourself. With the glory which I had with you before the world was. So this is not a small request he's making. He's saying, John 17 verse 5, glorify me with yourself. That word with yourself. It just means alongside yourself. It's claiming equality. John 17 verse 5, Father, glorify me with yourself alongside yourself. Next to you, next to yourself. Inequality with you. Glorify me with yourself. With the glory which I had with you alongside you. That means the same kind of glory, same level of glory. With the glory which I had with you before the world was. Meaning Jesus was with the father, equal with the father. Same glory as the father before time. So we've got three scriptures. Where Jesus is saying, where Jesus is saying. That what he's indicating from his own mouth is indicating he is God. And one last point, one last addition to this is. Jesus used the phrase, son of man, son of man many times for himself. First John chapter 5 verse, John chapter 1 verse 51 example. That you will find it many times. But Jesus used the phrase, son of man. He used that title, not the phrase, sorry. He used the title, son of man many times for himself. What did this title mean to his audience? So he's speaking to the Jews. What did this title son of man mean to the audience? To the audience, to his audience. The title son of man is taken from Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7, right? So in Daniel chapter 7, Daniel has a vision. In verse 9, he sees the ancient of days. That means that's that's got the father. He sees Daniel 7 verse 9. He sees the ancient of days. And then in verse 13, he says, one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the ancient of days. Verse 14, Daniel 7, 14. And to him was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that all people's nations languages would serve. And his dominion was an everlasting dominus kingdom as a kingdom which will not be destroyed. So whenever Jesus said, hereafter you will see the son of man coming in the clouds of glory. He was quoting Daniel chapter 7, 13 and 14 for himself. Who was the son of man? He was the one Daniel saw in the vision with the ancient of days. He was the one to whom all dominion belongs. So imagine Jesus is standing in Jerusalem or wherever. He's telling the crowd, I am the son of man. You will see me come in the clouds of glory. You are the one Daniel, you know, this was Daniel was more than 500 years before Jesus. And Daniel had a vision. And the Jews knew they all knew the book of Daniel because it was read to them in the synagogue. Daniel 500 years before had a vision, the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7, 13 and 14. And Jesus is referring to himself as the son of man. So we have four scripture references from the mouths of Jesus. And Jesus used the phrase son of man many times to himself, to refer to himself. I'm just giving one example, John 151. But he used it many times, son of man. Even, you know, in Matthew 24, when he talks about the end times, he refers to himself as the son of man. When his disciples ask him, you know, when are you going to come? And he uses the same title, son of man for himself. Again, Matthew 24. So many times he uses the title for himself, but it's a very special title. It's the one who was with the ancient of days whom Daniel saw, to whom all authority belongs. So if somebody asks the question, did Jesus claim to be God? The answer based on these texts, you can say, yeah, he used God's title. He said, I am before Abraham was I am second. He said he's one with the father, which not only meant in union, in unison with the father, but equality with the father. John 1030, because verse 33 says, he made himself God. John 17. He talks about sharing the same glory as the father. And in many places, whenever he uses the title son of man, he's referring to the person of the Godhead whom Daniel saw in Daniel chapter 7, 13 and 14. So very clear. Jesus did claim to be God. He claimed to be equal with the father. Then, so that is the first part. Very solid, very solid. We're not giving just one scripture. There are many scriptures from the mouth of Jesus. Now you can add to this list every time Jesus called himself son of man. You can add it because then you see the context. He's referring to saying, I am this person whom Daniel saw. So that's the Jesus claim to be God. Second, do the scriptures, Old Testament and New Testament, claim Jesus to be God? What are some scriptures you can think of? Old Testament and New Testament that say that Jesus is God. Anyone? Feel free to share. Do the scriptures say that Jesus is God? Okay. Go ahead Zalitule or John Paul. I think in Psalms 110, the Lord spoke to my Lord. I can't remember the exact reference. Psalm 110, yes. I think it refers to Jesus as Lord. Yes, yes. And Jesus quoted that. The Lord Jesus himself quoted that. Yeah, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies, your footstool. Yeah. Okay. Good. Any other scriptures in the Old Testament where Jesus is referred to as God? He says, garment shall be under upon his shoulders. Yes. Isaiah 96. He is called the mighty God. So Isaiah 96. Sorry, I made a little typo there. Isaiah chapter nine verse six, you know, it says unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government will be on his shoulder. His name will be called. What wonderful counselor, mighty God. Think about this. As you're saying, somebody is going to be born, but his name will be mighty God. Somebody is born, a human is born. A baby is born, but this baby is mighty God, everlasting father. Co-equal with the father. So think about it. Isaiah 96 is very clear. He is mighty God, everlasting father. You can also think about Micah chapter five and verse two. So in Micah chapter five verse two, Micah is prophesying about Jesus. He says, Micah, let me type it. Let's see a hatch five. When Micah chapter five verse two, Micah is prophesying about Jesus. He's saying, you know, from you, Bethlehem, though you are little among thousands of Judah, out of you will come forth to me the one who's to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old from everlasting. So Micah is prophesying, out of Bethlehem will come the one who's to be ruler in Israel. And Jesus came forth from Bethlehem. So it's talking about Jesus. And he says, what about this person? His goings forth are from old from eternity. So this one was coming from Bethlehem. His beginning is not when he was born in Bethlehem. He has been there from eternity, from everlasting. So amazing prophecy. Micah's making it very clear. This one was coming from Bethlehem, who's going to be ruler. He's from everlasting. He's from eternity. He has no beginning. So now, of course, in the New Testament, it is very clear there are many scriptures where it clearly shows Jesus is God. New Testament. What are some of the scriptures? Somebody could share. John 1, 1, 2, 3, correct. That's good. Anything else? I'm also looking some of these scriptures. What else? So we know John 1, 1, 2, 3. In the beginning was a word. The word was with God. And the word was God. No questions. Very clear. The word was God. And then verse 14, the word became flesh. So this eternal word became flesh. That is Jesus. So scripture is very clear. Any others? Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 and 17. Colossians 1, yes, correct. It says, by him all things were created. He is before all things. And in him, all things consist. Good. Anything else? What are the scriptures? Yeah. We will add to this Romans chapter 9 and verse 5. Romans 9 verse 5 where Paul refers to Jesus as the eternally blessed God. Then we'll also add to this 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 where Paul refers to Jesus as, he says, God was manifested in the flesh. We can also add Philippians chapter 2 verse 9. Though he was God, Philippians, no, sorry, not verse 9. Verse 6, Philippians 2 verse 6. Though he was in the form of God or he was in God form, he was in substance, very God, right? So we can add all of these scriptures. And there are some more where Christ is referred to as God in the New Testament, right? So we have answered both these parts in the affirmative. Christ himself spoke of himself as in terms of deity. We've given scriptures on that. Second, Old Testament and New Testament point to Christ as God. Scriptures on that. So very clear. Is Jesus God? Yes. On both sides, on both counts, we cannot, you know, or let's say, let me put it in a positive way. On both sides, we have scriptures to prove it. So when people say, oh, Jesus didn't say he's God, no, Jesus called himself a God, you know. So it is very clear. But that this leads us to the next question. So why or what does the Bible mean when it uses these titles? Son of God, begotten of the Father. And for God so loved the world that he gave us only begotten son. So the moment we say begotten son, people get confused. What does it mean? How can you say God had a son, especially the Muslims, they will use this to argue with us. How can you say God had a son? What does that mean? What does the incarnation mean? So is the begotten son different from the Jesus who was God, who is eternal? You know, what is the difference between if Jesus claimed to be God, then what is the Son of God? So, especially the word begotten, right? In John 1.14, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father. People are very confused. What is the meaning of that? For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son. Then not only is the word used in connection with Christ's birth, but it is also used in connection with his resurrection, right? That means when it talks about Christ's resurrection, it says he is the first born or first begotten from the dead, right? So this would be in the notes so you can look at it, all the references. But then the question is, what does this mean? You know, he is the only begotten of the Father, that's his birth. In his resurrection, it says he is the first begotten of the dead. He is the first born from the dead. So these terms, when used for Jesus, becomes very confusing. How can we say, how do we understand somebody who's begotten, both in his incarnation and in his resurrection? And yet we are saying he is God. How do you understand both? Because in our minds or in our language, English language, when we say something is begotten, it means it had a starting point. If somebody is born, it means that's his birthday. That's when he started living or he came into being. So we have said that Jesus is God. We have shown it from the Scriptures, which means he is eternal. He has no beginning, no ending. That is God. God is always eternal. God never had a beginning. So we have shown Jesus as God. But the Scripture is also using these other terms, begotten, to talk about Jesus, the same Jesus. We are saying he is God, but we are also saying he is begotten. And in our minds, and especially in the minds of people who don't know the Bible, we will of course explain this, but I'm just saying it for the common person. When they hear the word begotten or born or first born, in their minds, it means there is a beginning. That's his birthday. He was born that day. So how can somebody who is God be begotten? What is the meaning? How should we correctly understand that? So that brings us to the second topic, which is the incarnation. How do we understand the incarnation? And how do we understand such terms as begotten, first born, first begotten, and son of God? They all connected, right? How do we understand those terms? So that's our second topic. I want to just open it up to the class for you to share your thoughts, and then we will discuss it. So what do you think we have said? Jesus is God. If Jesus is God, how can he also be son of God? How can he be begotten of the Father? How can he be first born? Yeah, so literally, go ahead, share your thoughts with anyone else. You've typed in the chat, so go ahead. Anyone can share. According to our understanding, as written in Philippians 2, 6 to 8, like Christ came in the form of God. He was equal with God, but he did not consider himself to be equal with God. So he met himself of no reputation, and he came in our likeness, in the form of human. Go ahead. Yeah, that's my understanding. So that's correct, that's correct. So the terms only begotten, begotten, son of God has to be understood in the context of his humanity. That means in the context of him becoming a human. So that's correct. Philippians 2, you know, this passage, verse 6 to 8, when the eternal God, so Jesus was also eternally God, the eternal Word, who was fully God, when he emptied himself. Yeah, so this is Philippians 2 and verse 7, he made himself of no reputation, that word in the Greek, he emptied himself and he took the form of a slave. So that taking, and became in the likeness of men, that taking the form of a man, that is where begotten, only begotten, son of God, becomes into effect. So this eternal God, he chose to come as a man, chose to leave aside the glory that he had with the Father, the glory of the deity. So he didn't stop being deity, he was always deity, but he laid aside the glory of the deity, that means he laid aside his omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence, he laid that aside, because flesh and blood, the natural humanity could not contain the glory of the deity. So in order to wrap deity in humanity, he had to lay aside the glory of the deity, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, and he came as a man. So he chose to become a human and walk in submission to the Father, as a son would be to the Father. So in that context, we understand son of God, we understand first born, so it has to do with the process where the one who was eternally God laid aside the powers of deity, laid aside the glory of deity and became in the likeness of man, he became a man. So he was still deity in the sense this was the eternal word, but he chose to submit himself to the Father as a son. So that process is what we refer to as begotten of the Father because he came forth from the Father and that's why he is called the son of God because he willingly walked as a son in submission to the Father. He did not make him any less deity, always did. It's just that in the incarnation he chose to walk like a man in submission to the Father, God the Father. Now the term begotten is very clear. He came forth from the Father into taking on human form in the likeness of man, that's Philippians 2 and verse 7. The son of God, the term, the son of God makes clear, makes complete sense because he walked in submission to God the Father and when he died and he rose, he was the first of those who were invoking in submission to the Father as a son of God to be raised. So first born from the dead, first begotten from the dead. But then what happened after that? His humanity changed to deity. That means he no longer had the flesh and blood body after his resurrection. He had a glorified body. He had a different body than flesh and blood. Jesus referred to that as a flesh and bone body. It's different material. And that glorified body could contain all of deity. So in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That body is not a flesh and blood body like you and I have. It is a spirit, a body of a different material. And in that glorified body, all of deity, the glory of the deity is now held. So that is, he's a glorified Jesus Christ. Now the term son of God, Lamb of God, begotten, still applies to him because yeah, that's who he was. But today he is God. So everything is very clear. There is no confusion. So the terms begotten of the father, only begotten of the father, son of God, first born from the dead, first begotten from the dead. Everything makes sense. There is no contradiction. It's very clear. Any questions? Everybody, did we understand these two topics? First topic was, is Jesus God, the deity of Christ? Second topic, the incarnation of Christ. What do these terms mean? Son of God, begotten. Any questions? I know we have only two minutes, but any questions on this? Is it clear? Would you be able to explain it to somebody else? Then if you can do it, that means you are very clear. Okay. I am assuming everybody's clear because there are no questions. But if you have questions, we can pick it up next week. So next week, we'll look at some more topics and passages that are a little difficult and we will spend some time discussing those. Okay. Could somebody please close in prayer? We have one minute left and we will go for a break. Anybody can close in prayer, please. Thank you for this time. You have given us to come before your presence and to learn from your world. Thank you for all the insights that we learned today, God. Lord, we pray that we would be able to answer to people who have doubts regarding the scriptures and help us to interpret scripture correctly as we've been learning, oh God, and as you have written, as your spirit have written the scriptures, Lord, we pray that we would be able to walk in alignment with the spirit and help us to understand the meaning of every scripture in your sense, oh God. Thank you. Thank you for enabling us to share the thoughts with us. We thank you for the entire class. We submit ourselves once again in your presence in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Thank you, everyone. Enjoy your break and your next class. I'll see you all again. God bless. Bye now. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. God bless you. Bye now. Bye now. God bless. Bye.