Jesus, God or Angel

by Ray Kennedy

Because Jesus could control storms, heal sicknesses and raise the dead, people wondered if He was a prophet, an angel or, in fact, God.

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society states in their book, "Aid to Bible Understanding," on page 1152 that there is "scriptural evidence that the name Michael applied to God's Son before He left heaven to become Jesus Christ and also after His return to heaven." The Scripture used to support this idea is Daniel 10:21 which says, "There is none that holdeth with me,...but Michael your prince." The word "prince" means a pioneer or leader. Michael is an archangel or leader of the angels, but that is all he is. However, Jesus is the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15). He creates and sustains life, something no angel can do. To assume that Jesus is the prince referred to in Daniel 10 is an incorrect conclusion.

The Scriptures in Daniel 8:22-23 and chapter 11 refer to kings on earth and not to Michael. In Revelation 12:7 Michael and his angels fight against the dragon. This verse gives no reference to Jesus. However, with the defeat of Satan, God's kingdom is set up (Revelation 12:10). Michael and the angels are the servants of Christ who is God the Son. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16 three sounds are listed: Jesus descending with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. It does not say Jesus is the archangel. However, the Watch-tower Society teaches that Jesus is Michael.

The following facts make it impossible to accept that Jesus is an angel:

1. Jesus Christ forgives sins - Mark 2:5, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." Mark 2:7, "Who can forgive sins but God only?" In forgiving sins Jesus either was blaspheming God (The Father) or He actually was God (The Son) who alone could forgive sins. This right or privilege was not given to angels!

2. Jesus Christ received worship due only to the LORD God. In Luke 4:8 Jesus said, "Get thee behind Me, Satan...Thou shalt worship the LORD [Yahweh] thy God." John 20:28, "And Thomas...said unto Him, 'My Lord and my God.'" Thomas told the truth for Jesus is both Lord and God. The blind man in John 9:38 said, "Lord, I believe," and worshipped Jesus. When Jesus accepted worship He was saying to the world, "I am Yahweh God." - the Eternal, Self-existent God. John 17 further assumes His deity.

In verse 1 He calls God, "Father," and refers to Himself as "Thy Son." Note that a human son partakes of the nature of his father! In verse 5 He refers to the glory He had with the Father before the world existed.

On the other hand angels refuse to accept worship from man. Revelation 9:10 reads, "And I [John] fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, 'See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant.'" Christ is not Michael because the Lord Jesus Christ received worship which the angels refused!

3. Jesus Christ is referred to as God by the Father. Hebrews 1:8 states, "But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." In verse six the Father says, "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Psalm 110:1 says, "The LORD (Yahweh) said unto my Lord, 'Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.'" In Matthew 22:41-46, Mark 12:35-36; and in Luke 20:41-44 Jesus reminded the scribes and the Pharisees that David wrote this under the Holy Spirit's direction. Both the Father and the Son make it clear that Jesus is God!

4. Jesus Christ has creative power. Only God can bring something into being from nothing. Colossians 1:16 states "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth." John 1:3 says, "All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made." Compare this verse with John 1:14 and notice that this Creator-God was the Word made flesh, the incarnate God! Jesus proved His creative ability by healing the sick, raising the dead, and feeding the five thousand (See John 6:11).

5. Jesus Christ possessed the attributes of His Father.
(A) He is eternal. "Whose goings forth have been... from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). See John 8:58.
(B) He is omnipresent. Jesus revealed the future in Matthew 24. He saw Nathanael under the fig tree before Philip visited him (John 1:4).
(C) He is also omnipotent. Matthew 28:18, "All power (authority) is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." None of these attributes have ever been ascribed to an angel!

At Jesus' trial Pilate said, "I find no fault in Him" (John 19:6). But the priests said, "By our law He ought to die; because He made Himself the Son of God." When the angels announced Jesus' birth they called Him "Emmanuel." The Greek text says "The God with us" (Matthew 1:23). On the mount of transfiguration in Luke 9:35, God the Father said, "This is My beloved Son: hear Him!" In John 10:30 Jesus said, " I and My Father are one."

Nowhere in Scripture is Jesus called an angel. If Jesus would have said He was an angel the Pharisees would not have crucified Him. In John 10:33 the Jews said, "For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God." The scribes and the Pharisees could accept Jesus as a man, a prophet, or an angel, but not as God. They could not accept the incarnation - God becoming flesh!

They would not accept the angels who said He was God, nor that both Jesus and the Father stated that He was God the Son. Because of their blindness they fought against these testimonies of Christ and soon became adamant opponents of the Messiah. They were so opposed to His deity that they became anti-christ.

How did Jesus feel about these religious leaders? In Matthew 23 He refers to them as fools and blind guides and pronounces seven woes on them. In verse 13 He says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men."

To present a Jesus that is not onmipotent and omniscient, one that cannot receive worship, cannot create, or cannot forgive sins is to proclaim another Jesus than what the Bible declares, and thus destroys man's only hope of salvation. 1 John 4:3 says, "And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." In order to be saved we must believe that Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh, is God.

Then, according to John 1:12 and Revelation 3:20, we must personally receive through prayer, as Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who died to pay the price for our sins. God the Father then will forgive us and we will become His children. The Christian, then will serve Him, not to earn salvation, but because he has accepted salvation as a free gift (See Romans 6:23). He will have a desire to be sanctified (set apart to God). He will find prayer natural and will love the Bible and those who are part of the family of God.

Following is a prayer that will help you to invite the Lord Jesus Christ into your life.

"Lord Jesus, I now repent of my sins and invite You into my life. I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I trust in You to be my Saviour. I thank You for dying on the cross in my place. Thank You for saving me, forgiving me, cleansing me from all of my sins, and for filling me with Your Holy Spirit. I commit myself to Your lordship and renounce any ground that I may have given Satan in the past. I praise You Lord Jesus as the eternal Son of God! Amen."