Kaliwanagan Kay Kristo: Jesus is Only a Man, He Came From God || John Pesebre

Listen to 702 DZAS Kaliwanagan Kay Kristo (a segment of Tanglaw sa Landas ng Buhay of Back to the Bible Philippiness) every Tuesday and Thursday 7:00PM. For online radio click here. 

Ang claim na tutugunan natin  ngayon ay ang claim na “Jesus is merely a man.” Isa siyang polemic against the orthodox claim ng hypostatic union na doon sa person of Christ ay ang divine at human nature. Yun ang constitution ng nature ng incarnate Christ according to the orthodox view which is best expressed sa Creed ng Chalcedon that states,

• ipahayag ang isa at Siyang Anak, ang ating Panginoong Jesu-Cristo, na Siyang ganap sa Pagka-Diyos at ganap din sa pagiging tao; tunay na Diyos at tunay na tao, na may kaluluwang may pag-iisip at katawan; kaisang-kalikasan ng Ama ayon sa Pagka-Diyos, at kaisang-sangkap natin ayon sa pagiging tao; katulad natin sa lahat ng bagay, walang pagkakasala

Ang support po sa anti-orthodox claim na Jesus was only a man,  and not God, is sa kadahilanang si Kristo ay nagmula sa Diyos ayon na rin sa kay Kristo sa John 8:42

• Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

subalit kung totoong galing si Hesus sa Diyos at ang Diyos ay sinasabi na walang simula ayon sa Psalm 90:2

• Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

samakatuwid baga'y hindi Diyos si Kristo.

Bukod sa laman ito ng argument ni Arius when he said, “He who is without beginning made the Son a beginning of created things He produced him as a son for himself by begetting him” itinutuloy din ito ng Iglesia ni Kristo ngayon. You can check a more recent discussion sa video titled “The Pre-Existence of Jesus is Unbiblical.”

Ang counter-claim naman ng mga born-again believers diyan ay ganito: Ang John 8:42 does not teach that Jesus had no pre-existence as the Son of God.

Jesus was merely stating the mandate of his mission as coming from the Father because the Jews were claiming they were from God and Jesus was not. Jesus then refuted their confidence. Jesus question how come they are from God when they couldn't recognize Him as coming from God.

What I am saying is that it will be a stretch to say that just because Jesus said He came from the Father, eh hindi na siya Diyos. Ang sa tingin ko kasing pinanggagalingan dito ng INC is that they have already assumed unitarianism. "Unitarianism is historically a Christian theological movement named for its belief that God is one entity, as opposed to the Trinity which defines God as three persons in one being; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." They assumed that because God is one being without three persons, then God sending somebody anywhere means that that someone is not God but from God.

However, ang Trinitarian belief kasi hindi ganon. The divine person of the Father is distinct from the divine person of the Trinity and that is why the Father can send the Son. No issue there. It's just like saying an organization's co-president sends co-president to give an important document to the president of another company. So the question is, "Is co-president is now demoted to a messenger and from now on will only receive the salary of a messenger?" Hindi naman di ba? kapag unitarian ka kasi tulad ng INC, hindi mo na kailangan ang verse na ito to prove your unitarianism kasi nga naka assume na yan sa kanila. Bago pa man magsimula, walang Trinity kaya hindi na kailangan ang verse na ito to prove that. Anything that will proceed sa proposal ng unitarian assumes unitarian sa lahat ng data.

Ngayon once we have settled the issue of the INC assumption that always begins with unitarianism and that this verse just perpetuates their unitarianism imposed upon the text, we can then use this verse to affirm our commitment sa full humanity ni Jesus sa hypostatic union kasi nga John 8:42 supports the idea of the full humanity of Jesus in the hypostatic union. Ang isa pa, and quite ironically, the INC argument will help us provide proof that this verse proves Jesus' humanity.

One thing we can add though is this: this verse does nothing to refute the orthodox Trinitarian argument on the hypostatic union kasi within the person of Christ there rest the natures of the divine and human.

We affirm the humanity in the nature of Christ and also His divine nature --

• The New Testament, in hundreds of explicit verses that call Jesus “God” and “Lord” and use a number of other titles of deity to refer to him, and in many passages that attribute actions or words to him that could only be true of God himself, affirms again and again the full, absolute deity of Jesus Christ. “In him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19), and “in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9).*

Ang hypostatic union merely states that both the divine and human nature reside within the person of Christ. How Jesus navigates through this glorious nature, Siya ang may alam. Pero kung sasabihin natin na “out of this world” ang nature na ‘yan, sa totoo lang and technically out of this world naman talaga ang kaalaman ng Panginoong Diyos kasi before the World was, He was already existing eternally. If you say no comparison sa anything natural, well wala din namang comparison sa natural world yung mag create ang Diyos ng universe out of nothing -- moreover, walang comparison din sa nature ang Diyos kasi siya ay buhay subalit wala Siyang katawan, at nang magkatawang tao Siya, minarapat Niya na out of this world din ang kalikasan ng Kanyang bugtong na anak para maipakita din sa atin na ang ating kaligtasan ay out of this world.

Nais ko lang banggitin na ang pre-existence ni Kristo as the Son of God means, “he existed before he came to earth. The Bible speaks of Jesus being at the side of the Father. His position was of one who was preeminent over all creation.” Marami na rin akong karanasan sa pagtugon sa mga INC. Ang isa ay etong tugon lalo na sa mga INC na naglalagay ng mataas na premium sa explicit testimony ng Scripture, natutunan ko kay Pastor Doy Castillo. Ask them to show where Jesus said he did not have pre-existence or Jesus prohibited people from teaching that He had pre-existence. Another one is to ask them when did Jesus become rich as stated in 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Kung sasabihin nila na mayaman ang kabuhayan ni Kristo, kailangang ipakita nila sa Scripture na totoo yon. Kasi kung totoo yan, then yung “so that you through his poverty might become rich” may nangyaring redistribution ng wealth at dapat sobrang yaman talaga ni Kristo para tayo ngayon ay maging mayaman sa redistribution na yan.

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*  Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 529.

Sandburg's Fog || John Pesebre

"The fog comes
on little cat feet."

It touches your face
With its downy paw --
A tiny cool to your soul
Like the face of a sleeping child;
Then it moves on.

Kaliwanagan Kay Kristo: Jesus Is Not God, He Called God as God (Aug 1 2017) || John Pesebre

For the next five episodes we will talk about support sa claim na “Si Jesus ay tao lamang.” This was brought about because of my conversation sa isang mini-mentor ko na si Lester.

Para po sa ating kaalaman, ito po ang opisyal na posisyon ng Iglesia ni Kristo patungkol kay Jesu Cristo --

• Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Iglesia ni Cristo believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. God made Him Lord and Savior. He is the only Mediator of man to God. Jesus Christ is holy and a very special man but not God. (Matt. 3:17; Acts 2:36; 5:31; I Tim. 2:5; John 10:36; 8:40; Acts 2:22, Easy-to-Read Version).

Sa episode po na ito ang tatalakayin natin ay ang support na “dahil tinawag ni Kristo na Diyos and Diyos.” Ang weight ng argument na ito rests on passages on God’s claim na there is no other God but Him alone in passages such as Deuteronomy 4:35, 38, Deuteronomy 6:4, 2 Samuel 7:22 at marami pang iba. Sa madaling salita, bakit magki claim ang mga believers na tulad natin na si Kristo ay Diyos samantalang si Kristo mismo dini-diyos nya ang Diyos na nagsabi na iisa lamang ang Diyos?

Nung early church pa po may mga views na ganito, tulad ng pinaka-kilalang si Arius. Sa kanyang sinulat pinamagatang Thalia, ang 3rd century presbyter na si Arius said,

• He who is without beginning made the Son a beginning of created things He produced him as a son for himself by begetting him. He [the son] has none of the distinct characteristics of God’s own being (kat’ hypostasis) For he is not equal to, nor is he of the same being (homoousios) as him.

The person of Jesus was not only a man but also God incarnate at walang problema ang katotohanang pagtawag ni Kristo ng Diyos sa Diyos.

We must understand the the orthodox belief ng Christianity dito. When we talk of the person of Christ we are not using “person” there as a human person but as a person where the divine and the human have a union, sa history po ng simbahan ang tawag dito ay “hypostatic union.” Tayo ang ating nature natin ay uniquely human, kay Kristo nasa person niya ang divine at human. This is best expressed in sa Chalcedonian Creed nung na nakasalin na po sa Tagalog dito. Ang sabi ay,

• ipahayag ang isa at Siyang Anak, ang ating Panginoong Jesu-Cristo, na Siyang ganap sa Pagka-Diyos at ganap din sa pagiging tao; tunay na Diyos at tunay na tao, na may kaluluwang may pag-iisip at katawan; kaisang-kalikasan ng Ama ayon sa Pagka-Diyos, at kaisang-sangkap natin ayon sa pagiging tao; katulad natin sa lahat ng bagay, walang pagkakasala

 Gayung hindi pa rin gaano kalinaw subalit minarapat ng ating mga ninuno na gawin yan kesa naman gawin nila yung talikuran ang nakasulat sa Bibliya tungkol sa kalikasan ng ating Panginoong Hesus. Mas ginusto nilang bumuo ng linggwahe na imperfect kesa naman piliin ang talikuran ang katotohanan ng salita ng Diyos patungkol sa divinity ng ating Panginoon dahil

• The New Testament, in hundreds of explicit verses that call Jesus “God” and “Lord” and use a number of other titles of deity to refer to him, and in many passages that attribute actions or words to him that could only be true of God himself, affirms again and again the full, absolute deity of Jesus Christ. “In him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19), and “in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9).*

Isa po sa mga dahilan kung bakit pinapahalagahan natin ang testimony ng Scripture tungkol kay Christ is because nung ma reveal yung incarnate Son nagbigay Siya dagdag na linaw sa mga pahayag ng Diyos. Ika nga sa Hebrews 1:1-2, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Ang mga teachings concerning Christ ay mga key na paglilinaw sa mga naunang pinahayag ng Diyos, hindi dahil sa mali ang naunang pahayag, God forbid, subalit minarapat ng Diyos na itaguyod ang kabuuhan ng Kanyang pahayag sa ganitong paraan. So kaya naman hind natin dapat tinatalikuran kung anumang pahayag mayroon ang Bagong Tipan patungkol sa Anak ng Diyos.

Basahin ko muna po ang mga passages where God said those words. Una sa Matthew 27:46 at Mark 15:34. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. Tila baga ang Panginoong Hesus ay nagku-quote ng Psalm 22: 1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Kailangan nating maunawaan na ang person of Christ ay may humanity. Ika nga ng isang pastor

• The New Testament- -predominantly the Synoptics--reveals a Jesus who experienced limitations and finiteness. He, furthermore, did not perform supernatural works out of his inherent deity but by dependence on the Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit However, he did not divest his deity or his attributes of deity but curtailed their exercise.**

In a way pwede po niyong sabihin na isang Arnold Schwarzenegger with those bulging muscles carrying a sleeping child -- he curtailed yung kanyang strength to be able to lull a baby to sleep.

So kaya naman po hindi na mahirap isipin na tinawag nya ang Diyos na Diyos dito kasi in his humanity, may kakayahan siyang paikliin ang kanyang Divinity sa kanyang humanity, all of which acting as one person not as two separate persons inside him. Tandaan natin Jesus is one person.

A Jesus who is merely a man is the Jesus of the Unitarians, the Arians, the Iglesia ni Kristo, the Ebionites, the Socinians atbp. Ito ang Kristo na ang sinasambang diyos ng mga nabanggit kong mga grupo whose beliefs not only do not measure up to the teachings of Scripture but also openly denies the teachings of Scripture. Kumbaga, tahasan nilang tinalikuran ang patotoo ang sinasabi ng Salita ng Diyos.

Jesus called God as God because of His humility and submiission. A person in the Godhead, Jesus humbled himself by curtailing (not "removing" but "reducing in extent [or] imposing a restriction on")  ang kanyang divine nature not even to exercise His own will but the will of the Father. Pinapakita sa atin ng Panginoong Hesus ang tamang buhay na naayon sa kalooban at kalakasan ng Panginoon. Oo He exercised His divine power to calm the storm, to raise the dead, but that was not based on His own will but the will of the Father. I hope you see the trust and the confidence to give the control of his life to the Father. Sabi ni Jesus sa John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.""

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* Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 529.

**  Roger Helland, “The Hypostatic Union: How Did Jesus Function?” Evangelicals Quarterly 65:4 (1993), 327