Did Christ Say He Was God?

Continuing along in my examination of differences between God and Allah, Was Christ really divine? Muslims assert that he was a great prophet but not the son of God. The Quran says in sura 2:22, THE HEIFER, "He who made the earth a habitat for you, and the sky a structure, and sends water down from the sky, and brings out fruits thereby, as a sustenance for you. Therefore, do not assign rivals to Allah while you know."

In Islam, joining or assigning partners to Allah is the unforgivable sin of shirk. This is so reprehensible to them that they are commanded to deal harshly with any "disbeliever" who teaches the doctrine of the Trinity. As it says in sura 3:151, FAMILY OF IMRAN, "We will throw terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they attribute to Allah partners for which He revealed no  sanction. Their lodging is the Fire. Miserable is the lodging of the evildoers."

This sura contradicts what God said to Jesus and those watching his baptism in Luke 3:22 (KJV). "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.'" Notice that the Holy Spirit was also present, nullifying any argument against a triune God.

Furthermore, God called Christ his beloved son when he was transfigured, showing his pre-incarnate glory. Mark 9:7 (KJV) says, "And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my beloved Son: hear him'."

But did Jesus actually say he was God? He didn't say those exact words but it's clear from the scriptures that he knew he was divine. In John 8:58 (KJV), Jesus answered the Pharisees question about how he could have known Abraham and yet he wasn't even fifty years old. "Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.'"

That wasn't a poor grammatical choice on Christ's part. He spoke the holy name of God. Exodus 3:14 (KJV) shows that's what God called himself.  "And God said unto Moses, 'I AM THAT I AM:' and he said, 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, "I AM hath sent me unto you."'"

Because the divinity of Christ is crucial to our salvation, I'll stress its importance in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? If Jesus were a mere prophet, he couldn't atone for the sins of all who trust in him for forgiveness of sins. But since it's through him that we obtain salvation, we must believe he's divine and therefore able to pay our debt to God.

On Saturday, I hope to post about a touching song about a father's love for his rascal son.

God Loves Jews and Christians But Allah Hates Them?

This month, I want to show how different the God of the Bible is from Islam's Allah. Far too many Christians, who ought to know better, assume that God and Allah are the same person. They most certainly are not.

As I noted in a previous post, God is jealous, meaning protective, of his people who he loves. He chose Israel out of all the peoples of the world to be the ones through whom his beloved son would be born. As he spoke through one of his prophets in Zechariah 1:14 (KJV), "So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy."

The Queen of Sheba noticed God's love being lavished on Israel and said to Solomon in 1 Kings 10:9 (KJV),  "Blessed be the LORD thy God, which  delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the  LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do  judgment and justice."

And as Christ's most impulsive disciple noted in 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV),  "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:"

But the Qu'ran refutes this by saying in sura 3:64, (translated by Ali ‘Imran) "Say, “O People of the Book, come to terms common between us and you: that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate nothing with Him, and that none of us takes others as lords besides Allah.” And if they turn away, say, “Bear witness that we have submitted.: 

This verse denies that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are divine. Why would God say they were before this and then deny it? Either he's inconsistent or Allah isn't the God of creation.

The Bible shows in Malachi 3:6 (KJV) that, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Here is additional proof that Allah can't be God. Why would he love Christians when sura 3:151 states, "We will throw terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they attribute to Allah partners for which He revealed no sanction. Their lodging is the Fire. Miserable is the lodging of the evildoers."

I could list so many other examples of the vast difference between God and Allah but I'll save them for my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? People need to realize that ONLY in Christ is there salvation from hell. And before our Lord was born, people such as Abraham were saved by their trust in God, not their own works.