Appendices V

Appendix V

Jesus Christ Was the Lord God of the
Old Testament

In order to truly understand the Old Testament, it is critical to realize that the Lord God of the Old Testament was the one Who was made flesh and became Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

“God” in the Old Testament is frequently translated from the Hebrew word Elohim, which is a collective plural noun that refers to a holy family of spirit beings. Scripture reveals that there are at present two Who are Elohim—members of the God Family: God, Who is called the Father in the New Testament, and the one Who became Jesus Christ, and is thus now God the Son.

This truth is verified by the apostle John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men…. And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father)…” (John 1:1-4, 14).

Only by understanding that God is a family can one comprehend the intricacies of God’s plan for mankind. The following passages demonstrate that Jesus was the God of the Old Testament.

“And God [Elohim] said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness’ ” (Gen. 1:26).

“Come, let Us [Elohim] go down, and there confound their language, so that they cannot understand one another’s speech” (Gen. 11:7).

“The LORD said to my Lord. ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool’ ” (Psa. 110:1).

“I saw visions in the night and, behold, One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him” (Dan. 7:13).

“And they all drank of the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them. And that Rock was Christ” (I Cor. 10:4).

“He is the Rock; His work is perfect for all His ways are just, a God of faithfulness, and without iniquity; just and upright is He” (Deut. 32:4). “You forgot the Rock Who brought you forth, and have forgotten the God Who formed you” (verse 18).

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall give birth to a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel”; which is, being interpreted, “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).

“Because by Him were all things created, the things in heaven and the things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether they be thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all, and by Him all things subsist. And He is the Head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He Himself might hold the preeminence” (Col. 1:16-18).

“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me unto you’ ” (Ex. 3:14).

“Jesus said unto them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM’ ” (John 8:58).

“God, Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the ages; Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Heb. 1:1-2).

“He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, but the world did not know Him” (John 1:10).

“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may also be with Me where I am, so that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; because You did love Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:4-5, 24).