Jesus is God

Every time I visited Mrs. L, I saw a framed Chinese calligraphy hung on the wall behind where she was sitting in the living room. One day I decided to ask her what the writing meant. It read, "Jesus is God." I didn't consider it much then. That was about a decade ago.

Shortly before she went to be with the Lord, Mrs. L told a few believers who were caring for her in her last days that we must fight to stand with this fact, that Jesus is God. At her memorial service, we sang over and over again proclaiming, "Jesus is God."

I took this into my heart but frankly, I could not understand why this was such a big deal. I immediately thought of some out there claiming that Jesus was a mere man and that He wasn't God Himself, or that after He died, He ceased to exist. I thought this was only a battle of doctrines.

Recently I read a study on the walls of the New Jerusalem. I learned that one of the primary functions of the walls was to protect the interest of the riches of God's divinity ("The Application of the Interpretation of the New Jerusalem to the Seeking Believers" by Witness Lee). I also heard a recent message that showed the Divine Trinity as one of the greatest riches of God's divinity. Therefore, as the reality of the walls of the New Jerusalem, we must protect the fact that Jesus is God, He is one with the Father, and He indwells us as the Spirit. But not just fighting for the doctrines, we must clearly experience and enjoy the Divine Trinity to be able to safeguard it.

Isaiah 9:6 states, "For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us, and the government is upon His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Simply put, we do not have two gods. The Son is Mighty God. And we do not have two fathers. The Son is called the Eternal Father.

Second Corinthians 3:17 says, "And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." We do not have two lords. The Son, the Lord, is the Spirit. Second Corinthians 4:5 even says, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord,..." Christ Jesus is Lord.

Unconsciously, I sometimes separated the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in my experience. For instance, when I repented for my sins, I would only have the Lord Jesus in my mind considering He died for me and His blood cleansed me. That was definitely true. However, recently I have been touched by how enriching and profound my repentance becomes when I realize that when I call on the Lord Jesus and turn my heart to Him, I experience the fullness of the godhead in this Person: my sins are forgiven, my wounds are bound and tended by the Son, I am received into the Father's bosom thus my fellowship with Him restored, and I am filled, sanctified, and liberated by the Spirit. Distinct but simultaneous. The result is not only cleansed but also joined, united, one with God.

Once I touch and enter into such realm, no one can tell me otherwise, Jesus is indeed God. When I call on the Lord Jesus, I get God in all that He is, in His Divine Trinity. If we say Jesus is not God, we would basically deny God of who He is, deny God of what He has done and is doing. Then there would be no eternal redemption, no eternal salvation, because Jesus Christ would only be another man martyred for good cause. Our relationship with God would remain apart and distant. In short, if Jesus were not God, there would be no point in His existence. This thought pierces me. We must safeguard the fact that Jesus is Jesus. I plead with the Lord, "Dear Lord Jesus, may this erroneous concept be dispelled from me whether it has nested consciously or subconsciously. You are fully man and fully God. May I experience You as God, enjoy You as God, over and over again. May I experience and enjoy being one with You."

Surely, my words are still short of the full picture, experience, and enjoyment. One must touch Jesus Himself, to experience and enjoy God, to be one with Him. Call from the deepest part of our being, with all its deep-reaching desperations, "Oh, Lord Jesus." And God shall respond.

I should add a note here that this post is inspired by a section on how the Divine Trinity is for the Divine Dispensing in Chapter 8 of "Elders' Training, Book 03: The Way to Carry Out the Vision," by Witness Lee. It's a dismantling and weighty chapter.