Jesus began His ministry by reading from the book of Isaiah. This is how He introduced Himself. This shouldn’t surprise us when we read the many prophecies concerning Messiah are in Isaiah and that Isaiah prophesied how God, Himself, would be our Redeemer.
The first Christian hymn I learned to truly love was, “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth.”
There are several places in the Old Testament, especially the book of Isaiah, where God, YHWH, declares that He is our Redeemer. Yet, the Bible teaches that our Redeemer will stand on the earth.
Job looked to the Redeemer as One who would stand upon the earth:
For I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25
Gill gives a good explanation of how we know that the Redeemer of whom Job spoke is Christ. Here is an excerpt:
“God the Father, to whom the character of a Redeemer is seldom or ever given, nor did he ever appear or stand on earth, nor was his shape seen at any time, John 5:37; but the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our “Goel”, the word here used, our near kinsman, and so our Redeemer, to whom the right of redemption belonged; and who was spoken of by all the holy prophets, from the beginning of the world, as the Redeemer of his people, who should redeem them from all their sins; from the law, its curses and condemnation…”
“Jesus said, I and my Father are One.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God speaks and He includes descriptions of Himself as LORD of hosts, Holy One of Israel, Savior, Maker, husband, Redeemer, and God:
For I am the LORD (YHWH) your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:3For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD (YHWH) of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called. Isaiah 54:5
God, or Yahweh is certainly our Creator/Redeemer God. To know Him more fully, we must understand what is meant by the “fullness of the Godhead.”
Who is this Holy One of Israel? We just saw that the Bible teaches He is the same Person as our Redeemer. Isaiah 29 describes Christ, the Lord Jesus and identifies Him as the Holy One of Israel.
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 29:18-19
“Jesus said, I and my Father are One.”
Who is our maker? We know that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Yahweh is our Creator/Redeemer God, and in the person of Christ He called all things into being. The Bible tells us that:
All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. John 1:3
The term for God is plural. We know that the word went out and called all things into existence and that the Holy Spirit breathed life into mankind. Jesus is the word. Also, we find that those who are “born again” are made in Christ Jesus.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:20
“Jesus said, I and my Father are One.“
Since the LORD of hosts is His name, then if there is a scripture naming Jesus as LORD of hosts, the case is closed concerning the fullness of the Godhead or what others call the Trinity/three in One. Consider Isaiah 8:13-14
But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
So who became a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling?
One of Jesus’ disciples answers that question. Peter wrote of Christ:
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you…As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,…For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame…So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 2 Peter 1:20 , 2:4, 6,8-9
Clearly, without question, Jesus is the Sanctuary and the stone of stumbling and rock of offense. Hence, Jesus is LORD of hosts.
“Jesus said, I and my Father are One.”
God, (YHWH) says He is our only Savior:
Isaiah 43:11 I, I am YHWH,
and besides me there is no savior.
How can this be when the angels spoke to the shepherds near Bethlehem on the night of Jesus birth and said:
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11
“Jesus said, I and my Father are One.”
When YHWH describes Himself as our husband it may seem like a mystery because Christ is the bridegroom:
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready; Revelation 19:7
And in Revelation it is Christ who is declared to be the husband:
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2
“Jesus said, I and my Father are One.”
There are those who cannot understand the mystery of Christ. Christ called God His Father, yet we clearly see that He is God. Concerning the mystery of Christ, Paul wrote that it is only when we worship the Father and have the revealing power of the Spirit that we have strength to comprehend Christ and the fullness of God:
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him…For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19
The Fullness of God is found in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – Three in One. We see it in Isaiah 48:16 when the Messiah speaks through the prophet Isaiah:
16“Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Jlue's Weblog - A Christian Perspective 