The Deity Of Christ

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord," Rev.1:8, Again the Lord said: "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:" Rev. 1:11.

Not everything has a beginning nor does everything have an ending. God Himself never had a beginning and He will not have an ending. He is the self-existent One, who never had a beginning.

If there is one truth that the Bible teaches, it is that there is only one absolute God and none beside Him who is an absolute God. In the 15th chapter of First Corinthians, Paul teaches this doctrine so there can be no doubt as to Christ's subordination and submission to the Father. Paul says: "Then cometh the end, when He (Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; ... For He (the Father) hath put all things under His (Christ's) feet. But that He (God) is excepted, which did put all things under Him (Christ). And when all things shall be subdued unto Him (Christ), then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him (God) that put all things under Him (Christ), that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. 15:24-28.

Here Paul clearly teaches that God is not subject to Christ, but that Christ is subject to the Father, who gave all authority to Him. Whatever Christ is, whatever authority He has, whatever attributes He possesses, may be all in all and above all. Paul says, “Ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." 1 Cor. 3:23. Again says Paul: "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ ... and the head of Christ is God." 1 Cor. 11:3. Christ Himself said: "I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I.” John 14:28.

But Paul taught that Christ was "equal with God," and that God Himself had "exalted" Christ to that position. For says Paul, "Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name," and therefore we are to "confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil 2:5-11.

Why are we to give the glory of Christ's exaltation above every other name than the name of God Himself, to God the Father instead of to Christ in His own right? Because it is God the Father who has thus exalted Him. Paul makes this great truth of Christ's dependence upon the Father still more evident when he saith to Timothy: “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things...who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting." 1 Tim. 6:13-16.

God "only hath immortality." He alone is the only self existent God. But He gave His Son when He was Begotten the same life he had in Himself, therefore when Christ offered His life as a ransom for the sins of the world, He and He only could make an atonement for all the sins of all the world, because he made "infinite sacrifice," and it required an Infinite sacrifice" to atone for all the sins of mankind and angels who had sinned, in order to satisfy the demands of the law of God and infinite justice.

We are told that Christ died for our sins, that angels could not atone for our sins. Angels were finite beings just like men are, but men are a lower order of beings. Christ had unconditional immortality bestowed upon Him when He was brought forth / possessed of the Father. Angels had conditional immortality bestowed upon them when they were created by Christ in the beginning. Angels are immortal but their immortality is conditional. Therefore angels do not die but live on after they sin just as Satan or Lucifer lives on in sin. But since Lucifer and the fallen angels only enjoy conditional immortality, God ultimately will destroy them and take from them the gift of immortality which Christ bestowed on them when He created them. Whatever God bestows he can take away whenever He sees fit.

In the resurrection, immortality will be bestowed upon every saint that is raised to life through Jesus Christ. Then and not until then is eternal life bestowed upon the Christian. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 1 John 5:11. But this same eternal life is also in the Father. For saith Saint John: “The Word of life ... was manifested ... that eternal life, which was with the Father.” 1 John 1:2, 3. Here we are plainly told that the same eternal life, immortal life which is with the Father, was manifested in His Son, and will in the resurrection be bestowed and imparted to all the saints in Christ. But we must never forget that it is an imparted immortality. We thus see that eternal life and immortality may be bestowed upon beings who were not co-existent with God. It is the same eternal life that is in God, and when human beings are thus made immortal it is said of them that they are "filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3:19.

But Christ, the only Son of the Father, made in the "express image” of the Father in person. God not only appointed [Him] to be the Saviour of men, but He appointed Him "heir of all things," "being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said He (God) at any time, Thou art My son, This day have I begotten thee?" Heb. 1:2-5. Here we are told that the expression "Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee," refers only to Christ and not to any of the angels. Then there must have been a time, a day, when the Son of God was begotten by the Father. On that day, the Father saith unto His only Begotten Son: "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever ... therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands." Heb. 1:8-10.

Paul says: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom.” Eph. 1:17. The Father is the God of the Lord Jesus Christ - he is the Father and Christ is His Begotten Son.

Again Paul says. "There is one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all." Eph. 4:4-6. Again Paul says: "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.. There is none other God but one." 1 Cor. 8:6, 4.

The Deity Of Christ (Charles S. Longacre 1871 -1958)