Mr. Meherally tells us:
Answer No. 15 1. The Greek word used for "form" is 'morphe' (3444) which means; shape, fig, image, appearance. Hence, the phrase simply means, "in the image of God", as it reads in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "...Christ, who is the image of God."
‘Morphe' is the external appearance or, the form by which a person or thing strikes the vision. This argument is actually an incidental issue. Now we go to the real issue.
Mr. Meherally is suggesting that Jesus is not the true image of God since, according to Genesis, we are all made in the image of God. Therefore, according to Meherally, Jesus is not God. First we need to look at the verse that Mr. Meherally gives us and then look for evidence in the Bible for the Divinity of Jesus. What does Genesis 1:26 say and what does it mean?
"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
When God made man "In our image, in our likeness" He made a peculiar distinction, since He used both "image" and "likeness" to describe the creation of man. What is this "image and likeness" of God? This "image" does not refer to our mortal bodies, since God is a spirit, this "image" refers to the moral dispositions of man's soul, which is often referred to as "original righteousness" (see Ecclesiastes 7:29). The new creation (through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ) is the restoration and renewal of the image of God in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness (Col 3:10 and Eph 4:24).
Does the Bible tell us that Jesus existed in the form of God?
YES! Read the following passages from the Old and New Testaments
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
John 5:17-18 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
John 8:56-58 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw [it], and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 10:30 "I and my Father are One."
John 14:9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'?
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
If Jesus had a "Divine Nature" (and He did), He is therefore "Divine", or God.
Study Supportive Passage(s):
"Here is my servant, whom I have chosen..." (Mt. 12:18).
Please study the entire chapter for the true meaning of this verse! In verse 8, Jesus said : "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." He also healed (worked) on the Sabbath which, for the Jews, is a sin because only God has the prerogative to work, or not work, on this day. By healing the "man with a shriveled hand", Jesus equated Himself to God the Father.
Let us look at the context of this verse:
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
Does Mr. Meherally want to cite this passage now that it includes verse 15 which says that Jesus was the author of life (And therefore God) and was killed and raised from the dead? Always read the Bible, along with all other books, in context.
There is no denial of Christ's divinity in this passage:
So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas [Peter] or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
In other words, all things belonged to the followers of Jesus, since they were the children of God just as we are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
Responses to Akbarally Meherally
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