Foreword

In the New Testament (NT), God is careful to introduce and highlight Jesus—His only "begotten" Son—as a unique and unusual "Son", one having a "prior" existence, one born or birthed, but not conceived, in the "usual" way. That is, this "Son"—in a wardrobe of one hundred percent flesh, blood and bones—has "roots" traceable to God, the Creator of everything (John 1:3; Colossians 1:14-17; Ephesians 3:8,9; Hebrews 1:1-3). This means, then, that He as such, being the Christ of the NT, is nothing, if not also the God of the Old Testament (OT). Hereupon hangs a truth that gives birth to and a never-ending enigma, as it prompts a series of nagging questions. It is these questions which, in a measure, are the focus of this book: Was He then as a Man, trolling the roads of Galilee, “God”, at the same time? Understanding as we do that, He is alive now, two thousand years after His death, was He the same then as He is now?

In light of the controversy surrounding this issue, one must most certainly agree that requisite to any satisfactory resolution, is a careful defining of terms. Hence, what is "God"? What characterizes divinity or "God"; what qualities quantify a “God” persona? If God defined is, in a nutshell, “All-powerful, All-knowing, and Everywhere-present”, is that the way Jesus Christ the Nazarene is defined in the Bible? Does God make any effort to portray Him (Jesus) as literally, functionally "God" throughout or at any point in His earthly walk; that is, One who was equal, in every way, except the obvious, to the Father? The biggest names in evangelical/fundamentalism argue vehemently—based squarely upon what they ‘think’, and His reaction to the words of the Pharisees—that He was born, lived, died, arose again, having existed as Man, who was simultaneously “God”. That is, He gave up nothing when He was born, having every attribute, all the power, and all the authority He ever had throughout His earthly walk. Realizing that most of these haven’t a clue, as they cannot find and explain the one place in four gospels where He talks repeatedly about His limitations and handicaps, is that what He taught about Himself? Did Jesus Himself ever show aspiration such that He wished to be received or viewed as “God”, during His earthly sojourn?