“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed at the feet of the risen Messiah. To those who have rejected Jesus as the prophesied Messiah, Thomas’ declaration is idolatry. The voices who object declare that God cannot be a man. To them, the God to whom all things are possible, and nothing is too hard for Him (Jeremiah 32:17,27), is limited in this respect. This is the one thing that God cannot do, even though the scriptures proclaim that there is nothing He cannot do.
"My Lord and My God" -
The Deity of Jesus the Messiah and why it is not Idolatry to
Worship God through Him
Let us take our place with Thomas as he kneels at the feet of Jesus in rapt adoration. Then turn the pages of time in our minds and replace Thomas with Abraham as he shares a lunch with a man who is referred to as God in Genesis 18.
We then transport ourselves into the future recorded in God’s word through the pen of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 14). He recounts for us what happens when God returns to rule the world as man, after He lands supernaturally on the Mount of Olives, the force of which splits the mount in half, reminding us of the power He demonstrated before Moses when He descended upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18).
How does God, who cannot be a man, appear as a man in these instances? Obviously, it is because nothing is too hard for Him as His own words proclaim.
It must be frustrating for the Lord to be contradicted by His own creation; the little clay images He had designed to hopefully be reflections of the loving Father that gave them life.
God desires for His people to understand how He accomplishes the impossible in this area and He has placed the means for us to understand it within the pages of His word.
He tells us that he has a person/soul (Isaiah 42:1, Psalm 11:5) that is so holy no man can behold Him (Exodus 33:20,23). But He also is a Spirit that fills the universe and can be everywhere at one time.
We are shown in Psalm 104:30 that His person directs the operations of His Holy Spirit “You send forth Your Spirit they are created.”
The Person wills and the Spirit responds.
God operates through His Spirit which acts as sort of an insulation, or a shield, allowing a holy God to interact with His creation. It’s a little like the insulation around an electrical cord; we can touch the cord and not be electrocuted by the power it is insulating.
God has influenced men and communicated with them by His Spirit through the ages, but there is only One Man He has actually indwelt. That privilege was reserved for the Messiah. And that indwelling power enabled Jesus to perform miracles (John 14:10) and rise from the dead (John 5:26), fulfilling the prophecy that after death the Messiah would “see His seed” (Isaiah 53:10), live again, to behold those He has birthed though faith in His death and resurrection.
We now find ourselves back with Thomas gazing with awe at this One he has called Lord and God. The prophet Isaiah recognized what Thomas proclaimed, that Messiah would be called the Mighty God and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
And His name shall be called Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14) which means – God with us.
It is not idolatry to worship what God has chosen to represent Him.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from an ancient Hebrew source that has since been lost. – “Let all the angels of God worship Him” (Hebrews 1:6). Here God directs worship to someone other than Himself; His Son and representative, His image.
Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
“I and My Father are one” (John 10:30) - Two Persons, One Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Lord and His Father is God in Him, through His Spirit.
God was in Messiah reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19) –
because nothing is impossible for Him.
Copyright 2020 by H. D. Shively