Jesus Says So

It may sound strange to those who have not yet researched the issue thoroughly, but Jesus often stated that the One God, the Father, is his God. He frequently claimed that his Father was his God.

The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the Temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of Heaven from my God... (Revelation 3:12)

The same God who is the God of Jesus is our God--the Father (or, at least that's how you're supposed to see it).

Do you have difficulty calling the Father the God of Jesus? We hope not. Still, it’s rarely heard in pulpits for the Father to be called the God of Jesus. What’s the cause of this anomaly? Why does church talk not match Bible truth?

The reason is because the doctrines of false teachers obscure the truth. This is not just any truth we're talking about--this is the truth of who God is. It's a significant truth. But lies about God are so common in churches that Christians can’t even hear Jesus speak! Can you hear him?

Listen to Jesus speak of God in John 20, calling the Father his God:

Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’ (John 20:17).

The passage below also reflects Jesus’ thoughts about God. It will likely surprise you if you start to think about it, especially if you've been listening to the doctrines of men for long, but on the Cross Jesus called God, his God!

... Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ [which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’] (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus came to Earth not only to die on the Cross, but to do God's will every day of his life. His devotion was to the will of his God. That's exactly what he said when he made the decision to take on human flesh. Look at what he said here:

Therefore, when Christ came into the World, he said... ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God’ (Hebrews 10:5,7).

Again, Jesus called God my God. Can you also call the Father the God of Jesus? Why is it so hard for us to do so? Let's keep looking at what the Bible says about God being the God of Jesus.

The Apostles Say So

The teaching that God is the God of Jesus is not only a teaching of Jesus. It's also a teaching of the Apostles. The authority of the Father is not foreign to the epistles the Apostles wrote. In the following passages, the Apostles confirm that the Father is, in fact, the God of Jesus.

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying (2 Corinthians 11:31).

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Peter 1:3)

Now, if the Father is the God of Jesus, then Jesus belongs to God. In other words, Jesus is God’s Servant. That might not sound right to you, but that's the way the Apostles saw Jesus.

Look at how the first Church, the one pastored by the Twelve Apostles, prayed to God:

Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your Holy Servant Jesus (Acts 4:30).

Jesus Belongs to God

Okay, you're probably clear on the truth that God is Jesus' God now. But are you convinced that this means that Jesus belongs to God? We'll prove it to you by a statement Paul made to the Corinthians. Paul said Christ is of God, and he meant that Jesus belongs to God.

All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas 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 (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).

The line of Paul’s reasoning in the passage is that everything belongs to us, God’s Church. We have Paul, Apollos, and Peter to serve us. The World, life, death, the present, the future all belong to us—and we belong to Jesus. That same thread of logic caused Paul to draw the conclusion that Jesus belongs to God!

Can you draw that same conclusion? Can you declare that Jesus belongs to God? Will you dare defy the manmade doctrines that say otherwise? You have to be bold and courageous to affirm a truth like this one.

God Says So

Not only did Jesus and the Apostles say it. God also says that that he is Jesus’ God.

You [God speaking to Jesus] have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy (Hebrews 1:9).

The passage here makes it abundantly clear that God gave Jesus a place above Jesus’ companions (angels, prophets, apostles, etc.). It also says that God gave Jesus a high place for a reason: Jesus loved what was right and hated what was evil. In other words, God glorified Jesus based on merit, not on preferred treatment.

Jesus has deserved everything God has given him. Jesus proved himself to be faithful to God, and consequently Jesus was rewarded by God. How did he reward Jesus? By setting Jesus above his companions and by anointing Jesus with the oil of gladness.

The Church Says So

If you are a believer, you also have a duty to declare (along with Jesus, the Apostles, and God Himself) that God is the God of Jesus. The saints--believers from all ages--know this. Won't you recognize it? The saints, speaking through the Apostle John in Revelation cry out:

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood [Jesus], and has made us to be a Kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Revelation 1:5-6)

Believers again call God the God of Jesus. The Church says that God is his God and Father. Is there a way to visualize this? Yes. The prophet Daniel helps us.

Notice the image from Daniel 7 below. In it, Jesus is being brought before the Ancient of Days on a cloud. You can see in the image that Jesus receives his authority from the Father. That's a big part of what the Bible means when it says that God is the God of Jesus.

Jesus is great indeed--but we must recognize that his greatness, authority, and resurrection all come from the Father. All of Jesus' greatness comes from the One he calls my God. Serving God, Jesus has become worthy to rule forever. If you serve God, you will also become worthy of greatness in the Kingdom.

The Greatest Glory

If the One God is the God of Jesus, then logically God is the one to whom the highest praise and glory are due. The following verses demonstrate this order of worship. They all give God the greatest glory.

... that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:6).

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:2-3).

A Great Son, a Greater Father

God gets glory in part because Jesus is so great. That is, Jesus' greatness is exactly what makes the God who made Jesus great... greater! The Father is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ--the one who resurrected and exalted Jesus. The One who makes great must be greater than the one who he made to be great.

Jesus indeed is our King. But his God is the Kingmaker. Jesus indeed is worthy of praise, but that's because God has made him so. God exalted Jesus and gave him the name which is above every name.

Jesus will certainly rule. But who has given him the rule and authority? The One God. At the end of the Millennium, Jesus will hand over the Kingdom to the Father with the singular objective that God might become all in all--everything to everyone. That is, Jesus is planning on making God the most glorified, exalted, and worshipped Being in the Universe. Will you align with that goal?

Then the End [of the Millennium] will come, when he [Jesus] hands over the Kingdom to the [One] God and Father after he [Jesus] has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he [Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he [God] 'has put everything under his [Jesus'] feet.'

Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him [Jesus], it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

That God May be All in All

The goal of all history is that God may be all in all. For that to happen, Jesus must again be made subject to the God who subjected everything to him. What a glorious day it will be when Jesus is made subject to God's rule and lordship again, and Jesus hands the Kingdom over to God.

On that day the saying will be fulfilled:

They shall be my people, and I will be their God (Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 11:4; 30:22; 31:1, 33; 32:38; Ezekiel 11:20; 36:28; 37:23, 27).

This is the vision with which the Bible concludes: That the One God would come to us and be our God, and that we would be his people.

And I heard a loud voice from the Throne, saying, 'Behold, the Tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself will be among them (Revelation 21:3).

Do you want to be there on that great day? It won't be easy, but you can do it if God is with you. To reach this goal, you must be an overcomer. You must persevere and be strong against temptation.

He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son (Revelation 21:7).