In my experience, people who believe that Jesus is God do not believe that he is God Almighty. How can that be? Are there two Gods? No, not for these folks! They believe there is only one God. Both Yehovah and Jesus are God, but only one of them is Almighty and the other isn’t. I found this very puzzling at first until I came to realize that they don’t understand that God with a capital G is a proper noun, essentially a name used to identify a person or thing. They believe God refers to the quality or essence of being God and not to his personal identity.
To explain why their approach is misleading and erroneous, I will use the example of England’s constitutional monarchy.
The royal family is made up of princes, princesses, dukes and duchesses, but there is only one King. They are all royalty. King Charles III is King. His son, William is a prince, but not King. However, both are royalty.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
King Charles is royal. Prince William is royal.
Yehovah God is divine. Jesus Christ is divine.
Charles is King. William is not King.
Yehovah is God. Jesus is not God.
Royalty describes both Charles and William.
Divinity describes both Yehovah and Jesus.
However,
I cannot call William “King” simply because he is royal.
I cannot call Jesus “God” simply because he is divine.
Being King does not refer to someone being royal.
Being God does not refer to someone being divine.
Being King means you’re royal.
Being God means you’re divine.
But,
Being royal doesn’t mean you’re King. William is royal, but he isn’t King.
Being divine doesn’t mean you’re God. Jesus is divine, but he isn’t God.
Clear now?
So what would happen if you decide that since Prince William is royalty, you can treat him like he’s the King? Well, that’s sure to get you into trouble, right? Do you think Prince William would go along with you, and challenge his father’s role as King? That would get him into big trouble, wouldn’t it?
Just as Prince William isn’t trying to usurp his father, Charles, to become King, likewise Jesus never tried nor desired to usurp his Father’s position as God. Jesus is always submissive to God, and we must be submissive to Jesus. So if we try to make Jesus God, we are not being submissive to Jesus. He tells us:
“Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:24 NIV)
Do we love Jesus enough to obey him?