Jesus is God

Pro, believes that my interpretation of Col. 1:15 contradicts: Philippians 2:6 Who, being in very nature, God...(NIV)John 1:1 The Word is God by nature *John 1:18 The only begotten one, who is God by nature *Colossians 2:9 In him dwells all the entire divine nature bodilyHebrews 1:3 The exact imprint of his nature...(ESV)I have addressed each point, and you can see except for those I have asked for clarification there is no contradiction.RE: Philippians 2:6 Notice that the above verse does not say that "Jesus is God or pre-existed as God"? What the verse clearly say is "Christ Jesus,who, being in the form of God"Please take note that the above phrase is equivalent to Apostle Paul's declaration in 2 Cor. 4:4, that "Christ is the image of God". . Greek words for "form" and "image"R13;'morphe' and 'eikon'R13; are synonymous.So, how can the verse be made to mean that Jesus is God when Jesus is just in the form or image of God? Take note that man was also created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Gen. 1:27, NKJV)RE: John 1:1I have no conflict here. John uses the greek word lógos λa2;γοςor "Word" from the Greek lexicon3056 lógos (from 3004 /lég!3;, "speaking to a conclusion") – a word, being the expression of a thought; a saying.Greek term, "logos" which is equivalent to the English term, "Word" in John1:1,14.The definition is not Jesus Christ and John the Apostle was aware of this. What is the meaning of the term logos? Greek lexicographer G. Abbott-Smith, in his book, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, defines the term as:“1. a word, not in the grammatical sense of a mere name … but a word as embodying a conception or idea” (pp. 270-271).Question: Not one diciple or New Testament writer in their gospels or epistles used "lógos" to define a pre-existing Jesus. Please explain, how "an expression of a thought" changes definition to equate to Jesus is God in John 1:1,14?RE: Colossians 2:9Notice that the above verse does not say that "Jesus is God."The fact that Christ has all the fullness of God does not make him God. Ephesians 3:19 says that Christians should be filled with all the fullness of God, and no one believes that would make each Christian is God. Also, the word Paul used is "dwells" not "incarnate" or "incarnation".RE: Hebrews 1:3I have no conflict with this verse, it does not say Jesus is God. Question: What's your take on this?Remember the prophet Malachi rhetorically asks,"Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?"(Malachi 2:10, Ibid.)Clearly therefore, the one God who "created the world" as taught by the Bible is not Christ, but His Father who is the only true God (John 17:1, 3).Ephesians 1:9-11 clearly states the God did this for the Son. You can use other renditions to corroborrate this. This is a future event and reading the text states the reason for God's purpose from the very beginning.So, why then does Colossians 1:16 state that by Him (Christ) all things were created"? That very verse itself provides the answer - the last part of it explains, "All things were created through Him (Christ)." Remember that one of the meanings of the term "by" is the word "through," and thus the two are synonyms (Macmillan Dictionary). But then again, in what sense "were all things created through Christ"? The explanation is again found in that very same verse which continues, "All things were created through Him and for Him." That all things were created for Jesus is further explained by Apostle Paul who himself wrote Colossians 1:16. He pronounced:"God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head. All things are done according to God's plan and decision . . . . . based on what he had decided from the very beginning" (Ephesians. 1:9-11, Today's English Version)Notice that "from the very beginning" it had been the "secret plan" of God that when the time is right "He will "bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earthy with Christ as head." It is in this sense thus that God created everything for Jesus.Therefore that all things, were created "by Christ" not in the sense that He is Himself the Creator, but in the sense that all were created by the Father through and for Him (Christ). Hence, in other translations of the Bible such as the Today's English Version, Colossians 1:16 is rendered in this manner:"For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth. . . ., God created the whole universe through him and for him."RE: John 5:19I have no conflict with this verse. But this implies Jesus pre-existed. Which is not true. Do not forget that it was the "Word" which became flesh and not God himself. Therefore John 1:1,14 does not in anyway teach or support the pre-existence of Christ as a divine being or that Christ is God or another God. Or that God became a Man or that God is Christ incarnate.The definition of "lógos" - "λa2;γος" is not Jesus Christ; and John the Apostle was aware of this. What is the meaning of the term "lógos"? Greek lexicographer G. Abbott-Smith, in his book, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, defines the term as:“1. a word, not in the grammatical sense of a mere name … but a word as embodying a conception or idea” (pp. 270-271). It was the "lógos" λa2;γος that became flesh.The MessiahThe Jewish people expected a conquering earthly Messiah. They had been under the rule of other nations for nearly 500 years and were hoping to receive their own land, so they were not as much looking for heavenly kingdom and freedom from sin than they were looking for political free state of Israel, belonging solely to the descendants of Abraham.They expected the man to come from the line of David, which came true and be born in Bethlehem, also true. The promise was for a man to come and rescue them, not for God to come in the flesh. The Jewish people understood clearly God is "ruach" (Isaiah 31:3) - spirit in Hebrew, not man.The GentilesGreek speaking Gentile converts also called Jesus "the messiah" as an honorary title, imitating the early Jewish converts who called Jesus "messiah" anyone who was believed to be able to restore their sovereignty, without actually understanding what the term meant to the Jews. Greek Gentile Christians were not looking for "a messiah". The term makes no sense to the Greeks: it's a term that is all about restoring the national sovereignty of the Jewish people - but they were not Jews, so how could be Jesus sold to them as the King that restores the Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel? That would be like selling snow jackets in the desert - there's no need for them there. So naturally, the Greek Gentile converts began to regard Jesus as God.During John's writing of the last Gospel completed in A.D. 90, many Greek Gentiles from pagan religions were now entering the church as converts. The early Jewish Christians who believed God was "ruach" not human, were slowly decreasing in numbers. By the year A.D. 100 John the Apostle had died, and the nature of Jesus was evolving into two, both God and Man. Many of these former pagan converts believed in the mythology of "incarnations" of God's or Demi-Gods. Depending on the religion, here is a short list of pagan gods and demigods, the converts may have believed in:1) Aphrodite (O44;φροδ^3;τη, Aphroditē) Goddess of love, and beauty2) Apollo (O44;πa2;λλων, Apóll!3;n) son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis.3) Ares (O48;ρης, Árēs) God of war, bloodshed, and violence. The son of Zeus and Hera4) Artemis (O48;ρτεμις, Ártemis) She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo.5) Heracles (O77;ρακλQ34;ς), son of Zeus ascended hero...and many more.Gentile (Greek speaking) Christians understood Jesus as an agent of sin cleansing. Since Gentile converts had no background in what the Hebrew Bible was about or how the Jews understood God is "ruach" (spirit) or "pneuma" in Greek. To be a sin cleanser, would mean Jesus had to be deity in some sense because of how Gentile converts understood divinity from there previous pagan religions, which gradually developed to Jesus being regarded as God (with the theology of trinity coming gradually along in the 3rd century as an effort to solve to tension between two Gods: Jesus and the Jewish God, and the concept of one God).The Nicene CreedIn, 325 A.D. a council was convened by order of Constantine, the Roman emperor. He had been a leader in the cult known as Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun) and now wanted to unite the Christian sects in the empire under his existing church; the Universal Church of Rome. Many changes to the religion of Christianity were about to take place at that council. None of the Apostles or early Jewish Christians would have been able to strenuously object to this intrusion and decree that God a "ruach" - spirit became Man or Jesus is God. Council of Nicaea, First Ecumenical Council - 325 A.D.The Nicene Council is considered by all as the first Ecumenical Council of the Church (Roman Catholic Church). It was occasioned by the Arian "heresy" which in effect denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. The major product of this council was the Creed, the "Nicene Creed"; but it also addressed the date of Easter, and the place of the Patriarch of Alexandria.