AND THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE, THAT THEY MAY KNOW YOU, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM YOU HAVE SENT

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

AND THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE, THAT THEY MAY KNOW YOU, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM YOU HAVE SENT

Dear readers,

Today I will explain John 17:3, a verse Muslims often use to claim that Jesus denied being God. Through religious lectures and various pamphlets, Muslims attempt to intimidate the Christian community by saying Jesus rejected His divinity. Are these claims true? Does this verse teach something deeper?

To truly understand the Bible, you must read several verses to grasp what God is saying through His Word. Therefore, I have included verses 4 and 5 to clarify what Jesus was actually saying in John 17.

Let me place all the verses here:

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished the work which You gave Me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify Me with Your own self with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

In verse 5 — [And now, O Father, glorify Me with Yourself with the glory I had with You before the world existed] — Jesus is saying that:

1. He lived before the world existed!
   This gives us a real understanding of what Jesus was saying and who Jesus truly is. All belief systems acknowledge that the One who existed before all things is God. Yet in verse 5, Jesus claims pre-existence before creation.

2. Jesus continues in the same verse, claiming that He had divine majesty — “GLORY.”
   Jesus tells God the Father to glorify Him with the glory He had before the world existed.
   Now, if Jesus is not God and is only an ordinary human being, why would He ask His Father to glorify Him? By what authority does Jesus claim glory that belongs to God alone?

3. If Jesus is not God, then when He asked the Father to glorify Him, wouldn’t that be blasphemy?
   Yet we never read anywhere that Jesus committed any sin. Even Islam acknowledges that of all human beings who ever lived, Jesus alone lived without committing sin.

Dear readers, the Muslim claim that John 17:3 denies the divinity of Jesus is completely false, because today we have learned from the same chapter that:

• Jesus existed before the world was created.

• Jesus possesses the glory of God.

Verse 5 quotation:
“And now, O Father, glorify Me with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

Key Points:

1. Jesus claims that He lived before the world was created.

2. Jesus claims that He has glory like that of His Father.

THEREFORE:

1. Who is Jesus, that He claims divine glory — and that glory from God the Father Himself?

2. Who is Jesus, that He says He existed before the creation of the world, and says this directly to God the Father?

My beloved brothers and sisters,

The discussion is complete, and it answers the Muslim allegation that Jesus denied His divinity in John 17:3.

I welcome you all to Jesus Christ, the Living One. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Come to Him so that you may receive eternal life and life in abundance.

In His service,
Max Shimba
For Max Shimba Ministries
April 28, 2015 @ Max Shimba Ministries.

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