Answering Islam - A Christian-Muslim dialog

He Who Comes –

More Explicit Evidence for the Deity of Christ

Sam Shamoun

In this article we are going to present evidence to establish that both the Lord Jesus and his followers proclaimed the absolute Deity of Christ. We will demonstrate this by showing how the NT writings ascribe the very unique roles, titles, and functions of God Almighty to the Lord Jesus Christ, specifically in relation to God coming with his hosts to judge the nations.


Yahweh

To begin with, Yahweh is said to be the First and the Last according to the Hebrew writings:

“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6

“Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last.” Isaiah 48:12

The Hebrew Bible also testifies that Yahweh rides the clouds, e.g. that the clouds are his chariot so to speak:

“Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under HIS FEET was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank… When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses FROM WITHIN THE CLOUD. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” Exodus 24:9-11, 15-18

“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty.” Deuteronomy 33:26

“The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.” Psalm 104:2-3

“The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.” Nahum 1:3

We are further told that Yahweh will come with his heavenly hosts to rule and judge the nations:

“You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’ See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:9-11

“The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’” Isaiah 62:11 – cf. Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12; Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10; 29:23

This next one says that Yahweh will even split the Mount of Olives in half when his feet land upon it!

A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. On that day HIS FEET will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.” Zechariah 14:1-5


Allah

Even the Quran attests that riding the clouds or coming with the host of angels to judge the world are divine functions:

Are these people waiting, perchance, for God to reveal Himself unto them in the shadows of the clouds, together with the angels - although [by then] all will have been decided, and unto God all things will have been brought back? S. 2:210 Muhammad Asad

Nay! When the earth is ground to powder, And your Lord comes with the angels in rows, And Hell will be brought near that Day. On that Day will man remember, but how will that remembrance (then) avail him? S. 89:21-23 Hilali-Khan

The Muslim scripture also agrees with God’s Word that “the First and the Last” is a divine title:

He is the First and the Last, and the Outward and the Inward; and He is Knower of all things. S. 57:3 Pickthall

As such, Islamic theology strictly prohibits anyone from attributing such unique functions and names to any creature, no matter how exalted s/he maybe.


The Lord Jesus Christ

Remarkably, the NT ascribes all of these unique functions and characteristics to the Lord Jesus Christ!

For instance, it is Christ who, as the Son of Man and risen Lord, rides the clouds of heaven and comes with his angelic host to judge the nations. Christ is also the First and the Last who searches hearts, and tests the minds, in order to repay everyone according to their deeds.

Here, we are going to cite references from several NT books with little to no commentary, so that the readers can see for themselves that both the Lord Jesus and his followers basically identify Christ as Yahweh God Incarnate since they attribute to him the very roles and titles which both the Hebrew Bible and the Quran agree are uniquely divine, and therefore can only be ascribed to God Almighty.


Mark

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in HIS Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38

“But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Mark 14:61-62


Matthew

“Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out HIS angels, and they will weed out of HIS kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.’” Matthew 13:36-43

For the Son of Man is going to come in HIS Father’s glory with HIS angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.” Matthew 16:27

When the Son of Man comes in HIS glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on HIS glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by MY Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46


Luke

“I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8

“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near… Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:27-28, 35


John

“He then added, ‘Very truly I tell you, you will see “heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on” the Son of Man.’” John 1:51

“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son JUST AS they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him… Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear HIS [Son’s] VOICE and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” John 5:22-23, 27-29

“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:1-6 – cf. 1 John 2:28; 3:2-3


Paul

“for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

“For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?” 1 Thessalonians 2:19

“May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” 1 Thessalonians 3:13

“All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:7-8

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Philippians 3:20-21

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of HIS appearing and HIS kingdom, I give you this charge… Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for HIS appearingThe Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to HIS heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:1, 8, 18


James

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” James 5:7-9

“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” James 4:12

That James is speaking of Christ as the only Lawgiver and Judge who is coming quickly to judge is easily proven from the following verses:

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.” James 1:1

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory (tes doxes).” James 2:1

James not only claims to be the servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, he even testifies that Christ is both the Lord and the Glory, e.g. the Lord who possesses glory as an essential attribute which manifests the fact that he is absolute Deity!

Hence, there can be no doubt that for James, the Lord who is said to be coming quickly is none other than our risen and glorious Lord Jesus Christ!


Jude

Jude likewise proclaims that he is a servant of Jesus and testifies that he is our only Sovereign and Lord who will come with his holy ones to destroy the wicked and grant eternal life to all who believe in him:

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, and who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ… They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. … Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’… But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold… But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life… to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Jude 1:1, 4b, 14-15, 17, 20-21, 25


Revelation of John

“‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen… I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.’” Revelation 1:7, 12-18

“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols… I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” Revelation 2:18-20, 23

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.” Revelation 19:11-16

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End … I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.’ … He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.” Revelation 22:12-13, 16, 20-21


Conclusion

The testimony of Jesus and that of his followers is crystal clear. By claiming that Jesus is the First and the Last, and the risen Lord who comes on the clouds of heaven with all his angels in order to repay a person for what s/he has done, Christ and the NT writers were basically proclaiming that Jesus is God Almighty Incarnate. There is simply no way around this fact.

What makes this all the more remarkable is that the book of Acts says that Christ will return from the place where he ascended, which happens to be the Mount of Olives, the very Mount which the prophet Zechariah saw Yahweh’s feet touch and split it in half upon landing!

“After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’ Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.” Acts 1:9-12

This means that Zechariah was enabled by the Holy Spirit to basically see the risen Lord Jesus descend from heaven in his physical glorified body!

In light of this, could the Holy Bible be any clearer that Jesus is Yahweh God in the flesh (even though he is not the Father or the Holy Spirit)?

Amen! Come Jehovah Jesus, come! We pray that we will truly love and adore you forever and ever for you are worthy to receive all honor, glory, praise and majesty! Amen!