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love me.' He proceeded to point out that their hatred of Him proved that they
were spiritually children of the devil 1 and not of God. Elsewhere,
as we have seen, He declared that His disciples' belief in His own divine
origin, and their love for Him, made them acceptable and beloved in the sight of
God.2 On the other hand, He says: 'He 3 that hateth me
hateth my Father also.' All this points out the close relationship between Him
and God. We notice also that here, and in fact habitually, He asserts His divine
sonship by speaking of God as His Father.
(9) But He does this still more clearly in other ways also. Among other
things He not only asserts His pre-existence, but states that He existed with
His Father before the creation of the universe. He even uses of Himself a term
which cannot be truly used regarding any created being. To prove the correctness
of these statements it is necessary merely to quote a few passages from the
Gospel
(الانجيل). The Lord Jesus Christ said to the Jews: 'Your 4 father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.' The Jews were
astonished at this statement, not recognizing the fact that the Lord Jesus meant
that He was the Messiah promised 5 to Abraham, and that with
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PROOF OF THE DEITY OF CHRIST
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the eye of faith Abraham, the friend of God,1 had beheld His
coming. Hence they said scoffingly, 'Thou 2 art not yet fifty years
old, and hast thou seen Abraham?' In reply to this, the Lord Jesus Christ made a
statement full of meaning, and one to which it is impossible to pay too much
attention. He said: 'Verily,3 verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham
was, I AM.' The verb used 4 with reference to Abraham strictly means
'came into existence', whereas of Himself the Lord Jesus Christ employs a term
which distinctly states that He eternally 5 exists in an unchanging
and unceasing present. This is clear from the very words He uses, 'I am', not 'I
was', nor 'I came into existence'. But it is all the more clear when we remember
that these very words were God's chosen name for Himself. For in the
Taurat it is written 6 that, when God Most High appeared in a flame
of fire in a bush to Moses in the wilderness and commanded him to go into Egypt
to Pharaoh and to bring out thence the children of Israel, Moses asked God to
tell him His name. In reply to this question, God said unto Moses: 'I AM THAT I
AM 7:-and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I
AM hath sent me unto you.' Now with
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