Ps 8:6 is also combined with Ps 110:1 and quoted in reference to Christ’s exaltation, for “God has put all things (ta panta) in subjection under his feet” (1 Cor 15:27; cp. Eph 1:20–22; Phil 3:21). There is also the key passage in Dan 7:13–14 that Jesus himself alluded to before the high priest at his trial. More specifically, the prophecy concerning the “Son of Man” in Daniel says that “his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away” (Dan 7:14), using language that is applied to YHWH’s kingdom (Ps 145:13; Dan 4:34). Recall that it was precisely Jesus’ claim to be that coming “Son of Man” coming in the clouds of heaven with the glory of his Father that scandalized the Jewish Sanhedrin and led to their call for his execution on the charge of blasphemy.
Worship
Worship belongs properly only to the one true God in biblical monotheism. In his indictment of the pagans for their idolatry, Paul essentially defines idolatry as an “exchange” in which they “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom 1:25). Similarly, when John, the seer of the apocalypse, fell down to worship the angel, the angel rebuked him and said that worship must be given to God alone: “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God” (Rev 19:10; cp. 22:8–9).
And yet the New Testament, which was largely composed by men brought up within and committed to strict Jewish monotheism that abhorred the worship of any creature, recorded, as if it were perfectly natural, the fact that the exalted Lord Jesus is to be worshiped as divine. By far the most important text in this regard is the second half of the pre-Pauline hymn or creed (Phil 2:9–11) that we examined earlier under preexistence. The conclusion looks ahead to the day when all sentient creatures will worship Jesus as Lord. God highly exalted him “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (vv. 10–11). It is not merely that we have isolated instances here and there of people expressing their reverence for Christ by prostrating themselves before him. Rather, the Father himself has exalted him to his own right hand and calls all sentient beings to bow the knee and worship him as Lord. The striking thing is that this language is taken from LXX Isa 45:23, which is part of Isaiah’s anti-idolatry polemic. This Old Testament passage, one that is “among the most fervent expressions of God’s uniqueness,” has been “adapted (and apparently interpreted) to affirm Jesus as supreme over all creation.”33
The worship of Jesus in not only found in Paul. It is also found in other New Testament writers. The Gospel of John presents Jesus as claiming that the Father has given all judgment to him “that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father” (John 5:22–23). The author of Hebrews writes: “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’” (Heb 1:6, quoting LXX Deut 32:43). The book of Revelation pictures all creation worshiping Christ: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12–14; cp. 22:3).34
The Divine Name
God does not share his name with creatures. “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other” (Isa 42:8). There is no god besides YHWH (Isa 45:21–22). And yet, according to Philippians 2:10, God has highly exalted his obedient Son Jesus at his right hand as the one who bears the divine name. In addition to Phil 2:10, there are numerous New Testament passages which demonstrate that Jesus, in his exalted state, is viewed as bearing the divine name, YHWH in Hebrew or Kyrios in Greek.35 For example, Joel 2:32 (“Everyone calls upon the name of YHWH will be saved”) is quoted twice in the New Testament in its Septuagint form, where YHWH has been rendered Kyrios, now applied to the exalted Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:21; Rom 10:13). The fact that the New Testament interprets Old Testament Kyrios texts like Isa 45:23 and Joel 2:32 as fulfilled in the exaltation of Jesus to the status of universal Lord indicates that he bears the divine name and thus participates in the identity of YHWH.36
Does this mean that Jesus is YHWH? I hesitate to say that Jesus is YHWH, which would seem to verge on modalism. Rather, I would say that, by virtue both of his ontological status and of his exaltation, Jesus bears the divine name and is thus shown to be included in the identity of YHWH.37 If “YHWH” denotes the person who reveals himself in the Old Testament as the God of Israel, it is best to say Jesus is the Son of YHWH. Because he is his eternal Son, he shares in the identity or nature of the God of Israel.
“YHWH” is basically the name of the Father, but it is a name (unlike the name “Father”) that the Father can share with his exalted Son (Phil 2:9–10). This is because the name YHWH itself does not mean “Father” but “I am who I am” (Exod 3:14). It does not differentiate his personal quality but his essential nature. The granting of the divine name, YHWH, to the Son is legitimate, appropriate, and fitting because the Son shares the Father’s ontological divine nature. Thus, when the Son is exalted, he receives the divine name, YHWH, because it is fitting in terms of his ontological status. His receiving the divine name shows that he shares in the identity of YHWH.
The same situation obtains with respect to the name “God” (ho theos). I hesitate to say “Jesus is God,” nor would I say “Jesus is not God.” Instead, I prefer to say, as the New Testament says, that “Jesus is the Son of God.” Although it is possible to construe it in a valid sense, I am cautious about the statement “Jesus is God,” because the name “God” (with the definite article, ho theos) most frequently and properly refers to the Father. “Jesus is God” could be taken to mean “Jesus is the Father,” which would be modalism. On the other hand, following John 1:1, we have strong precedent for saying that “Jesus is divine” (theos as anarthrous qualitative predicate nominative).38
Words express meaning not by reference alone, but by sense and reference.39 A word’s sense is not the same thing as the extralinguistic reality that it refers to. The words “YHWH” and ho theos are typically used in Scripture to refer to the Father, and very rarely if at all to refer to the Son. Yet, because their sense is such that they indicate deity as a generic concept, the terms can be applied to the Son because of his deity. Yet when the words are applied to the Son, there is usually something in the context which distinguishes him from the Father and which shows that the terms are being used qualitatively to underscore that they share the same identity or nature.
A Divine Savior
Why is it important that Jesus be the divine Son of God? The reason, in a nutshell, is that the accomplishment of redemption depends on it. The Bible teaches that there is only one God, YHWH, the God of Israel, and that this one God has a Son through whom he created all things and through whom he redeems. Redemption is patterned on creation. Just as creation is the work of God the Father through the preincarnate Son, so redemption is the work of God the Father through the incarnate Son. Earlier, I quoted 1 Cor 8:6 as one of the crucial New Testament passages which affirm that Christ is the divine intermediary of creation. But its final line affirms that Christ is also the intermediary of the new creation: “and we [believers live] through him.”40 Christ’s mediatorial role in creation prepares the way for and is the basis of his mediatorial role in redemption. It is no accident that redemption is pictured as a new creation (e.g., 2 Cor 5:17; Col 3:10). Just as God created through his divine, preincarnate Son, so God saves his people and brings about the new creation through his divine, incarnate Son, and both mediatorial activities place Jesus on the divine side of the Creator-creature distinction. No wonder he is called “our (great) God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13;
