To Answer a Muslim

We received a question regarding one of our articles. The article was based on Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" The question had to do with the Islam religion. It is as follows:

"Some Muslims say that this verse proves God could never be a man, in order to destroy the doctrine of God's incarnation. Can you help me find the right answer concerning this verse?" - from Ali

Numbers 23:19, like many other like Bible passages, contrasts man’s tendency to lie as opposed to God, who cannot lie. God is always faithful and true. He does not go back on His promises. In Him there is no struggle between right and wrong, between flesh and spirit, as there is in us. His word is final and He never goes back on it. That’s the plain meaning of the verse. The Muslim, not believing in the word of Jesus Christ, who is the great I AM, hears the words of Numbers 23:19 and misses the intended meaning, although it is pretty clear. Does the Muslim believe that God cannot lie? Then why does he not listen to the Bible? Instead, he tries to get something else out of the verse not intended by the verse, and condemns himself not to listen to the message, just like most men, who are good at lying and changing their minds and remaining confused.

But I don’t think that answers your question. The real question the Muslim has is: If Jesus is God, then how can he be a man? Or, if Jesus is a man, how can he be God? These questions were raised in the time of Jesus, and up to this very hour Jesus’ divinity is attacked and mocked by false religions. Although Jesus affirmed his deity, He did not tell us how it was possible to be both man and God at the same time. We read in the gospel of John how the Jews could not come to faith due to the same reason Muslims can not come to faith, or anyone for that matter. They said, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

It would be truly blasphemy if Jesus were a man making himself out to be God, or aspiring to that position. But actually, if Jesus was aspiring anything, it was to be the Son of Man. That’s what the incarnation is all about. But we read in Numbers 23:19 that God is not a man, nor the son of man, but Jesus continually referred to himself as the son of man. Why? That’s the real mystery of the gospel. Why would the Son of God come to earth and assume the title Son of Man, in order to show His power? This is certainly a long way down, and a man is weak and ambivalent, says Numbers 23:19. If we miss this meaning in the incarnation, we might as well forget everything else in the Christian religion and quit arguing with Muslims. But we are assured as Christians that the cross of Christ is the center of our religion, and that everything else we believe proceeds from there.

That is where we must take the Muslim. He does not understand the power of God in the preaching of the gospel. He does not know that a man, made in the likeness of sin, becomes the very deliverer from that sin (Romans 8:3). Islam sees Christ as another prophet, but it does not lend credence to his words. They must be calling him a liar. But God is not a man that he should lie. Jesus had to be a man in order to die for our sins. He had to be in the likeness of sin. That’s why he said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Most people can quote John 3:16 but they don’t know that John 3:14 came before it.

What does Jesus mean, "As Moses lifted up the serpent"? He is referring to Numbers 21 where the people who had been bitten by serpents were saved by looking upon a likeness of the serpents that had bitten them. God cannot make himself into a sin offering, because He cannot die. He cannot make himself look like sin, but as the Son of Man, He can do this very thing. And this He did through Jesus Christ. That is because Jesus was not a just a prophet, but the very Lamb of God, foreordained before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20, Rev. 13:8). Most men miss the importance of Jesus Christ as a man. They skip this part and imagine themselves able to fathom the mystery of how God became a man.

This doctrine (God being in Christ suffering for the world’s sin) is foolishness to those who are perishing in their sin. But to those who believe, it is the power of God unto everlasting life. Many theologians have pondered how Christ could be man and God at the same time, and many heresies have been the result. But God did not send his Son into the world to create debates about questions of words or endless speculations about things unknowable, but to present the Logos, to reveal the mystery hidden from the ages, that Christ came into the world to save sinners. He wants us to have faith, and the right faith. That’s what belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is all about.

What I am trying to say here is, if the scripture is silent about a matter, then we should be silent also. If we go beyond and start trying to explain things to our carnal minds (as though we can put God in a box), we fall into heresy every time. There is a lot of mud-slinging, pride, and just plain outrage, all of which are of the devil. Modern Christianity is loaded with 2000 years of this sort of boxing up God. That’s what creates our denominations (a work of the flesh the Bible calls "sects" or "divisions"; Galatians 5:20 last word, 1 Corinthians 3:4). Every time you come across a denomination that claims to be non-denominational just test them on their allegiance to their leader. God alone is our Father, not our pastors or priests. In honoring them, let it be without hero-worship. They are men, not God.

But, getting back to the subject at hand. Most of Christianity, even the ones who do not really believe, will acknowledge that Christ was a man. But then again, so do the Muslims, so that has no weight. It is the way that Jesus became a man that begins to separate the heretic from the true believer. His genealogy clearly indicates his humanity. Very briefly I quote three scriptural passages: "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh..." (Romans 1:1-3).

and "Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah." (Matthew 1:16). "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law..."(Galatians 4:4).

Some do not believe in the virgin birth. Once again, the mind of the flesh cannot figure this out, so it throws the idea out. Some heresies allow the virgin birth, but are perverted in their concept (see the Mormon religion, for example). But we believe that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she became pregnant. How this was done, we have no concept medically or otherwise. It makes sense prophetically that Jesus grew in the womb and was born just like every other man, so he could claim full citizenship with the human race. It also makes sense that because he had no human father, he was without sin. So he was a man, but not like other men. For instance, Jesus was not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his purpose, and thank God, he was always faithful and true to that purpose.

You see how this develops his humanity getting him ready for the cross? His humanity is essential to the gospel. Many times his humanity is stressed in order to show his priestly position:

"For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5)." "For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests." Hebrews 7:14. "For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins" Hebrews 5:1. "So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU" Hebrews 5:5. "Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" Hebrews 2:17. "...who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men..." Philippians 2:6,7.

In each of these contexts, the godhood of Jesus is also found. The last verse cited above shows that Jesus was equal to God before his incarnation. In the book of Hebrews, we are constantly reminded that Jesus is a priest unlike any other priest. Although a man, He has the power of an everlasting life not obtainable through the regular priestly office (Hebrews 7:16). "But of the Son He says, YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTRE IS THE SCEPTRE OF HIS KINGDOM" (Hebrews 1:8). You couldn’t get any clearer than God telling the Son, "Your throne, Oh God, is forever and ever."

Not only was Jesus God, but He didn’t become the Son of God once he was born, or baptized, or resurrected, or any other heretical notion, for "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands." (Hebrews 1:10). Jesus made everything there is. He didn’t suddenly become the Son of God at some point in time. He didn’t gradually become the Son of God, either. He has been the Son of God before the mountains were brought forth, or he did not create them, making all the Bible a lie. See Colossians 1:16,17 that shows Jesus as Creator (the J.W.’s hate for you to quote this after they spring verse 15 on you out of context. I heartily recommend reading all of the verses through to the end of the chapter very loud to them when they come to your door).

Some of the false religions, like "orthodox" Judaism and the Mormons, try to make Jesus into something less than who he is. However, they contradict the Bible as convenience demands. But your question is about how to answer a Muslim. The Muslim does not believe the Bible, any more than a Mormon or a Jew believes the Bible. They all have extra writings that tell them how to believe and what to believe, picking and choosing verses as it pleases them. They totally miss the gospel even though they mouth great swelling words of prophetic utterance. The gospel demands that God makes atonement for man. For instance, Romans 8:3 says, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." But they twist this, playing word games, to refute the scripture that says God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).

It is not good enough to mouth terms like "God-man" (referring to Christ’s dual and unmixed natures), or "Trinity" (the classic explanation for Christ’s divinity). We must know what they mean in context of the gospel. The unbeliever or the heretic just laughs when we try to bring on arguments based on man-accepted buzz phrases. But we should know the power of the words and that comes by faith in Christ. The Muslims have no idea who Christ is. They, like all other people lost in the darkness, think they know their way, but they have rejected the only light. Our job is to present the light, the Lord Jesus Christ. We present him the way Paul did. We preach Christ and him crucified.

By presenting Christ as a the only acceptable sacrifice to God, we clear up a whole lot of confusion. Christ had to be a man in order to die. He had to be a sinless man in order for his death to be unusual. But he had to be more than a sinless man for this death to make atonement. If we let the Bible do the talking, we see that Jesus existed in all of his glory (he wasn’t a half-formed idea) before his incarnation (John 17:5). He created the universe, and all the other things we know about (such as angels). The devil, for instance, was created by Jesus Christ (even if the devil hates the idea). The Spirit of Christ testified of His future suffering and glory (1 Peter 1:11). Jesus offered himself on the cross on purpose, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies and types (John 10:18, Luke 24:27). Jesus raised himself from the dead (John 2:19). Jesus ascended and stands at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56), and John says he sits on the throne of God with his Father (Rev. 3:21). In order for him to fulfill the scripture that says, "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him," the pre-incarnate Christ had to be the Lord God. (Isaiah 59:16). Jesus presents God as his Father throughout the New Testament. That makes him the Son of God.

In his humanity, Jesus was like all other men; in his humanity Jesus was quite unlike any other man. These two statements are true, but each one must be qualified because they sound contradictory. That’s how we must look at the divinity of Christ. He was God, but He was also man. If we understand this, that is well for us. But we must always remain humble in our knowledge. Paul, who probably had more insight into the the nature of God than any man will ever have said, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 1 Timothy 3:16

There are many more scriptures and applications of the doctrine of God in Christ. Perhaps the most poignant is John 14:9 (in context, of course). However, John says: "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist." 2 John 1:7. He also says: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." 1 John 5:20,21.

I highly recommend to the Muslim (and any unbeliever) the Gospel of John. It brings out the divinity of Christ and the simplicity of Christ as no other scripture I know.

- Chris Simonson