Are We gods?
Question: Are we gods? Scripture says, “You are gods.”
Answer: It’s a fascinating topic… and immense. I don’t know the answers to all of your questions but here are a few thoughts:
I wouldn’t worry about the “New Ager” thing since nobody really knows what that means and it gets thrown around as a cut-down. Sometimes that “new-ager” crowd is latching onto stuff that’s in Christianity but the Western modern church has ignored.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has a rich tradition of talking about the “deification” of man. The idea being that God became man that men might become gods or “like gods;” that is: yes, we are being made in the image of God and that perfect image is Christ, and He is God.
It’s a fascinating topic for UR when you consider that God breathed His breath (Spirit) into every chunk of clay that we call human; isn’t His Spirit Himself somehow? And why would God torture Himself endlessly? If we say that God cannot save all, aren’t we saying that God cannot save His own Spirit, save Himself, save His Breath from the clay? And if His breath is no longer in the clay, well then, that’s all it is: clay.
Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these my brothers, you do to me.” Is that because He’s in them? When I preach the gospel to the unsaved, I’m preaching it to Jesus—imprisoned in a body of sin, suffering with that person and for that person. So, Jesus in me ministers to the Jesus in them. For me, this is no longer a theory, but something that I think the Lord has shown me.
We are chosen “in Him” and we ARE His Body. Is my body me? Is my bride me?
John 10:34 “Is it not written in your law that you are gods?” said Jesus!
I think it’s the very definition of sin to think that you can make yourself God, and yet perhaps we could say that God can make us gods and that’s the very definition of salvation by grace through faith. To make myself God is Pride. To let God make me like Himself is Faith by Grace.
I also have a sermon on the text where Jesus says (or quotes) “you are gods.” You can check it out by clicking on this sermon title: gods?
Hope that helps, but man that’s a deep well!
Blessings,
Peter