Keep sharing good news without ads.
Reading John 10:31-42 where Jesus reminds the people that in Psalm 82 God referred to the proud and blasphemous as "little gods." Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
In Psalm 82, God said, you are gods. And Jesus repeats that in John 10. There are false teachers out there who will try to tell you that you are a little God, but they miss what God was talking about.
He was mocking proud men. When we understand the text.
Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Visit our website at www .utt .com.
Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. We come back again to our study of the gospel of John chapter 10, and we'll finish up the chapter today. I'll begin reading in verse 31 through verse 42. The apostle John wrote, the Jews picked up stones again to stone Jesus.
And Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the father for which of them are you gonna stone me? The Jews answered him, it is not for a good work that we're gonna stone you, but for blasphemy, because you being a man make yourself God.
Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? I said, you are gods. If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and scripture cannot be broken. Do you say of him whom the father consecrated and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said, I am the son of God.
If I am not doing the works of my father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and understand that the father is in me and I am in the father.
Again, they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first. And there he remained. And many came to him and they said, John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.
And many believed in him there. So back in verse 31, the Jews pick up stones again to stone him. And why is it that they do so? Because Jesus has claimed that God above is his father. And as we read back in chapter five, the Jews equated this statement with Jesus proclaiming himself to be equal with God.
There are many critics who will say that Jesus never claimed to be God, but the very title son of God is the claim to be God. There is no difference between Jesus calling himself God and Jesus calling himself the son of God.
The son of God is a title of deity. And the Jews certainly saw it that way because as Jesus referred to God as his father, which no one did, no one did that. We have nothing anywhere in the Bible of anyone referring to God as a father prior to Christ coming and referring to God as his father.
Now there's one statement in the Psalms. It's in Psalm 89 verse 26, where it says, he shall cry to me, you are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. And it might look there that it's in reference to David, but it's actually a prophecy concerning Christ who is a descendant of David and an heir to the throne of David.
The very next verse, verse 27, and I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. And we know that Jesus is referred to as the firstborn. In Colossians 1 .15, the firstborn of all creation.
In verse 18, he is the firstborn from the dead. And in Romans chapter eight, verse 29, he is the firstborn among many brothers. So Christ is referred to as the firstborn. He has received all things from his father.
He is the inheritor of everything. God has given all things into the hands of Christ and made him the highest of the kings of the earth. So Jesus is the first to refer to God as father. And we get to call God father because we are adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ.
Again, Jesus being the firstborn among many brothers means that there are others who are gonna receive the promises of the kingdom of heaven through faith in Christ. And that's all of us. Brothers and sisters together in Christ that we might be called the children of God.
First John 3 .1, how great the love of the father that he has lavished upon us that we might be called the children of God. And so we are. That's what we receive through Jesus Christ. But Jesus is the one who is first to call God father.
And the Jews registered that as Jesus calling himself God. Again, back to John five, verse 18. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, healing a man on the Sabbath in John five, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.
That's why the Jews wanted to kill him. So son of God was not some code. It was a statement of divinity. In verse 32, Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the father for which of them are you gonna stone me?
The Jews answered him, it is not for a good work that we're gonna stone you, but for blasphemy because you being a man, make yourself God. Again, referring to God as his father. That's the way they interpreted that statement.
Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? I said, you are gods. If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the father consecrated and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said, I am the son of God.
Now for this reference that Jesus is making here, we go to Psalm 82. And this is what we read. It's a short Psalm, just about eight verses. It says, God has taken his place in the divine council. In the midst of the gods, he holds judgment.
Now he's speaking somewhat ironically here because he's talking about the kings of the earth. That's the reference here in Psalm 82. And most of the kings of the earth at that time, you gotta think back, you know, to about a thousand BC when this was written, most of the kings of the earth believed that they were what?
They believed that they were gods, that they were deities because they got to sit on thrones and judge other people. In Genesis 1, 27, it says that God made man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them.
Now being made in the image of God does not mean that we look like God, but that's the way that we often interpret it. God looks like us, like a human being, or like an old man is often the way that he's depicted in paintings, even wearing clothes, strangely enough, because Genesis 1, 27 says that God made us in his image.
Therefore, God must look like us. But that's not what that means. To be made in the image of God means a few things. First of all, that we would be in fellowship with one another, that we have community with each other.
We desire relationship because God, who is triune, is a community unto himself, and God made us to be in a relationship with him. So because God is an interpersonal being, we are likewise interpersonal beings as he is.
Most of all, being made in the image of God means that we are meant to reflect the holy and righteous character of God. We, in our lives, are to give glory unto God in the way that we live. We should live holy and upright and godly lives before him in this present age.
Of course, because of sin, we don't do that. And because of the curse of sin that is upon every man, all are born into sinfulness. We actually bear the sinful image of Adam, and we need to be reborn into the image of Christ.
And for everyone who has heard the gospel and turned from sin and is following Jesus Christ, that's what's happening in your life. You are being remade into the image of Christ. Once again, referencing back to Romans 8, verse 29.
We are being remade into the image of the son, and therefore giving glory to God in living in Christ's likeness, that we would desire to be like his son, aspire to be like our savior, and growing in sanctification and holiness.
We are being remade into the image that we were supposed to bear when we were first created. All of us meant to be image bearers of God. But we have also been given dominion, because that's in the context of Genesis 1, 27.
God made man and gave him dominion over all of the earth. That means that he would rule over the earth and subdue it. So there's a certain sense here in Psalm 82 that man is doing what God meant for man to do, to have dominion, to even rule over the earth as God rules.
So man also rules over all of creation. But in this particular sense, man has taken that particular command to an extreme, and he thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think. So he has made himself God, rather than just being a judge or a ruler or having dominion over all the earth.
So God is speaking ironically in Psalm 82, when he says that in the midst of the gods, he holds judgment. He's looking down on all these guys that think of themselves as gods, but they were made in God's image, and God gave them dominion, and they have abused their power.
So here is how God speaks to them. Verse two, how long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? See, God has given them dominion, and they're supposed to have dominion over all the earth.
They are supposed to be as judges, but they're doing so unjustly. And so verse three, give justice to the weak and the fatherless, maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute, rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
They have neither knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. And this is in reference to those gods, those corrupt judges, once again. Verse six, I said, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.
Nevertheless, like men, you shall die and fall like any prince. In other words, you're gonna be reminded that you're not gods, you are just men, and you are gonna perish from the face of the earth because you did not fear the one who is God, who gave you dominion over the earth.
In verse eight, arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations. And here in this sense, Psalm 82, eight, we have a prophecy concerning Christ. For indeed, Jesus is going to be the one who judges all the earth.
He will arise, sit on his glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before him. And he will judge the living and the dead. This is Christ, to whom all authority has been given by his Father.
And so this is what Jesus is referencing here in John 10, when he says, is it not written in your law? I said, you are gods. If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father consecrated?
And of course, that's in reference to himself, the one who has been set apart as holy from everyone else, Jesus Christ. And in the sense of gods, in the sense of the ones who have been given dominion, Jesus is set apart even from them.
So do you say of him whom the Father consecrated? Me, the one who has been sent from the Father and sent into the world. You are blaspheming. Are you gonna say that to the one whom God has sent? Because I said, I am the Son of God, because I've spoken truth to you, is what Jesus is saying.
You're gonna say of me, who has divine right to claim to be God, you're gonna say that I'm blaspheming because I said I'm the Son of God? And Jesus is speaking quite brilliantly here in referencing Psalm 82 to refer to these people who are picking up stones and thinking that they are going to stone Jesus.
Well, first of all, the guys that God was talking to in Psalm 82 had more power than even these guys have. And yet God said to them, like men you shall die and fall like any prince. So if God was gonna strike them down, how much more is he gonna strike you down?
You who are picking up stones and are trying to stone the Son of God himself, whom God has consecrated. And you're accusing me of blasphemy, even though I have the right, the divine claim to be God. And I am the fulfillment of Psalm 82, 8, Jesus is saying, where the Psalmist said, Asaph, the Psalm of Asaph, arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations.
This little God reference, whether it's Psalm 82 or in John 10, this is not God calling man little gods. He's speaking ironically. He's saying to these guys, you think you're gods, but I will strike you down for blasphemy.
And here, these people who are picking up stones are accusing Jesus of blasphemy. Jesus in referencing Psalm 82 is actually telling them, no, that would be you who's committing blasphemy. Who's saying of me, the Son of God, that I'm the one blaspheming.
That would actually be you. And as God said to these kings in Psalm 82, that I will remind you that you are but men and like men you shall die. So the same will be the case for you. And so Jesus appeals to them, that they would look at the works that he was doing and believe that he had been sent by the Father.
Understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. Again, they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands, verse 39. So making a reference back to this little God's verse, Psalm 82, John 10, this verse is often taken out of context.
Word of faith preachers love it to claim that they themselves are gods. And they will say to you, you are a little God. This is why they preach their name it and claim it shtick. Because they will say that you are God, so therefore you can have whatever you claim.
Just as God speaks things into existence, so you can do the same. And this is the nasty stuff that they will teach and convince you of to get you to give them more money. I'm gonna play some clips from some of these name it and claim it guys.
Here is their little God's heresy. This first clip is Paul Crouch, who is the founder of TBN, the beacon of the prosperity theology, incidentally. And Kenneth Copeland is along with him here. Listen in.
Do you know what else that settled in tonight? This hue and cry and controversy that has been spawned by the devil to try and bring dissension within the body of Christ, that we're gods. I am a little God.
Yes. Yes. I have his name. I'm one with him. I'm in covenant relation. I am a little God. Critic, be gone. You are anything that he is. Yes.
Now they start out there by saying that there are people who are trying to divide the church by claiming that the little God's doctrine is heresy. The reality is guys like Crouch and Copeland are dividing the church by trying to convince people that they are little gods.
They're trying to convince people of the very thing that God was mocking rulers for and saying, I'm gonna remind you that you are men. You will die like men. So this was not at all a statement that we're supposed to seize and claim that we can be little gods.
No, that's hubris. You are thinking way too highly of yourself. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you, James 4 .10. Now Creflo Dollar is probably the most known for preaching this little God's doctrine.
He probably has the most popular clip out there of any of these health and wealth, name it and claim it, prosperity theology guys saying you are little gods. And by the way, there's nobody who has a more appropriate name teaching prosperity theology than Creflo Dollar, here he is.
Now in verse 26 and verse 27, God now submits himself to this principle of everything producing after its own kind. And in verse 26 and 27, let's read it out loud. Ready, read. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Now that's interesting because if everything produces after its own kind, we now see God producing man.
And if God now produces man, he produces after his own kind, get together, they produce what? And if dogs get together, they produce what? If cats get together, they produce what? Get together and make man, then what are they producing?
They're producing God. Hit this thing real hard in the very beginning because I ain't got time to go through all this, but I'm gonna say to you right now, you are God's little G. You are God's because you came from God and you are God.
You're not just human. The only human part about you is this physical body that you live in.
So there you go. There's Creflo Dollar's experts exposition of Genesis 1, 26 and 27. Joyce Meyer has said the same thing.
God calling his creation, his man, not his whole creation, but his man, little gods. If he's God, what's he gonna call him? I mean, if you as a human being have a baby, you call it a human kind. If cattle has another cattle, they call it cattle kind.
So I mean, what's God supposed to call us? Doesn't the Bible say we're created in his image?
And again, this is how these prosperity heretics convince you that you can have whatever you want because God can speak things into existence and you're a little God. So therefore you can speak things into existence, name it and claim it, confess and possess.
That's how they do it. Underscoring all of this is this heretical little God's doctrine. Going back to Psalm 82, here's Benny Hinn. You know who you are? Turn to Psalm 82.
This is gonna blow your mind real good. Psalm 82, one. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, that's you. He judges among the what? Now, would you please listen to me? This is talking about you.
He's telling the gods. Who are the gods?
You are. Say, I never heard that. Let me ask you this. Hello, you. Are you God's offspring? Then you're not human. Well, then who on earth is? I mean, the scary thing about this is the very passage where God is condemning man for his hubris.
These prosperity teachers are saying, no, that's who you need to be. You need to think of yourself as a little God. Even though God is saying, I'm gonna strike you down for thinking so highly of yourself.
And Jesus is warning the people here. They're accusing Christ of blasphemy. They're actually the ones blaspheming. So he says, if I'm not doing the works of my father, then don't believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and understand that the father is in me and I am in the father.
Because if you don't believe this, you will be destroyed. Repent, believe in Christ. And the wrath of God that is coming against all the unrighteousness of man will pass over you. You will be saved from the judgment of God and you will become heirs with Christ, sitting on his throne with him in glory.
That's what Christ gives to those who worship him, who humble themselves before God, who confess their sin, who understand that they are deserving of hell. But it is by the grace of God through Jesus Christ that we are forgiven our sins and we receive his kingdom.
Romans 12 .3, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Finishing up the passage here, verse 40, Jesus went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first and there he remained.
And many came to him and they said, John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true. And many believed in him there. Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Let us pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you so much that though we were sinners, you demonstrated love for us by sending your son Jesus to die for our sins. And it is by faith in him that we have been forgiven, washed clean, clothed in robes of righteousness and stand before you justified by the gift that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, so that you might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
I pray that we see today as yet another opportunity to live for the glory of God and give all moments unto you, that we might be shaped more into the image of Christ, that we not complain about our circumstances, but rejoice in knowing that what we deserve is death and yet we've received life and life everlasting and life in your glorious kingdom.
May we find ways to share this good news with others so that others may know of the salvation that is given in Christ, deliverance from judgment, and that they too may know newness of life and life everlasting.
And we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.
You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.
On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.