Der Alter, excellent post.
I hate to copy/paste, but I think a post I made elsewhere covers this, so here it is again:
Scriptural proof Jesus is God
Exodus 3:13
Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name ?' What shall I say to them?"
3:14
God said to Moses,
"I AM WHO I AM "; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, '
I AM has sent me to you.' "
I AM (verb): Hayah = Ato be, become, come to pass, exist, happen
3:15
God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, '
The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.'
This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.
Exodus 6
2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am
the LORD;
3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.
LORD (noun): Jehovah = "the existing One" the proper name of the one true God
What you need to understand is that in the OT, whenever you see "LORD" in all capital letters, that means that in Hebrew, it really says YHWH (also known as Jehovah). This is very important.
The reason English Bibles put the word "LORD" in there, is because of a centuries old tradition. Jews came to the place they would not utter YHWH for fear of taking it in vain. They wouldn't even write it with the vowel sounds (which is why no one knows for sure how to pronounce God's name).
When scripture was read, the reader would
substitute the word "Adonai" in place of YHWH to show respect for the Divine name. "Adonai" basically means "lord/master."
About 300 years before the birth of Christ, the Old Testament was translated into
Greek in Alexandria, Egypt. This translation is called the Septuagint. Whenever the Greek speaking Jews came across YHWH, they put in the word "Kurios" in it's place. "Kurios" is Greek for "lord/master." As you can see, Adonai and Kurios both mean "Lord" and both words were known and accepted as substitute titles for YHWH/Jehovah. So when our English versions were translated, the tradition continued, which is why you see "Lord" all the time.
So understanding that the Jews used "Lord" in reference to YHWH, let us look at Acts 2:
Acts 2
14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.
15 "For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
21
'AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF
THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'
Now let me stop right there and say that Peter does a fairly decent Job of quoting Joel. Now I checked out what Joel exactly said in the Hebrew. He said this:
Joel 2
32 "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of
the LORD Will be delivered;
Now Joel actually said
"whoever calls on the name of YHWH will be delivered" in Hebrew. Understanding (as we have spoke before) that "Adonai" became a spoken substitute title for YHWH as no one wanted to utter it, when Peter quoted Joel to these Jews, he would have said "Adonai" (and when Luke wrote this in Greek, he would have used "Kurios"). So all of these Jews hearing him know Peter is talking about YHWH so far. No problems... But then check this out...
Acts 2:36
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both
Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified."
This would have
stunned the Jewish audience. Peter has already establed that YHWH/Lord is the vehicle for salvation. Peter then goes on to say that Jesus, whom they persecuted, was not only the Messiah, but "Lord" and the Jews knew that meant Jesus is YHWH! This is why Acts goes on to say:
37
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"
Paul said the same thing Peter did
:
Philippians 2
2:5
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
2:6
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Before Jesus became a man, He was in Heaven as a divine being.
2:7
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and
being made in the likeness of men.
2:8
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
So the pre-existing God took on the form of humanity.
2:9
For this reason also,
God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
2:10
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
2:11
and that every tongue will confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What Paul is saying is God the Father RESTORED Jesus to His PRE-EXISTING STATUS He had BEFORE He emptied Himself and took on humanity! That is why it gives glory to the Father, because the Father is the one who restored Him by His mighty power! The Father exalted Jesus BACK to what He was previously, and this is made apparent by the Father giving Him back His "family name."
What is the name that is above every name? That should be easy. It is YHWH. Paul goes on to back this up by quoting Isaiah. Look here:
Isaiah
45:21
"Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old ? Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a
Savior; There is none except Me.
45:22
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.
So we have established that YHWH is speaking (obviously) and He says He is the savior, and there are no other gods, only YHWH.
45:23
"I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
Now look again what Paul said:
2:10
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
2:11
and that every tongue will confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What Paul is getting at is what Peter was getting at. YHWH is not the name of one being, but one God. One in UNITY. Look what Paul says:
2:6
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
2:7
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
This is exactly what John said in his Gospel:
John 1
1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
1:2
He was in the beginning
with God.
Whoever said "Jesus was a god" does NOT know Greek grammar. I actually read Koine Greek, and this tactic of butchering the grammar and the definite article does not conform to Greek grammar. The lack of the definite article in the phrase
"kai theos en ho logos" makes the noun "theos" serve like an adjective. It describes the nature of "ho logos" (The Word) So there are at least 2 "people" here. This is basically what Paul was saying in Philippians. Now check this out:
Isaiah 45
45:18
For thus says
the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am
the LORD, and there is none else.
Lets go back to John:
John 1
1:3
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
This is further evidence that Jesus Christ was/is a "piece" of what YHWH is. Before Jesus became a man, He existed as a divine being, but was NOT a separate "god." Jesus (the Word) was an "ingredient" of what God is!
This is why the NT writers went out of their way to designate who specifically they were talking about, God the Father Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit.
So to put it in simple terms, yes, it could be said that YHWH is a "family name." God the Father is YHWH, and Jesus is YHWH. But they are not both the same "person" but they do make one YHWH.
Think of it this way. America is made up of 50 states, but that does not mean there are 50 USAs here. Together they make "one nation."
Let us go back to what "YHWH/Jehovah" means. It means "the existing one" One who was and is and will be forever. Did Jesus ever identify Himself in this way? Lets look at the OT first:
Isaiah 41
4 "Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations
from the beginning?
'I,
the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.'"
Remember now, "the LORD" is really YHWH/Jehovah. Lets jumpt to Revelation, where Jesus is speaking:
Rev 22
12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Sounds pretty similar, huh? It gets better:
Rev 1:4
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace,
from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
"Him who is and who was and who is to come" is THE DEFINITION of YHWH. This greeting is from God the Father, not Jesus, as the next verse introduces Christ last:
Rev1:5
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood
Now you may ask me "So what?" How does this make Jesus YHWH?" Look what Jesus said right after this:
Rev 1:8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the
Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
So to summarize, the title "Lord" became a tradition to substitute the name YHWH. Peter and Paul both claimed that Jesus was "Lord." In fact, Paul gives the instruction on how to be saved:
Romans 10
10:8
But what does it say ? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart "--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
10:9
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Technically, the Greek does not say confess Jesus AS Lord, it says Jesus IS Lord! There is a small difference. Paul said that Jesus has been given the name above every name. That name is YHWH (Lord), thus solidifying the restoration of The Words fromer glory before He became a man. Now understanding all that, did Jesus ever claim to be YHWH/Jehovah?
John 8
58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born,
I am."
He sure did. Remember, He told Moses This is My name forever. That said, if someone calls on the name "Jesus," they are in effect calling on YHWH, as that is His name. 
