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About Jesus Steve Sweetman
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The Deity Of Christ
When we use the phrase, "the
Deity of Christ",
we mean that Christ is God. We are not saying
that He is like God, or that He is another God.
We simply mean that the Lord Jesus Christ is in
fact God.
The question then is
asked. Why is
the Deity of
Christ important to us as Christians? The first
answer to this question is because Jesus claimed to
be divine. He is the only credible one in human history
that has made such a claim. Therefore it is logical to
raise this point. If Christ is not who He claims to be then we
need not look at Him any farther. We need not believe anything
else He says. If we believe His claim to being God,
we have no other choice but to take seriously all that
He says.
All other religious leaders are
known
for what they teach. Jesus is important because of
"who He is". What He taught is important. His teaching
is critical to us because of who He is, not merely because
it sounds right. He is God, therefore we have no other
choice but to believe and follow what He says.
The salvation message is part of
what Jesus teaches us.
This is the second reason why the Deity of Christ is crucial.
True salvation cannot come through mere man. Salvation
comes when God steps into the affairs of man and does
what is necessary to save man. The fact is that
God created man and He is the only one that can fix him.
God, in Jesus Christ paid the debt
in order to bring
salvation to man, in order to reconcile man back to
Himself. It is basic to our faith that man can do
nothing to earn salvation. God has done all that
there is to do in Jesus Christ to give us such a
gift.
Therefore the Deity of Christ is
important
to us because of Jesus' claim of divinity, and because He
is the only one that can fix a fallen mankind, which
He did in salvation.
Five Divine Attributes
There are five divine attributes
ascribed to God in the Bible.
By this we mean there are five characteristics of God that
make Him God, and not just another created being.
Therefore we say that God is; eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and immutable.
There are sufficient scriptures in
the New Testament showing that Jesus
had, and still has these five divine attributes. Thus, if Jesus has these
divine
qualities then He is in
fact God.
I will give you a list of scriptures
that show these qualities
in Christ. From this list we will look at one or two for
each quality. You can study the rest on your own time.
Jesus is eternal
By this we simply mean that Jesus,
like God, had no
beginning and has no end to His existence.
John 8:58
"I tell you the truth, Jesus answered, before Abraham
was born, I am."
The two different verb tenses used
by Jesus in this one
sentence clearly shows that Jesus' existence is always in the
"eternal now".
Other passages you can read are,
John 1:15, 17:5,24,
1:1, Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:10-11, Rev. 1:4, and Micah 5:2.
Jesus is Omnipresent
By this we mean that Jesus is in all
places at all times.
Matt. 18:20
"For where two or three come together in my name, there
am I with them."
Matt. 28:20
"...and surely I will be with you always, to the very
end of the age."
These two verses clearly show that
Jesus is in more
than one place at a time, no matter the place or the
century one might find himself in.
Jesus is Omniscient
Omniscience means all knowing.
Therefore we say that
Jesus knows everything about all there is to know.
Col. 2:2-3
"...in Christ, who is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge."
This verse shows that Jesus has all
wisdom and all
knowledge. The following scriptures
will show specific examples of things that only God
could know. These verses are, John 1:48, 2:24-25, 4:29,
6:70-71, 16:30, Luke 6:6, Matt. 24:24-25.
Jesus is Omnipotent
Jesus is omnipotent, meaning, He is
all powerful.
Hebrews 1:2-3
"...through whom He made the universe. The Son is
the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation
of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word."
To me this is one great verse
showing how powerful, and just
who Jesus really is. Other passages are, Rev. 1:8, and
Matt. 28:18.
Jesus is Immutable
When we say that Jesus is immutable
we
mean that He is incapable of change or being changed.
This means that He Himself, that which makes Him who He
is does not change. He may change His methods of doing
things from one generation to another, but He Himself,
His nature, never changes.
Hebrews 13:8
"Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday, today and forever."
This is an often quoted verse but it
does tell us the
truth about His immutability. Also Heb. 1:8 is another
scripture you might want to read.
Other Proofs of Deity
Who
Jesus is and what He does can give
proof of the divinity of Jesus as well.
The
Bible says that Jesus is the Creator in Heb.1:10
and John 1:3. Scripture says that He is the Sustainer of all
things in Col.1:17 and Heb.1:3.
Jesus
also performs such divine activities as, forgiving sins,
raising all dead, and executing eternal judgment.
These can be seen in Matt. 9:2-6, John 6:39-40, and
John 5:22-23.
Jesus
is also identified with Jehovah.
The word Jehovah, and the word Lord is translated
in the Old Testament from the Hebrew word Yahweh.
Yahweh is one of the sacred names for God that
is used in the Old Testament. Jesus is identified
with Yahweh, or Jehovah in the following passages,
Pas. 102:24-27, 68:18, Heb. 1:10-12, Eph.4:7-8,
Isa.8:13, Peter 2:7-8.
There
are also certain titles given to Jesus that suggest deity.
These are as follows, bread of life (John 6:41),
gate to the Father (John 10:9), way, truth and
life (John 14:6), true vine (John 15:5), Alpha,
Omega, beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13), the
Amen, faithful witness, and ruler of creation
(Rev. 3:14).
There
are also certain names
given to Jesus that also suggest divinity. These are, Immanuel (Isa. 7:14, Matt. 1:22-23),
Son of Man (Matt. 9:6, 12:8, 20:28), Lord (John 20:28,
Luke 2:11, Acts 16:31), Son of God (John 3:16. 5:18).
The
Old Testament (Ex. 34:14) teaches that
there is One God and that He and only He deserves our
heart felt worship. Jesus knew this was so because
when tempted by the devil He quoted from this Old
Testament passage. Matt.4:10 says, "away from me Satan,
For it is written, worship the Lord your God and
serve Him only". There are certain times in the
New Testament where people worshiped Jesus. One of
these times was in Matt. 14:33, where those who saw
Him walk on the water worshiped Him. In this case and
in others, Jesus did not deny this worship. He did not
ask for it, but when it came His way He accepted it,
knowing that only God deserved such worship. Therefore
we can say He is God because He accepted Godly worship.
Jesus
also said that He and the Father were one,
(John 10:37, 17:11). This presents a clear picture
of Jesus being God.
Key
Scriptures
There
are eight key verses that clearly prove that Jesus
is God. They are as follows.
John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 1:18
"No man has ever seen God, but God the only Son who is
at the Father's side has made Him known."
John 20:28
"Thomas said to Him, my Lord and my God." (Note, even
though this statement came from a man it was not refuted
by Jesus.)
Titus 2:13 "while we wait for our
blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God
and Saviour, Jesus Christ,"
Hebrews 1:8
"But
about the Son He says, your throne O God will last
forever,"
2 Peter 1:1
"Simon Peter, a servant,
and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the
righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have
received a faith as precious as ours:"
1 Timothy 3:16
"Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body..." (Some manuscripts read,
"God appeared in a body.)
Romans
9:5
"... and from them is
traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all..."
To
me these last eight scriptures clearly prove that
Jesus is in fact God. What else should be said.
Jesus is God. We as Christians must believe and know
this to be the truth. Now you know it and you know
how to prove it from a scriptural standpoint.
The
Deity of Christ is essential to our faith.
If it is really that important then we should
understand just what it means. Then beyond
understanding it we should be able to relate it to others.
Hopefully this can be of assistance to you.
For
a more detailed explanation your can read my article
on the Trinity which is much more extensive.
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