Jesus Christ, God of Very God
The entire Western world dates every event in human history as directly related to the birth of Christ. Any event in time before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth has the initials “B.C.” (“before Christ”) after the year. Likewise, every event after Jesus’ birth is identified by the initials “A.D.,” which is the Latin phrase Anno Domini, or “the year of the Lord.”
Every date of human history bears testimony of Jesus of Nazareth. He asked His disciples, “Whom say ye that I am?” (Mt. 16:15). Jesus warned those who followed Him, “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). Obviously, it is of tremendous importance that we resolve the issue of who Jesus claimed to be.
Pre-Existence
Isaiah 7:14 prophesied “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel,” which is interpreted “God with us” (Mt. 1:23). Further in the book of Isaiah (9:6) this child is called “Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” The Hebrew word el-gibbor (“Mighty God”) attributes divinity to the newborn child named Jesus. The Hebrew word cannot be rendered to mean a god-hero as Isaiah 10:21 emphasizes. The “el” used here is none other than in the word “Immanu-el.” “El” used in the Book of Isaiah is always used in reference to a name of God, and in this sense, the name of Jesus the Messiah.1 “The everlasting Father” means this child is the “possessor of eternity’’ continually supplying for His children’s needs. He is not to be confused with God the Father. Other instances of Christ’s pre-existence are affirmed in the Psalms (2:7), declared by Christ Himself (Jn. 8:58), and confirmed by the Apostles (Col. 1:15-19).
In Judges 13:18, an angel of the Lord (Yahweh, or YHWH) appears to Manoah, bearing the name “Wonderful.” The angel of the Lord that commonly appears throughout the Old Testament is revealed as the pre-incarnate Christ (the theological term for these appearances is Christophany). It is important to note Manoah’s words regarding the angel of Yahweh: ”We shall surely die, because we have seen God” (13:22).
The pre-incarnate Christ appeared on numerous occasions to men in the Old Testament times as the Angel of the Lord. This Person accepts worship as God, which is something angels never do.
Joshua (5:13-15) identifies a “man,” who calls Himself “captain of the host of the Lord” (Yahweh). This is a reference to the angelic host. Joshua bows down to worship this “man” and calls Him “Lord” and refers to himself as His “servant.” The captain of the Lord’s host tells Joshua to loose his sandals for He is standing on holy ground. Sound familiar? This is reminiscent of Moses’ experience at the burning bush (Exod. 3:5).
Micah 5:2 states that prior to His birth Messiah made many appearances, of which the following examples are not even a handful. “Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” To be eternal, or “everlasting” is an attribute only God possesses.
Attributes of God
Jesus Christ possesses all the attributes that God the Father possesses. He is omnipotent (Mt. 28:18), omniscient (Col. 2:3), omnipresent (Mt. 18:20), and eternal (Jn. 1:1-2, 15). Jesus also demonstrates the attributes of God when He forgives sin (Mk. 2:7), performs miracles (Jn. 2:11), gives life (Jn. 10:10), and casts out demons (Lk. 8:28-33). He is also revealed as Creator (Col. 1:16-17). Perhaps the greatest proof of Jesus’ deity is in His resurrection (Jn. 2:19-21; Rom. 1:4).
Claims of Jesus Himself
Think for a moment about the claims Jesus made concerning Himself. There are only two logical responses. Either He was God or He was completely deranged.
Jesus claimed that He was the Bread of Life, Light of the World, sent from the Father, did only that which His Father commanded, claimed to be one with the Father, the only Way to the Father, had authority to execute judgment, came down from heaven, everyone of the Father would come to Him, and even claimed to be “I AM.”
Jesus would be a fool to make all these claims about Himself if He were not God of very God. It was His claims of being God that led to His crucifixion. He would have been a demon as well for promoting such lies, gathering together a group of disciples, and teaching them to lie for eternity when He knew He could not fulfill His claims.
To the person that claims Jesus was just a good moral teacher, the obvious is overlooked. He claimed to be God, and if He was not, He deliberately lied. If He lied He contradicted Himself by doing what He taught others not to do. Therefore He was a hypocrite if He was not God as He claimed to be. C. S. Lewis, late professor at Cambridge University, and at one time an atheist, remarked:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.2
Jesus Received Worship
Jesus stated that God alone was to be worshipped (Mt. 4:10), yet He received worship without rebuking His disciples (Mt. 14:33; Lk. 24:52). The saints in heaven worship Him (Rev. 7:9-10). Angels worship Jesus (Heb. 1:6), and even demons (Mk. 5:6). When Jesus healed a man, he worshipped the Lord Jesus also (Jn. 9:38). All mankind, whether they believe Jesus is God or not, will worship Him as God (Phil. 2:10-11).
Worship of Jesus is to God’s glory (Phil. 2:11). Whoever denies worship of Jesus, denies the Father as well (1 Jn. 2:22-23). When Jesus declared that He is equal to the Father the Jews sought to kill Him (Jn. 5:18), yet Jesus did not stop to correct them for misunderstanding what He meant. Rather, He further set forth His deity by saying, “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him” (Jn. 5:23). To deny the Son of God is to deny God the Father for they are one (Deut. 6:4).
Valid Testimonies
In Deuteronomy 32:1-4, the God of Israel is called “the Rock.” Moses in his song before all Israel calls God “the Rock of salvation” (Deut. 32:15-18). 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 states: “that Rock was Christ.”
Israel is told in Hosea 13:4: “I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt…there is no savior beside me.” 1 Timothy 4:10 brings this point home again. According to 2 Peter 1:11, 20; 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus 1:3-4; and 1 John 4:14, Jesus Christ is Savior of the world. How do we reckon these testimonies as true unless we believe the record therein that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, the Savior of all mankind?
Revelation 1:8 records Jehovah God’s words as: “ I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead.” Did you get that? When did Jehovah God die? Jesus died. You see Jesus is Jehovah God! Only a biased hatred of Jesus Christ would allow someone to ignore such conclusive evidence.
The Humanity of Jesus
Now that the evidence of Jesus’ deity is firmly established, we will briefly hit a few points concerning the genuineness of Jesus’ humanity. The purpose of the incarnation was to provide a perfect man who would die as a sacrifice for mankind’s sins. Being fully God and fully man, Jesus was able to sympathize with us and also become the perfect mediator between God and man. He paid the price that mankind could not pay. It would be pointless for God, who is spirit, to pay the penalty, since He is not a man. So Jesus, God from eternity, became a man through the virgin birth (thus, He was not born with a sin nature as we are) to do what we could never do in order to save ourselves from God’s righteous wrath toward sinners.
There have been various inadequate views concerning Jesus’ humanity, throughout the history of the church. These inadequate concepts are heresy, and it is important to correct those who deny the reality of Jesus’ humanity (or that give it an undue emphasis). Some of these views declared Jesus’ deity and humanity to be incomplete. Others denied His humanity altogether or erred in the distinction between these two natures. The incarnation is a fulfillment of God’s promise (Gen. 3:15). It was to reveal the Father (Jn. 5:19; Lk. 10:22), and leave us with a holy example to follow (1 Pet. 3:21).
The Tri-Unity of God
If we are to remain faithful to the Scriptures, we must admit that the Bible it is unequivocal in its assertion that there is one God and there are three distinct personalities in the Old and New Testaments who all possess the attributes, character, and nature of deity. The Latin word Trinity is not found in Scripture; rather it is a theological term for the one God self-revealed in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is indeed a mystery, and to say that we completely understand God’s nature is rather arrogant. Yet, one must not reject the revelation (like many cults) simply because it does not seem logical to them. Obviously, it is completely logical and rational to God as He has revealed Himself in such a manner. The tri-unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is so consistently linked throughout Scripture that rejection of the concept makes some passages impossible to understand. Just try to comprehend the following passages clearly without assuming the triune nature of God: Genesis 1:1-3, 26; Numbers 6:24-27; Isaiah 6:3; 40:13; 48:16; Judges 13:8-23; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; John 14:26; 15:26; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 13:14; Galatians 4:4-6; Ephesians 2:18; 5:18-20; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5.
The doctrine of the Trinity is found in the Bible; it is not conceived outside of it. This doctrine is not an invention of the third century council of Nicea (a fave claim by critics). To deny any of the three points listed below is to reject an essential truth of God’s revelation.
- There is only one true God (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 43:10; 1 Cor. 8:6)
- God is triune in unity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-three distinct, eternal, equal Persons and yet, one God. The Father is God (Rom. 1:7; Eph. 4:6). The Son is God (Jn. 1:1; 20:28; Tit. 2:13). The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4)
- The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the same God but distinct in subsistence (Mt. 3:16-17; Jn. 14:16)
God the Holy Spirit
Most people accept the deity of God the Father without argument. The deity of Jesus is vigorously denied by many, but by now it should be clear that Jesus Christ is God. Therefore, since the Holy Spirit is usually referred to as God’s impersonal spirit or even a force by cults, it will be beneficial to give brief attention to the Holy Spirit’s personality as the third Person of the Godhead.
The Holy Spirit possesses all the attributes of Deity. He is eternal (Heb. 9:14), omnipotent (Isa. 40:12-14; Lk. 1:35), omniscient (1 Cor. 2:10-11; Isa. 40:13-14), omnipresent (Ps. 139:70), and sovereign (1 Cor. 12:6, 11).
The Holy Spirit is personal. He speaks (Acts 28:25), teaches (Lk. 12:12; Jn. 14:26; 1 Jn. 2:26-27), possesses intellect (Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 2:10-12), and can be grieved (thereby having emotion (Eph. 4:30).
There you have it. One God eternally existent in three distinct Persons.
1 Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 7 (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 164.
2 C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Collier Books, 1960), 55-56.
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