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Deity of Jesus Christ

A Brief Treatment

www.bibleone.net

 

Preface

 

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

(1 Peter 3:15)

 

The cardinal doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus Christ is in fact God.  He personally made the claim; no other major “religious” leader in all of history made such a claim.  It is the one claim that totally infuriated the religious leaders of His day.  Furthermore, because of His claim, a discussion about this aspect of His nature usually raises the ire of both the religious and the secular today.  To talk about Mohammed, Confucius, Buddha or other religious leaders never provokes serious opposition.  But to mention Jesus Christ as being God sparks the hostility and indignation from every quarter.

 

The Evidence

 

  1. Jesus equated Himself with God the Father (Yahweh God)

 

    • To know Jesus is to know God:  “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 14:7).
    • To see Jesus is to see God:  “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
    • To encounter Jesus is to encounter God:  “Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:11).
    • To trust in Jesus is to trust in God:  “Trust in God, trust also in Me” (John 14:1).
    • To welcome Jesus is to welcome God:  “Whoever welcomes me does not welcome Me but the One who sent Me” (Mark 9:37).
    • To honor Jesus is to honor God:  “That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (John 5:23).
    • To hate Jesus is to hate God:  “He who hates me hates My Father as well” (John 15:23).
    • To come to Jesus is to come to God:  “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6)

 

  1. The Jewish leaders of the day understood that Jesus claimed to be God.

 

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:18)

 

The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." (John 10:33)

 

  1. Jesus outright claimed deity by stating He was “one” with the Father and by referring to Himself with one of the most sacred expressions of the Old Testament, the one Yahweh used for Himself—“I AM” (Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 41:4; 43:10, 13, 25; 46:4; 48:12), and claiming to be “one with God.”

 

I and My Father are One. (John 10:30)

 

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM He, you will die in your sins . . . Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:24, 58)

 

  1. Jesus invoked divine prerogatives (exclusive only to God).

 

    • Forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7).
    • Receive worship (Matthew 28:16, 17).
    • Power/authority over death and life (John 5:21).
    • Judge humanity (John 5:22, 27).

 

  1. Others declared Jesus as God.

 

    • The Apostle Paul (Acts 20:28).
    • The Apostle Peter (Matthew 16:16B).
    • Martha (John 11:27).
    • Nathanael (John 1:49).
    • Stephen (Acts 7:59).
    • Thomas (John 20:28)
    • God the Father (Hebrews 1:8).

 

  1. The Bible specifically uses the name “God” in referring to Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14; Romans 9:5; Hebrews 1:8; Titus 2:13; 1 John 5:20)

 

  1. Scripture attribute attributes that can be true only of God to Jesus Christ:  self-existent (John 1:4; 14:6); omnipresent or present everywhere at the same time (Matthew 28:20; 18:20); omniscient or all-knowing (Matthew 17:22-27; John 4:16; 6:64); omnipotent or all-powerful (Matthew 8:26, 27; Luke 4:39-55; 7:14, 15; Revelation 1:8); and possessing eternal life (John 1:4; 1 John 5:11, 12, 20).

 

The Credentials of Christ to Back-Up His Claim

 

  1. Fulfillment of dozens of very specific Old Testament prophecies concerning the identity, mission, and message of the coming Messiah.
  2. Prolific miracle worker.
  3. Exhibited a matchless moral character, which changed the world forever.
  4. Resurrection from the dead—seen and testified to by hundreds (Luke 24:34; John 20:19-24; 21:1-23; Acts 1:4-10; 1 Corinthians 15:5-7; etc.).  The Roman and Jewish authorities could never refute it.
  5. Transformation of His followers—from cowards into martyrs (with nothing to gain if it wasn’t true).