End of Day 7

Is Jesus God?

Written by Brad Huddleston

Z Ministries

Revised 11.04 (Revisions 1, 2, 3, 4) Revisions are in light blue.

First let's establish something. Either Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, or he was a lunatic and a liar. He left no discussion for anything else. Either he is God, or Christianity is part of the biggest hoax in human history. Paul stated this fact the best,

"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

1 Cor 15:14 (NIV)

Let's first establish who Jesus Christ is. He is the 2nd person of the Blessed Trinity, the eternal Godhead. In the OT he was known as "The angel of the LORD" before his incarnation. God is actually three different persons Think of it as 3 in 1. I believe that Christian-Answers.com has the best explanation for this.

God is a Tri-unity, with each Person of the Godhead equally and fully and eternally God. Each is necessary, and each is distinct, and yet all are one. The three Persons appear in a logical, causal order. The Father is the unseen, omnipresent Source of all being, revealed in and by the Son, experienced in and by the Holy Spirit. The Son proceeds from the Father, and the Spirit from the Son. With reference to God's creation, the Father is the Thought behind it, the Son is the Word calling it forth, and the Spirit is the Deed making it a reality.

So your saying that Jesus Christ wasn't Jesus Christ before he was born on earth? Yes, that is exactly what I am saying, yet he is, was, and will always for eternity be the 2nd person of the Godhead. The important thing to remember is, Jesus is God. To read the study on the names of God click here. (Not finished yet)

Now for the Question. Did Jesus ever claim to be God? Yes, he did. On more than one occasion I may add. Let's take a look at different area's of what Jesus Said.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." John 8:58 (NASB)

"I am". THE name of God in the Old Testament. This is the very essence of God, meaning his self existence. Here Christ is pronouncing his deity. Jesus here is saying that before Abraham was born, he existed in the form of God. The Jews in his presence understood this perfectly. That is the exact reason why they tried to stone him at this time. (1)

"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." John 14:9 (NIV)

What a statement! Jesus is saying, if you have seen him, you have seen the Father. Here is another example of Jesus claiming to be the manifestation of the God. Think about it, how could you read anything else out of this? I have a theory that I will share with you at this time. When we die and go to heaven, I am pretty confident that you will never see the Father at all. You will only see the Son, Jesus Christ sitting on the throne. Neither will you see the Holy Spirit. I will elaborate on this in another study, but let's continue.

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Matt 11:27 (NASB)

This is a double whammy. Take a close look at these words. Here Jesus is revealing a very deep theological concept. Here he is revealing not just his deity, but his identity as well. Jesus is telling his disciples that he has always been the manifestation of the Godhead, and he has been the perfect Revealer for all eternity. Because of this he has always served as the Angel of Jehovah until the incarnation, when the "Word of God became flesh". (2)

"They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, "I am He. " And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.  So when He said to them, "I am He, " they drew back and fell to the ground." John 18:5-6 (NASB)

Jesus loved to say, "I am". Jews just would not say this. They would say, I, me, am I, myself, and so forth. But never, "I am" in the beginning of a sentence, for that was blasphemy. Notice what happened when Jesus says, "I am He"? The guards fell back to the ground. I believe this was supernatural. In any case, Jesus again states his deity. Now think about why the guards fell back. What would cause grown men who are warriors fall back to the grown when a man says, "I AM!"? Would you fall to the ground is someone told you they where who you where looking for? You will when you seek God, and he reveals himself to you!

"You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God."  Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER , and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN ." Matt 26:63-64 (NASB)

Here we are at the trial in the middle of the night, which was illegal in the LAW by the way, and Jesus is being questioned by a pharisee, and what does he ask Jesus? He asks if he is the Christ, the Son of God. Why was this important? Because he was being charged with Blasphemy! Jesus stated quite often that he had the same rights and privileges of God. He stated very clearly that he could forgive sins. Very high claims for a mere man! Only person that could claim these things and for them to be true is God, the Living God of Israel. Jesus not only fulfilled these claims, but he proved that he is God by his life, his ministry, his death, resurrection and ascension.

Now lets take a look at what John the Apostle said of Christ.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."John 1:1-5 (NASB)

Here the Word refers to Jesus Christ. John is telling us that Jesus is God, always has been God, and always will be God. The Word has always existed, this speaks of him being eternal, everlasting. This also speaks of Jesus as being the Creator of all things!

And lastly,

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18  No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known" John 1:17-18 (NIV)

This passage right here. John 1:17-18 reveals without a shadow of a doubt, who Jesus is. "but GOD THE ONE AND ONLY". What does it say here? God, the One and Only.

Rejoice prince and princesses of the Kingdom of God, and the heirs to God's throne! Our Jesus, our Savour, is without a doubt, our eternal God!

I pray that this has confirmed for you who Jesus Christ is. That he is in fact God in the fullest sense of the word. He claimed to be God, and he proved it through his life, his miracles, hid death, his resurrection, and his ascension.

Written by: Brad Huddleston

 

 

1.  At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. John 8:59 (NIV) Return to study

2. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NASB) Return to study

Blasphemy - is a transliteration of a Greek word meaning literally “to speak harm.” In the biblical context, blasphemy is an attitude of disrespect that finds expression in an act directed against the character of God.—Holman Bible Dictionary Return to study

Forgive Sins "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, and walk'? 6 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" —then He said* to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home." 7  And he got up and went home. 8  But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. Return to study

Matt 9:5-8 (NASB)

Click here to read Eternal Salvation!