The deity of Christ is a fundamental point of the Christian faith, and anyone who denies this truth, even if he calls himself a Christian, is in fact not one. But why do people say that Jesus is God? This is what we will discuss in this article.
Throughout its writing, the Bible has revealed the mystery of Christ, and has revealed through the Holy Spirit all the necessary things so that no one perishes, but that all have eternal life. So let’s look at what Scripture says about the divinity of Christ.
The Bible and Jesus Himself declared that He is God. Jesus declared to exist before Abraham was, which is declared also by John (John 1: 1) where he says that the Word, that is, Jesus before incarnating was God.
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The Bible affirms that Jesus is God
From beginning to end, the Scriptures explicitly state that Jesus is God. One of the best-known passages is Isaiah’s prophecy of the miraculous birth of Jesus, which informs us that his name would be “Immanuel.” This name means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14).
The psalmist David was also another who wrote about the full deity of Christ. Psalm 110 is a direct example of this, where we read about the kingdom and priesthood of the Messiah. This psalm even presents a dialogue between the Triune God: “Thus said the Lord to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110:1).
In the original text it reads literally: «Yahveh said to my Adonai». Yahveh is the proper name of God in the Old Testament, and Adonai is the title used to refer to the supremacy and greatness of God.
Related: What are the names of God?
Over time, the name of God was considered by the Jews as unpronounceable, and Adonai became the most common title to refer to Him. By giving the title of Adonai to the Messiah, David he was explicitly declaring his divinity. Jesus himself, teaching in the Temple, used this same psalm to affirm his identity (Mark 12:37).
Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about His divinity
In Psalm 110 we also read the following proclamation: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4). Later, the writer of the book of Hebrews understood this, and used this same psalm to speak of the perfection and superiority of the priesthood of Christ Jesus (Hebrews 7-8).
The prophet Malachi was another who also prophesied about the deity of Jesus by stating that the Messiah is the Messenger sent by God.so it is the Lord Himself (Malachi 3:1; Mark 1:2; Luke 1:76).
The New Testament also points directly to the truth that Jesus is God. The first words of John’s Gospel declare this truth: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).
Here it is worth saying that the great purpose of the Gospel of John was to affirm the full deity and humanity of Jesus.which were under attack by the false teachers in the first century AD
When the angel appeared to Joseph of Nazareth in a dream to announce the birth of Jesus, he immediately told him that this extraordinary event was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, already quoted in this text, according to which the virgin would give birth and their son would be named Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23).
On a few occasions during Jesus’ earthly ministry, the apostles explicitly professed that Jesus is God. The apostle Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). After his resurrection, it fell to the apostle Thomas to confess: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
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Jesus claimed to be God
The New Testament records many details and occasions when Jesus himself speaks of his divinity. It is true that we do not have any verse where it can be read exactly, and with that same order of words, something like: “And Jesus said: I am God.” However, this understanding is so explicit in Jesus’ words that it is impossible not to notice or deny it.
We can start with the title “Son of Man.” This title was the most used by Jesus to refer to himself. Contrary to what some people think, this title not only points to the human nature of Jesus, but also to his divinity, since it is the title used by the prophet Daniel to refer to the One who came in the clouds and to whom He gave dominion, honor, and an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14).
By using this title, Jesus was also declaring that He was the One of whom the prophet Daniel prophesied.
Jesus also openly declared that He and the Father are One (John 10:30)., as well as saying: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). With such statements, Jesus claimed to be fully God.
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Jesus Christ declared to be “I am”
One day, when the Pharisees questioned Jesus about his identity, he answered them: “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). This answer is an explicit statement that Jesus is God. The expression “I am” is very special because it is the expression that translates the meaning of the personal name of God in the Old Testament.
When Moses asked God what his name was, the answer was, “I am that I am” (Exodus 3:14). Therefore, by using this expression, Jesus was affirming his full divinity, and the proof of this is that the Jews understood what Jesus was saying, to the point that they picked up stones to stone him, accusing him of being equal to God (John 8:59). 5:18).
This was not the only time that Jesus used the expression “I am.” The same Gospel of John brings seven important statements of Jesus where he uses this expression:
1. “I am the bread of life» (John 6:35,48,51). Here Jesus claims to be the spiritual food that sustains his people.
2. “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9,5). Here Jesus declares that those who follow him will never be in the dark.
3. “I am the door” (John 10:7,9). By saying this, Jesus assures us that He is the door that gives access to God, and whoever enters through Him will find pasture and be saved.
4. “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11,14). Jesus declared that he lays down his life for his sheep and protects them.
5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Jesus claimed to be life itself that conquers death.
6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus taught that only through Him are we led to the Father.
7. “I am the true vine” (John 15:1,5). With this affirmation, Jesus warned that only by being in Him can we bear fruit.
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The early church understood that Jesus Christ is God
Although the divinity of Christ was greatly attacked by heresies during the history of the Church, the truth is that from its earliest days, the early church I had already understood that Jesus Christ is God.
An example of this was the episode of the martyrdom of Esteban. When he was about to die, that man of God exclaimed: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). At that moment he was seeing the heavens open, and Christ standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56), and by giving up his spirit to Jesus, he was openly declaring the divinity of Christ.
The apostles, in their epistles, also directly taught that Jesus Christ is God. An example of this is the passage in which the apostle Paul, writing to Timothysays that “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). This passage reveals both the deity of Christ and his humanity.
In Acts 20:28, we read about God’s Church, “which he bought with his own blood.” We can see here that it is directly indicated that Jesus is God. The Apostle John, in his first epistle, also wrote that Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).
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Jesus is God and has the divine names and attributes
In Judges 13, in the narrative of Samson’s birth, his parents were visited by the Angel of the Lord. When they asked the name of that angel, they heard the following answer: “Why do you ask me my name? It is a marvelous mystery.” (Judges 13:18). After hearing this answer, as soon as the angel left, Manoah, Samson’s father, declared: “We shall surely die, because we have seen God” (Judges 13:22).
Notice that they understood that they had received a visit from God himself. Much later, in one of the best-known prophecies of the prophet Isaiah, we find the revelation of the name of the Messiah: “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). The combination of these two passages is an undeniable statement that Jesus is God.
There are other passages in which Jesus is called by names and titles that also reveal his divine attributes.
We have already seen that David, in Psalm 110, called the Messiah Adonai. Also in Psalm 24, a messianic psalm that celebrates the exaltation of the Messiah, the same psalmist attributes to him the name “Lord of hosts”, which is the very “King of Glory” (Psalms 24:10), a title similar to that used by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:8, when he called Jesus “Lord of Glory.”
The prophet Isaiah, on the occasion of his call to the prophetic ministry, feared for his life, for his eyes had seen “the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). In the New Testament, we are told that on this occasion the prophet saw Jesus himself, the Son of God (John 12:40-41).
The prophet Micah, when prophesying about the birth of the Messiah, not only prophesied about his humanity, but also about his divinity, clearly pointing out his eternity (Micah 5:2).
In the New Testament, Jesus is also designated as the Alpha and the Omega, a title equally attributed to the Father (Revelation 22:13; 1:8; Isaiah 44:6). With all this, we understand that the Bible clearly affirms that Jesus is God and attributes to him the attributes that only belong to God, such as:
- Eternity (John 1:1; Hebrews 13:8; Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2)
- Omnipotence, that is, He is the Almighty (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:21; Revelation 22:13)
- Omnipresence (Matthew 18:20; 28:20)
- Omniscience (John 1:48; 16:30; 21:17; Colossians 2:2,3)
- Immutability (Hebrews 1:11,12), etc.
See also: Why is Abraham the father of faith?
Jesus is God and his works confirm it
Another indisputable proof that Jesus Christ is God, are the works attributed to him. For example:
- Jesus is God because He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Colossians 1:16,17), and “without Him was nothing made that was made” (John 1:3).
- Jesus is God because he can save or condemn, reveal or hide salvation from men (Matthew 11:26,27; John 5:21).
- Jesus is God because he is the one who hears and answers the prayers of his people so that the Father may be glorified (John 14:13; 2 Corinthians 12:8,9).
- Jesus is God and has the power to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24).
- Jesus is God and therefore…