IS JESUS GOD?

My wife and I advertise on CL to share our Testimonies. An example: “I was a Jehovah’s Witness but now am a Christian! Request my Testimony.” Someone from *****, ** emailed back: “Always wanted to ask a Christian this: “Jesus never said the words, ’I am God!’” Where in the Bible is proof that he is God?” This video will explore the simple, yet profound and destiny determining question: IS JESUS GOD?

 

Jesus asked a similar question of is disciples in Matthew 16:13-17 (AMP): “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or [just] one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

Here is OUR ANSWER!

 

Some who deny that Jesus is God make the claim that Jesus never said, “I am God.” It is correct that the Bible never records Jesus saying the precise words, “I am God.” This does not mean, however, that Jesus never claimed to be God.

 

Is Jesus God?

Jesus claimed to be God!

 

Take for example the words of Jesus in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” We need only to look at the Jews’ reaction to His statement to know He was claiming to be God. They tried to stone Him for this very reason: “You, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33). The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was claiming—deity.

 

When Jesus declared, “I and the Father are one,” He was saying that He and the Father are of one nature and essence. John 8:58 is another example. Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth … before Abraham was born, I am!” This is a reference back to Exodus 3:14 when God revealed Himself as the “I AM.” The Jews who heard this statement responded by taking up stones to kill Him for blasphemy, as the Mosaic Law commanded in Leviticus 24:16.

Is Jesus God?

His Followers Declared Him 

to be God!

John reiterates the concept of Jesus’ deity: “The Word [Jesus] was God” and “the Word became flesh” (John 1:1, 14). These verses clearly indicate that Jesus is God in the flesh. Acts 20:28 tells us, “Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.” Who bought the church with His own blood? Jesus Christ. And this same verse declares that God purchased His church with His own blood. Therefore, Jesus is God.

 

Thomas the disciple declared concerning Jesus, “The Lord of me and the God of me” (KIT John 20:28). Jesus does not correct him. Titus 2:13 encourages us to wait for the coming of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ (see also 2 Peter 1:1). In Hebrews 1:8, the Father declares of Jesus, “But about the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.’” The Father refers to Jesus as God, indicating that Jesus is indeed God.

 

In Revelation, an angel instructed the apostle John to only worship God (Revelation 19:10). Several times in Scripture Jesus receives worship (Matthew 2:11, 14:33, 28:9; 17 Luke 24:52; John 9:38). He never rebukes people for worshiping Him. If Jesus were not God, He would have told people to not worship Him, just as the angel in Revelation did.

 

Is Jesus God? 

The reason Jesus must be God!

The provision of salvation only works if Jesus is God.

 

The most important reason that Jesus must be God is that, if He is not God, His death would not have been sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the world (“And he is a propitiatory (atoning, appeasing, peacemaking) sacrifice for our sins, yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.” NWT, 1 John 2:2).

 

A created being, which Jesus would be if He were not God, could not pay the infinite penalty required for sin against an infinite God. Only God could pay such an infinite penalty. Only God could take on the sins of the world, die, and be resurrected, proving His victory over sin and death. (“The one who did not know sin, he made to be sin for us, so that by means of him we might become God’s righteousness.” NWT, 2 Cor. 5:21)

Why Would God Become a Man??

The incarnation is difficult, if not impossible, to fully understand and you may be left wondering why God would humble Himself to become a man in the first place?

In the 4th century, a Christian named St. Athanasius set out to answer this question in his book, On the Incarnation. He said that there was a problem that only the incarnation could solve and called it the divine dilemma:

God created a perfect world and the crown of His creation was humanity, whom He created for fellowship with Himself. Humans had direct relationship with God and there was no sickness or disease. (Genesis 1 & 2.)

The first humans, Adam and Eve, were tricked by the devil and disobeyed God. From then on, mankind has continued to follow that pattern. Disobedience is called sin and sin creates a barrier between fallen humanity and a perfect God. Death and suffering entered the world as a result (Genesis 3).

In order to reconcile the debt of sin, a sacrifice or payment had to be made. Because mankind was imperfect and fallen, it was impossible for any man to make this payment. 

How could this payment be made then? How could man be reconciled to God? The only one holy enough to make the payment was God Himself. God couldn’t die as a sacrifice though, so He came as a man so that He could die on behalf of all mankind. The gospel (good news) that Jesus came to preach is that God had become a man and would sacrifice Himself in order to save us. As it says in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God becoming man was the only solution for humanity’s sin and separation from God. The incarnation stands as the ultimate example of how far God would go to restore His relationship with us. 

Answering Seven Objections to Jesus Being God

 

Cults and false religions often raise objections against both the deity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity. In what follows, key objections will be briefly summarized and answered.

 

#1. Jesus Is the Son of God not God the Son.

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that because Jesus is the Son of God, He must be a lesser God than God the Father. Among the ancients, however, an important meaning of Son of is “one who has the same nature as.” Jesus, as the Son of God, has the very nature of God (John 5:18, 10:30, 19:7). He is thus not a lesser God.

 

#2. The Father Is “Greater” Than Jesus.

Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that because Jesus said the Father is “greater” than Him (John 14:28), this must mean Jesus is a lesser God. Biblically, however, Jesus is equal with the Father in His divine nature (John 10:30). He was positionally lower than the Father from the standpoint of His becoming a servant by taking on human likeness (Phil.2:6-11). Positionally, then, the Father was “greater” than Jesus.

 

#3. Jesus Is the Firstborn.

Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that because Jesus is the “firstborn of creation” (Col. 1:15), he is a created being and hence cannot be truly God. Biblically, however, Christ was not created but is the Creator (Col. 1:16; John 1:3). The term firstborn, defined biblically, means Christ is “first in rank” and “preeminent” over the creation He brought into being.

 

#4. Jesus Is Not All-Knowing.

Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that because Jesus said no one knows the day or hour of His return except the Father (Mark 13:32), Jesus must not be all-knowing, and hence He must not be truly God. In response, Jesus in the Gospels sometimes spoke from the perspective of His divinity and at other times from the perspective of His humanity. In Mark 13:32, Jesus was speaking from the limited perspective of His humanity Phil. 2:5-11. Had he been speaking from His divinity, He would not have said He did not know the day or hour. Other verses show that Christ, as God, knows all things (Matt. 17:27; Luke 5:4-6; John 2:25, 16:30, 21:17.

#5. Jesus Prayed to the Father.

Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that because Jesus prayed to the Father, He could not truly be God. Biblically, however, it was in His humanity that Christ prayed to the Father. Since Christ came as a man—and since one of the proper duties of man is to worship, pray to, and adore God—it was perfectly proper for Jesus to address the Father in prayer. Positionally speaking as a man, as a Jew, and as our High Priest—“in all things He had to be made like His brethren” (Heb.2:17)—Jesus could pray to the Father. But this in no way detracts from His intrinsic deity.

 

#6. The Trinity Is Illogical.

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim the Trinity is illogical (“three in one”). In response, the Trinity may be beyond reason, but it is not against reason. The Trinity does not entail three gods in one God, or three persons in one person. Such claims would be nonsensical. There is nothing contradictory, however, in affirming three persons in one God (or three whos in one what)

.

#7. The Trinity Is Pagan.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have claimed the doctrine of the Trinity is rooted in ancient paganism in Babylon and Assyria. In response, the Babylonians and Assyrians believed in triads of gods who headed up a pantheon of many other gods. These triads constituted three separate gods (polytheism), which is utterly different from the doctrine of the Trinity that maintains that there is only one God (monotheism) with three persons within the one godhead.

 

CONCLUSION: JESUS IS GOD

 

Jesus declared Himself to be God. His followers believed Him to be God. The provision of salvation only works if Jesus is God. Jesus is God incarnate, the eternal Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8, 22:13) and God our Savior (2 Peter 1:1).

 

The Pharisees were angered because Jesus claimed to be God. If you claim Jesus is not God what makes you different from the Pharisees? Jehovah’s Witnesses, separated from Jesus by 2,023 years and 5,600 miles declare that the Pharisees, face-to-face with Jesus, got it wrong. DID THEY?

 

John 10:33  “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”  (NIV)

 

John 5:18 “For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God..“ (NIV)

 

1 John 5:20 “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.“ (NIV)

 

Thanks to GotQuestions.com for the information in this video.