The Deity of Christ
John 1:1-5 KJV
“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 through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was the life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”.
John, the Beloved of Christ, proclaimed that Jesus is God! John McArthur relates in his book, “The Deity of Christ” that John’s words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, simply relate the most significant and irrefutable truth that Jesus is God and is the very foundation of Christianity to his Jewish brethren.”
John McArthur, in his book “Deity of Christ, divides His deity into six significant categories. These are two:
First, the scriptures confirm that Jesus is God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus repetitively referred to Himself as God with the divine name, “I AM”(cf. 4:26; 8:24, 58; 13;19). He stated that He had the divine nature and embodiment of God.
McArthur further relates that Jesus did not contest Thomas’ revelation about His being His Lord and His God (Jn. 20:28). Moreover, McArthur divulges that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Jesus existed in the form of God” and had absolute “equality with God” (Phil. 2:6). Furthermore, in Colossians 2:9, he pronounces, “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
Also, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Second: Jesus Christ Embodies the Unique Qualities of God:
To begin with, Christ is Eternal, the scripture discloses, (Mic. 5:2; Isa. 9:6), Omnipresent, (Matt: 11:23, 28:20); Omniscient, (Matt. 11:23; John 16:30; 21:17), Omnipotent, (Phil. 3:21); Immutable, (Heb. 13:8); Sovereign, (Matt. 28:18); and Glorious (John 17:5; 1Cor. 2:8; Cf. Isa. 42:8; 48:11), in which God communicates that “He” will not give His glory to another.
Summarily, all the previous scriptures support and buttress the contention and belief that Jesus, the Christ, is not only our Savior but God Himself. Every scripture in the Bible reveals the Love Story of God Whom Himself Redeemed and Purchased us from Satan back to Him!
Christ’s Humanity
The birth of Jesus was announced by the angel Gabriel, according to Luke 1:27-38. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and grew in Mary’s womb. She gave birth to him, God in the flesh! Jesus had a family: a mother, stepfather, and brothers, among other relatives.
Jesus was very human and very God. Isaiah prophesied about him in Isa. 7:14,
“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Immanuel.”
Another scripture in the book of John reveals that Jesus was also God. “And the Word was flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, (the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:13-14.
One pastor said that God came to earth in a man-suit! So be it!!!
The Atonement: “At One With”
God lost Adam, the first man in the Garden of Eden. The scripture discloses: 1 Corinthians 15:45-47 King James Version (KJV) “45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. As soon as Adam obeyed Satan in the Garden of Eden, Satan became his master, and sin entered the world.
With that act of disobedience, Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened, and they “saw” that they were naked and covered themselves with fig leaves. God is holy and cannot look at sin. Because of this, He killed an animal and used the animal’s skin to cover Adam and Eve. Blood was spilled from that animal, and they were separated from God and could not fellowship with him.
God then planned His reconciliation of mankind by sending our Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, to bring mankind back into fellowship with him through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Gen. 3:15).
Adam was the first man, perfect and without sin. God sent the second man, Jesus, perfect and without sin, to sacrifice his life on the cross. His blood, like the animal’s blood in the Garden of Eden, was spilled to cover the sin of mankind!
John 3:16 declares that “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Peter testifies in 1Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”
In addition, we see in Hebrews 5:9,“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; a beautiful explanation of God’s desire to bring man back to him.”
Therefore, all the previously expressed scriptures and more prove that God kept His promise and redeemed us from the curse of the law. God’s word is unequivocally trueand inspired by Him! The Old Testament looks toward the cross.
“The New in the Old contained,
The Old is in the New explained,
The New is in the Old concealed,
The Old is in the New revealed,
The New is in the Old enfolded,
The Old is in the New unfolded.”
In Kevin Conner’s book, “The Tabernacle of David”
The prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah, who would take away the world’s sins. “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” (Job 19:25 KJV)
The Burial of Christ, His Descent into Hell, His Resurrection,
The Nature of His Resurrected Body and His Ministry in Heaven
Luke 24:46 “46And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead thethirdday:”(c.f. Matt. 16:21; 17:22-23; Luke 9:22; 8:31; 9:31; 10:32-34; 14:21; Jn. 11:23-25; Jn. 5:25, 28-29).
His was a physical body when He died and a physical body when He resurrected. The scriptures disclose that Christ descended into hell, led captivity captive (Eph. 4:8), and has the keys to death and hell.
To provide irrefutable truth that He had risen, Jesus made several appearances after His resurrection.These appearances after His resurrection were to Mary Magdalene, Mk. 16:9; to the other women, (Mt. 28:9); to the ten disciples (Thomas absent), (Jn. 20:19). Also, to the eleven disciples, including Thomas; Jesus revealed that he was one and the same Jesus by showing his nail-scarred hands (Jn. 20:26). Other instances were: at the Sea of Galilee, where he ate fish with the disciples, (Jn. 20:21); to five hundred brethren, (1Cor. 15:6); at the time of his ascension, (Acts 1:9), and to Paul at his conversion, (Acts 9:5).
Summarily, in all of the preceding scriptures, Jesus showed himself to be flesh who could walk through walls, appear at will, eat with his disciples, talk and pray.
Conclusion
“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
Hebrews 7:25 NKJV tells us: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Bibliography
John MacArthur, The Deity of Christ, Moody Publications, 2017
Kevin J. Conner, The Tabernacle of David, Conner Publications, 1976
KJV Thompson Chain Bible, Nelson Publishers, 1978
