JESUS IS GOD!

JESUS IS GOD!

The essence of the Christian faith involves the fact that God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 3:16). Jesus did not just “act” like God, “Jesus was God”! “Jesus is God”! Even though Jesus was by very nature God, He willingly emptied himself and became a man (Phil. 2:6-7). Isaiah predicted and Matthew confirmed that His name was “Immanuel” which means “God with us” (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1:23). Isaiah further described His incarnation: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.” (Is. 9:6). Heaven was amazed when God came to earth as a tiny infant in manger of Bethlehem. As Isaiah said, however, that “child” was the “Mighty God” and the “Everlasting Father”. On that momentous occasion a great company of the heavenly host appeared with an angel praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Lk. 2:8-14). “Beyond all question the mystery of godliness is great: God appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world was taken up to glory” (1 Tim. 3:16). Truly God was in our midst: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col. 2:9).

Of all the important questions that need to be answered, the identity of Jesus should be at the top of the list. Since Jesus is God, knowing Him should be life’s highest priority!

“In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Sadly, however, Jesus was despised and rejected by men (Is. 53:3).

One problem we face in seeking to understanding how God can be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time is that God is “Infinite”. This means that a finite mind cannot completely understand Him. This should be obvious! Infinite space does not fit in a finite box. We can only partially understand “infinite space”. We “believe” that our observable universe is 93 billion light years in diameter but we cannot prove it. Our earthly mind, however, is incapable of understanding space that has no beginning or end. Similarly, we can only partially understand “time”. Yes, we can repeat like a parrot “billions of years”, but again our finite minds are not capable of understanding time that has neither a beginning or an end. Yet, this is precisely the nature of God. He is eternal! He has no beginning or end. Our ability to understand God is only partial. As Paul said, we can see only God darkly, like a poor reflection as in a mirror (1 Cor. 13:12). Someday, of course, we hope to see God “face to face”.

While we cannot completely understand God, we can understand all we need to know about God in order to be “born again”! To “know” Christ and the power of His resurrection is to take hold of eternal life (Phil. 3:10; 1 Tim. 6:12).

Here are a few Scriptures that help us to know God:

• God is Spirit (John 4:24; 2 Cor. 3:17)
• There was none before Him and there will be none after (I Tim. 1:17)
• God is Light (Is. 60:19; Ja. 1:27; I John 1:5)
• God is Love (I John 4:8, 16.)
• God is Incorruptible (Rom. 1:23.)
• God is eternal (Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; Rev. 4:8-10.)
• God is immortal (I Tim. 1:17; 6:16.)
• God is almighty (Gen. 17:1; Ex. 6:3.)
• God knows everything (Ps. 139:1-6.)
• God is everywhere (Ps. 139:7-10.)
• God is perfect (Matt. 5:48.)
• God is holy (Ps. 99:9; Is. 5:16.)
• God is glorious (Ex. 15:11; Ps. 145:5.)
• God is just (Deut. 32:4, Is. 45:21.)
• God is true (Jer. 10:10; John 17:3.)
• God is upright (Ps. 25:8; 92:15.)
• God is righteous (Ezra 9:15; Ps. 145:17.)
• God is good (Ps. 25:8; 119:68.)
• God is great (2 Chron 2:5; Ps. 86:10.)
• God is gracious (Ex. 34:6; Ps. 116:5.)
• God is faithful (I Cor. 10:13; I Pet. 4:19.)
• God is merciful (Ex. 34:6-7; Ps. 86:5.)
• God is compassionate (2 Ki. 13:23.)
• God is jealous (Ex. 20:5; 34:14; Josh. 24:19; Nah. 1:2.)
• God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29.)

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Our clearest and most complete understanding of God, of course, comes through Jesus Christ. “For in Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fulness in Christ . . .” (Col. 2:9). This “fulness” as we have said, is limited by our finite minds. Jesus Christ, however, presents to us the “fullest” and most complete view of God that the human mind is capable of understanding!

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD

The Gospel of John begins by stating: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).

This verse is significant for several reasons. First, it reveals that “mind” came before “matter”. As you know, this is a great controversy in our modern world. And there are, as you also know, only two possibilities. Either mind produced matter, or matter produced mind. One or the other had to come first! Since atheists do not “believe” in God they “believe” that matter came first. This also forces them to “believe” that somehow matter produced “mind”. They further “believe” that “mind” produced the “idea” of “God”. Atheist Thomas Nagel wrote about this in his book “Mind and Cosmos”. The explosive subtitle of his book is: “Why the Materialistic Neo-Darwinian Concept of Nature is Almost Certainly False”. Nagel, who does not believe in God, dares to doubt that a physical “cosmos” can produce a non-physical “mind”. Nagel openly confesses his prejudice against God. He said: “I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief.”

The Bible is clear that “mind” came before creation. The first verse in the Bible states: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). God, as you know, has a “mind”. He is “Omniscient”. He “knows everything” (1 Jn. 3:20). As mentioned above: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).

The Bible is clear that God created the universe. The “word” in John 1:1 is “logos”. It refers to a “logical” expression of “thought”. Since God is “logical,” so is His creation. Information only comes from a mind. It is not logical to believe that information can spontaneously occur on your cell phone by accident! Neither is it logical to “believe” that information occurs anywhere by accident. Creation did not produce information, information produced creation. God came first!

Words are vehicles of communication. The word “elephant”, for example, immediately communicates information to those who have seen an elephant. Similarly, the word “God” immediately communicates information to those who have seen “Jesus”. Jesus is not just the “Word of God” He is God! Jesus is our Creator! He created everything that has been created! “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3).

GOD IS SPIRIT

Jesus said: “God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Since human eyes cannot “see” a “spirit’, John explains that God became flesh so we could see Him. As a Spirit it would be difficult to know much about God. When God became flesh, however, we could experience Him with our five senses: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life (1 John 1:1).

How simple! How profound!

Jesus is therefore the “image” of the “Invisible God” (Col. 1:15). The Bible word for “image” is “eikon” from which we get our English word “icon”. This is the word we use to reference the little

“image” on your computer screen. How beautiful! When you “click on Jesus” you get “God”. So our invisible God has made Himself known through Jesus: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18). The word translated as “made him known” is “exegeomai”. It is the basis of our English word “exegetical”. An “exegetical sermon” is one that merely explains the text. In this regard Jesus “explains” God!

Please note that the Scriptures ascribe to Jesus the same attributes they ascribe to God:

• Both are the great "I Am" (Ex. 3:14, John 8:58)
• Both are the "First and the Last" (Is. 44:6, Rev. 1:11)
• Both are "Lord of Lords" (Deut. 10:17, Rev. 17:14)
• Both fill the heavens and the earth (Jer. 23:24, Eph. 1:20-23)
• Both do not change (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8)
• Both are Creators (Gen. 1:1, Col. 1:16)
• Both are Judges (Rev. 20:12, II Cor. 5:10)
• Both are to be worshiped (Matt. 4:10, Rev. 5:12-14)
• Etc.

IDENTIFYING JESUS AS GOD

As we have said, identifying Jesus as God is foundational to our Christian faith! The apostles of Jesus were constantly trying to understand exactly who Jesus was. When Jesus calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee, for example, His disciples said: “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him” (Matt. 8:27). Recognizing Jesus as God answers that question.

At Caesarea Philippi Peter identified Jesus as: “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). While Jesus congratulated Peter for his answer, it is still possible to say those words without understanding that the “Son of God” is actually “God”. Please consider:

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The word “Christ,” doesn’t mean God. It comes from the Greek word “Christos” which means “the anointed one”. (The Hebrew word “Mashiach” or “Messiah” means the same thing) All the Hebrew kings like David were “anointed” (1 Sam. 16:13). Remember! David refused to harm King Saul for he was the Lord’s “anointed” (1 Sam. 24:6). The priests like Aaron were also “anointed” (Ex. 28:41). No king or priest, however, was actually God.

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Neither does the expression “Son of God” necessarily prove the Deity of Jesus. The expression “sons of God” (plural) occurs 10 times in the Bible. (Gen. 6:2; 6:4; Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7; Matt. 5:9; Lk. 20:36; Rom. 8:14; Rom. 8:19; Gal. 3:26). In none of these instances does the expression “sons of God” refer to God Himself.

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The expression “Son of God” (singular) occurs 47 times in the Scriptures, primarily in the four Gospels and 1 John. It consistently refers to Jesus. While the expression, “Son of God” can mean “God”, apparently not everyone understands it this way.

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Consider, for example, the case of Philip the apostle. Philip was among the first disciples of Jesus (Jn. 1:43). After three years with Jesus, however, he still did not correctly identify Jesus

as God. We know this because on the night before Calvary Philip said to Jesus: “’Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us’ Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me Philip, even after I have been among you for such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words that I say unto you are not just my own. Rather it is the Father living in me, who is doing the work. Believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves . . .” (John 14:8-11).

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Once when Jesus called God His Father, the Jews tried to kill Him: “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Sadly, sometimes the enemies of Jesus understand Him better than His friends.

THE DEITY OF JESUS IS REALLY GOOD NEWS

Recognizing that Jesus is God is almost too good to be true. That’s why Isaiah said: “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Is. 53:1) To illustrate how comforting it can be to realize that Jesus is God, just suppose you were the woman caught in the act of adultery (Jn. 8:1-11). The Law of Moses was clear that such a woman should be stoned to death (lev. 20:10). Would you want to be judged by the Law or by Jesus? While the Law condemned her, Jesus did not! He gave her another chance! Since Jesus is God His judgment is final! There is no higher authority in the Judgment than Jesus! This is indeed Good News! Remember! “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17).

You may not be good at keeping appointments, but here are two appointments you will definitely keep whether you want to or not. For “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27 KJV)

• 1 You will keep your appointment with death!
• 2 You will also keep your appointment to face God in the Judgment!

THE FACT THAT JESUS IS GOD MAKES THIS A HAPPY THOUGHT! Jesus will Himself be our Judge and He has promised that if we confess Him on earth, He will confess us before the angels in heaven (Lk. 12:8). Salvation is just that simple! Remember! “the Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (Jn. 5:22). Knowing this helps the believer to face death and judgment without fear! Remember! For the Christian there is no fear in Judgment (1 Jn. 4:16-18).

AN IMPORTANT WARNING

Here are some things that you know are true:

• You know that Jesus loves you!
• You know that Jesus suffered and died on the cross so that your sins can be forgiven.
• To reject the love of Jesus, therefore, is the height of selfishness, ingratitude, and disrespect.

“Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has

trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that has sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:28-29).

REJECTING JESUS AS GOD HAS ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES! DON’T DO IT!