Some of the greatest divisions in beliefs come from this one question: “Who do you think Jesus is?” It is widely accepted that Jesus was a historical figure who walked the earth. However, so many people stumble to understand His true nature – Jesus is Lord and fully God, yet He also came down to us as a human being, fully man.
Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” But He also tells us who He says He is. You can read more about this in a post I wrote some time ago: https://lostnowfoundk.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/who-do-you-say-that-i-am/
Building on this, I want to focus on the Scriptures that clearly tell us Jesus is God. Three aspects in the Bible show us the deity of Christ.
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Jesus’ own declaration.
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The declaration of His believers.
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The works that He performed.
Jesus claimed to be God, His followers proclaimed it, and His works confirmed it.
The Gospel of John records an interesting conversation between the Jews and Jesus. First, they accuse Jesus of being a Samaritan and having a demon. Jesus bluntly tells them He does not have a demon. He follows this by saying that He honours His Father, and that “if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” [John 8:51]. With this, the Jews are stirred since Jesus makes a bold claim. He claims that He can offer eternal life, something none of the prophets, or forefathers had ever claimed before. The Jews say to Him, “Who do you make Yourself out to be?”, and Jesus gives this answer:
“… If I honour Myself, My honour is nothing. It is My Father who honours Me, of whom you say that He is your God… Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” – [John 8:54, 58]
Here is Jesus’ claim in black and white. The God of Abraham, whom the Jews worshipped, is Jesus’ Father. The Father honours Jesus, so Jesus’ word is true. Jesus refers to Himself as “I AM”, not only implying His existence before the beginning of the earth, but also confirming His deity and nature as God Himself. The Jews would have known the Scriptures in Exodus where God spoke to Moses and declared Himself to be “I AM”.
Flip through a couple more chapters in John, and we come to Thomas’ declaration of who Jesus is. It is the time of Jesus’ resurrection and the disciples tell Thomas that they have all seen the resurrected Lord. However, Thomas tells them he will not believe unless he sees Jesus’ pierced hands and feet himself. Eight days later, Thomas does see Jesus, and he proclaims, “My Lord and my God.” [John 20:28] He believes that Jesus is indeed who He says He is, having fulfilled all the prophecies about the Messiah, including that He rose from the dead.
Finally, the works of Jesus themselves support His claim – His resurrection, His miracles, and His forgiveness. The Gospel of Luke tells the story of a sinful woman who approached Jesus while He was at the house of a Pharisee. The woman worships Him extravagantly – washing His feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and pouring perfume upon them. Jesus says to the woman, “…Your sins are forgiven.”, and those who are there ask themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” [Luke 7:48-49] This is significant because the only one who can forgive sin is God Himself. No angel, creation or man has the authority to do this, but only God Himself. Matthew 9 tells another story, this time of a paralytic brought to Jesus by his friends. Jesus says to the man, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes think Jesus is blaspheming, and Jesus says to them,
“… which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you, ‘ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” – then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.”” – [Matthew 9:5-6]
The miracle performed here confirmed Jesus’ authority to forgive sins. Revelation 20 gives us a picture of God as the great judge. In the end, we will all come before God. Eternal life and salvation will belong to those who are forgiven all sins though the blood of Christ, but there will also be a second death who those who do not know Christ.
“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books… And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” – [Revelation 20:12, 15]
How can our names written into the Book of Life? Jesus tells us in [John 14:6] – “…I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
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Do you believe Jesus is who He says He is?
Will you call Him Lord and God?
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