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THE DEITY OF JESUS

by Jeffrey Hagan

We have reached a point in history where there is virtually no need to argue for the existence of the person of Jesus. Even liberal scholars, theologians, historians and archaeologists now concede that the person of Jesus found in the Bible is an historical reality. However, the debate rages on to exactly who he is. Well, as Christians the necessity that sets us apart from ALL other religious systems is the claim that Jesus Christ is fully divine, the one true God.

In this brief treatment I'm going to offer some evidences for the truth that Jesus is fully divine. In most cases a discussion of the Trinity would be included in a paper such as this, however, for the sake of brevity I will limit myself to just a few evidences for Jesus' divinity.

The first point I would like to bring up is that God the Father said Jesus was God. In Hebrews 1:8 the Father speaks of the Son saying, 'But of the Son, your throne, O God, is forever and ever.'" God the Father calls his Son God. In Matthew 3:17, at Jesus' baptism, God identifies Jesus as the Son spoken of. And again, at the transfiguration God again identifies Jesus as His Son, the one called God in Hebrews 1:8.

Second, even demons knew and claimed Jesus was God. They repeatedly used titles for Jesus that equated Christ to the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy. Demons called Jesus "the Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:33-34) and "the Son of God" (Luke 4:40-41). We also see that Jesus had the power which only God has to force demons not to speak "because they KNEW him" (Mark 1:34, emphasis added) and "knew that he WAS the CHRIST" (Luke 4:41, emphasis added).

Third, Jesus himself claimed to be God. He claims to have came down from heaven alluding to his eternality before his incarnation (John 6:38, 41-46). Jesus stated he was the only way to heaven which was a claim of being both God and Savior (John 14:6). Jesus wouldn't settle with people thinking he was merely a wise teacher or a good moral example. Instead he claimed to be "God alone" (Mark 10:17-18). The people of the time knew full well he was claiming deity, bystanders hearing him wanted to kill him because they knew he was "making himself equal with God" (John 5:18). Still another time Jesus says in John 8:58-59, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.' So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple." Why did they want to stone him? Because he claimed to be the "I am."

And let's not forget Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." This is about as blatant as one can be while claiming divinity.

Fourth, we read within the Bible Jesus is God. Matthew refers to him as Immanuel, which means God is with us. Thomas cried out to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). In Romans 9:5 Paul writes, "...the Christ who is God over all...". Titus 2:13 calls Jesus our great God AND Savior and in 3:4 Jesus is called "God our Savior." John 5:20 says Jesus Christ is "the true God" and in 2 Peter 3:18 Peter calls Jesus Christ both our "Lord and Savior."

Fifth, Jesus had the attributes of God. A lengthy discussion of attributes is beyond the scope of this work.

Sixth, Jesus did the works of God. The extensive amount of miracles recorded in the New Testament reveal his divinity for they show his authority over creation as the Creator.

Seventh, people worshipped Jesus as God and he accepted it and did not discourage them from doing so (John 5:23; 9:38). Jesus also invited people to pray to him (John 14:13-14; 15:7).

And eighth, last but certainly not least, Jesus' resurrection from the dead and ascension to the Father. Jesus declared that his upcoming resurrection from the dead would substantiate the unique claims he made for himself (Matthew 12:38-40). And after being beaten, crucified and buried Jesus did indeed rise from the dead verifying his claims to deity.

The evidence for this miraculous event is substantial. Numerous contemporary sources report Jesus' post-crucifixion appearances to not only individuals but groups as well (1 Corinthians 15:3-7; Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:26-30; 21:1-14; Acts 1:3-6). Many, if not most, of these witnesses were willing to die for what they believed, for what they saw and knew to be true. In fact, several of them did.

Both the Jewish historian Josephus and Clement of Rome provide us with first century reports of several of their martyrdoms. Who dies for a lie? The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the strongest evidence of Jesus' divinity.

Jeff Hagan is the President of True Grace Ministries and Theological Institute.

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