90. BEYOND A DOUBT, JESUS IS GOD!
(The Abundant Life Series – Batch 1)
In February 2016, I was at a point in my life where I was feeling weary, a bit overwhelmed and vulnerable. See, I had been praying to God about some things for a very long time and believed that he was going to come through for me but each day, my situation remained unchanged.
I had not lost my hope and knew that God was faithful but I was soooo tired.
Then, while at an airport with two family members, my mother went one way to get something done and my sister went the other to sort out her Boarding Pass. She was returning to England.
I was standing by myself waiting, when I was singled out, targeted and approached by a woman. She claimed to be a Jehovah Witness and instead of ignoring her as I usually did when people who claim to be witnesses for Jehovah come to my door, I used the opportunity to ask her a few questions.
I learned that people who claim to be Jehovah Witnesses do not use the same book that the world generally uses as the Bible. Someone in their history, saw it fit to change up some things, based on the claim that the book we commonly know and believe to be God’s Word, contains fallacies. THIS IS ERROR!
I also learned that they do not believe in a hell. Her explanation for this was that God was too good a God to send people to hell. THIS IS ERROR!
When I asked her to explain the account that Jesus gave in the Bible of the rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man died and went to hell but Lazarus went to heaven, she said that that was intended to be metaphorical (or some such nonsense), to show how we ought to live while here on earth (or some such nonsense).
Then I asked her if she believed that Jesus, who was the Son of God, was also God and equal to God. She said no and then tried her very best to try to convince me (at times becoming impassioned), that Jesus was not God.
I may have been physically and mentally tired but I fought back. I didn’t fight her, mind you. I was fighting the devil. He never changes his tricks and I knew that this was a strategic attack. He loves to launch his attacks when you are most vulnerable and on that day, he was trying to get at my faith. That is how I know I am blessed by God because the devil is never content to leave me alone.
The lady and I went back and forth at that airport (not arguing but debating), even to the point where my sister returned with her Boarding Pass and was ready to go up to the waiting room for departure and we were still debating.
The lady was relentless and did not give up until I asked her one final set of questions. I asked her, “When Jesus was born, what was he called?” She replied, “Emmanuel.” I then asked, “What does Emmanuel mean?” She replied, (if I recall correctly, in somewhat of a stumbling manner): “we were with God”.
I told her, in a matter of fact way (because I was convinced that deep down in her heart she knew exactly what that name meant), that Emmanuel, which is what Jesus was called and what the angel sent by God said he would be called, meant “GOD WITH US.” I repeated it about three times for emphasis because the name alone proved beyond a doubt who Jesus was. He was God in human form.
After stating “GOD WITH US” for the third time, I said to the lady, “I rest my case.”
I said it in such a firm way, that she got the message, I believe. I was not going to believe the nonsense she was trying to sell and of all the people in that airport she could have tried to sell her lies to, she chose the wrong one.
Jesus WAS God, manifested in human form. He was and is God and part of the threefold Godhead which consists of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.
I had won the battle for my mind on whether Jesus was God but I did not leave it there. Whenever people come up to me with their lies, I take it that God allowed it because he wants me to spend quality time compiling truth from his Word on the particular issue and then spreading that compiled truth to the world. I therefore went home and began to search the scriptures to extract further proof that Jesus was God and to type it up and keep it for my own edification and that of others.
There are many other scriptures but these were my findings from the Word of God, that beyond a doubt, JESUS IS GOD.
Old Testament:
PROOF 1
“But now thus saith THE LORD THAT CREATED thee, O Jacob and he that formed thee, O Israel…For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy SAVIOUR…I even I am the Lord and BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR…I am the Lord, your Holy One, the CREATOR of Israel, your KING…” (Isaiah 43:1,3,11,15)
My comments:
It is an accepted truth by most people, that God created human beings. In the verses above and long before Jesus even came to earth in human form, God was speaking to the Israelites through a Prophet and he referred to himself as “Creator”, “thy Saviour” and “your King”.
Jesus is also known by these three descriptions. In fact, based on the scriptures:
- Jesus was Israel’s KING. John 12:12 -13 states: “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
- Jesus is the SAVIOUR of Israel and the whole world, to those that accept him as their Lord and Saviour. Acts 13:23 states: “Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus”. In John 4:42, people who upon meeting Jesus, believed that he was Lord, stated to the Samaritan woman who initially told them about him: “Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
- Jesus is also the CREATOR of mankind and the one that sustains life. In Colossians 1:16-17 for example, it says of Jesus: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST.”
If God described himself in the Old Testament as Israel’s King, Saviour and the Creator of mankind and in the New Testament, the Bible makes it clear that Jesus is also Israel’s King, Saviour and the Creator of mankind, then this means that Jesus is God.
Hence the reason that in 1 Timothy 2:3, it states: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of GOD our SAVIOUR.”
PROOF 2
“But now thus saith THE LORD THAT CREATED THEE, O Jacob, and HE THAT FORMED THEE, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine…For I AM THE LORD THY GOD, the Holy One of Israel, THY SAVIOUR...” (Isaiah 43:1,3)
My comments:
Here, God states that he is the one that created the Israelites and formed them and the Lord their God, yet he also defines himself as their Saviour, although the Messiah had not yet come to earth. God was therefore referring to himself in advance, when God the Son (Jesus) would make himself of no reputation and come down voluntarily to earth, in human form as a baby, to save humanity from their sins and the spiritual death to which they were destined.
Undoubtedly, as referred to in earlier verses cited in Proof 1, Jesus is the Saviour of Israel and the world. Yet, God described himself as Saviour in the Old Testament because Jesus is part of the Godhead and is therefore God.
PROOF 3
“For unto us A CHILD IS BORN, unto us A SON IS GIVEN: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED Wonderful, Counsellor, THE MIGHTY GOD, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
My comments:
Here, the prophet Isaiah was giving a prophecy of what would happen many years later, in that Jesus, the Son of God the Father would be born. He gives the names that he would be called in terms of his character and identity. He will be called Wonderful, he will be called Counsellor and he would be called The Mighty God.
The prophet was therefore saying, that this Son, was also the mighty God, thereby recognizing the deity of Christ.
Although he was the Son of God (the Father) and also God the Son (part of the eternal Godhead), the scripture also says that he shall be called the everlasting Father, which, given that he was not God the Father on earth, speaks in my view, to the unity of the threefold Godhead. Hence the reason that Jesus said in John 10:30: “I and my Father are one” and in John 14:11 “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.”
There is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, all with different functions but yet all three are equal and comprise the one Godhead.
New Testament:
PROOF 4
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save HIS people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US. (Matthew 1:18-23)
My comments:
Jesus is once again referred to in terms of him being a Saviour. The scripture says: “…for he shall SAVE his people from their sins.” It is also notable that the people are his. This therefore refers to his creation rights over mankind. God is referred to in the Old Testament as Saviour and Creator as well. This is not conflicting or contradictory. The same two titles are given to God and to Jesus because Jesus is God.
Also, as I stated earlier, when Jesus was born, he was called Emmanuel which means God with us, as in God is with us in the flesh, where we can see him and touch him and physically hear him. This is consistent with John 1:1-3,14 where it reads of Jesus who is referred to as “the Word”:
- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS GOD. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…And the Word was made 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.
These verses tell us that:
- The Word is Jesus, who came to earth in the flesh and dwelt among men as the only begotten Son of God the Father. Revelations 19:13 also refers to the glorified Jesus as “…the Word of God”;
- The “…Word was God” so since the Word is Jesus, he is God;
- All things were made by God and earlier in Colossians 1:16-17, we read where all things were made by Jesus. Jesus is therefore God.
PROOF 5
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, HAVE I been so long time WITH YOU and yet hast thou not KNOWN ME, Philip? HE THAT HATH SEEN ME HATH SEEN THE FATHER; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” (John 14: 8-9)
My comments:
Jesus was in essence saying to Philip, that he was God. Philip did not therefore need to see God the Father because he was staring straight at God the Son, who was equal to God the Father and part of the same Godhead. To see Jesus therefore, was to see God the Father. They were the same in character and power because they were one and the same! To see Jesus therefore was to see God.
PROOF 6
“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And he saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt THE LORD THY GOD.” (Matthew 4:5-7)
My comments:
When Jesus was most vulnerable due to hunger after having fasted for 40 days, the devil came to try to tempt him to sin by obeying him and not God the Father.
Although Jesus was God, while he was here on the earth as God the Son, his main purpose was to do the will of God the Father. To disobey God the Father therefore and give in to the devil’s demands would have amounted to sin, which would have disqualified Jesus from being qualified to die for the sins of man.
For one to die for the sins of all mankind and therefore pave a way whereby human beings could be reconciled to God and escape hell, that one had to be completely without sin. It seems that the devil was therefore trying to abort this mission so that all of mankind would be destined for hell without any hope of redemption. He therefore tried to make Jesus doubt whether he was truly the Son of God but Jesus’ answer was mind-blowing. He told the devil, “Thou shalt not tempt THE LORD THY GOD.”
In essence, he was therefore saying in my view, not only am I the Son of God the Father but I am also the ultimate deity. I AM GOD.
PROOF 7
“Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58)
My comments:
In Exodus 3:14 of the Old Testament and before Jesus had come down to earth, when Moses asked God what name he should give when the children of Israel asked who he, God was, God replied: “…I Am That I Am…Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.”
In the New Testament, Jesus also referred to himself as the I am, meaning the ultimate, the most powerful, the Creator of everything, the one who always existed and the one in which everything consists.
In John 8:58 for example, Jesus made it clear that he was in existence even before Abraham’s time and said of himself: “Before Abraham was, I am.” He did not say that before Abraham was, he existed but he deliberately used the same words as were used by God in the Old Testament: I am.
In John 11:25, he said of himself before he raised Lazarus from the dead after four days of stinking: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”
PROOF 8
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again his disciples were within and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord AND MY GOD. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:24-28).
My comments:
In the above verses, Jesus had been crucified but because he was God the Son, God the Father raised him up again on the third day. In fact, the entire Godhead was involved as there are other scriptures that refer to Jesus raising himself up (John 2:19-21) and the Spirit raising him up (Romans 8:11). This underscores the unity of the Godhead which three are one (1 John 5:7).
Jesus then appeared to some people who had believed that he was the Son of God, prior to his crucifixion. However, Thomas, one of his eleven disciples at that point, had not been there when Jesus had appeared to the others. He therefore found it hard to believe that Jesus was alive. In mercy, Jesus appeared to him so that he could see with his eyes and put his hand through the hole that was in his side, from him having been pierced when he was on the cross and see the print of the nails that had been hammered into his hand.
The mere fact that someone could be alive and standing and talking with a gaping hole running from one side of them to the other, a hole large enough for one to put their hand through, it was evidence in itself of that person’s deity. Having seen Jesus with his own two eyes, having heard him speak, having seen the print of the nails in his hands and having possibly put his hand through the hole in his side, Thomas was not just convinced in that moment that he was Lord but that he was also GOD. He therefore said, being fully persuaded, “my Lord AND MY GOD.”
PROOF 9
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, BEING IN THE FORM OF GOD, thought it not robbery TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD: But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2: 5-8)
My comments:
These verses state that Jesus existed before he came to earth but not in human/fleshly form. He was in the FORM OF GOD because he was GOD. While in heaven, he did not think it to be robbery TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD because he was part of the GODHEAD.
The verse then explains the process whereby he came to earth and being GOD, the extent to which he chose to humble himself, so that he could take up the role of a mere human being and one that came to meekly be of service to God the Father and to be tortured and killed by the very ones he created and came to save.
PROOF 10
“Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again…that they may adorn the doctrine of GOD OUR SAVIOUR in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of THE GREAT GOD AND OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity; and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:11-14)
My comments:
Paul refers to Jesus here as “God our Saviour“, acknowledging the deity and Godship of Jesus Christ.
Paul goes on to refer to Jesus, as “The great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ“. As stated before, the Saviour of the whole world is God and Jesus is also the Saviour of the whole world because Jesus is God.
PROOF 11
“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.” (1 Timothy 3:16)
My comments:
This is clearly referring to Jesus. God was manifest in the flesh, in that he was seen by human beings, touched by human beings and heard by human beings because he came down to earth and lived among us, in the form of Jesus. He was RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY after he had lived and had died and had been raised again and then was glorified when he went back up to heaven.
PROOF 12
“Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and THERE IS NO GOD ELSE BESIDE ME; A JUST GOD and a SAVIOUR; there is none beside me. LOOK UNTO ME AND BE YE SAVED, all the ends of the earth: FOR I AM GOD, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That UNTO ME EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, EVERY TONGUE SHALL SWEAR.” (Isaiah 45:21-23)
My comments:
This Old Testament scripture clearly states that God is the Saviour of the world, yet it is an established fact that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. In the Old Testament, God urges that the people look to him to be saved, yet it is clear in the New Testament that the whole world is to look to Jesus to be saved. Hebrews 12:2 states, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”
God also says through the prophet, that unto him every knee will bow and every tongue will swear, yet, similarly, it is clear in the New Testament, that every knee will bow and tongue will confess the Lord Jesus. Philippians 2:9-11 states:
- “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted HIM, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; AND THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS that JESUS CHRIST is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
These are infallible proofs therefore, that God and Jesus have the same attributes because they are one and the same. Jesus and the Father are one.
PROOF 13
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that GOD IS LIGHT, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)
My comments:
This scripture tells us clearly that God is light. It is one of his attributes. He does not possess some light, mixed with some darkness but is absolutely pure, there being not an ounce of darkness in him. He is therefore LIGHT.
Yet, although this is an attribute reserved for God alone (as there is no other creature on the face of the earth or in heaven that can similarly say that he or she or it is LIGHT), when Jesus was on earth, he stated on more than one occasion, not that he had some light but that he was THE LIGHT.
In John 8:12, it reads: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I AM THE LIGHT of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have THE LIGHT of life.
God therefore is LIGHT and Jesus said that he is THE LIGHT. Jesus was therefore claiming an attribute belonging solely to God because Jesus was God.
There are other scriptures that attest as well that Jesus was THE LIGHT. For example, in John 1:6-11, it reads of John, the forerunner of Jesus, who was born to prepare the people so that they could be pointed in the direction of Jesus Christ, the Lord, who was THE LIGHT:
- “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of THE LIGHT, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that LIGHT.
- That was the true LIGHT, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
In referring to Jesus as THE LIGHT, the scripture also makes reference to the fact that Jesus Christ also made the world, something that only God can do.
SUMMARY:
What is clear from the scriptures is that Jesus Christ, is Lord and also God. More specifically, he is part of the triune Godhead which consists in three functions and are equal to each other: GOD the Father, GOD the Son and GOD the Holy Ghost. 1 John 5:7 states, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
Jesus is the Word as is clear in John 1:14 where it states: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…” In John 1:1, Jesus as God is again confirmed where it states, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD.”
As human beings, we may not understand it fully but one does not need to understand something fully to believe it or for it to be true. I am yet to understand how an aircraft could defy gravity and fly in the air like a bird but I believe it and it is true.
Think of a spider. In the middle of it is the head, the brain where everything functions. It is one spider, that is for sure but it has different legs that protrude all around it. All those legs are part of the one spider and not lesser than any other leg or the spider because each leg is a part of the spider itself. It would be ridiculous for one of the legs of the spider to say, “I am not the spider but a separate being from the spider because I am a leg.” That leg knows that it is part of what makes the spider the spider.
Am I making sense or am I befuddling myself into a web?
Anyway, there is a point I am trying to make. The Bible is quite clear that Jesus is God. He is not lower than him or lesser than him but IS him. The Godhead (which is one head of supreme authority), consists of three functions or arms, namely God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. These three are one.
The best example we may ever get of the trinity and the Godhead existing as three in ONE is our own existence. Every human being although presented harmoniously as ONE, exists as three in terms of function: Body, Soul and Spirit. All three are equal and united, yet separate. All three make up the human existence.
Do not be fooled. To deny Christ’s ‘God-ship’, is to deny Christ altogether.
In 1 John 2:22-24 and 26, John warned, in speaking of the many anti-christs that were already operating back then in the world and trying to seduce Christians with their lies:
- “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father…These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.”
(Written on February, 2016)
ADDENDUM:
On 02nd June, 2020, in listening to a Caribbean Radio Lighthouse broadcast on the topic of the Trinity, I thought that the Preacher summed up the issue of the Godship of Jesus Christ beautifully and so I have decided to share what he said here. In support of the TRUTH, that JESUS IS GOD, He stated:
- “…Christ also possesses all the attributes of God …His eternality, his omniscience, his omnipotence, his omnipresence and his immutability. Those are non-communicable attributes of God…These attributes that belong to the divine God are the same attributes that apply to Jesus Christ.
- His eternality is there in John 1:1… Hebrews 1:11; Isaiah 9:6 ; Revelations 1:11. The God of the Old Testament claimed to be the first and the last. Jesus claimed to be the first and the last as well. Now that is either blasphemy that he is making that same kind of statement or he’s at the level of equality, sharing the same nature. Omnipresent – John 3:13; Matthew 18:20…Omniscient…Immutable – Hebrews 13:8.
- Who can FORGIVE sin? There is only one answer. Sin is against God. Only God can forgive sins yet in Matthew 9, Luke 7 and Mark 2, Jesus is forgiving sin. He is taking that prerogative belonging on to God and claiming it. As a matter of fact, that is why they wanted to stone him…He’s exercising the prerogative of God because he is God the Son…
- Who GIVES LIFE? God. Who takes life? God. Who can raise life? God and yet that is exactly what Christ did. He said: “I am the resurrection and the life.
- And again, who has THE RIGHT TO EXERCISE JUDGMENT? Only God because sin is against God but yet he (Jesus) is the one that we are told in the book of Acts 17, that God raised him up whereby he will “…judge…” the whole world by this one. So when you look at the prerogatives of God, you find that Christ exercised those prerogatives and so the evidence is there when you look in the Old Testament, that this Son has the attributes that belong to God. He is called God…
- Who is to be WORSHIPPED? Only God is to be worshipped yet Jesus Christ was worshipped…Remember when the wise men came, the Bible says that they came to worship him? Remember likewise, that when the Greeks came in the book of John, they came to worship him. Remember also that Thomas, after he got this revelation… worshipped saying: “My Lord and my God.” So, he accepts worship but if he accepts worship and only God is to be worshipped, you either got a blasphemer, you’ve got a deceiver or you’ve got the mystery of this whole doctrine of the “LET US”….This God the Son who has to be worshipped just like God the Father. Remember the Father said you must honour the Son as you honour the Father?…So clearly there is this equality that is there in respect to the Son.“
