SESSION 3: The Deity of Jesus

--- Hello, and welcome to Session 3 of Knowing Why You Believe. This time we're going to be delving into the deity of Jesus Christ. Now you're going to notice that in this session we're going to be reviewing a few passages that we dealt with last week, because, as you'll recall, last week we talked about the nature of God and how that impacted our understanding of the Trinity. And of course, to do that, we needed to touch on a few passages that had to do with Jesus and His nature as God, but we're going to be getting more in-depth this time. I want to begin by making really a very simple statement that is going to guide us through this entire session, and here it is. The deity of Jesus is a biblical revelation. Now that may sound like a very simple statement, and I suppose it is, but it is an important statement because it helps us to understand that our belief in the deity of Jesus is not something that is man-made. In other words, we didn't just sit down and concoct this idea. It is revealed in the pages of Scripture from God to mankind. What's interesting about the deity of Jesus is that, frankly, it is one of the most provable biblical doctrines in all of the Bible. That's what kind of amazes me whenever I hear someone say they don't believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. I think to myself, well, you know, if you don't believe that Jesus is God, it's because you simply don't want to believe it, because this revelation is so prevalent throughout Scripture that you literally stumble over it everywhere you look. The passages that speak of His deity and prove that He is God are so blatant that you would literally need to rewrite the Bible in order to avoid them. In fact, you know, that's exactly what the Jehovah's Witnesses did. I don't know if you've ever had a couple Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door and begin to talk to you, and I don't know if the subject of Jesus ever came up. It always comes up for me when I talk with Jehovah's Witnesses because I know that that is the one single area where we diverge between biblical Christianity and the Jehovah's Witnesses. They needed, because the Bible is so clear on the deity of Jesus, they needed to literally rewrite certain portions of the New Testament in order to support their ideas and their beliefs. The Jehovah's Witnesses went into it believing that Jesus is not equal to God the Father. That was a predetermined belief on their part. So when they sat down with the Bible, they literally had to take passages out or change wording in the New Testament to get it to say what they wanted to say so that it would support their beliefs. I think you're going to see as we go through the various passages of the Bible that recognizing the deity of Jesus is plainly evident. I mean as evident as the nose on your face. So as we approach this investigation from God's Word, we're going to divide our search into two sections. First we're going to look at statements made about Jesus that prove his deity, in other words statements made by the biblical writers. And then next we're going to look at statements made by Jesus himself that prove his deity. Let's get started. We'll begin with statements made about Jesus. Now this is where we're going to get into some review, because this is a passage we looked at in the last session. But it really is where we need to begin to understand the fundamentals of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and his nature. And it's in John 1, which says,

So John begins by introducing for us the Word, which he says was with God, and then goes on to say was God. Further, John goes on to say he was in the beginning with God. And when we get down to verse 14, it becomes crystal clear who John is talking about.

And there it is. Really this is mostly the only verse that you need to prove that Jesus is God. Now the Word, or again, the Logos, is the pre-incarnate name that John gives to Jesus. And the reason John speaks of Jesus as the Word is because he's going back in time. He's going back to the beginning. And that's what he starts by saying in John 1, in the beginning. So it would be inappropriate to refer to the Son of God as Jesus at this point, because Jesus is a human name. That of course is the Roman or Greek version, if you will, of Yeshua. But that name hasn't been given yet. Mary and Joseph have not been given that name in which to call their Son. So he is, at this point, in the beginning, the Word was God. And because John starts his comments in the beginning, we know that Jesus predates the beginning. Because we're told in the beginning, or if you might say, however far back the beginning goes, Jesus was there. The Word was there with the Father. And the Word was God. Okay, someone might say at this point, fine, you've proven that Jesus was there with the Father in the beginning. But you still haven't proven that he wasn't created at some time prior to the creation of all other things. How can you prove to me that Jesus is not a created God? Well, again, we review a passage that we looked at last week in our study of the nature of God, and it's from Isaiah. It goes like this,

God clearly tells us in this passage in Isaiah that before him no God existed, and no God will be formed after him. So if that is the case, and the logos, the Word, was with the Father in the beginning, and the Word was God, that means that he is eternal, like the Father, and has always been in existence. There are many passages in the New Testament that speak of the deity of Jesus Christ, but I particularly enjoy those that we get from the book of Hebrews. Let me show you a passage there. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 says,

There are three particularly interesting and powerful statements here that are made in this single passage. Let me bullet them for you. They are, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature, and Jesus is the one who upholds the entire universe by the power of his word. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, when he, and that's God the Father, brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. So here the author of Hebrews. Quotes God the Father, speaking of God the Son, and he exhorts all of the angels to worship him. Well, we know that worship is only allowed of God. And then in Hebrews 1.8, it goes on to say,

This is crazy. We are literally listening in as God the Father makes statements about God the Son. And it's interesting that he declares him to be God overall. Now we just read a passage from Isaiah chapter 43 where God says, Before me no God was formed, nor will there be one after me. But he goes on in the very next verse to make a fascinating statement that when we compare that statement with something in the New Testament, you're going to see how Jesus is God. It is Isaiah 43, verse 11, where the Lord says,

Now I want you to take special note of how the word Lord appears in this passage. Do you notice it's in all capital letters? Well, the reason the translators do that is because that version of the word Lord is the word Yahweh, the divine name. And so this is what we call the Tetragrammaton, but that's really not important. It simply is God's name. And I want you to see this again, where the Lord says, I, I am Yahweh, and besides me, there is no Savior. Now compare that with a passage in the Gospel according to Luke. Luke chapter 2. It says this, And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is fascinating. Luke very clearly records the angels declaring to the shepherds out in the fields that they would find in the city of Bethlehem a Savior. Now let's go back and look at Isaiah 43. I, I am the Lord, I am Yahweh, and besides me, there is no Savior. You can see that the Lord, through Isaiah, claims this special declaration, saying, I am the only Savior that you will ever have. And then in Luke's gospel, we hear the angels declaring to the shepherds, Behold, a Savior is born in the city of David. The connection is far beyond coincidental. This is Yahweh. Jesus is one with Yahweh. Let's move on to the second part of our study, and this is statements made by Jesus that prove his own deity. You know, when we read through the gospels, and I'll admit, mostly through the gospel of John, who had it as one of his goals, in fact, one of his main goals, to declare the deity of Jesus, we find statement after statement made by our Lord that could only be made by God. Anyone else who would try to make any of these statements would literally get locked up for being insane. Listen to some of these. First of all, from John chapter 8. This is Jesus speaking. He says, Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet 50 years old. And have you seen Abraham? Of course, they're saying that because Abraham had lived 19 centuries earlier. Listen to how it ends. Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. And then notice how the Jews responded. So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. This is really a fascinating passage because the reason the Jews believed that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy was because he used the divine name, the same name that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. When Moses asked the Lord, Who shall I tell the people sent me? God said, I am has sent you. And here, Jesus uses that same divine name in relationship to his eternity. He says, Before Abraham was, I am. And that literally speaks of the fact that he is claiming to have no beginning. Let's go on and look at another passage. This is John 14 6 that says,

You have to admit, this is a very bold claim for Jesus to make, to say that he alone is the path to God. There is no other way. There is no other path. There is no other door. There is no other truth. Only me. That's what Jesus is saying. Now, can you imagine a pastor or even anyone standing up in front of the congregation and making that kind of a statement? You know, they would be literally carried away because it is impossible for a mere human being to make that kind of a statement. Only God can make that statement. And there are many other statements. Notice in John 14 8-10,

This is another incredible passage where Jesus makes it clear that to see him and to know him is to see and know God. In other words, he's saying what the writer of Hebrews said earlier, that Jesus is the exact image of the nature of God. Moving on, we have another passage in John chapter 10 verse 27. Here it is. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Well, this is another amazing statement that Jesus himself made that no other human being could make. Jesus is not only claiming to bestow eternal life in John chapter 10, 27 and 28, but he's also saying that no one has the power to overturn or override his actions. Did you catch that? Jesus said, no one will snatch them out of my hand. People, that's a statement of sovereignty. That is literally Jesus saying, I am sovereign, and there is no one who possesses the power to turn aside any decision that I have made. This is a statement that can only be made by God himself. Finally, amidst all these passages that speak of the deity of Jesus Christ, we have to remember that Jesus was and is also a man. And that's the incredible thing, and I think people sometimes forget this. Jesus is still a man. He took on our humanity, and he will maintain that humanity for the rest of eternity. He is God, but he is also a man. man. There is a man on the throne of God right now, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Why is it important to hold a balance between the deity of Jesus and the humanity of Jesus? Well, quite simply, only a man could represent fallen mankind. In order for someone to represent someone, they have to be of the same kind. God had to become a man so that he could represent mankind. That's a very important thing to remember. But only God could overcome death and be victorious over the grave. So let's look at some of these passages about Jesus, fully God and fully man. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17 goes like this. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. All right, this is an important passage and don't get messed up by some of the big words. To be made propitiation for the sins of the people means to turn aside the wrath of God for mankind. But the most important part about this passage that I want you to see is that the author of Hebrews says here that Jesus had to be made as a man so that he might represent mankind. And you'll notice that he uses the picture of a high priest because a high priest was a representative of the people. You'll remember in the Old Testament, it was the high priest who would go before God and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant on behalf of the nation of Israel. That's the role of a priest, to represent the people. So you'll notice it again in this passage that it said, Jesus must become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God because he would literally stand in for us. He had to be a man in order to represent mankind. The apostle Paul puts it this way, The first man was from the earth. He's talking about Adam there, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. We end this session with a passage that gives great hope. The apostle Paul tells us that even though we now bear the image of Adam, who failed in his representation of mankind, we shall also one day bear the image of the man from heaven. In fact, the bearing of that image is going on right now in each of our lives. You might be wondering why God uses so many challenging things in your life, so many difficulties. Well, God is using those things to bring about the image of his son in you. You know, the Bible promises us that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Sometimes we try to define good ourselves, but let me tell you what good is from God's perspective. Good is holiness. So you could literally put that into that passage. God is working together all things together for our holiness because we are being formed into the image of Christ day by day. One day that is going to be complete, and that's what Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15. But meanwhile, we patiently wait as God does his work in our lives. Well, thank you so much for joining us for this third session in Knowing What You Believe. In our next session, we'll be talking about what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. See you then. ---