The Deity of Christ

The Deity of Christ

INTRODUCTION This fundamental doctrine is consistently attacked by Manalistas, Russellites, etc.

Belief in the Deity of Christ is essential to salvation. Romans 10:9 (R V.), "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord. . ." -- not merely a good man. A study of Bible conversions will reveal that many occurred when they recognized Jesus as Lord - Paul in Acts 9:5, the man in John 9:38, etc. To deny the Deity of Christ is to rob mankind of a Saviour and condemn us eternally. In this lesson we present fifteen proofs of the Deity of Christ.

Psalms 110:1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." ("The Lord, the Father God, said to my Lord, the ’Saviour. . .") Jesus referred to this passage in Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-36; Luke 20:39-44.

Peter referred to it in his sermon at Pentecost, Acts 2:34. It is very important. The prophecy was the Messiah-Saviour would be the Divine Lord Himself.

Isaiah 7:1-25; Isaiah 14:1-32, ". . .and shall call His Name Immanuel." This is the Saviour that was coming.

Matthew 1:23 tells us that Immanuel means "God with us." This came true at Bethlehem.

God in the Person of Jesus Christ came to dwell with man at the Incarnation.

Isaiah 9:6-7, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. . . and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Only the Lord God Himself could be the fulfillment of these names.

Wonderful - Only God is truly wonderful. See Luke 18:19, none good save the Lord God Counsellor - Only the omniscient God could be the perfect Counsellor, Psalms 16:7. The Mighty God - The One prophesied to be the Messiah was to be God Himself. The everlasting Father - John 10:30, Jesus said, "I and My Father are one." In this text Jesus as man was born but Jesus as God was "given." (God always existed. )

Micah 5:2, "But thou Bethlehem. . . out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." The Messiah- Saviour was to be the eternal omnipresent God HIMSELF.

Exodus 3:14, "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

John 8:58, "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM." The Jews understood Jesus perfectly and thought that He had committed blasphemy for ascribing the Name of God to Himself. They promptly attempted to stone Jesus.

Death by stoning was the proper death penalty for this particular sin (Leviticus 24:12-16). But Jesus had not sinned for He was truly God. He was the great I AM in person.

Mark 2:5, ". . . son, thy sins be forgiven thee." Only God can forgive sins.

Mark 2:7, "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only. " The Jews were correct for only God can forgive sin, for sin is transgression against the law and only the aggrieved person can forgive the guilty one. In forgiving sin Jesus either blasphemed or was God. Jesus was God and could forgive.

This is evident in the baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19, and in the benediction of 2 Corinthians 13:14, the names of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are linked together.

To be omnipresent is a characteristic of God Almighty only, not true of angels or men.

Matthew 18:20, Jesus promises to be anywhere, everywhere at one and the same time.

Omniscience is to know all things and is a characteristic exclusive of God Himself. This fact is evident in Mark 11:2-6, the description of the colt for the triumphant entry. Jesus exercised the gift of prophecy, too, in Matthew 12:40 and Matthew 24:3-31

Omnipotence, all power, is another exclusive attribute of the Lord God Almighty.

Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. " This claim supersedes the power of man, spirit, angels, demons or supermen.

XI JESUS CHRIST HAD CREATIVE POWER To bring something into being from nothing, creation, is possible only to God.

Jesus Christ was active in creation and continues to maintain the world, John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:3.

Jesus used creative power to perform some miracles - water to wine and food for the 5,000.

Luke 8:24, Jesus rebuked the wind and it obeyed Him and there was a great calm at once. Mark 4:39, Jesus calmed the waves of the raging sea - a power not of man but of , God only. Matthew 14:25-26, Jesus walked on the water. This ability is denied to ordinary men.

John 9:38, the man who had been healed of blindness recognizing the Saviour, said,.) "Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him." Jesus as God rightfully accepted this worship.

Luke 4:8, Jesus said to Satan at the time of the temptation, "Get thee behind Me, ..’.’ Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve." To worship anyone but the Lord God is a terrible sin. When Jesus accepted worship He was saying to the world, "I AM THE LORD?.

John 20:28, "And Thomas answered and said unto Him, my Lord and my God." If Thomas had made a mistake, misstatement or overstatement Jesus would have corrected it.

Thomas had told the truth for Jesus was the Lord God, the eternal pre-existent One.

This is the strongest and capstone argument that Jesus is God.

Romans 1:4, "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." This verse specifically states that the resurrection declares Jesus as the Son of God.

If Jesus were a fake, liar, impostor or a mere man or superman, God would have left Him in the grave until the day of the final judgment and condemned Him to hell.

According to Romans 6:4, it was the Father God, Himself, that raised Jesus from the dead ’he Father God thus proclaims conclusively to the world the Deity of Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION We conclude that Jesus is God for He possesses the ten exclusive attributes of God.

REVIEW QUESTIONS