The Bible Teaches Us That Jesus Is God
I would like to share with you three evidences from scripture that prove beyond doubt that Jesus is God.
1.) Jesus identifies Himself as God and is called God.
2.) Jesus has and does things that only God can have and do.
3.) Jesus is worshipped as God and accepts that worship.
First, let’s explore “Jesus identifies himself as God”. What do we mean when we say Jesus identifies Himself as God? Specifically, we mean that Jesus is the one God of the Old Testament. As we examine how and what God said in the Old Testament in the context of identifying Himself we should become familiar with specific clues. Next we will compare those clues with the way Jesus spoke in the context of identifying Himself. As a result we should be able to determine if Jesus identifies Himself with unambiguous continuity. With this in mind please read Exodus chapter 3 verses 1-6, 10, 13, 14. The text reads:
Verse 1 “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Verse 2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Verse 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” Verse 4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses !” And he said, “Here I am.” Verse 5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place, Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Verse 6 Moreover He said, I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Verse 10 “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Verse 13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” Verse 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’”
The term “I AM” is a clue for us as we look at other scriptures. For instance, when we come to Isaiah 41;4 we read:
“Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD am the first; And with the last I AM He.”
Please notice the similarities. “I AM” and “I AM He”. Again in the context of identifying Himself. Again in Isaiah 43;10 we find:
“You are My witnesses, says the LORD, And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that “I AM HE.”
Again Isaiah 46;4 we find more clues as God is speaking to the house of Jacob. He tells them:
“Even to your old age, I AM He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you.”
In all of these instances we find God identifying Himself as the “I AM” or He says “I AM He”.
We begin to see an apparent pattern in the Old Testament but let’s see if there is a continuity in the New Testament. It is worth mentioning that sometimes when I call home usually my soon to be 13 year old daughter or my 11 year old son will answer the telephone. Honestly I have a hard time telling their voices apart but I don’t dare ask “is this Joanna? Or is this Caleb?” Instead I am familiar with the way that they speak. For instance if I ask what’s going on? Joanna will reply “not much”, Caleb will say “ohhhhhh nothing really!” I believe that we can recognize God as having unique sayings when identifying Himself. So come with me to the New Testament. Arriving at John chapter 8 we find that Jesus is having conversation with certain Jews. Verse 23 reads:
“And He said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above, You are of this world; I am not of this world Verse 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in you sins; for if you do not believe that I Am He, you will die in your sins.”
Notice the similarity with this text to that of Isaiah’s witness. Specifically “I AM He”. As we proceed with this chapter we find a less ambiguous parallel starting with verse 56. The text reads:
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. Verse 57 Then the Jews said to Him, ” You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham? Verse 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.
Here we find Jesus’ explicit claim to be the great I AM of Exodus 3;14. Proof of this assertion is found in the Jews reaction following His statement. Verse 59 says “they took up stones to throw at Him.”…………….. The Jews were not confused with His usage of “I AM” as some claim. Instead they understood this to be a claim of being God. This was blasphemy to the Jews ears and to stone Him with stones would have been the legal thing to do, unless of course, He really was the “I AM” of the Old Testament.
Our next clue is found in John chapter 13 verses 18 and 19. In the context we find that Jesus identifies and acknowledges that one of them will betray Him. He offers as an explanation for revealing this sad truth in verse 19 which reads:
“Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I AM He.”
Again, another striking parallel with Isaiah. In fact if you compare the words of the original language here to that of Isaiah 43, it then becomes even more clear.
Moving away from the usage of “I AM” or “I AM He” we can find other instances in the New Testament where Jesus identifies Himself as God. One instance is found in John chapter 10; verses 27-33. The text reads:
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. Verse 28 And I shall give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. Verse 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. Verse 30 I and My Father are one. Verse31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Verse 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father, For which of those works do you stone Me?” Verse 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.”
Did Jesus identify Himself as God in this text? Absolutely!! Did the Jews understand His claim? Absolutely!! Again, they would not have stoned Him unless He had just committed blasphemy. Let’s review the text:
Verses 28,29 “Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” It is very interesting that Jesus immediately changes the hand to ” no one is able to snatch them out of My Fathers hand. Wait a minute! Who’s hand? Jesus’ hand? No, the Fathers hand. Wait, no, it’s Jesus’s hand. Jesus solves the problem for us when He says in Verse 30 ” I and the Father are one.” Literally, ” The Father and I, we are one.” How are we to understand that they are one? They are one in bringing salvation to man and securing man’s salvation. The Jews would have been very familiar with Jesus’ wording. Please note the parallel passage that Jesus is alluding to. The passage is found in Isaiah 43; 12, 13 which says:
“I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign God among you; Therefore you are My witnesses, “Says the LORD, “that I am God, Verse 13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”
The Jews understood correctly, in that here was Jesus, a man, claiming to be the mighty God. The One who saves, and secures His by His mighty hand. By claiming to secure the sheep with His hand and then to contrast His hand with the Fathers hand and to finally claim one with the Father was a clear communication of equality with God. Not only that but Jesus is here, as before, claiming that God is His Father in a very unique sense. Consider John 5;18 which says:
“Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”
This was just too much for the Jews to stomach!
Let’s examine a more explicit claim of being God by Jesus. First I would like to introduce you to Isaiah chapter 41 verses 1-4. The text says:
“Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, And let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment. Verse 2 “who raised up one form the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, And made him rule over Kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow? Verse 3 Who pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet? Verse4 Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, am the first; And with the Last I AM He.’”
Again in Isaiah 44;6 we find:
“Thus says the LORD, the king of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts; I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.”
Now let’s examine the New Testament connection. We find a remarkable identification of Jesus in Revelation Chapter 1. Verse 8 Reads:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” Says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty.”
And then in verses 10 and 11 we find more clues. Verse 10 reads:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, Verse 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and Last,” and, “what you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches…………..”
Who is the First and the Last? According to Isaiah, in the context of God identifying Himself, He declares that He is the First and the Last! Let’s continue examining the clues. Verses 17,18 reads:
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.” Verse 18 I am He who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen, And I have the Keys of Hades and of Death.
Who is identified as the First and Last here? None other than Jesus! In chapter 2;8 we find more confirmation. Verse 8 reads:
And to the Angel of the Church in Smyrna write, “These things says the First and Last, who was dead, and came to life;
Who was dead and came to life? None other than Jesus! One more clue is found in Revelation 22;12, 13 which reads:
“And behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work,” Verse 13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
To make no mistake about who the First and Last is, Verse 16 says, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. In light of these scriptures I feel that these fantastic clues force us to conclude that Jesus is the First and the Last and we know that there is only One First and Last, Yahweh. Jesus therefore, must be Yahweh!
Did anyone ever call Jesus God? We find our answer in the famous confession of Thomas found in John chapter 20. In response to the disciples claim that they had seen the resurrected Jesus, Thomas says, Verse 25
“Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Verse 26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them, Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Verse 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Verse 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and My God.”
Literally, Thomas said, “The Lord of me and the God of me.” This is an irrefutable text. One has to perform an amazing amount of scriptural gymnastics to deny that Jesus was Thomas’ Lord and God.
Another instance of Jesus being called God is by the Apostle Paul in Titus Chapter 2. Verses 11-13 reads:
For the Grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Verse 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, Verse 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ……
Peter speaks similarly when he says in 2 Peter 1;1:
“To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:
Again, we find amazing proof that Jesus was called God. So we see that Jesus not only claimed to be the One God but that others also, called Him God.
Next I would like us to explore the evidence found in the form of a statement. “Jesus has and does things that only God can have and do.” Our first clue is found in the fact that Jesus preexisted. That may seem to be a weird term to some. What do we mean when we say that Jesus preexisted? Specifically we mean that Jesus existed prior to His birth at Bethlehem. For if Jesus is God then it follows that He had no beginning. Robert Bowman Jr. comments in the book “Putting Jesus In His Place”,
“The questions of Christ’s preexistence and His divine nature or attributes are bound up together. If Christ existed as a divine person before His human life, then He is the definitive revelation of the nature of God because His nature is, in fact, the nature of God. On the other hand, if Christ did not exist before his human life, then he is a revelation of the nature of God only in the sense that in His words and actions we see how God wants us to live. We may put the question this way: Was Jesus a man through whom God was revealing Himself, or was he God revealing Himself as a man? ( pp.81,82 )
Please understand the question. Was Jesus a man through whom God was revealing Himself, or was he God revealing Himself as a man? I suspect that Unitarians of different sorts will all agree that Jesus was a man whom God was revealing Himself. The Bible tells us that Jesus was God revealing Himself as a man. The statements sound almost the same but they produce a very different Jesus. The Jesus of the second statement had no beginning ! He is eternal. If I’m correct then we should find scriptures that indicate that the person Jesus existed before Bethlehem. Also we should find verses describing attributes of Jesus that only God can have. Our first clue is found in John chapter 1 verses 1-3, 14. Verse 1 reads:
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 2 He was in the beginning with God Verse3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Verse 14 And the Word became 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.
I want you to take notice of four things in these scriptures:
1.) The “Word” is identified as Jesus.
2.) He was in the beginning with God.
3.) The Word is called God.
4.) All things came into being through Jesus, thus He is the Creator.
If Jesus is the Word then He was with God before Bethlehem. If Jesus is called God, then He must be God. If Jesus is the Creator then He preexisted Bethlehem and is God by the very role of being the creator. For only God created the heavens and the earth. To further demonstrate that Jesus is the creator we should examine what God says to the Son in Hebrews 1:10. He said,
“You Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth And the heavens are the work of Your hands.”
Colossians 1;16 also testifies of His role in creation when it states that …….. “all things were created through Him and for Him.
We can safely conclude that Jesus preexisted Bethlehem by the very fact that He is described as the creator. However we should explore the scriptures for more clues that lead us to believe that Jesus did not have a beginning. These clues are found in Philippians 2;5-11. Verse 5 reads:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Verse 6 who, being in the form of
God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, Verse 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. Verse 8 And being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Verse 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name. Verse 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, Verse 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Again in the book, “Putting Jesus In His Place”, Robert Bowman Jr. beautifully summarizes the text when he observes:
In these six verses, Paul taught that Christ was a Preexistent person who was fully God yet humbled Himself by becoming human and dying on a cross (vv.6-8)……………..Christ existed “in the form of God” in heaven before He became a man…………..Christ emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness,” and that He was “found in human form.” (vs.7) (pp.82,83)
As you can see there is ample witness to the fact that Jesus existed before Bethlehem.
The final evidence to be examined that proves that the Bible teaches us that Jesus is God is the fact that “Jesus is worshipped as God and accepts that worship.” One need only to go to the book of Revelation to experience John’s splendid vision of heavenly worship. We arrive at chapter 4 verse 8 which describes four living creatures that do not rest day or night, saying “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!” Then Verse 9 reads:
“Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever. Verse 10 the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying; Verse 11 You are worthy O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created. Chapter 5;1 “And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
When we come to verse 2 the question is asked “who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals? The next few verses we are told that no one in heaven is worthy but the Lamb. This Lamb is further described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.” Then verse 7 says the Lamb took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Then after a new song is sung to the Lamb we find in verse 11 a beautiful description, again, of heavenly worship. This time though it is given to Jesus, the Lamb. Verse 11 reads:
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times then thousand, and thousands and thousands Verse 12 saying with a loud voice “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, To receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing !” Verse 13 “And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying; “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
In light of these texts we observe worship with certain sayings attached to that worship. Let’s review those sayings:
Chapter 4;11 “You are worthy O Lord to receive glory honor and power.”
Chapter 5;12 it is said that Jesus is “worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
Chapter 5;14 “Blessing and honor and glory and power to Him who sits on the throne and the Lamb. We notice that glory, honor and power are given to the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb.
After viewing the evidence, we can conclude without regret, that Jesus receives worship. He is worshipped in the very throne room of God. He is worshipped by the same crowd. The same acts of worship and the same words uttered during that worship towards the one sitting on the throne are the same given to Jesus.
I believe all three points of evidence are conclusive proof that the Bible does indeed teach us that Jesus is God. To believe otherwise, one must first deal with each of these points. Thank you!
