Thursday, December 29, 2011
The Divinty of Jesus Christ
The Divinity of Jesus Christ
There are those within the world that make the assertion that Jesus Christ is not God but a created being. One organization that comes to mind is the cult of the Jehovah Witnesses. They look at the Christ as being the first being that God created. He is a lesser god if you will. These assertions about the Lord are a direct assault upon the nature and character of God. If their claims are true, than God is a liar and deceiver and should not be worshiped in any type fashion. Here, I present some arguments to establish the claim that indeed Jesus Christ was and is God.
I) His direct claims to Deity
1) Introduction: Who is Jesus?
A) Philip Yancey states, “It occurs to me that all the contorted theories about
Jesus that have been spontaneously generating since the day of His death
merely confirm the risk God took when He stretched himself out on the
discussion table-a risk He seemed to welcome. Examine me, test me,
you decide.
B) The writers of scripture invite us to examine this person Jesus for ourselves
and to conclude for ourselves His significance. But we cannot focus the
investigation just on His teachings or works. First and foremost we must
focus the investigation on His identity.
C) Jesus does not fit the mold of any other religious leader. He does not fit
the mold because no other religious leader claimed to be God. Jesus is the
only one that made this claim and He is the only one who has ever convinced
a great portion of the world that He was God.
D) How could a man make others think that He was God?
2) The Trial
A) Mark 14:61-64
B) Lawyers and Judges have examined this trial, their conclusions are as follows
1) Judge Gaynor, jurist of the New York bench, maintains that it was the
crime of blasphemy made against Jesus: “It is plain from each of the
gospel narratives, that the alleged crime for which Jesus was tried and
convicted was blasphemy:...Jesus had been claiming supernatural
power, which in a human being was blasphemy” (John 10:33).
His reference was to Jesus making himself God and not to what
Jesus said concerning the temple. (Deland, MTJ, 118-19).
2) A.T. Robertson says “Jesus accepts the challenge and admits that He
claims to be all three (the Messiah, the Son of Man, the Son of God).
‘Ye say’ is just a Greek idiom for ‘Yes’ (compare ‘I AM’ in Mark 14:62
with ‘Thou hast said’ in Matt. 26:64).” (Robertson, WPNT, 277)
3) H.B. Swete, in explaining why the high priest tore his garments in reply
to what Jesus said, “The law forbade the High Priest to rend his garment
in private troubles (Lev. 10:6; 21:10), but when acting as a judge, he
was required by custom to express in this way his horror of any
blasphemy uttered in his presence. The relief of the embarrassed judge
is manifest. If trustworthy evidence was not forthcoming, the necessity
for it had now been superceded: the Prisoner had incriminated Himself.”
(Swete, GASM, 339).
4) Hilarin Felder, “This inspection of the trial of Jesus should be sufficient
to give us the invincible conviction that the Savior confessed His true
divinity before His judges.” (Felder, CAC, 299-300).
5) Craig Blombreg notes, “ Jesus may even be indicting his interrogators
by this way of phrasing things. But he does not stop here. He goes on
to add, “and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of
Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven”. This reply combines
allusions to Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110:1. In this context, “Son of
man” means far more than a simple human being. Jesus is describing
Himself as the “one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of
heaven” who “approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his
presence” and given authority and power over all humanity, leading
to universal worship and everlasting dominion (Dan 7:13-14). This
claim to be far more than a mere mortal is probably what elicited the
verdict of blasphemy from the Jewish high court. (Blomberg, JG, 341-
43). It is implied, if not expressly stated, that in Daniels vision this
being was enthroned, Jesus linked these two scriptures when the high
priest challenged Him to declare His identity.
6) We can see that this was the testimony that Jesus wanted to bear of
Himself. We can also see that the Jews must have understood exactly
what Jesus was implying by their actions. It was either Jesus was
claiming divinity for Himself, which would have been blasphemy,
or He was, in fact, God. His accusers seen this so perfectly that they
had Him crucified.
7) We need to remember that the Jews were not a sect of ignorant
people. They were highly cultured and an intensely religious people.
Jesus laid claim to Deity and it was because of this that His death was
decreed by the Sanhedrin.
II) Other Claims
1) Equality with the Father
A) John 10:25-33
1) In this account the Jews clearly understood what Jesus’ was claiming.
2) Their response, just as with the trial, shows us that they fully understood
His words.
3) Of interest, the word ‘one’ comes from the Greek word hen which is
neuter and speaks of one essence, not one person. The Father and the
Son share a oneness of divine essence and yet remain two separate and
distinct Persons within the Godhead.
4) From all this it is evident that in the minds of those that heard the
statement, there was no doubt that Jesus was claiming before them
that He was God.
5) Lev. 24:16; states that the punishment for blasphemy was to be stoned.
They were prepared to stone Him for His claim.
B) John 5:17-18
1) The Jews were angry because of His violation of the Sabbath, but they
were furious when He made the claim to equality with the Father.
2) The Jews did not refer to God as “My Father” If they did, they would
qualify the statement with “in heaven”. However, this Jesus did not do.
He made a claim that the Jews could not mistake when He called God
“My Father.” His claim was to a unique relationship. Just as a human
father’s son is fully human, God’s Son must be fully God.
C) John 8:58
1) The expression of “Verily, verily” is a double amen. It is the strongest
oath that one can give.
2) “I Am” refers to the name of God Himself, (Ex. 3:14). It is clear that
this is no new idea that Jesus is presenting. The Jews were quite
familiar with this concept of God. Here we find Jesus using this
label to identify Himself.
3) We can see from the reaction of the Jews that were gathered, verse
59 indicates that they took up stones. This again was in accord with
the Old Law (Lev. 24:13-16). In which one found to blaspheme was
to be stoned.
4) Another thought is in the fact that Jesus did not try to clarify His
statement in an attempt to make sure that they understood what He
was stating. There was no need to do such, they understood that He
was claiming to be God.
D) John 5:23-24
1) In the last part of this verse Jesus thrusts a warning at those who
accuse Him of blasphemy. He tells them that by hurling abuse at Him,
they are actually hurling it at God, and that it is God who is outraged
by their treatment of Jesus.
2) We also see that Jesus claims the right to be worshiped as God. From
this it follows that to dishonor Jesus is to dishonor God.
E) Sermon on the mount
1) Matt. 5:20, 22, 26, 28, 32, 34, 44
2) In these scriptures, Jesus teaches and speaks in His own name. By
doing so, He elevated the authority of His words directly to heaven.
3) Instead of repeating the prophets by saying “Thus saith the Lord’,
Jesus repeated, “but I say unto you,”. This puts His words as equal
to God’s word (Mark 13:31).
2) Worshiped as God
A) Worship is reserved for God alone
1) To fall down in homage is the greatest act of adoration and worship
that can be performed for God (John 4:20-22; Acts 8:27)
2) John 8:24 states that people must worship God in spirit and truth
3) Matt. 4:10; God is the only one to whom we can give worship to.
B) Jesus received worship as God and accepted it.
1) Matt. 8:2
2) John 9:35-39
3) Matt. 14:33
4) John 20:27-29
C) Others would not accept worship
1) Acts 10:25-26
2) Rev. 19:10
D) As we can see, Jesus was and accepted worship from others as if He were
God.
3) Comparison of titles given
Of Jehovah God Mutual Title Of Jesus
Is. 40:28 Creator John 1:3
Is. 45:22; 43:11 Savior John 4:42
I Sam. 2:6 Raise dead John 5:21
Joel 3:12 Judge John 5:27
Is. 60:19-20 Light John 8:12
Ex. 3:14 I Am John 8:58
Ps. 23:1 Shepherd John 10:11
Is. 42:8 Glory of God John 17:1,5
Is. 41:4; 44:6 First and last Rev. 1:17; 2:8
Hosea 13:14 Redeemer Rev. 5:9
Is. 62:5 Bridegroom Matt. 25:1
Ps. 18:2 Rock I Cor. 10:4
Jer. 31:34 Forgiver of sins Mark 2:7,10
Ps. 148:2 Worshiped by Angels Heb. 1:6
Throughout OT Addressed in prayer Acts 7:59
Ps. 148:5 Creator of angels Col. 1:16
Is. 45:23 Confessed as God Phil 2:11
III) Support of Deity: The Great Proposition
1) If God became a man, what would we expect from Him?
A) He would have an utterly unique entrance into the world
B) He would be without sin
C) He would manifest His supernatural presence in the form of supernatural
acts: miracles
D) He would speak the greatest words ever spoken
E) He would have a lasting and universal influence
F) He would satisfy the spiritual hunger in humanity
2) It is only in Jesus that we can find all 8 of these propositions clearly in His person.
3) Examination of propositions
A) Entrance into the world
1) Every man woman and child have been conceived through natural
processes. That is the union of the male sperm and the female egg.
This is not so of Jesus. He was conceived while His mother was yet
a virgin. He had no earthly biological father.
2) The Bible gives the testimony of the virgin birth. The main body
of evidence is in the accounts of Matt. And Luke. However, the OT
did predict the Messiah’s unique conception hundreds of years before
the event. Is. 7:14 and Gen 3:15.
3) Gen 3:14
a) This is the first prophecy of the coming Messiah that is recorded
in the scriptures. Here God promises that it would be the
seed of WOMAN that would bruise the head of the serpent.
b) It is clear from the text that the Savior would come from a
virgin. It is stated from the seed of woman and not of man.
The distinction seems to be purposeful in nature. If He were
to be conceived in a purely natural way the term man would
have been used. Yet the seed of woman eliminates this
possibility.
4) Is. 7:14
a) This is a much clearer prophecy of the Saviors entrance into the
world. It states that a virgin will conceive and bear a child.
That child was to be the Messiah, Immanuel, God with us.
b) There has been much confusion as to the correct meaning of
Almah, which is the word that is translated virgin.
c) I believe that this is really a none issue for our study. We can
return to it in the future. I can say this that the word is correctly
translated virgin.
5) It is obvious that Jesus is the only one in history that has had such a
unique entrance into the world. No other person has come in such a
fashion.
B) Without sin
1) It is admitted by all that God cannot sin. It goes against His divine
nature. This is the only reason that people will be in the eternal
Gehenna.
2) Therefore, if Jesus is God, we would expect for Him to be without
sin.
3) Jesus view of Himself
a) John 8:46; “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” When He
asked this question, He got no answer. He invited them to
accuse Him and was found innocent. Jesus was the only one
who could encourage such public examination since He was
without sin.
b) John 8:29; “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath
not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”
Jesus lived in unbroken communion with God.
c) We are told of the temptation of Jesus in Matt. 4 and Luke 4 but
we are never informed of His sin. We never hear Him
confessing or asking for forgiveness, yet He tells His disciples
to do so. He had no sense of quilt that accompanies a sin
nature as with us.
4) Views of others
a) 1 Peter 1:19
b) 1 Peter 2:22
c) 1 John 3:5
d) Luke 23:41
e) Luke 23:14
f) Luke 23:22
g) Luke 23:47
C) Supernatural acts-miracles
1) If Jesus were God, He would have control over all of the physical
elements. We would expect for Him to be able to do miracles.
2) Recorded miracles of physical healing
a) Matt. 8:2-4 lepers
b) Matt. 9:2-8; paralytic
c) Matt. 8:14-17; Peters mother-in-law
d) John 4:46-53; a son
e) John 5:1-9; physical infirmity
3) Miracles in the natural realm
a) John 2:1-11; water into wine
b) Matt. 8:23-27; stilling of a storm
c) Luke 5:1-11; catching of fish
d) Matt. 14:22,23; walking on water
e) Matt. 21:18-22; withering of the fig tree
4) Miracles of raising the dead
a) Matt. 9:18-26; Jairus’s daughter
b) Luke 7:11-15; widow’s son
c) John 11:38-44; Lazarus
D) Greatest and most important words
1) If Jesus was God we would expect for His words to be true, forceful,
and everlasting.
2) True
a) John 8:31-32; Jesus proclaims that His word is truth. This claim
of Jesus can be supported in many ways.
b) The sermon on the mount is a great example of this. Here He
shows how man is to live his life. It has been said that if all of
mankind were to live by His words, we would have peace of
earth. This can be said of no other person. Neither Plato,
Socrates, Aristotle, Buda, Confucius, or Mohamed has
spoken in such a way.
c) Jesus spoke of the true intents of the hearts of those to who he
came. John 4:6-29; Matt. 23:13-36; Matt. 15:1-9
d) In Matt. 24 Jesus speaks the truth as to the destruction of the
temple and warns those who would listen to Him to leave
as quickly as possible. We learn from history that this happened
and those who understood His words fled from the city just
before it happened.
3) Forceful
a) Heb. 4:12
1) The writer states that it is the Word of God that has
these attributes.
2) It is powerful
3) It can divide the soul and spirit
4) It can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart
b) James 1:19-27
1) It is the Word of God that is able to save the soul
2) The Word of God is the perfect law of liberty
3) It is through God’s word that we are able to see who
we really are in the sight of God.
c) John 16:7-11
1) Jesus here makes the claim that the Comforter (which
is the Holy Spirit) will reprove the world of sin. Just
how will this be accomplished?
2) Verses 13-15 show us the process of transmission from
the Father to the Son to the Holy Spirit to the apostles
In this way we see that it is through the apostles
teachings that this would be accomplished. It was
through the words of the apostles that this happens
(Acts 2:14-47)
d) With this we can make the claim that the Word of God is
indeed powerful. It is the most powerful force on earth.
e) It has the power and force to transform the lives of those who
hear and accept it.
f) Does the words of Jesus have the same effect?
1) The disciples
2) Women at the well (John 4:1-29)
3) Samaritans (John 4:39-42)
4) Woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-9)
E) Lasting and universal influence
1) No new ethical teachings have been given in spite of all the progress
of thought.
2) He never wrote a book, yet there are volumes of books that have been
written about Him.
3) He never founded a college, yet if we put all the students of all the
schools together, it cannot boast as having as many students.
4) He never amassed an army, drafted a soldier, yet no other leader
in history has had more volunteers.
5) He was not a psychiatrist, yet He has healed more hearts than all
combined.
6) Today, His word is still the best selling book.
7) Medical institutions have been established in His name all over the
world.
F) Satisfy the spiritual hunger of humanity
1) It is inescapable, man has a desire to worship something
2) This is well documented throughout history.
a) Roman gods
b) Greek gods
c) Norse gods
d) Mother nature
e) Satan
f) Pyramids of Mexico
g) Shrines in India
h) Animals
3) It seems to be hard wired into man to worship something that is
greater than himself.
4) We would expect for God to satisfy this desire. If so then does Jesus
accomplish this?
5) Of course He does. It can be shown inquiring anyone who worships
Him.
6) The difference is in the fact that He fills this void in mankind unlike
any other.
a) He gives us peace of mind and heart in this life which no
other source can. In all other types of worship, this cannot
be said. In the list above, we see that most of these gods
never could impart this to the people.
b) Look to your own selves.
G) In all of these items, we find that it is Christ and Christ alone that fits.
Therefore we can make the claim that He is God.
IV) Conclusion
1) Jesus made the claim that He is God
2) Others also made the claim
3) The evidence from scripture supports this claim without contradiction.
4) The things that we would expect of God have been shown in Christ
5) We have no remaining conclusion to make except to conclude that He is God.
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