The Deity Of Christ

Bible Study
The Deity Of Christ

Today I’m going to bring you a study on one of my favorite things to teach and preach about…

It is also one of the most important subjects of the entire Bible, and that subject is, The Deity of Christ.

Some also refer to this subject as the divinity of Christ… In either case, it means that Jesus Christ is God.

So let me boldly and unashamedly proclaim that right at the outset, that indeed, Jesus Christ is God!

Having made that claim, I will take you on a tour of several verses in the Bible that make or support that same proclamation. Because the truth of this matter is really not contingent upon what I think, or what you think, or what somebody else thinks… The truth of this and all theological matters are contingent upon, what saith the Scriptures?

And as we will see right from the very beginning, the Scriptures are clear in their position on this matter, that Jesus Christ is God.

So let’s start with a verse that references “the beginning”. Not the more famous Gen. 1:1, but the lesser known John 1:1.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 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.

The Word here, with the capital “W” in v. 14, is obviously a reference to Jesus Christ. That is the same “Word” with a capital “W” that appears in v. 1.

And the clear statement of v. 1 is that “the Word” was there in the beginning, and the Word was God. John 1:1 is proclaiming the deity of Christ… It is proclaiming Jesus Christ is God…

Unless you have something like a New Word Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses…

The Jehovah’s Witness organization has some pet doctrines and when they put their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures together, they put it together with a prejudice towards those pet doctrines.

One of their pet beliefs is that they don’t believe in the deity of Christ.

So when they came to deal with this verse which was so strong on the deity of Christ, the verse smacked them right upside the head, and so they altered it. Thus instead of saying, “and the Word was God” the NWT alters it to read, “and the Word was a god.” The word “god” there being written with a small, or lower-case “g”.

Now, if that’s not blasphemy, it’ll do until you find some.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have the same problem that some others have when it comes to the deity of Christ. They can’t understand, with their human minds, how that Jesus can be both God & God’s son.

I had a Jehovah’s Witness say to me once, Do you have a father?

Yes

Are you and your father the same person?

No
Then he responds with (a sinister laugh).

But, friends, comparing me and my dad, with Jesus and His Father, is, as they say, like comparing apples & oranges.

Me and my dad are fallen sinners, like every mere mortal human being that ever lived… But Jesus Christ was no mere mortal human being, nor was He a sinner. And He didn’t even have an earthly father… His Father was God the Father. Don’t limit God by comparing him to earthly fathers & sons.

Is. 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
{9} For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Now back in John ch. 1, we learn something else about Jesus

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
{2} The same was in the beginning with God.
{3} All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The “him” of the verse is Jesus… Just as it is in v. 4 following.

So John 1:3 reveals that it was Jesus Christ that did the creating back in Gen. 1.
This becomes clear elsewhere in the NT as well. Look at Eph. ch. 3

Eph. 3:8-9 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
{9} And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Heb. 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
{2} Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Col. 1:12-16 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
{13} Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
{14} In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
{15} Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
{16} 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:
While we are here, notice Col. 1:17 also

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

This verse speaks particularly to a pre-incarnate existence of Christ
John the Baptist had acknowledged this as well, back in John 1:30, where he said of Jesus This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

John the Baptist is not referring to Jesus being born before John was, for John the Baptist was born before Jesus was.

You can check that fact out for yourself sometime by looking at Luke 1:30-36.
Now in addition to the Apostle Paul’s & John the Baptist’s acknow-ledgements of the pre-incarnate existence of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself acknowledges it in John 17:5

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

So long before Christ was born in the manger, He existed as part of what the Bible calls the Godhead.

The term Godhead in the Bible would be the same idea as the word trinity. God is a triune God. One God, with three personages.

Again, you don’t have to understand it… You don’t have to be able to explain it… But if the Bible says it, you have to believe it… If you want to be right.

A somewhat crude illustration of this would be an egg…

An egg has 3 parts to it which can each be separated and have different names… but they all work together to make one egg.
You have the shell, the albumen (which is the clear part on the inside, which turns white when cooked), and you have the yolk: 3 parts, 1 egg.

The Godhead has three parts… The Father, The Son, & The Holy Ghost. They are three in one, and one in three.

And to expand that statement just a little, they are Three in one, and one in three, and the One in the middle died for me!
Now, “coincidentally”, the term Godhead shows up in the Bible exactly three times!

First in Col. 2:9… I’ll read you Col. 2:8-9

{8} Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
{9} For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Rom. 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

So God “just happens” to use the word Godhead in the Bible 3 times even as there 3 members of the Godhead.
All right, in Heb. 1:3 Jesus Christ is said to be “the brightness of (God’s) glory, and the express image of his person…”

But a few verse later it gets even stronger. You should take a good look at Heb.1:8. It is God the Father speaking, and the verse reads

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

This is a quotation of Ps. 45:6 and identifies the God of the verse as being Jesus Christ.

So John the apostle says Jesus is God.
The apostle Paul says Jesus is God.
God the Father says the Son is God.

Let’s see what Jesus has to say about it

John 8:51-58 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
{52} Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
{53} Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
{54} Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
{55} Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
{56} Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
{57} Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
{58} Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

I AM! That’s the name that God revealed Himself to Moses with

Ex. 3:13-14 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
{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.

And after Jesus makes that statement in v. 58, v. 59 says Then took they up stones to cast at him…

Two chapters later, in John 10:30, Jesus proclaims to the Jews

I and my Father are one.

Argue about what He meant if you want, but that is what He said. And the one’s that were there to hear it knew the implications.

Let me read it to you again along with the 3 verses that follow

John 10:30-33 I and my Father are one.
{31} Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
{32} Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
{33} The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

Phil. 2:5-6 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: {6} Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Acts 20:28

In the OT in Isaiah 43:11, God says I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

And in the NT in II Pet 3:18, it says But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

That is just one of many places that refer to Jesus Christ as the Saviour. And if there is no Saviour beside God as the book of Isaiah says, then Jesus Christ is God!
Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
John 20:24-28 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
{25} 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.
{26} 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.
{27} 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.
{28} And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

Now, what if someone said that to you?

You would say, I’m not God & I’m not your Lord! Let’s see what Jesus said

John 20:28-29 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
{29} Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Thomas gets no rebuke from Jesus for calling Him God… because Jesus is God.
I Tim. 3:16 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.

I Tim. 3:16 in other versions…

The Living Bible

It is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ, who came to earth as a man, was proved spotless and pure in his Spirit, was served by angels, was preached among the nations, was accepted by men everywhere, and was received up again to his glory in heaven.
RSV

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion*: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

*So the Revised Standard Version replaces godliness with religion…

Ditto, the New revised Standard Version

HYPERLINK “https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%203:15-16&version=NRSV” NRSV

Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.
New Living Translation

Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.
The Message

This Christian life is a great mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough: He appeared in a human body, was proved right by the invisible Spirit, was seen by angels. He was proclaimed among all kinds of peoples, believed in all over the world, taken up into heavenly glory.

All right, let me show you another strong verse that I noticed, which just hit me somewhere in the last year or two, or so. I John 3:16
I John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

When did God lay down His life for us? It could only have been on the cross as Jesus Christ.
And now for one of the strongest verse on the deity of Christ, as well as the entire Godhead, we’ll look at I John 5:7

I John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

So strong is this verse that it is summarily attacked by many “scholars” as being a mistake.

Even the Old Scofield reference Bible, though it accurately places the verse in the text, it includes a note in its center column references that says

“It is generally agreed that v. 7 has no real authority, and has been inserted.”

To which I say, if it is generally agreed that that is so, then we need some new generals!

And quite contrary to the claim that the verse has “no real authority”, the verse is dripping with authority. And so it stands without apology in the text of the King James Bible, while it is altered in other “versions”.

If you want to see a study in confusion, click the link in the show notes and look at the different renderings on BibleGateway.com.
HYPERLINK “https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/1%20John%205:7” https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/1%20John%205:7

Let me now just give you one example of how the verse is butchered in the NIV (New International Version). If you have your King James Bible handy, follow along in it as I read you the verse form the NIV

I John 5:7 For there are three that testify:

That’s it… But a closer examination reveals something even more insidious. In actuality, the NIV, (like MANY of the other versions) actually leaves I John 5:7 out completely. And what they do instead is give you their version of v. 8 and divide it into two verses, putting the first part in v. 7, and the second part in v. 8… So you wouldn’t suspect anything is missing.

Here it is exactly in the NIV

I John 5:7 For there are three that testify:
I John 5:8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

Somebody doesn’t want you to know who Jesus Christ is! But it is of the utmost importance that you know & believe!

While we are still in I John ch. 5, let’s also look at v. 20

I John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
While Joseph was thinking about what to do when Mary turned up pregnant before they were married, knowing he was not the father, the Bible tells us the following beginning in Matt. 1:20
Matt. 1:20-23 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.
{21} And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
{22} Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
{23} 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.
Are you convinced yet as to who Jesus is? Do you believe the testimony of the Scriptures regarding His deity?
If you are still skeptical, let’s look at one last place… It is a verse that you might hear sung at this time of the year, as Handel’s Messiah is often played around Christmas time.

The verse is Isaiah 9:6… And this is what it says

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.

I don’t guess you’ll get stronger than that! No matter what you thought about it before this study, we have seen that the Bible is abundantly clear in its testimony, that Jesus Christ is God…