The Deity of Christ

INTRODUCTION

This fundamental doctrine is consistently attacked by Manalistas, Russellites, and other religions
that do not believe about the Deity of Christ. But when we carefully study the Scriptures, it
clearly states that Jesus is God.

As children of God, there is a connection of our salvation and our belief in the Deity of Christ.

Belief in the Deity of Christ is essential to salvation. Rom. 10:9, " If you declare with your
mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved." -- 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, ““Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you
are persecuting,” he replied.”

the man in John 9 :38,” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”
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.

I. JESUS CHRIST IS REFERRED TO AS LORD IN Psalms 110:1.

Psa. 110:1 says, "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 Matt. 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-36; Luke 20:39-44. While Jesus
was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the
law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the
Holy Spirit, declared: “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I
put your enemies under your feet.”’- Mark 12:35-36

Peter referred to it in his sermon at Pentecost, “For David did not ascend to heaven,
and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand.” Acts 2:34.
The prophecy was the Messiah-Savior would be the Divine Lord Himself.

II. THE VIRGIN BIRTH WOULD BE GOD COMING TO LIVE WITH MEN.
Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive
and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel" This is the Savior that was coming.

Matthew 1:23 tells us that Immanuel means "God with us." ““The virgin will conceive and
give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”
This came true at Bethlehem. God in the Person of Jesus Christ came to dwell with man at the
Incarnation.

III. THE MESSIAH, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS GIVEN DIVINE NAMES IN
PROPHECY
Isaiah 9:6,7, " For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will
be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Only the Lord God Himself could be the fulfillment of these names.
Wonderful - Only God is truly wonderful. In Luke 18:19, ““Why do you call me
good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.” none good save the Lord
God.
Counselor - Only the omniscient God could be the perfect Counselor, Psalms 16:7. “I will
praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.”
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.)

IV. THE CHRIST WHO WAS PROPHESIED TO COME WAS TO BE FROM

“EVERLASTING."
Micah 5:2 says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the
clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose
[a]

origins are from of old, from ancient times.” The Messiah-Saviour was to be the eternal
omnipresent God HIMSELF.

V. GOD AND CHRIST BOTH GAVE THEIR PERSONAL NAMES AS "I AM."
Exodus 3:14, "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT 1 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 (Lev. 24 :12-16).
But Jesus had not sinned for He was truly God. He was the great I AM in person.

VI. JESUS CHRIST FORGAVE SINS.

Mark 2:5, When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins
are forgiven.” 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.

VII. JESUS CLAIMED EQUALITY WITH THE FATHER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
This is evident in the baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit.” And in the benediction of II Corinthians 13:14 says, “May the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all.” The names of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are linked together.

VIII. JESUS CLAIMED OMNIPRESENCE

To be omnipresent is a characteristic of God Almighty only, not true of angels or men.
Matthew 18:20 says, For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with
them.” Jesus promises to be anywhere, everywhere at one and the same time.

IX. JESUS CLAIMED OMNISCIENCE

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. “saying
to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will
find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it
here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it
and will send it back here shortly.’”

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they
untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying
that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let
them go.”

Jesus Exercised the gift of prophecy, too, in Matthew12:40 says, For as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

X. JESUS CLAIMED OMNIPOTENCE

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; Heb. 1:3.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without
him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:1-3

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his
being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrew 1:3

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

XII. JESUS CHRIST THE TRUE GOD HAD POWER OVER THE ELEMENTS,
In Luke 8:24 says, The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master,
Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the
raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. Jesus rebuked the wind and it
obeyed Him and there was a great calm at once.

In Mark 4:39 says, “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be
still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” Jesus calmed the waves
of the raging sea - a power not of man but of , God only.

And in Matthew 14:25-26 says, “Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking
on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.
“It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.” Jesus walked on the water. This ability is
denied to ordinary men.

XIII. JESUS CHRIST RECEIVED WORSHIP DUE ONLY TO GOD

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.”

XIV. JESUS ACCEPTED THE TESTIMONY OF THOMAS

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.

XV. THE FACT OF JESUS' RESURRECTION

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, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into
death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life.” It was the Father God, Himself, that raised Jesus from
the dead. The 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.
1. Eternal. Micah 5:2, ". . . from everlasting." Also John 8:58; Col. 1:17; Rev. 1:8.
2. Unchangeable. Heb. 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."
3. Omnipotent. Luke 8:24, Jesus stilled the tempest and the sea, also Matt. 28':18.
4. Omnipresent. Matt. 18:20; John 1:48; John 3:13; Matt. 28:20.
5. Omniscient.' Mark 11:2-6; John 2:24,25; Luke 5:22; Matt. 24:3-31.
6. Holy. Mark 1:24, "Jesus. . . the Holy One of God" Sinless. I Peter 2:22; John 19:4.
7. Just. John 2 :14-17, the cleansing of the Temple; Acts 17 :31, a righteous Judge.
8. Loving. John 15 :13, "Greater love hath no man than this. " Also John 11 :36.
9. Merciful. Titus 3 :5, "According to His mercy He saved us." He died for us.
10. Faithful. II Tim. 2 :13, "If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful." The five works of God
are ascribed to Jesus - creation, preservation, forgiveness, raising the dead, and judgment-
John 1:3; Heb. 1:3; Luke 7:48; John 6:39; John 5:22.

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come,
the ALMIGHTY.”

Revelation 19:6

Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound
of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the ALMIGHTY, reigns.

Revelation 4:8

Verse Concepts

And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and
within; and day and night they do not cease to say,“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE
ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”

Revelation 15:3

And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!

John 10:30-35
King James Version
I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father;
for which of those works do ye stone me? 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.