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Shannon Baptist
Church |
written by Pastor David Wood | |
CHRIST'S DIETY How could Jesus be God? How can Jesus be God and man at the same time? That's a good question. Many have wrestled with that mystery for years. The truth is that if Jesus isn't God he's a fraud because He Himself said He is God. "If Jesus is not God, then we who worship Him are idolaters. Anything less than deity condemns Him as a liar or lunatic."(1) Most today do not realize that Jesus claimed to be God. Most would assume that Jesus was a good man an amazing miracle worker, and a prophet of God. But when posed the question, "Is Jesus God?" they become incredulous. The Bible clearly attests that Jesus is God in the flesh. To deduce otherwise requires one to close his eyes to the Scriptures. The book of John begins with a bold assertion. The Word, another name for Jesus, was with God at the beginning; the Word was not only with God, the Word was God. John 1:1-3 The creation account in Genesis
1 verifies John 1. Hebrews 1 reveals God's viewpoint.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, 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 In Hebrews 1:8 God Himself calls Jesus God. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever (Hebrews 1:8) Moses had and interesting
experience at the burning bush. God commanded him to go back into Egypt
and lead the people free. Moses asked the question, "How am I going
to convince them that You, God, have really sent me?" Clearly the Hebrews understood
God's own made for Himself as "I AM." Many times thereafter,
God revealed Himself as I AM... and the Hebrews could fill in the blank.
He was their Jehovah-Jirah (God who provides), their Jehovah-Shalom
(God who gives peace), their Jehovah-Raphe (God who heals), etc. God,
as their I AM, was everything they would ever need. In the book of John
starting in chapter six, Jesus began revealing His deity. In the "I AM" context,
one passage stands out as critical to the verification of Christ as
deity. One additional passage reveals
Christ's true identity. Christ appeared to "doubting" Thomas
and asked him to place his finger in the nail scared hand, and to put
his hand in the hole in his side. (John 20:28) Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. He is God! No other answer can match the Scriptures. Isaiah 9:6 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, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. "If Christ did not claim
to be coequal with God, He then deliberately allowed the Jews to kill
Him for what He never claimed–to kill Him for a mutual mistake,
which He could have rectified by even once distinctly repudiating His
deity. (1) J. Oswald Sander,
"Divine Savior or Deceived Saint?", Moody Monthly, April 1984,
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