The belief that Jesus was and is God has always been a non-negotiable for Christianity. The Christian tradition claims that God took on flesh, became a man, and walked on earth. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus (the Word) is God and came to earth.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-4, 14, NASB)”
The author of the book of Hebrews says, “He [Jesus] is the radiance of His [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3, NASB).”
In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
The Jews asked Jesus “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ (Messiah), tell us plainly (John 10:24).” Jesus went on to tell them that “I and the Father are one (vs. 30).” They then took up stones to stone Him.
Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make yourself out to be God.”
“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10: 32-33, 37-38 NASB).”
We know Jesus is God because:
1) He Possesses Attributes that Only God Has
a. Eternality (John 8:58; 17:5)
b. Omnipresence (Matt. 18:22; 28:20)
c. Omniscience (Matt. 16:21; Luke 6:8; 11:17)
d. Omnipotence (Matt. 28:18; Mark 5:11-15)
2) He Performs Works that Only God Can Do
a. Forgiveness (Mark 2:1-12)
b. Life (John 5:21)
c. Resurrection (John 11:43)
d. Judgment (John 5:22, 27)
3) He Was Given the Names and Titles of Deity
a. Son of God (John 10:36)
b. Lord & God (Luke 1:76; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 10:13)
4) He Claimed to Be God (John 10:30, 33)
Outside of the inspiration of the Bible, there may be no other Christian doctrine more vehemently attacked than the deity of Christ. Our very salvation is inseparably linked to faith in Jesus Christ. So it becomes an issue of great importance to determine biblically who Jesus Christ is.
Who is Jesus of Nazareth to you? Your life on this earth and for all of eternity is affected by your answer to this question.