by David Tavender
Over the centuries, many men (and women) have set themselves up to be as gods, but only one man can correctly accept this accolade – Christ, the man who was also truly God. This is evidenced in the Scriptures by:
Several important phrases:
- The Word was God … the Word became flesh (John 1:1,14)
- God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16)
- In Him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:8,9)
- Immanuel – God with us (Matthew 1:23 & Isaiah 7:14)
- Thomas declared, “My Lord and My God”, and was not admonished for this (John 20:28)
- God has purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28)
Stated equality of Christ with God:
- In the OT – With whom shall I be equal? (Isaiah 40:25)
- In the NT – Christ stated to be equal with God (Philippians 2:6; John 5:18)
Worship of Christ said to be worthy of the worship of God:
- Paul’s statements that: every knee will bow to Christ (Philippians 2:10)
- in all things Christ should have pre-eminence (Colossians 1:18)
Attributes of Christ in the NT being the same as those of “God only” in the OT:
We think of God as the creator, the judge, and as having many other facets. The Scriptures tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ had these attributes as well. The following Scriptures illustrate the deity of Christ by comparing His attributes in the New Testament references, with those features ascribed to God in the Old Testament references….
Creator:
- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)
- “Christ Himself is the creator who made everything in heaven and earth (Colossians 1:16 – Living Bible)
Judge:
- “It is God who judges” (Ps 75:7)
- “The Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgement to the Son” (John 5:22)
Saviour:
- “I am the Lord, and apart from Me there is no Saviour” (Isaiah 43:11)
- “We wait for the glorious appearing of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)
Light:
- “The Lord is my light” (Psalm 27:1)
- “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)
Shepherd:
- “The Lord is my Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1)
- “Jesus said `I am the good Shepherd’ ” (John 10:10)
King of Israel:
- God is called: “Israel’s King and redeemer, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 44:6)
- “Nathaniel said “You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel” (John 1:49)
Furthermore, Christ also said of Himself and the Father…
- “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30)
- “Any one who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9)
- “If you knew Me, you would know my Father also.” (John 8:19)
- “Believe the miracles that you may learn and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (John 10:38)
- “Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” (John 14:11)
We rarely meet anyone who thinks that Jesus was a bad man. Almost everyone admits that He was, if nothing else, a very good man. But He was more than this, He was God also. Either that, or this “good man” told a lot of lies and made many false claims.
Rather, we believe the Lord Jesus Christ was, and is, “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).
* * *
Related topic: Click here for a discussion of the question, “Can Christ be both God and Man?”
