One of the primary purposes of 5th Kingdom Ministries is to equip Christians to go beyond the basics of the faith, and apply the Bible to every area of life. Every once and a while, however, I do feel the need to go back to the basics. Unfortunately, many professing Christians have trouble making a case for some of our foundational beliefs.
One of those beliefs is the deity of Jesus (i.e., Jesus is God). You simply cannot call yourself a Christian if you don’t believe that Jesus is God. Many skeptics think they disprove Christianity by simply stating that “Jesus never claimed to be God.” This argument can even stump some Christians. The argument goes like this: “The red letters in the Bible (assuming you have a “red letter” Bible), are the words of Jesus, and since you will not find the words ‘I am God’ written in red, that means that Jesus never claimed to be God.” What may sound like a good argument quickly falls apart under closer examination. Keep in mind that what follows is only some of the evidence in Scripture that Jesus is God.
Reason #1. Jesus clearly claimed to be the Son of God (Luke 22:70), and the Christ (i.e. the Messiah; Matt. 16:16-17; John 4:25-26). But is claiming to be the Messiah and the Son of God, the same as claiming to be God? Yep. In the OT, God’s Son is the inheritor of the nations (Ps. 2:7-8). The inheritor of the nations is God (Ps. 82:8). The OT clearly says that the Messiah (i.e. the Child, the Son) is none other than the “Mighty God, Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6).
Reason #2. Jesus claimed to be the Judge of the whole earth. Ps. 82:8 says not only that God will inherit the nations, but that He is also the Judge of earth (see also Gen. 18:25; 1 Sam. 2:10; etc.). Another way to say it, is that God is the judge of the nations (or “peoples” or world; Ps 96:10-13). Jesus said that the Son of Man (Jesus’ favorite name for Himself) would judge all the nations (Matt. 25:31-32).
Reason #3. Jesus used God’s names as His own. In John 8:58 Jesus describes Himself as “I AM.” The Greek words used here are “Ego Eimi.” When God tells Moses what He should be called, God says that He is the “I AM” (Ex. 3:14). In the Greek version of the OT, God calls Himself “Ego Eimi.” The Jews of Jesus’ day knew that when Jesus called Himself Ego Eimi, He was calling Himself God, and that’s why they wanted to stone Him (John 8:59).
In Rev. 1:11 & 17 Jesus calls Himself the “First and the Last.” By the way, these words are in red (in a red letter Bible). The words “First and Last” are how God describes Himself (Isa. 44:6, 48:12).
Reason #4. Jesus accepted worship. The Bible is clear: we may only worship God (Deut. 8:19; Jer 25:6; Rev. 19:10, 22:8-9; etc.). Jesus knew this (Matt. 4:9-10), and yet He freely accepted worship from others (Matt. 14:33, 28:17; John 9:38). Was Jesus accepting worship contrary to the will of God the Father? Hardly. God the Father never rebuked Jesus for accepting worship. In fact, He said that He was “well pleased” with Him (Matt. 17:5).
Reason # 5. Jesus declared who He is through His apostles. Some skeptics say that if Jesus had said the words “I am God” in one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John), they would believe that He is God.
First of all, I doubt their sincerity when they say that. Jesus’ human hand didn’t pen any of the Gospels. They were inspired by God of course, but Matthew was the one who penned Matthew, Mark penned Mark, etc. So, if someone won’t believe Peter, Paul, and others who wrote the rest of the NT, why would they supposedly believe the writers of the Gospels?
Secondly, anything that was written in the NT by an apostle (or someone under the oversight of an apostle) are the words of Jesus. The Greek word for apostle (apostolos) means a messenger, particularly a messenger that spoke on behalf of an important person. In ancient Greece, whenever an apostle spoke, it was as though the person that the apostle represented was doing the speaking. The words of the apostle were, for all intents and purposes, the words of the person who sent him. It is no different with the apostles of Jesus. Their words are His words. Therefore, whoever believes their words, believes His words (John 15:20).
Does the rest of the NT teach that Jesus is God? You betcha. In Romans 9:5; 1 Timothy 3:16 (depending on the version you are using); Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-9; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20, the apostles clearly say that Jesus is God.
So, did Jesus ever claim to be God? If you were to do a thorough study of the Bible (and most skeptics don’t), the answer is obvious. Just because you won’t find the words “I am God” in red, doesn’t prove anything. The Bible (which God wrote), clearly says that Jesus is God.