THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON, IS GOD

Stuart Olyott

The Scriptures are full of evidence that Jesus Christ is God. It is a truth that no one need doubt.

Of all the men and women who have walked this earth, only of Jesus Christ can it be said that His life did not begin when He was born. He existed before that time. He was in the beginning, and all things were made by Him (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-18). He was rich before He became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9). 'I came forth from the Father,' He said, 'and am come into the world' (John 16:28). He described Himself as 'He that came down from heaven' (John 3:13), and asked His hearers what they would think if they saw Him 'ascend up where he was before' (John 6:62).

He clearly meant us to understand that He is God, who has come among us as a Man. What else could He have meant when He prayed in the presence of His disciples, 'And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was'? (John 17:5.) His claims to be God were well understood by the Jews, for they took up stones to stone Him when they heard Him say, 'Before Abraham was, I am' (John 8:58). If He had said, 'Before Abraham was, I was', it would not have been so bad. They could have been charitable, and written Him off as some kind of crank. But He did not say that. He said, 'I am.' He was claiming a continued ever-present existence from before Abraham's time to that moment. And had not God described Himself as 'I AM'? What else could Jesus be doing, but laying claim to deity?' The Jews did not believe the claim, but considered it a blasphemy–and took up stones ....

Before Jesus began His public ministry, there had taken place the preaching of John the Baptist. He announced that he had come in fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3: 'The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."'

In the East, a forerunner often went ahead of a very important person. It was his job to smooth the road, so that the dignitary who was following did not have too bumpy a ride! John the Baptist made it clear that the One following him was Jehovah Himself. He was God (John 1:23). He underlined this by saying, 'He who comes after me ranks higher than I do, for He existed before me' (John 1:15, my own translation). When Jesus eventually came to Jordan, John positively identified Him as the One of whom he had been speaking (john 1:29-30). Jesus is the promised Jehovah! Jesus is God! Yet John's titles for the promised One were 'Lamb of God', and 'Son of God' (John 1:29, 34). The Son of God is God. But the Son is not the Father, for as John baptized Jesus, a voice sounded from heaven, declaring, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased' (Luke 3:22).

The Jews well understood that the title 'Son of God' was a title for One who was fully God. When Jesus stood trial the night before His crucifixion, the high priest put Him on oath, and asked Him, 'I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God' (Matthew 26:63). Jesus admitted this to be true. Matthew tells us what follows: 'Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, "He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy"' (Matthew 26:65). He was convinced that Jesus had spoken blasphemy, because he understood perfectly that the title 'Son of God' is a divine title. Of course, it was not blasphemy but the truth. The high priest and the Jewish council did not believe it.

But the disciples did! The glorious truth of Christ's real identity had flashed into their minds a year or two earlier. Speaking for them all, Peter had said to Jesus, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matthew 16: 16); 'Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God' (John 6:68-69). In the same way, when Paul became a Christian believer, 'straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God' (Acts 9:20). He rejoiced to recall that Jesus was God's 'own Son' (Romans 8:3).

It was the same with John. He tells us that the glory he saw in Jesus' life was the glory of the Father's only Son (John 1:14). He was with the Father at the beginning ( 1 John 1:1-2). He is 'the Word' who was 'in the beginning with God' (John 1:1-2). Not only was He with God, but 'the Word was God' (John 1:1). John is as dogmatic as that about the deity of Christ. The glory of Jehovah which Isaiah witnessed about 700 B.C. was none other than the glory of Christ (Isaiah 6; John 12:39-41). The very aim which John had in writing his Gospel was to persuade us that 'Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God' (John 20:31).

The Son of God is God Himself. The word 'Lord' which is so often used of Him also serves to make this clear. When the Old Testament was eventually translated into Greek, kyrios was the word which was used to translate 'Jehovah'. The New Testament was written in Greek, and it is the same word kyrios which is translated 'Lord' in our English versions. The word used for Jehovah is the word used for the Lord Jesus Christ! We are not surprised–for Jesus is God. The writer to the Hebrews refers the words, 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,' to the Lord Jesus Christ (Psalm 45:6-7; Hebrews 1:8). This is but one of many occasions where Old Testament passages which referred to Jehovah are applied to Christ by the New Testament writers. By looking at these passages we can quickly see that it is proper to speak of Christ as 'God': Numbers 21:5-6 and 1 Corinthians 10:9; 'My God ... thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end' (Psalm 102:24-27; Hebrews 1:10-12); 'The King, the Lord of hosts' (Isaiah 6:1-10; John 12:39-41); 'The Lord of hosts himself' (Isaiah 8:13-14; Romans 9:33); 'The mighty God' (Isaiah 9:1-6; Matthew 4:14-16); and 'The Lord' (Malachi 3:1; Matthew I1:10).

In the same vein, Paul is not ashamed to call Him 'God over all' (Romans 9:5); and 'the great God and our Saviour' (Titus 2:13). He asserts His deity in such phrases as 'the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ' (2 Thessalonians 1:1.2). The church, he tells us, was purchased by God 'with his own blood' (Acts 20:28). He goes so far as to declare that all there is of God dwells bodily in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the full strength of the Greek words of Colossians 2:9, the verse which reads, 'For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.' Whatever doubts are nursed about Jesus Christ today, it is clear who the apostles believed Him to be and who they taught that He was! The Son is not the Father, but the Son is God. And He is God in the same sense as the Father is.

A man who was arguing against the deity of Christ once said, 'If it was true, it would have have been stated in the clearest possible terms.' His friend replied, 'If you believed this truth, and were teaching it, what words would you choose to express it?' 'I would say,' the objector answered, 'that Jesus Christ is the true God.' His friend replied, 'You have hit upon the very words of Scripture. John, speaking of the Son, says, "This is the true God, and eternal life" ' (1 John 5:20).

Seeing Jesus is actually called God, we are not surprised to find that the characteristics which belong to God are ascribed to Him. For instance, in Isaiah 44:6 we read of Jehovah saying, 'I am the first, and I am the last.' Yet in Revelation, Jesus says, 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last' (Revelation 22:13). Jehovah is eternal; Jesus is eternal. Clearly Jesus is Jehovah: He is God.

In the same way, we know that God is unchangeable (Malachi 3:6); and yet the believer is to be comforted by knowing the Son of God as 'Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever' (Hebrews 13:8). God is present everywhere, but as we go into all the world to spread the gospel, we are heartened to hear Christ's 'Lo, I am with you always' (Matthew 28:20). His presence everywhere is also displayed by His promise to be wherever two or three gather in His name(Matthew 18:20). God is all-powerful, but Jesus Christ 'is able even to subdue all things unto himself' (Philippians 3:21). God is all-knowing, but this, too, is so obviously true of Christ. He can read people's hearts (John 2:24-25). From the beginning He knew exactly who would betray Him (John 6:70-71; 13:10-11). He predicted the details of His own death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21), and Peter's denial and restoration (Luke 22:31-34). He knows what is going on in the churches (Revelation 2:2). But the full mystery of His own person is unknowable: 'No man knoweth the Son, but the Father' (Matthew 11:27).

'Who can forgive sins but God only?' But Jesus authoritatively said to the paralysed man, 'Son, thy sins are forgiven thee' (Mark 2:7, 5); and we are urged that 'as Christ forgave you, so also do ye' (Colossians 3:13). Who but God is holy? Yet Peter, knowing this full well, is happy to refer Psalm 16 to Christ, and to call Him the 'Holy One' (Acts 2:27). We could go on with many other arguments of the same sort. In Isaiah 45:23 Jehovah pledges, 'That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.' The New Testament pledges that God will cause 'that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord ...' (Philippians 2:10-11). Again and again we see it: what is true of Jehovah alone, is true of Jesus. Jesus is Jehovah! What can be said of God alone, is said of Christ. Christ is God! We need doubt no more.

Who created the world? And yet of Jesus it is said: 'All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.., the world was made by him .... ' 'By him were all things created ... all things were created by him, and for him' (John 1:3, 10; Colossians 1:16-17).

Who holds the universe together, and rules it? And yet of Jesus it is said: 'By him all things consist.' He is 'upholding all things by the word of his power'. He was able to announce to His disciples, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth' (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; Matthew 28:18).

Who but God will raise the dead, and judge the world? Yet we read of Jesus that, 'All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation' (John 5:28-29). 'We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ' (2 Corinthians 5:10). The Lord Jesus Christ claimed this most vividly in His parable of the sheep and goats. Eastern shepherds have both in their flocks, but there come times when they must separate them. He announced that He would come in His glory, and gather all nations before Him: 'And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats' (Matthew 25:32). Who but God could do this?

Who but God can give eternal life? But Jesus said of His people, 'I give unto them eternal life' (John 10:28). Who but God can send the Holy Spirit? But Jesus promised, 'I will send him unto you' (John 16:7). Who but God can make His people holy? But Paul wrote, 'Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it ...' (Ephesians 5:25-26). There are things which God alone can do; but the Lord Jesus Christ does these things. He must be God.

Jesus' words and actions on this earth drive us to the same conclusion. Throughout the Old Testament we read that the prophets introduced their messages by saying, 'Thus saith the Lord'. When Jesus came, His teaching, too, had a unique authority. It staggered those who heard Him (Matthew 7:28-29;John 7:32, 45-46). They were accustomed to the teaching of the Jewish scribes, who spent most of their time quoting learned writers. Jesus did not speak like them; but nor did He speak like the prophets. He spoke on His own authority, saying, 'I say unto you' (Matthew 5:18, 20, 22 etc). In the circumstances this was clearly a claim to deity. He spoke as God.

In the same way, He spoke to the demons, and they came out (Mark 1:21-27). His mere word was necessary–how unlike the elaborate ceremonies of the Jewish exorcists! He spoke to the winds and waves, and they obeyed Him (Mark 4:41). He spoke to the blind, and they could see; to the deaf, and they could hear (Matthew 9:27-32; Mark 7:34-35). At His word the lame walked, the diseased were healed and the dead were raised (John 5:8-9; Luke 17:11-19; Mark 5:41-42). He spoke as God, and those who witnessed His miracles sensed themselves to be in the presence of God (Luke 5:25-26; 7:16; 9:43). His miracles reveal His identity, for as John wrote, towards the end of his Gospel, 'Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name' (John 20:30-31).

If Jesus is God, it cannot be wrong to worship Him. The Scriptures teach that worship not only may be given to Christ, but should be given to Him. It is of the Lord Jesus Christ that it is commanded: 'Let all the angels of God worship him' (Hebrew 1:6). And they do so. Countless myriads surround Him in heaven, 'saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" ' (Revelation 5:12). They are joined by His people on earth, who exclaim, 'Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen' (Revelation 1:5-6).

It is because Christians give to Christ their worship, that they are known as those who 'call upon the name of Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 1:2). They do this because God wills that 'all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father' (John 5:23). This is why Stephen offered prayer to Christ, in his dying moments (Acts 7:59-60). This is why converts are to be baptized in the name of the Son, as well as the Father and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). This is why, when the apostle Paul pronounced a benediction upon his readers, he invoked the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13: 14). The Lord Jesus Christ is God in the same sense as the other two Persons.

One of the most moving incidents in the Gospels concerns 'doubting Thomas'. On the day that our Lord rose from the dead, He presented Himself alive to His frightened disciples, who were met together behind locked doors. But Thomas was absent and simply would not believe them when they later told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' His retort was: 'Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe' (John 20:25).

John tells us about the events which followed. 'After eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace be unto you." Then saith he to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." And Thomas answered and said unto him, "My Lord and my God"' (John 20:26-28).

Jesus did not reject this astonishing confession from Thomas's lips. He did not say his worship was blasphemous, and that God alone should be worshipped. He accepted it totally. Indeed, He replied, 'Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed' (John 20:29). He made it clear that to believe in His deity is to be a believer. 'My Lord and my God' remains the adoring confession of true believers today. He is the object of their faith. It is by believing on Him that they are saved (Acts 16:31). They know Him as 'the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ' (Titus 2:13).

They are not alarmed that the One they adore in this way should have said, 'My Father is greater than I' (John 14:28). Instead, they marvel that the One who is eternally God, and coequal with the Father, should have become a Man, and endured such humiliation that He could possibly say such a thing. He was truly a Man, and it was as a Man that He said it. Yet He was a Man who had God as His Father in a unique way. This was because He was truly God. The Trinity is the first great mystery of being, and this is the second. It is a subject which needs a book of its own. Suffice it to say that the true humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ in no way detracts from His true deity. We say it again: 'In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily' (Colossians 2:9).

So where have we reached? We have seen that there is but one God. We have seen that the Father is God. We have seen that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son, is God. It is clear to us that the two are distinct: the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father. We know for certain that there are not two gods. But there are two who are God.

But the word 'Trinity' is not a word of two-ness. It is a word of three-ness, and comes from the Latin word trinitas coined by Tertullian of Carthage at the end of the second century. The simple statements of the Bible were being perverted by enemies of the Christian faith and by heretics, and it was essential to have a word which would sum up the great Bible truth that God is One-in-Three and Three-in-One. Theophilus of Antioch had used the Greek word trias in this sense in A.D. 180, but Tertullian's new Latin word proved much more satisfactory. 'Trinity' is not, then, a Bible word. But it is used to describe a truth which is plainly taught in the Bible. The Christian church has freely used the word since about A.D. 220. For there are not just two who are God. The Father is God; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son, is God; but so is the Holy Spirit.