Arnold_Fist
Elite
Some say Jesus Christ was just a man, or maybe a great teacher. But He was and is much more than that. The Bible says Jesus is unique in both His person and His purpose. He wasnât just some spiritual individual during His time on earth; He was both Godâs Son (John 3:16) and God HimselfâGod in human flesh (I Timothy 3:16). Yes, He was fully man, but He was also fully God (Colossians 2:9).
The claims
Jesus claimed to be God. It might be hard to understand how this could be true, but itâs important to remember that God is much bigger and more powerful than we can comprehend. We do know that Jesus said He existed before Abraham (John 8:58). He claimed that He and His Father are one (John 10:30), and that He is equal with the Father (John 5:17-18).
Not only did He claim to be God, but He also claimed to have the power of God. He said He has the authority to judge the nations (Matthew 25:31-46). He claims the authority to raise people from the dead (John 5:25-29) and to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7)âthings only God can do (I Samuel 2:6; Isaiah 43:25).
Further, Jesus says He has the power to answer prayers (John 14:13-14), and that He will be with His followers always (Matthew 28:20). The New Testament equates Jesus to the creator of the universe (John 1:3), and in John 16:15, He says, âAll that belongs to the Father is mine.â
But whereâs the proof?
Claiming to be something, as Jesus claimed to be God, doesnât make it true. Whereâs the evidence that He is God?
Jesusâ identity isnât based solely on what He says, but on what He does. And He has left a lot of evidence that He is God. That evidence includes fulfilled prophecy and recorded miracles in which Jesus reversed the laws of nature. He also lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), something no one else has done.
The ultimate proof of His divinity, however, was His resurrection from the dead after His death on the cross. No one else has ever risen from the dead on his own.
Did Jesus ever say, âI am Godâ?
If someone said to you, âI am God,â would you believe him? Many people who believe in one God would think the person is blaspheming. Even if Jesus said the exact words, âI am God,â many people would not have believed Him or even heard what He had to say. Yet, He did give us reasons to believe such a claim without using these words.
In Luke 4:8, Jesus says, âIt is written, âYou shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'â He said and showed many times that He is the Lord. Jesus says, for example, that He is âthe first and the lastâ (Revelation 1:17, 22:13), which God the Father says in Isaiah 44:6.
But maybe youâre looking for a place in the Bible where Jesus says, âI am God; worship meâ in those exact words. If we suggest that Jesus could only claim to be God by saying that one sentence, we might also ask where He says, âI am a great teacher, but not God,â or, âI am just a prophet; donât worship me.â The Bible doesnât say that, either.
The good news is that Jesus told us He is God in many different ways! He has made it clear that He and God the Father are one (John 10:30), and says in John 14:6, âI am the way and the truth and the life.â Who else could claim these things except God?
Does that mean there are multiple gods?
Believing Jesus is God doesnât mean there are multiple gods. Followers of Jesus believe in one God in three persons.
As Billy Graham once explained, âGod has shown Himself to us in three waysâas Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each has a separate functionâand yet they are all united as one God.
âLet me illustrate it this way. Have you ever thought of some of the things we see around us that are both threeâand yet also one? Centuries ago, St. Patrick used a clover leaf to teach the Irish about thisâit has three leaves, and yet is still only one leaf. Or think of water. A quart of water can be ice, water, or steamâbut itâs still the same quart of water.â
How can Jesus be God if He is Godâs Son?
If Jesus is Godâs Son, does that mean God had a wife?
God has never had a wife. Calling Jesus Godâs Son is an EĂĎrĂŠĹĄĹĄion of His role in relation to God the Father. Unlike us, Jesus was not conceived by two earthly parents; He was born of a ****** through a miraculous work of God. He was born holy, without sin.
Being born of a ****** might seem impossibleâeven Jesusâ mother, Mary, asked, âHow will this be? (Luke 1:34)âyet God is all-powerful and made a way for the holy Jesus to be born a human. In Matthew 1:20, an angel tells Maryâs fiancĂŠ, Joseph, that what is conceived in Mary âis from the Holy Spirit.â Jesus was not born out of a sexual relationship between God and Mary, but instead out of a miracle by God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus was both fully God and fully human.
It is also significant that the most thorough Gospel account of the ****** birth was written by Luke, a medical doctor. If anyone knew the impossibility of a ****** birth, it was Lukeâyet, after careful research, he concluded that it was a fact. The God who was powerful enough to create the universe was also powerful enough to bring Jesus into the world without a human father. His miraculous birth is just one more testament to His deity.
Why should we care who Jesus is?
There is one way to heaven, one way to be free from your sin and to have a relationship with God. Thatâs through Jesus Christ. Acts 4:1II says, âSalvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.â To have eternal life in heaven, you must put your trust in Jesus. Hereâs why:
We all sin, meaning we all fall short of Godâs perfect standard. The consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). That means eternal separation from God. But because Jesus lived a sinless life, His death on the cross provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Because He defeated death by rising again, we can have eternal life in the presence of God when we put our trust in Him.
>> Learn more about how to trust Jesus.
Hundreds of people saw and believed in the risen Christ after His death and resurrection, and countless people in the past 2,000 years have discovered that only Jesus can meet the deepest longings and needs of the human heart. In Jesus Christ alone âare hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledgeâ (Colossians 2:3).
Can we trust what the Bible says about Him?
The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is God, and there are many reasons we can trust the Bible. (Find âIs the Bible true?â under the Common Questions section for five of them.)
Not only do we have many reasons to believe that the text of the Bible is true, but many will find that reading the Bible allows God to speak to themâperhaps not audibly, but through His words.
While there are different translations of the Bible, the same core message is the sameâthat God loves us and freely offers us eternal life if we accept Jesus as our Savior. Different translations exist in an effort to make the Bible understandable to various audiences; however, the major doctrinesâand the person of Jesus Christâremain the same.
If youâre curious about Jesus or what the Bible says about Him, read the book of John in the Bible. Itâs a great place to start.
The claims
Jesus claimed to be God. It might be hard to understand how this could be true, but itâs important to remember that God is much bigger and more powerful than we can comprehend. We do know that Jesus said He existed before Abraham (John 8:58). He claimed that He and His Father are one (John 10:30), and that He is equal with the Father (John 5:17-18).
Not only did He claim to be God, but He also claimed to have the power of God. He said He has the authority to judge the nations (Matthew 25:31-46). He claims the authority to raise people from the dead (John 5:25-29) and to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7)âthings only God can do (I Samuel 2:6; Isaiah 43:25).
Further, Jesus says He has the power to answer prayers (John 14:13-14), and that He will be with His followers always (Matthew 28:20). The New Testament equates Jesus to the creator of the universe (John 1:3), and in John 16:15, He says, âAll that belongs to the Father is mine.â
But whereâs the proof?
Claiming to be something, as Jesus claimed to be God, doesnât make it true. Whereâs the evidence that He is God?
Jesusâ identity isnât based solely on what He says, but on what He does. And He has left a lot of evidence that He is God. That evidence includes fulfilled prophecy and recorded miracles in which Jesus reversed the laws of nature. He also lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), something no one else has done.
The ultimate proof of His divinity, however, was His resurrection from the dead after His death on the cross. No one else has ever risen from the dead on his own.
Did Jesus ever say, âI am Godâ?
If someone said to you, âI am God,â would you believe him? Many people who believe in one God would think the person is blaspheming. Even if Jesus said the exact words, âI am God,â many people would not have believed Him or even heard what He had to say. Yet, He did give us reasons to believe such a claim without using these words.
In Luke 4:8, Jesus says, âIt is written, âYou shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'â He said and showed many times that He is the Lord. Jesus says, for example, that He is âthe first and the lastâ (Revelation 1:17, 22:13), which God the Father says in Isaiah 44:6.
But maybe youâre looking for a place in the Bible where Jesus says, âI am God; worship meâ in those exact words. If we suggest that Jesus could only claim to be God by saying that one sentence, we might also ask where He says, âI am a great teacher, but not God,â or, âI am just a prophet; donât worship me.â The Bible doesnât say that, either.
The good news is that Jesus told us He is God in many different ways! He has made it clear that He and God the Father are one (John 10:30), and says in John 14:6, âI am the way and the truth and the life.â Who else could claim these things except God?
Does that mean there are multiple gods?
Believing Jesus is God doesnât mean there are multiple gods. Followers of Jesus believe in one God in three persons.
As Billy Graham once explained, âGod has shown Himself to us in three waysâas Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each has a separate functionâand yet they are all united as one God.
âLet me illustrate it this way. Have you ever thought of some of the things we see around us that are both threeâand yet also one? Centuries ago, St. Patrick used a clover leaf to teach the Irish about thisâit has three leaves, and yet is still only one leaf. Or think of water. A quart of water can be ice, water, or steamâbut itâs still the same quart of water.â
How can Jesus be God if He is Godâs Son?
If Jesus is Godâs Son, does that mean God had a wife?
God has never had a wife. Calling Jesus Godâs Son is an EĂĎrĂŠĹĄĹĄion of His role in relation to God the Father. Unlike us, Jesus was not conceived by two earthly parents; He was born of a ****** through a miraculous work of God. He was born holy, without sin.
Being born of a ****** might seem impossibleâeven Jesusâ mother, Mary, asked, âHow will this be? (Luke 1:34)âyet God is all-powerful and made a way for the holy Jesus to be born a human. In Matthew 1:20, an angel tells Maryâs fiancĂŠ, Joseph, that what is conceived in Mary âis from the Holy Spirit.â Jesus was not born out of a sexual relationship between God and Mary, but instead out of a miracle by God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus was both fully God and fully human.
It is also significant that the most thorough Gospel account of the ****** birth was written by Luke, a medical doctor. If anyone knew the impossibility of a ****** birth, it was Lukeâyet, after careful research, he concluded that it was a fact. The God who was powerful enough to create the universe was also powerful enough to bring Jesus into the world without a human father. His miraculous birth is just one more testament to His deity.
Why should we care who Jesus is?
There is one way to heaven, one way to be free from your sin and to have a relationship with God. Thatâs through Jesus Christ. Acts 4:1II says, âSalvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.â To have eternal life in heaven, you must put your trust in Jesus. Hereâs why:
We all sin, meaning we all fall short of Godâs perfect standard. The consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). That means eternal separation from God. But because Jesus lived a sinless life, His death on the cross provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Because He defeated death by rising again, we can have eternal life in the presence of God when we put our trust in Him.
>> Learn more about how to trust Jesus.
Hundreds of people saw and believed in the risen Christ after His death and resurrection, and countless people in the past 2,000 years have discovered that only Jesus can meet the deepest longings and needs of the human heart. In Jesus Christ alone âare hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledgeâ (Colossians 2:3).
Can we trust what the Bible says about Him?
The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is God, and there are many reasons we can trust the Bible. (Find âIs the Bible true?â under the Common Questions section for five of them.)
Not only do we have many reasons to believe that the text of the Bible is true, but many will find that reading the Bible allows God to speak to themâperhaps not audibly, but through His words.
While there are different translations of the Bible, the same core message is the sameâthat God loves us and freely offers us eternal life if we accept Jesus as our Savior. Different translations exist in an effort to make the Bible understandable to various audiences; however, the major doctrinesâand the person of Jesus Christâremain the same.
If youâre curious about Jesus or what the Bible says about Him, read the book of John in the Bible. Itâs a great place to start.