According to the Bible, Jesus had both a human nature and a divine nature. Let’s look at the Scriptures:
A-The Human Nature
1-“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). Brothers are of one flesh and nature.
2-“For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham” (Hebrews 2:16). Jesus did not take a sinless nature. He was tempted in the same way we are, yet He never once yielded to or entertained sin.
3-“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God” (Hebrews 2:17).
4-Jesus “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3).
5-“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same” (Hebrews 2:14).
Jesus had to be human, otherwise, we could not identify with Him. Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness to use His divinity to satisfy His hunger. But Jesus refused. If Jesus had failed to overcome the devil in the same nature we have, and by the same means available to us, the devil would have proven that obedience is impossible. Jesus did not utilize His divine nature to overcome sin but used the same power available to us through the grace of God.
B-The Divine Nature
Jesus was God in the flesh. As we compare Scripture definitions for God with the Bible record of Jesus, we see that the characteristics of the Father are also ascribed to Jesus. Note the following examples:
1-He is self-existent (John 1:1–4; 14:6).
2-He is eternal. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
3-He is, and has, eternal life (1 John 5:11, 12, 20).
4-He is all-Powerful (Revelation 1:8).
5-He is the Creator (John 1:3). “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).
6-The Father even calls Jesus God. “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom” (Hebrews 1:8).
7-Jesus forgives sin (Luke 5:20, 21) as does the Father (Isaiah 43:25).
8-Jesus accepted worship that according to the Ten Commandments is reserved only for the Almighty (Matthew 14:33). “And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘All hail.’ And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him” (Matthew 28:9). Thomas, confessed, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:26–29).
9-Even the angels worship Jesus. “And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him” (Hebrews 1:6).
10-God knows the thoughts of a man’s heart (1 Kings 8:39) and Jesus consistently knew the thoughts of men, “for he knew what was in man” (John 2:25). “Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you’” (John 1:48).
11-Through the Spirit, Jesus is omnipresent. “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “For I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:10).
12-Jesus has power to give life, even to resurrect Himself. “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:18). “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
Therefore, by considering the primary definitions of God, and seeing that Jesus fits every one of those definitions, Jesus must be eternal God.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
