Is Jesus God?
Jesus is God incarnate. For He repeatedly said, “I AM.” The phrase “I AM” is a title for God. When God called Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt, He told Moses to tell the nation that “I AM” has sent you (Exodus 3:13-15).
During His ministry, Jesus claimed equality with God the Father when He “said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:17-18).
Jesus told the Jews “you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me'” (John 7:28-29). And again He affirmed that He is One with the Father: “Then they asked him, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also'” (John 8:19) “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!'” (John 8:58). “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
The Jews understood that Jesus was claiming divinity and they tried to kill Him for blasphemy. So, Jesus said to them, “Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, “I am God’s Son”? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.’ Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp” (John 10:36-39).
Jesus professed His divinity to His disciples when “Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…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. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you'” (John 14:7-11, 20).
Again, the Lord confirmed the same truth: “Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:16-17).
In addition, Jesus accepted worship (Matthew 2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38). He never rebuked people for worshiping Him. If Jesus were not God, He would have told people to not worship Him, just as the angel told John not to worship him (Revelation 19:10).
At the end of His ministry, Jesus declared His Son-ship to the Father when He prayed, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you…'” (John 17:1-5). And He added, “… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you…” (John 17:20-21).
And before the crucifixion, Jesus testified that He is God in the flesh when “the high priest asked Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61,62).
By His sacrifice Jesus testified that He is God. If Christ was merely a created being, then, His life could atone for just one life (Exodus 21:23; Leviticus 17:11). But being the Creator, His life could atone for all humanity (Acts 4:12; John 14:6) and satisfy the demands of God’s justice (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Christ is the only person known to history who has claimed divinity and yet accounted sane by the human race. The founders of other religious systems such as Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism did not claim to be God incarnate. Christ spoke and lived as a Being whose dwelling place was eternity (Micah 5:2).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
