Jesus Chrsit is Divine: The Biblical Evidence

Tonight we'll be discussing the doctrine of Christ as we continue our Wednesday night series on some basic beliefs of Christianity loosely based on Wayne Grudem's great book Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know.  Here are some of the reasons to believe that Jesus was fully and completely God.

(Much of what follows is taken from Mark Driscoll, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (RE: Lit), beginning on page 221.)

God the Father said He was God

• Hebrews 1:8 -  “But of the Son [the Father] says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever & ever.’”

Jesus Said He Was God

• Matthew 26:63-65 – his enemies declare JC spoke blasphemy
•  John 6:38, 41-46 – JC clams He was eternally God in heaven before coming to earth
•  John 5:18; 10:30-33 – JC enemies said He made “himself equal with God.”

Demons Said He Was God

• Mark 1:24; Luke 4:3-34 - "the Holy One of God."
• Luke 4:40-41 – “the Son of God.”

The Bible Says He Was God

• John 20:28 – Thomas’ confession: “My Lord and my God!”
• Romans 9:5 – “the Christ who is God over all.”
• Titus 2:13 – “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
• Titus 3:4 – Jesus is “God our Savior.”
• 1 John 5:20 – Jesus “is the true God.”

Jesus has the names of God

• Son of Man
• Son of God
• Lord
• Alpha and Omega 

Jesus Posesses the Attributes of God

• He is Omnipotent
• Matthew 28:18 - "All authority has been given to me."
• Matthew 8:26-27 – quieted the storm
• Matthew 14:19 – fed thousands with little boys lunch
• John 2:1-11 – turned water into wine
• He is Omnipresent - Psalm 139:7-12
• Matthew 28:20 - "I'm with you always, even to the end of the age."
•  He is Omniscient - Matthew 11:27; John 2:25; 4:18
• John 16:30 – (Disciples) “Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”
• He is Immutable/Unchanging - James 1:17
• Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
• He is Sovereign Over the Future - Matthew 16:21; 17:22; 20:18-19; 26:1-2
• Predicted the certainty of His own death.
• Predicted the certainty of His own return.
• He is Eternal - John 1:1; Phil. 2:6; Heb. 1:11-12
• John 17:5 - "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
• He is Creator -  Isa. 37:16; 44:24; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2
• John 1:2-3 – “He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through im, and w/o him was not anything made that was made.”
•  He is Soverign
• 1 Cor. 15:27 – “For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.”
•  He is Sustainer – Heb. 1:3
• Colossians 1:17 - “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
• He is Savior - Joel 2:32
• Rom. 10:13 - “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Jesus Did the Works of God

• Performed Miracles
• John 20:30-31 - “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
• Remained Holy and Sinless
• John 8:46 – “Which one of you convicts me of sin?”
• Peter – Acts 3:14; 1 Pet. 1:10; 2:22; 3:18
• John – 1 John 3:5 
• James - James 5:6
• Paul - 2 Cor. 5:21
• Judas - Matthew 27:3-4
• Pilate - Luke 23:22
• Executing Soldier - Luke 23:47
• Robber on the Cross - Luke 23:41
• Forgave Sins
• Mark 12:1-12– JC forgave paralytics sins.  Pharisees replied, “who can forgive sins but God?
• Judges Eternal Destinies
• John 5:21-22 - "“For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.  The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.”
• Grants Eternal Life
• John 10:28 - “I give them [my sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
• Accepted and Demanded Worship
• Jesus said to pray to Him – John 14:13-14; 15:7
• Stephen prayed to Jesus – Acts 7:59-60
• Canaanite woman prayed to Jesus 
• Matthew 15:25 – Bu she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’”
• Jesus is worshiped by a man He healed 
• John 9:38 – “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.”
•  John 5:23 – “All may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.  Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”
•  Colossians 2:9 – “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”

How one can look at this evidence (and this barely scratches the surface of the wealth of biblical evidence of the deity of Christ) and deny that Jesus Christ is God.  Liberals, Jehovah Witnesses (who are in the tradition of Arius and the Arian heresy), when they deny Christ deity are at the same time questioning the authority and clarity of Scripture. 

Consider following what James Boyce had to say on the importance of this doctrine:

The importance of this fact of the Scripture teaching cannot be over-estimated. In its appropriate relations to the other truths taught it becomes the foundation of every hope. It is not a mere speculation. It enters into the very life of the Christian, enabling him to say: “I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 2 Tim. 1:12. It is not sufficient for us to know that the person who died for us was divine before he came into the world. The Scriptures assure us, and we need to comfort ourselves with the assurance, that he was equally divine when a babe in Bethlehem, when suffering upon the cross, when ascending from Olivet, and even now, while in human nature, he rules as Mediatorial King, or makes intercession with the Father as our great high Priest. We must even go beyond the idea of some kind of divinity, and recognize him as the unchangeable God, who was, and is, and ever shall be, the Almighty, the well-beloved Son of the Father, whom that Father always hears, and to whom all things have been entrusted, in order that the consummation of his glorious kingdom may be fully attained. The incarnation has been indeed, of only one person of the Godhead, but of a person truly and essentially divine, whose relations to the divine nature have remained unaltered during his incarnation on earth and in heaven. -James Boyce, Abstract of Systematic Theology, 275-276


For more:
Sermon - December 19, 2010 - Jesus is God
Grudem on the Deity of Christ 
The Gospel Coalition on the Deity of Christ   
December 5, 2010 - Jesus is Lord 
The Nicene Creed