The Deity of Christ

The Deity of Christ

Today were going to be looking at the topic of the deity of Christ, that Jesus is God. It’s very clear in the Bible that Jesus is God. And it’s very easy to prove. Jesus Himself claimed to be God. There are a lot of verses on the topic and we will be looking at many of them. Before we do let’s ask and answer the question why is the deity of Christ important?

Understanding the deity of Christ ties in directly with the gospel and salvation. To be God means to be the judge of all things, the one with the final say, the final authority, the ultimate power, the one whom is above all things. Therefore God is the only one with the right to decide how man can be saved, the only with the power to forgive sins. That’s why in understanding the deity of Christ and the psychology of salvation you could say a person does not generally accept the deity of Christ as true unless they are actually submitting unto Him, believing in Him, accepting Him as the Savior of their sins. Because to acknowledge that Jesus is God is to acknowledge that He has this authority over your life, the authority to cast you in to hell if you reject Him and the authority to forgive sins because He did on the cross and rose from the grave.

Of course despite how much effort and logical intellectual arguments are put into proving that Jesus is God, that Jesus is divine it is still only by the power of the Holy Spirit that a person can truly come to understand and believe this truth.

Matthew 16:16-17 says, “Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

An unsaved person is a person who has not submitted unto God accepted Christ into their heart. Their in rebellion to God so of course they are going to look for arguments and ways to explain and justify in their mind why they don’t have to submit to Christ and on of the main ways they do this by arguing that Jesus isn’t God.

Now the problem is, there are a lot of unsaved people involved in organized Christianity including preachers and teachers and administrators or those with authority and power so of course threes a lot of false doctrine floating around.

Now there are people that argue that God doesn’t exist. If God doesn’t exist, Jesus can’t be God because there is no God. But there’s a lot more argument around the deity of Christ because it’s Christ and the name of Christ that holds the power of salvation. believing in God doesn’t save you believing in Jesus does because Jesus is the one who died on the cross for the sins of the world. The holy spirit didn’t die on the cross God the father didn’t die on the cross God the Son did. So the issue of the deity of Christ is a very important issue its central and key to the gospel and to being saved.

We are going to look at some passages that prove Jesus is God. I have divided these passages into four groups. First we are going discuss the trinity, then secondly we will discuss Jesus as revealed in the Old Testament, then thirdly we will discuss things Jesus Himself said, then fourthly we will discuss other verses.

The Trinity

The Word Trinity means the three in one: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The best way of explaining the trinity is to say that all three are separate distinct persons and yet one person. It’s like have a big circle with these three names drawn in it: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Or it is like having 3 interlocking circles with one name in each of them. Either way would illustrate that each of the 3 is God one is not more God than the other but all are equally God or you could say just as much God as the other two. Jesus is as much God as God the Father. The Holy Spirit is just as much God as Jesus is.

This perhaps is the reason the concept of the trinity or one could say the doctrine of the trinity, doctrine being a word that just means teaching, is often what is attacked more than other verses when a person tries to refute the deity of Christ. Because the argument is if God is a trinity and Jesus the Son of God is part of the trinity then Jesus is God.

The main argument presented is that the word trinity is not in the Bible. And that’s true the word trinity is not in the Bible. But the idea of the trinity is in the Bible. You can have an idea expressed and taught in a book without that idea being specifically named.

For example I could write a paragraph talking about and describing an apple without mentioning the word apple. And you could read that a paragraph and you would have the idea, the concept of an apple. And that’s how it is with the word trinity. The word trinity isn’t used but the concept is talked about and described.

So here is what we are going to do, first we are going to look at the Old Testament and see how it reveals the Trinity. And then we will look at the New Testament and see how it reveals the trinity.

The Old Testament

The very two verse in the Bible Genesis chapter 1 and verses 1-2 reveals the idea of a plural God.

Genesis 1:1-2 says, “Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

Here the word God is the Hebrew word Elohim it’s the plural form the singular is the form Eloah, Elohim is the plural. Not only is 4^th word, the first that God is mentioned in the Bible that is mentioned in the Bible, a plural word But in verse two we have the Spirit of God mentioned. There’s God and there’s the Spirit of God.

Now the Bible is a book of progressive revelation. That means as you progress through it greater details are given about truths. So it’s not a surprise that we don’t have we don’t have the full concept of the trinity mentioned right away. But we don have the idea of a plural God.

Genesis 1:26 says, “Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

Once again we have the plural word Elohim here and we also have the phrase let us make. God is speaking to himself in the plural. So its reemphasized.

Now there are a couple issues about the word Elohim but before we talk about that lets go ahead prove that the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is God.

We just read that God created the heavens and the earth. Ephesians 3:9 says, “Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Here we have a verse from the New Testament clearly saying God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. All things. That means heaven and earth. We compare this verse with Genesis 1:1 which says In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And why the conclusion should be obvious if Jesus Christ created all things as Ephesians 3:9 says and Genesis 1:1 says God created the heaven and the earth then that means Jesus created the heavens and the earth and that Jesus is God because God created all things.

So here we are already establishing the deity of Christ and the trinity because now we have God, God the Spirit, and God the Son all involved in creation. See how easy it is to prove and explain the deity of Christ?

Now lets talk about an issue with the word Elohim. There is an argument that some people make and they use this verse: Exodus 7:1 says, “Exo 7:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.”

The word God is the plural word Elohim. So some argue well God made Moses a God is Moses plural no moses is one person so how can a plural word imply that God is more than one person. But they miss the point of the passage. The point of the passage is not to suggest that Moses is a plural being but to suggest that Moses in the eyes of Pharaoh was as God. Moses had a lot of power and pharaoh saw that and recognized that and feared Him. Elohim is a pretty common word for God in the Old Testament. So to use the word God, Elohim, is not a surprise because Moses is being seen as a God in Pharaohs eyes. The point isn’t to suggest that Moses is a plural being or not a plural being but that Moses was a God in pharaoh’s eyes. So using the word Elohim in reference to Moses does not diminish or contradict the concept of a plural God, because Moses wasn’t really a God anyway. He was just as a God in Pharoh’s eyes.

So we have already established the trinity and that Jesus is God. But lets prove it some more. In the Old Testament God the Father is talked about, God the Son is talked about, and The Holy Spirit is talked about. It’s all through the Old Testament. Lets look at some passages.

Psalms 68:5 says, “Psa 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.” Malachi 2:10 says, “Mal 2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

So that’s two verses talking about God the Father. Now here’s two verses talking about the Holy Spirit. Psalms 51:11 says, “Psa_51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” Isaiah 63:10 says, “Isa_63:10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.”

Now lets at a passage in the Old Testament that mentions the Son of God. It’s the story of the fiery furnace and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Daniel 3:23-25 says, “Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

So there you have it in the Old Testament God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The concept of the trinity. And therefore the truth that Jesus is deity that Jesus is God.

Now let’s look in the New Testament. The idea and concept of the trinity and that Jesus is God is just as clear in the New Testament as it is in the Old Testament.

The first place we are going to go to is a verse called the great commission. Matthew 28:19 Jesus says, “Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

Right here in one verse we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost mentioned.

There is also another verse its 1^st John 5:7 its called the comma Johanneum. But before we talk about that verse, because I’m going to spend quite a bit of time explaining the legitimacy of it as scripture, lets look at other passages in the New Testament that clearly mention God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Galations 1:3 says, “Gal_1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The beginning verses of the epistles are very interesting to study because many of them have this terminology of mentioned God the Father Jesus Christ or the son of God together. It shows their equality. The fact that Jesus is as much God as God the Father is.

Now lets see a verse mentioning the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 says, “Eph_4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Now lets look at a verses mentioning the Son of God. Matthew 14:32-33 says, “Mat 14:32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Mat 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”

And there are all kinds of other verses in the New Testament that mention God the father, God the Spirit, and God the Son. Its very clear God is a trinity and that Jesus is part of that and that Jesus is God.

But now we are going to look at the primary verse used in the Bible to support the doctrine of the trinity. Its not the primary verse in the Bible that supports that Jesus is God there’s all kinds of verses for that but it is a verse that does support the deity of Christ and it’s a very controversial verse because of the arguments of textual critics and we are going to talk about about.

1John 5:7 says, “1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

This verse clearly says these three are one. That sums it up. The Father is God, Jesus (the living word) is God, and the Holy Ghost is God.

Now lets talk about the legitimacy of this verse. The argument against this verse has to do with the fact that there is no Greek text dating before 1520 that has this verse in it. So the argument is that the verse was added.

Here the thing, there are Latin Texts dating back to the 7^th century with the verse in it. And there is also quotes of this verse from early church writers or fathers if you want to call them that. The oldest quote and most famous comes from a man named Cyprian who lived in the 3^rd century A.D. He was a bishop of carthage. And in His treatise called on the unity of the Church he Quotes the phrase, “These three are one.”

So lets talk about these two issues. The old known manuscript or codex, as the manuscripts are called codes is called the Leon Palimpsest or codex 67. It dates to the 7^th century. It’s a Latin manuscript not a Greek manuscript. But its real if you don’t believe me then go over to the cathedral of Leon, Spain and you can look at it for yourself. 1 John 5:7 is in it.

Now the oldest Greek manuscript with 1 John 5:7 in it is called the codex Montfortianus or codex 61. It is dated to 1520 A.D so that’s almost 500 years ago. Pretty old.

This is the manuscript that Erasmus used in putting his Greek text together. Now originally in Erasmus first two Greek texts He did not include 1 John 5:7. The reason He did not is because he couldn’t find the verse in the Greek. It was in the Latin. He had it in the Latin But He did not have it in the Greek. But He included the verse in His 3^rd version of the Greek New Testament. So lets talk about this issue.

If you find a verse in the bible in a different language than the original does that mean because its not in the original its no longer the bible. No it doesn’t mean that. Its still God’s word its just in a different language. It not any less God’s Word than the Greek or the Hebrew. God created all languages and God uses all languages.

So the real issue becomes one of translation. If you translate something accurately then it says the same thing. If you don’t translate something accurately then either it becomes like a paraphrase or something that means something different al together

So lets illustrate something, if take the word hello and the French word bonjour which means the same thing and I translate hello into French to say bonjour or I translate bonjour into English to say hello is the meaning lost no. Both words mean exactly the same thing.

So words have meanings and they do not just have meanings but they have a range of meanings sometimes. So sometimes you will have two words that mean the exact same thing such as the word hello and the bonjour. Two different languages but the words mean the same. But you can also have words that can mean the same thing but can also mean different things for example the word sky or the word blue sky refers to the atmosphere blue that refer to sky when people say something like the wild blue yonder but blue is also a word that refers to a color or sometimes even an emotions so you see you can words that are exact similes and words that although they can mean the same thing can also mean other things.

Now when you have a word that means the exact same thing then the exact idea is conveyed. When you have two words that can mean different things sometimes other ideas are often conveyed with it. For example when I say hello it means hi both words mean the same thing both words convey the exact same idea, when I say sky it conveys a certain idea about the atmosphere when I say blue in reference to the sky it conveys other ideas such as the color of the sky and not just the sky itself.

So when it comes to translations of writings from one language to the other its very important that the right word is chosen. Of course there are other issues than just the words there are grammar issues things called idioms an idiom is a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words

So an example of an idiom would be, to say , “A penny for your thoughs” now you have a problem when it comes to translating this phrase if you want to translate it into the latin for use during the first century the time of Jesus and the apostles you would have to use the latin word Denarius because they did not have a penny they had a denarius. A denarius isnt a penny but it would represent the most comman basic lowest valued coin in the Roman empire at that time.

So that’s an example of an idiom. Now there are grammer issues as well when it comes to translations but its not necessary for us to go into all this detail im just citing these as examples so that you can see it is very possible to translate something form one language into another and it be accurate and not lose its meaning. So in other words God’s Word can easily go from one language to another and still be God’s Word.

This verse is a pretty simple verse with very simple grammer. 1John 5:7 says, “1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

So when it comes to translating its not hard to do. You wouldn’t even have to be an expert in the languages to do it. The point is this its not a problem that the oldest manuscripts of this verse are in Latin and not in Greek. That doesn’t mean it’s not God’s Word.

If there was some kind of great difficulty or stumbling block in there being different languages then the world would have a huge problem with cultures and societies communicating with one another and they have not had that problem over the centuries. People from different cultures who speak different languages have been communicating with each other successfully for centuries and translating each others writings just as well. It’s not difficult for men and it certainly is not difficult for God. God is the one who invented and created language, all languages. God is all powerful. God can do anything. So is language some kind of problem or obstacle or stumbling block to God when it comes to Him communicating and preserving His truth? No its not. Yet people who want to attack the preservation of God’s word or an issue like the trinity they will make it seem like language itself is some kind of obstacle to God. It’s not an obstacle to God its something God created and God uses. So it doesn’t matter that the oldest Greek text for this verse is 1520 and the Latin is 7^th century that doesn’t delegitimize that’s its God Word.

Also remember Church fathers quoted this verse. Cyprian in the 3^rd century quoted it. That’s a pretty Old Date, 1700 years old infact and only 200 years off from the time of the apostles.

How many words or parts of a phrase or sentence have to be quoted for it to be considered a quote from the Word of God? One word, two words half a sentence? I think what matters is that the whole idea is conveyed. Sometimes that requires only quoting one word like the name Jesus for example. That’s one word. It conveys a lot of ideas. So when we see the phrase, “and these three are one” quoted by Cyprian Bishop of Carthage, it conveys the idea of the the trinity. Now if only the phrase “and these three” were quoted you wouldn’t have the full idea or the complete concept.

So I think this explains the legitimacy of 1 John 5:7. Because if you really want to argue against the legitimacy of any verse in the Bible all you have to do is point out that we don’t have the original autographs. The first and original parchments that the prophets and apostles wrote the words of God down on. All we have are copies regardless of what century they are dated from. So ultimately in the end you have to take it on Faith that God’s Word is God’s Word and that it says what it does.

So the doctrine of the Trinity is an important doctrine in regards to the issues of the divinity of Christ. But there are many other ways to prove the divinity of Christ in the Bible. Let’s look at them.

Let’s look at Jesus as He is revealed in the Old Testament. The primary thing I want to look at is the term the Angel of the Lord.

The word angel means messenger. Sometimes God chooses to be his own messenger He did it in the New Testament when Jesus came to the earth for 33 years and He also did it in the Old Testament on special occasions and situations When Jesus did appear He was called the Angel of the Lord. And I’m going to prove that the term Angel of Lord is a reference to Jesus Christ not simply an angel.

The angel of the Lord refers to God not in the sense that of an angel like the angels but in the sense that God is acting like a messenger.

The best thing to compare it too is the phrase th sons of God. In the Bible Christians are called the sons of God but it doesn’t mean the same thing as in reference to Jesus as the Son of God because Jesus is God and Christians are not. So its kinda like that. So to say sons of God and Son of God and to say angels or the Angel of the Lord there is a difference.

To understand that Jesus is the Angel of The Lord and that the Angel of the Lord is reference to God we are going to look at the story of Moses and the burning bush.

Exodus 3:1-5 says, Exo 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. Exo 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Exo 3:3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. Exo 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”

So in this story the term angel of the Lord is mentioned. Moses takes off his shoes because its Holy Ground because He’s in the presence of God, or the angel of the Lord.

Exodus 3:14, “Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” So in the first verses of the story it says the angel of the Lord is speaking unto Him and then it says here God is speaking unto Him. So they are one and the same. Now God gives Moses the name I am. I am means the eternally existent one. It’s the name Jehovah or Yahweh. That’s the name. Now notice in the gospels that Jesus claimed to be Jehovah.

John 8:58-59, “Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Joh 8:59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” So Jesus used the term I am. That’s why they wanted to stone Him. Its very clear that Jesus is Jehovah and that Jehovah or Jesus is the angel of the Lord. So it was Jesus that appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

You see the logic is this. Just because didn’t tell Moses the name Jesus but told him the name Jehovah doest mean Jesus isn’t God. God had a timing and plan on when He would reveal His name Jesus to the world. But Jesus has always existed. He’s not a created being. He’s the alpha and omega the eternally existent one, Jehovah.

You could make the same argument about the name Jehovah. In Genesis in the creation of the world the name God or Elohim is used the name Jehovah wasn’t revealed until the burning bush. That doesn’t mean Jehovah isn’t God. Its just a question of names and when God chose to reveal those names to mankind. But Jesus is the name that saves and that’s the name we believe upon because Jesus is the one that died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose from the grave.

Just to futher clarify it lets let at a few more verses, mostly in the New Testament that show clearly that Jesus is God.

Lets address the issue of the term son of God. Some people will argue that because the term God the son is not in the bible and that it does not mean the same thing as the son of God.

But John 5:17-18 says, “Joh 5:17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

So Jesus called God HIis Father making Himself equal with God. Equal. Not less than God, not almost God, not a little bit less than God, but God. So the term son of God in reference to Jesus does mean God the son. I heard someone say once if you have a duck and the son of a duck is the son of a duck a duck just as the father of that duck is a duck. The answer is yes. So if you have the son of God that makes the Son God just as the Father is God or you could say God the Son.

A lot of times when people think about the relationship between Jesus to the Father while on this earth it confuses them in regards to the divinity of Christ.

Philippians 2:7-9 says, “Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.”

When Jesus was on this earth He humbled Himself and was obedient to the Father. These verses do not say Jesus was less than the father or less God than the Father they just say that He humbled himself and became obedient. Remember in John 5:18 which we Just raid Jesus called God His father and said that in so doing He was making Himself equal with God. Equal. Remember the phrase in 1 John 5:7 these three are one? Equal.

To further clarify the deity of Christ lets look at John 3;16, “Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It’s true that in the Bible Christians are called the sons of God. But that is not the same thing as Jesus being called the son of God. Here in John 3:16 the term only begotten Son is used. The word begotten is a Greek Word, Monogenasis, which means one of a kind or one and only. There’s only one Son of God that is God the Son and that is Jesus Christ.

John 14:8-9 says, “Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

In John 10:30 Jesus says, Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.”

In Isaiah 9:6 the Bile says, “Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” In these three verses we have several phrases which show the equality of Jesus to God the Father. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. I and my Father are one. The everlasting Father. One of the names of Jesus is, the everlasting Father.

Now lets look at the issue of Jesus being both man and God. There is theological term for it. It’s called the Hypostatic union. It means 100% man and 100 % God.

To understand the divinity of Christ lets understand the humanity of Christ. The humanity of Christ actually helps to reveal the divinity of Christ at least in terms of the Biblical terminology used.

Philippians 2:7 says, “Php_2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”

Notice the phrase in the likeness of men. What does the phrase in the likeness of men mean? The word likeness comes from a Greek word, the word homoioma. This word can mean form or shape. Notice the first part of the Greek word is homo, homo means same. Same form. The word likeness is a very accurate translation for several reasons. Because Jesus is a man. He is not part man and part animal or part man and part alien. So He was a man 100 percent man. But at the same time there was something different about Jesus. And that is that Jesus is also God. So even though Jesus is 100 percent man Jesus is also God. So it makes sense in this verse to say made in the likeness of men and not made a man. There’s a slight different, the difference is that even though Jesus is a man He is also God. So it wouldn’t be accurate to say made as a man but it is accurate to say made in the likeness of men because He is like men except for that one different that he is God. The difference does not diminish that He is a man and so it says in the likeness of men.

To further explain the humanity of Christ look at Philippians 2:8 which says, “Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

In fashion as a man. Notice the word fashion. It’s a different word than likeness. Now the word fashion is a very interesting word. It is the Greek word Skayma. It means a figure or a form. What’s very interesting about this word is that it can have the idea of something temporary. Theres actually another word in the Greek that means form the word morphay. The morphay means a form in the permenant sense of things, that’s the difference. It makes sense to use the word Skayma, or a temporary form, because Jesus was a man for 33 years. That was temporary. He humbled Himself and became obedient temporarily. Then He died on the cross and when He was resurrected He was glorified.

Now if you look at the word morphay its no surprise to find it used in connection with God instead of man.

Philippians 2:6 says, “Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:” here the word form is the word Morphay. Being in the form of God. The idea of permanency is in the word Morphay. Jesus is God. Even when he became a man and walked this earth Jesus was still God. These a couple other verses in the new testament that use these two words and they bring out these same ideas but its not necessary to look at all the verses. We are just looking at these and can see the meaning.

Now in understand the humanity of Christ for the purpose of understanding the deity of Christ lets look at one more verse. Romans 8:3 says,
“Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”

Heres that word likeness again or homoioma. In the likeness of sinful flesh. We know that all men have a sin nature. We know that Jesus didn’t sin. Did Jesus have a sin nature? It says He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was born of woman and the woman had a sin nature. So the conclusion is yes he had a sin nature. He had the sinful flesh. But it says the likeness of sinful flesh there was still a difference between his sinful flesh and other men’s sinful flesh. And this difference is what enabled Him to be able to live a sinless life. The difference is He is God. That’s the difference. That’s why it says likeness of sinful flesh and not just made sinful flesh.

So its ironic that the humanity of Jesus proves the divinity of Jesus Christ. But it does. These verses explain it. But there is still one more point to make. That Jesus was not only man but also God. So we are going to look at one last verse to help us understand the deity of Christ.

Colossians 1:15 says, “Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”

Notice the phrase the image of the invisible God. The word image means exact copy. Now notice the word invisible. And compare it to the word image. Something invisible cannot be seen. But an image is something that can be seen. That’s why we know the KJV translators were very wise and a very excellent job in translating this verse but an image is a visible copy of something. They didn’t use the word reflection because it’s not a reflection. A reflection is never an exact copy of something. If you look at a reflection in a mirror its backwards. If you look at your reflection in a pool of water it can be blurry. But if you have image of something you have visible copy of yourself. It’s like having two apples from the same tree. One is an image of the other. Another way of saying it is that Jesus is the manifestation of God. And there are verses in the Bible that use the word manifestation in that context.

Now there are many other verses that we could talk about to show the deity of Christ, that Jesus is God, that he is not less than God, or a little bit less than God but that Jesus is as much God as God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. So don’t be confused in regards to the humanity of Christ. Jesus humbled himself and was obedient to God the Father while on the earth. Jesus was not any less God though than when He was in heaven before. And remember Jesus is now in Heaven. He’s not on the earth anymore. He’s no longer in the earthly situation of humbling himself and being obedient. Rather Jesus is the one who is being exalted and to whom all should be obedient because Jesus Christ is God.

Now I think we have established the deity of Christ very soundly. So in conclusion if you have never trusted in Jesus for forgiveness of your sins or asked Jesus into your heart to save you then you can submit unto God today, right now. Jesus loves you. Jesus died for you. And Jesus wants to cleanse of your sins and make your righteous. He has the power and authority to do so because He is God. Simply pray to Jesus right now and ask Him into your heart.

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