What Does Scripture Say?

The modern day spiritual philosophy is trying to reduce Jesus to one of the great teachers or prophets. There is no doubt that Jesus was a great teacher – even non-believes agree. But, He was more than just a great teacher? Jesus was and is actually God.

Above all, Jesus is the son of God according to scripture. John 3:16 even calls him God’s unique son. Certainly, this is one of the best proofs that Jesus is God. In addition, every father knows that their sons will be just like them. For instance, the race of a father determines the race of their son. And Jesus was not shy to call God his father.
Incidently, that is not the only reason why Christians believe that Jesus is God. Here are a couple of good reasons why we believe that Jesus is not only Lord but God.

1. The virgin birth of Jesus

There are many “saviors”, teachers and prophets across the different religions in the world but of all those notable individuals, none was born of a virgin. Only Jesus was. When prophet Isiah prophesied the virgin birth of the Messiah, he said;

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

The prophet said the baby that was to be born of a virgin would be called Immanuel. The name Immanuel literally means, “God with us.” In other words, the baby would not be an ordinary baby but God incarnated in the flesh.  The birth had to be of a virgin – because God cannot be the product of a human seed.

2. The Incarnation

The doctrine of incarnation can be a bit confusing but the simplest explanation is this – God came in the flesh in order to save mankind in the flesh. Ever since God gave man dominion on earth in Genesis 1, anything that happens on earth needs the involvement of man. This is why the devil is actively looking to recruit man for the work he is trying to do on earth. If God had come in spirit form, he wouldn’t have the authority to save man because any spirit on earth must have a body or they would be here illegally.

3. Prophetic Confirmation

In addition, long before Jesus’s birth, the prophets not only talked about his birth but also about his deity. Prophet Isaiah prophesied that even though Jesus would be born of a woman, he would still be God.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

 The prophet Isiah ascribed the name “mighty God” to Jesus.  Obviously, the prophet was talking about Jesus being God. Most people are okay with refereeing to him as a prince of peace but the thought of Jesus as God makes some people uncomfortable.  Therefore, the question to such people should be – are you willing to accept the entire truth of the Bible, or only some convenient portions of it.

Scripture Context vs. Jewish Society

If you think about the context of Isaiah 9:6, prophet Isiah came from the monotheistic Jewish society. Above all, it would be too radical for anyone that believed there was only one God to claim that a baby would one day be born who would be called, “mighty God.” But the prophet made the statement anyway because he was convinced that God would one day be incarnate.

4. Jesus’s Ministry

Certainly, the earthly ministry of Jesus is one of the best proofs that he was God. Right from his birth all through his death and resurrection, his life showed evidence that he is God. For instance, in Mathew 2, the wise men from the east travel all the way to come to worship him (Mathew 2:11). It is clear from the scriptures that no one else apart from God was to be worshiped. Even the angels worship Jesus.  In fact, God made it very clear in the Torah that Israel was not to bow down her knee to any other God except Yahweh. The fact that the magi came to worship baby Jesus is evidence that they recognized him as God.

5. Jesus Accepted Worship

When Jesus was fully grown he accepted worship from people. In contrast, every other prophet in the scriptures would not permit anyone to worship him. For instance, when he calmed the storm that was threatening to capsize their boat, scripture says that the disciples worshipped him.

 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” Mathew 14:33

Therefore, if Jesus wasn’t God, he would have stopped them and warned them from worshipping him. But he allowed his disciples to worship him. And there are lots of other scriptural illustrations of other people that worshipped him.

5. Jesus said so

Jesus openly laid claim to his divinity. For instance, in John 8:58, he ruffled some feathers when he proclaimed that he was older than father Abraham.  The people were so indignant at this confession that they tried to stone him. See, by saying that he was alive during Abraham’s time, Jesus was saying that his life didn’t really begin when Mary gave birth to him. This is impossible humanly speaking. But the words he used to make this claim make it even more interesting;

“‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ 

In other words, by using the term I Am, he was making himself equal to God. God introduced himself to Moses as “I Am.” This is probably why they wanted to stone him because to the best of their knowledge, it was blasphemous to claim equality with God.

 

Blasphemy???

Another illustration is found in John 10:30 where Jesus openly said that he was one with God. Again, this almost got him stoned. When Jesus asked them why they wanted to stone him and yet he had proven his deity through many miracles, they gave him an interesting answer;

 ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’” John 10:33

In other words, they recognized that when he said he was one with God, he was actually saying that he was God.

Conclusion

In conclusion, these are some of the main reasons why Jesus is the son of God. As you go through the bible, you will most likely come across even more reasons. Only Jesus raised himself from the dead.  There were lots of people that were raised from the dead.  That is to say, for the other people, someone else had to raise them from the dead.  Jesus raised himself from the dead. (Phil. 3:10). Therefore, Jesus is not just another teacher or prophet – he is indeed God.

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