Where does the
Bible teach that Jesus is God?
Could you please explain a couple
of things for me. Where in the bible
does it say that Jesus is God in a human form. Everywhere I look it says
Jesus is the son of God... Thank you for your time I look forward to your
reply.
The “Jehovah’s Witnesses” and the
Unitarians deny that Jesus Christ is God.
But there are many passages in the Bible which show that Our Lord is
God. The first few that come to mind
are:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God”
(John 1:1.)
“Thomas answered and said to him: My Lord, and my
God” (John 20:28).
“Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am” (John
8:58).
“I am” is the very name that God gave to
Himself when He appeared to Moses in the burning bush to indicate that He is
the eternal, uncreated supreme being.
When Our Lord said this of Himself, He was clearly indicating that He is
God. This is why the Jews “took up
stones” to kill him (John 8:59). The
prophecy of Isaias 9:6, which is clearly about Our Lord, also proves that He is
God:
“For
a child is born to us, a son is given to us: and the government shall be upon
his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the
world to come, the Prince of Peace." (Isaias 9:6)
One of our personal favorites on this
point, but which is often overlooked, is Acts 3:15. Referring to how the Jews preferred the
murdered Barabbas to Our Lord and had Him crucified, St. Peter says:
“But the
author of life you killed…” (Acts 3:15)
The author of life is God. Thus, Our Lord is God. There are many other passages, such as
Apocalypse chapter 1:
“And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks,
one like to the Son of man… And when
I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead.
And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying: Fear not. I am the First and the Last, and
behold I am living forever and ever…” (Apoc. 1)
Some people are unaware that God
describes Himself as “the first and the last” in the Old Testament.
“I the Lord, I
am the first and the last” (Isaias 41:4).
There are many other passages we could bring up, but the fact that
Our Lord is God is also proven by what is called “implicit Christology.” This means that the manner in which Our Lord
spoke showed that He is God.
“You have heard that it was said to them of
old: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust
after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew
5:28).
Notice that Our Lord, commenting on the words and commandment of God Himself in Exodus 20:14,
clearly puts His own declaration on the same level: You have heard that God has said, BUT I SAY, says Our Lord.
This way of speaking shows that He is God. The fact that Our Lord is God and man (one Divine
Person with two natures) was held by the earliest fathers of the Church and is
a truth which must be held by all who want to be saved and possess the true
Faith:
From AD 108, St. Ignatius to the church at Ephesus:
"Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to her who has been blessed in
greatness through the fulness of God the Father, ordained before time to be
always resulting in permanent glory, unchangeably united and chosen in true
passion, by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ, our God, to
the church which is in Ephesus of Asia, worthy of felicitation: abundant
greetings in Jesus Christ and in blameless joy." (Ephesians 1)
Pope Eugene IV, Council of
Florence, Sess. 8, Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra: “Whoever wishes
to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one
preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.–
But the Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in the Trinity, and the
Trinity in unity; neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance;
for there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy
Spirit, their glory is equal, their majesty coeternal...and in this Trinity
there is nothing first or later, nothing greater or less, but all three persons
are coeternal and coequal with one another, so that in every respect, as has
already been said above, both unity in Trinity, and Trinity in unity must be
worshipped. Therefore let him who
wishes to be saved, think thus concerning the Trinity.
“But it
is necessary for eternal salvation that he faithfully believe also in the
incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ...the Son of God is God and man... unless each one believes this faithfully and
firmly, he cannot be saved.”
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