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Introduction
The meditation on the glory of the deity of Jesus of Nazareth is a
contemplation that is infinite and beyond comprehension. Man can, to
some degree, measure the distance of the universe in light years, but to
grasp and be grasped by the declaration that Jesus was “God manifest in
the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16), is a truth that no mind, celestial,
terrestrial, or infernal, can fully enter into. As J.N. Darby wrote:
“The Father only, glorious claim, the Son can comprehend”. There are
many wonderful manifestations of God, but there had never been, and
never will be, a manifestation as superlative as the Lord. He stands
unique as the “Oracle and Word of God”.
It is not sufficient to acknowledge that Jesus was divine. He is deity,
for there is a distinction. The word “Godhead” is used twice in the New
Testament (Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9), but there are two different Greek words
used. The word in Romans 1:20 is “divinity”, whereas in Colossians 2:9
it is “deity”. Divine things are primarily an evidence of God and only
secondarily do they indicate deity. Deity is not just an evidence of
God, it is what God is essentially, His very nature or being. When this
paper speaks of the deity of the man Jesus, it is not indicating that He
was an evidence by His life that God is, but He was essentially God in
all His fulness.
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When the books of the New Testament were written, things had
changed in the ancient world. It had been some sixty years
since the Lord had been crucified, risen, and ascended, and
Pentecost was for many a distant memory or that which they had
heard about. The Christian church was now in it’s second and
third generation (Heb. 2:3). False Christs had arisen and false
doctrines concerning the Lord. One of them was the denial of
either His deity or humanity.
The questions were: |
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Was Jesus simply a good man or was He the Son of God? |
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Did He display, as far as man could, the lovely characteristics
of God or was He God without reservation? |
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3) |
Was He the absolute God or a higher development of a spiritual
order? |
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Such questions had to be faced and answered.
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The many volumes that have been written on this theme indicates
the depths of the truth, consequently, a paper such as this can
only touch the edge of this immeasurable ocean. As we consider
the sacred record it is evident that Jesus is the fulness of
deity. He is God. |
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2) |
Of course the enemy could not let such a truth go unchallenged,
and the following are some of the cults and their false
teachings about the Lord. |
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a) |
The Baha’i faith teaches Christ as one of the nine great
manifestations of divinity. |
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b) |
Buddhism teaches Christ is not recognized as Deity. |
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Christadelphians teaches Jesus did not exist before his birth to
Mary, He is not God. |
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Christian Science teaches that Christ is a divine idea and His
blood doesn't cleanse us. |
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Cooneyites (the Two-by-Twos) teach Jesus inherited Adam's fallen
sin nature and was not God. |
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Free Masons teach Jesus is a man like us. |
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g) |
Iglesias ni Cristo teaches that Jesus is a great Savior, but not
true God. |
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h) |
Mormons teach that Jesus was born in heaven as the spirit child
of Elohim (Heavenly Father) by one of his wives, and Jesus'
brother was Lucifer, who became Satan. |
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Seventh Day Adventists teach Jesus is God but also that he is
Michael. Christ did not complete salvation, we have to do our
bit. |
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Who then was and is Jesus of Nazareth? This was the question
the Lord presented to the disciples when He asked two questions:
“Whom do men say that I am” and “Whom say ye that I am”? (Matt.
16:13-15). There has been and is one of three answers: |
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The Ebonite and Socinian answer: |
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These ancient and modern day
teachers say that Jesus Christ was merely a man, supernaturally
born of a virgin, but worthy of admiration. He is presented as
the perfect revelation of God but deny His essential deity. |
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b) |
The Arian answer: |
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This answer teaches that the Lord had a beginning and is not
eternal. He is presented as the most eminent but was a created
Being. |
This paper will deal with the Biblical answer, therefore, what are some
of the evidences that Jesus of Nazareth was not just a real man, was not
just divine, but was unquestionably deity?
It has often been said that Christ never claimed deity, and at its core
it is perfectly true, for that which He did was make truthful
declarations. There is a difference between a claim and a declaration.
I may claim to have “x” number of dollars but that may be a bogus claim,
but a truthful declaration can be verified. It is this verification
that this paper deals with.
His Deity Is Evidenced By Direct Passages Bearing On The Deity of The
Lord
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Some of the passages in the New Testament are:
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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). Of particular notice is the tense
and the word “was”. In verses 1, 2, 4, and 8, “was” is the
translation of the preposition “en”, imperfect tense indicating
no origin. |
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In verses 3,
6,
and 10 of John chapter 1 is the clause: “was made” a translation
of the Greek word “ginomai” which means “to cause
to be” and is translated “It came to pass” (Mk. 4:4); “was made”
(Jn. 5:4); and in contrast to the Lord Abraham “ginomai” (Jn.
8:58). |
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“Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Rom.
1:4). In this verse the Lord is “marked out as being” the Son
of God by the spirit of Holiness. Whither this is the Holy
Spirit or the characteristic of holiness is irrelevant, the
emphasis is that he was not marked out as such by falsehood, but
in holiness. If it is the Holy Spirit, then to deny Him as
being such is to accuse the Holy Spirit of being a deceiver. If
it is the characteristic of holiness then it accuses God of
deception, for it was God who raised Him from the dead. |
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When Paul wrote to the Colossians he penned the magnificent
words: “For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness
dwell” (Col. 1:19). It is a stupendous expression, for Paul is,
by the Holy Spirit, teaching that it was the will of God not
only that “all things were created by Him” (Col. 1:16), that “by
Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17), that he should be “the Head
of the Body . . . the firstborn from the dead”, in “all things
he might have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). In this passage
Paul is speaking of the man who is “His dear Son” (v. 13),
through “Whom we have redemption through His blood” (v. 14).
That which is being emphasized is, as a man, nothing of deity
was detracted from Him.
Two of the words that must be noted are: |
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Fulness:
The truths being taught are: |
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That every qualification needed for the fulfillment of the
already mentioned things is found in its fulness in Christ. |
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That all that God is in His fulness, His every attribute is
found in the man Jesus. All that God is in Himself and
characteristic, is in Christ. |
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Dwelleth:
The word means to have permanent residence, to be at home. |
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This truth is presented again when Paul writes: “In him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”. (Col. 2:9) |
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The writer to the Hebrews wrote: “Who being the brightness of
glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all
things by the word of His power”. (Heb. 1:3) |
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There can be no doubt as to the “who” in this verse. It is
evidently the Son, and indeed, the NIV translates it as “The
Son”. |
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“Being” - The indication in Greek is present continuous and
indicates absolute and timeless existence”. The “brightness of
glory, the express image of His person, the upholder of all
things by the Word of His power” was never something He became
or was given, it is that which He always was and did. |
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“Brightness” - the word indicates not reflection as the light of
the sun is reflected by the moon, but the radiance of His own
moral glory. The disciples were granted a glimpse of this when
on the Holy Mount (2 Pet. 1:18; Matt. 17:2; Mk. 9:2-3; Lk.
9:29). |
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The express image of His person”. Clearly this could be said of
none but one who is fully equal with God. “Express image” is
only used here in the New Testament and indicates several
truths: |
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Being used of a mark made by a die, it was used of the
impression made on coins of an individual. However, the image
on a coin is not the exact image because it is the likeness of
an individual or place, but not it’s identicalness. It could be
said that I am the image of my father, but it could never be
said I am the exact image of him. He and I had our own
interests, characteristics, and features, and were certainly not
identical. Even so called “identical twins” are not absolutely
identical. |
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“Upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3).
This goes beyond that which Paul wrote to the Colossians when he
penned the words:
“By Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17), that is, are held
together.
In
describing the unseen force that holds the three particles of
the atom together (proton, neutron and electron), it is called
“electromagnetic force”. However, when man denies divine
persons, he has no answer what causes the electromagnetic force.
Colossians tells us that it is not a “what”, but “Who?”. The
“who” is Christ, who
uses the electromagnetic forces He has created to stop them from
flying apart. But this goes beyond that. In this passage the
Lord is seen as the One who is conveying the ages along. It is
not like Atlas holding up the universe (while He does hold it in
its place in space), but whither it is dispensations or
permission of characteristics, or development of the purposes of
God, He is the one who is in complete control. |
Statements such as these could never be said of any created being who is
not in full equality with deity.
May
God grant us good understanding as He, by His Holy
Spirit, deigns to guide us into all truth.
John 16:13
Copyright © 2012 by Rowan Jennings, Abbotsford,
British Columbia
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