The Person of Christ, Jesus’ Deity
Regarding the deity of Jesus Christ… “If we simply ponder this as we ought, a great ballast will come into the tipping ship of our soul. Sheer existence is, perhaps, the greatest mystery of all. Ponder the absoluteness of reality. There had to be something that never came into being. Back, back, back we peer into endless ages, yet there never was nothing. Someone has the honor of being the first and always. He never became or developed. He simply was. To whom belongs this singular, absolute glory? The answer is Christ, the person who the world knows as Jesus of Nazareth.” – John Piper
Jesus’ was bold in claiming to be God
Luke 5:17-26 Jesus forgives sin
Matthew 14:23-33 Jesus accepts worship from the 12
Paul was bold in claiming Jesus was God
Colossians 1:15-17 Paul claims Jesus was before all things and created all things
The writer of Hebrews
Hebrews 1:1-8 Jesus is worshiped by angels and they are Jesus’ agents, and he calls the Son, God
Jesus’ most bold claim to be God
John 6:35, 48 “I am the bread of life”
John 8:12 “I am the light of the world”
John 8:58 “I am”
John 10:7, 9 “I am the door”
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd”
John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life”
John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life”
John 15:1 “I am the true vine”
John, in the Apocalypse, quotes Jesus in 1:8 saying “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end…”
Consequences of Jesus’ Deity
1. Jesus is worthy of worship
- When you speak of God get specific with the name Jesus
- Understand that the Holy Spirit’s job is to exalt Jesus as King, Savior and God
- Speak of Jesus correctly
- Don’t forsake assembly with other Christians
2. Jesus excludes all other so called deities, and proclaims himself to be the only God
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of Hell. You can shut up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let’s not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 53).
3. Jesus defines reality
In order to find reality and escape from the land of delusion we must:
a. Read the Scriptures, particularly the gospels
b. View all of life through the lens of what Jesus said and did
c. Imitate Jesus’ teachings and actions
d. Learn to recognize the schemes of the evil one (division, lust, religion)
c. Repent of all our ways that are contrary to Jesus’ instruction
e. Go and live out the values of Jesus and his Kingdom
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