Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” John 8:58
“And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son!'” Matt. 14:33
Much ink has been spilled on whether or not Jesus Christ is God, especially since He never proclaimed the exact words, I am God in any of the four Gospels. It is however, understandable that the unregenerate man doubts and opposes Christ’s deity, because they know not the things of God and considers them foolishness (1 Cor. 2:14). But, what I find extremely disconcerting, is the fact that there are many professing Christians who deny Jesus’ deity, whether out of ignorance or blatantly. I can understand those who are ignorant of the truth and pray they soon become enlightened. But, it is those who are exposed to the truth and still deny it. Tragically, many of these deniers or heretics as they should be referred; teach at Christian seminaries, churches; engage in debates, make public assertions, publish literary and video works, pervert the teachings of Christ; all under the guise of Christianity. Such pseudo-Christians are the most pernicious to the church, because they assume a certain amount of credibility within the evangelical realm. This makes their erroneous assertions difficult to disprove because they have duped minds. Such pseudo-Christians do the most destruction, because they pollute pure innocent minds with cleverly-plotted deceptions (2 Cor. 11:14-15); even some true Christians are led astray by lies regarding Jesus. Interestingly, even Satan and his demons recognized Jesus as the “Son of God.” (Matt. 8:29, Mk. 5:7, Luke 4:3, 4:9, 4:34, 4:41, 8:28). As the book of James states; “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble” (James 2:19). If only believers would discipline themselves to thoroughly search the Scriptures, saturate their minds with the published works of reputable theologians, and study church history; they would be virtually impervious to the trappings of false teachers. (Acts 17:11, 2 Tim. 2:15).
However, if the whole of Scripture is considered, we can easily determine by the sheer weight of evidence pointing to Jesus Christ’s deity, it is indeed a biblical truth. In his book, The Forgotten Trinity, Dr. James White wrote; (1) “There are literally hundreds–no thousands–of passages that testify to the deity of Christ once we understand that no creature could possibly do or say the things that the Lord Jesus did. we would not be able to catalogue them in this brief work”. Jesus’ claim to deity was not only overt by His many proclamations, but also obvious by the display of some, who truly believed in His deity and humbly bowed to Him in worship.
In the Gospel of John for instance, Jesus declared twenty three times, “I AM“, Gk. ego eimi; (John 4:26, 6:20, 35, 41, 48, 51; 8:12, 18, 24, 28, 58; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 13:19, 14:6; 15:1, 5; 18:5, 6, 8). With inculcation, John included Jesus’ numerous declarations to deity; the I AM statements He frequently declared. Yet, many critics remain unconvinced of His deity. Incidentally, “I AM,” was the name God gave for Himself, when He spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Ex. 3:14). Furthermore, seven of the I AM statements, were joined together with magnificent metaphors, which are expressions of Jesus Christ being the world’s Savior: “I AM the Bread of life“; “I Am the Light of the world“; “I Am the Door of the sheep“; “I Am the Good Shepherd’; “I Am the Resurrection and the Life“; “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”; and “I Am the true Vine”. Dr. White, also wrote; (2) “John’s (the Apostle) literary artistry was not limited to the Prologue of his Gospel, nor was it confined to the direct assertion of the deity of Christ through calling Him “God” (John 1:1, 20:28). He found subtle ways of teaching this truth as well. One method that John presented, that the other Gospel writers did not use, is found in Jesus’ use of the phrase; “I Am”.
Another powerful evidence of Jesus’ deity, was in the actions of others, who did not hesitate to bow down and worship Him as God. If I might add, this evidence alone proves a strong case for the deity of Jesus Christ. Bottom line, Jesus was worshiped and He accepted it. (Matt. 2:11, 8:2, 9:18, 14:33, 15:25, 28:9, 28:17, Mk. 5:6, Jn. 9:38)! God never allowed any creature, including angels, to be worshiped. By His command, He alone was to be worshiped. (Ex. 20:3-5, Deut. 5:7-9, 6:13, Luke 4:8). But, the Bible states that on certain occasions, men or angels were disobediently attempted to be worshiped. And when there were such attempts, those who made the errors were instantly and sharply rebuked by the men or angels themselves. (Acts 10:25-26, Col. 2:18, Rev. 19:10, 22:8). When the Apostle John saw the Lord’s angel who showed him the many spectacular visions, he fell down to worship the angel, but was immediately rebuked by the angel; “… Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.” (Rev. 22:8).
I believe, it is exceedingly important to know that when Jesus Christ was worshiped, neither He nor His Father, objected to any of those incidences. In fact, the Father Himself commanded the angels to worship His Son, Jesus Christ; “…He (God) said, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” (Heb. 1:6-emphasis added). The MacArthur Commentary on Hebrews states; (3) “The Son who became a man is higher than the angels. He is the very God that the angels have always worshiped. It is a sin and an absolute violation of the most basic of God’s laws to worship anyone else but God. So if God Himself says that the angels are to worship the Son, then the Son must be God! In His incarnate person, even as in His eternal person, Christ is to be worshiped.” Comprehending that Jesus is God will greatly deepen your love, adoration, trust, and overall knowledge of Him. Also, your eyes will be opened to more realizations of His miraculous power; the Scriptures are fraught with His miracles. John concludes his Gospel by writing; ” And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” (John 20:25). Is this not an omniscient act that only God could perform?
Interestingly, God who is one (Deut. 6:4); who cannot lie (Num. 23:19, Titus 1:2); who has commanded that only He is only to be worshiped (Ex. 20:5, Deut. 5:9, 6:13, Luke 4:8); amazingly has commanded the worship of His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, if Jesus is not God, then the worship of Him would be in direct contradiction to God’s very commands! Which, I might add, would make God out to be a liar. This notion is not only impossible, but unfathomable as well and entirely inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture. Furthermore, God proclaims that He is a “jealous” God, who, if provoked by the inappropriate worship of anything or any other creature, declares that His righteous wrath would result. (Ex. 20:5, 34:14, Deut. 4:24, 5:9, 6:15). Therefore, God certainly would have been aroused to a white-hot fury, by the worship of Jesus Christ Jesus!
In closing, Jesus Christ’s I AM statement’s, coupled with His acceptance of worship, provides clear and convincing evidence of His deity. Furthermore, there are myriads of other examples in the gospels alone that attest to His divinity, and by His own proclamations, professed deity! For instance, when He was asked by His disciple Phillip to reveal the Father, Jesus said to him; “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father…” (John 14:9).
Amazingly, I haven’t even touched the Old Testament evidence, where the coming Christ was amply prophesied. O, how glorious the truth would be to him or her who learns and eagerly accepts Jesus Christ’s fully divine nature revealed in the Bible. How powerful the Christian testimony would be if all Christians collectively, proclaimed that God, Creator of the universe, mercifully and lovingly condescended and entered into His own creation, and tabernacled among them! The evidence for this truth is virtually overwhelming in the Bible! All one have to do is open its pages, read, and bask in its glorious truth! Amen!
(1) Dr. James White, “The Forgotten Trinity”, pg. 84, Bethany House Publishers, 1998
(2) Dr. James White, “The Forgotten Trinity”, pg. 95, Bethany House Publishers, 1998 (Emphasis added).
(3) John MacArthur’s “The MacArthur New Testament Commentary of Hebrews“, pg. 30, moody Press 1983