There is usually a consensus across different religions that Jesus did exist and that He died on the cross.
But where many religions part with Christianity is on their claim that Jesus is/was Deity.
They’ll gladly recognize Jesus as a good Guy, a good Teacher and even a good Prophet but stop short of recognizing Him as God.
Some religions however go abit further and admit that He is the Son of God — but no more.
In other words, they recognize Him as the Son of God but they do not equate Him to God or recognize Him as the 2nd Person of the Trinity.
Even for some of those who recognize Jesus as the Son of God, their conclusion on how that came to be does not line up with Scripture.
The Mormons for example believe that Jesus was a literal Son of God conceived through physical sexual relations between God and Mary, which is a far cry from what the Bible teaches.
What they and some other religions fail to realize is the title "Son of God" or "Begotten Son of God" does not mean that Jesus is the literal offspring of God.
The Bible is clear that God is a Spirit (see John 4:24).
This means He does not have a physical body like we do therefore He cannot have carnal relations.
Moreover, He does not have a wife hidden somewhere that He had carnal relation with to produce Jesus.
Jesus therefore is not the Son of God in the sense of a literal child.
In fact, Jesus is not a product or creation of God in any sense.
On the contrary, the Bible speaks of Jesus as having existed before His incarnation as 'Son of God' here on earth (see John 1:1-3).
As a matter of fact, you can see Him in His preincarnate forms on several occasions in the Old Testament.
Like God the Father, He has no beginning and He has no end.
He is the Creator not a creation.
Therefore, the term 'Son of God' does not mean Jesus is an offspring or creation of God but it simply describes Deity packaged in humanity.
In other words, the union of Deity with humanity in a body produces 'son of God'.
The Bible says in Luke 1:34-35:
"Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; so that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God..."
So because it will not be a carnal union but a union of Deity with humanity, He will be called 'Son of God'.
According to the Bible, when immortality meets mortality, it creates sons or sonship.
Believers are called 'sons of God' because they are humanity who have taken on Deity through faith in Christ Jesus.
Jesus on the other hand is called 'the Son of God' because He is Deity who took on humanity.
This also explains why He is called the 'only begotten son of God'.
He is the only One who was Deity to begin with before He took on humanity, which cannot be said of anyone else.
In contrast, believers are humans first and take on Deity when they get saved, which is why they are called 'adopted sons of God'.
So that leaves us with the questions, is Jesus God or just the Son of God?
Well, the Bible is clear that He is both.
Infact, 5 different entities recognize Him as God in the Bible.
1) He calls Himself God.
Jesus called Himself God and equated Himself to God.
In John 8:58 the Bible says:
"Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!"
These are the same words used in Exodus 3:14 when God says, "I Am who I Am" which clearly implies He was calling Himself God which explains why the Jews wanted to stone Him.
In John 10:30, Jesus says:
"The Father and I are One.”
On this occasion, Jesus equates Himself to the Father, which again explains why the Jews immediately picked up stones to stone Him.
In John 5:17-18, the Bible says:
"But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."
In John 14:8-9, the Bible says:
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
2) Men call Him God.
In Titus 2:13 he says:
Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
In Romans 9:5, he says:
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ Himself was an Israelite as far as His human nature is concerned. And He is God, the One who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul goes on to says:
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."
In Acts 20:28, Paul says:
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
We only know of one Person who purchased us with His own blood, Jesus, and Paul refers to Him as God.
Apostle John calls Him God in John 1:1 which says:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
In 1 John 5:20, he goes on to says:
"And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."
In John 20:28, doubting Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, recognized the risen Christ not only as His Lord, but His God as well. The Bible says:
"Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
Jude calls Him Lord God in Jude 1:4.
Jude was Jesus' half brother (same mother, different fathers since Joseph was not Jesus' biological father but his adoptive father) and the Bible says none of His brothers believed in Him before His resurrection (see John 7:5) so Jude calling Him God at this point in his life was a huge deal and spoke of a sibling critic who had eventually come to the realization of who his half Brother really was.
3) Angels worship Him as God.
One interesting thing to note about God's angels in the Bible is they vehemently refuse to be worshiped, clearly stating that worship is only reserved for God.
In Revelation 22:8-9 for example, the Bible says:
"I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said, “No, don’t worship me! I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!"
Jesus responding to the devil's offer to give Him all the authority and glory on earth if He fell down and worshiped him says, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” (see Luke 4:7-8)
Paul writing to the Colossians warns against the worship of angels (see Colossians 2:18).
So clearly worship is only reserved for God and if so, God instructing angels to worship Jesus in Hebrews 1:6 must only mean one thing — He is God.
This explains why on numerous occasions in the Bible, He accepts worship (see Matthew 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9) and the Bible says that one day, everyone and everything will worship Him as God. (see Philippians 2:10)
4) Creation submits to Him as God.
One thing that is clearly evident in Jesus' incarnate life is His power and authority over creation. From turning water into wine to calming storms to walking on water to commanding fish into nets to cursing the fig tree, it is clear that creation submits to Him as Deity something even His disciples attest to (see Luke 8:25).
Paul says in Colossians 1:16:
"For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him."
In John 1:3 the Bible says:
"All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
So if Jesus created all things and all creation submits to Him, that makes Him God.
5) God the Father Himself calls Him God.
This is the icing on the cake for me. The fact that God Himself calls Jesus, God — recognizing His as an equal, settles the matter for me.
In Hebrews 1:4-12, the writer describing Jesus' supremacy to angels, says:
"This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave Him is greater than their names. For God never said to any angel what He said to Jesus:
“You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”
God also said,“I will be His Father, and He will be My Son.”
And when He brought His supreme Son into the world, God said,
“Let all of God’s angels worship Him.”
Regarding the angels, He says, “He sends His angels like the winds, His servants like flames of fire.” But to the Son He says,“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on You more than on anyone else.”
He also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with Your hands. They will perish, but You remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But You are always the same; You will live forever.”
Did you catch that?
God calls Jesus God (vs. 8 & 9), Lord (vs. 10) and Creator (vs. 10).
Wow!
In truth, Jesus is not just the Son of God as if to mean He is a creation of God or less than God, He is God Himself, uncreated, 2nd Person of the Trinity and equal to God the Father!
Infact the Bible teaches that He is fully God and fully Man — He has to be both to save us from our sins.
You see, without His humanity, we wouldn't have a blood sacrifice for our sins but without His Deity, then as a blood sacrifice, He would be an insufficient payment to satisfy the infinite demands of God’s justice against our sin.
So Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross wouldn’t have meant a thing if He was anything less than God.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer puts it like this:
“If Jesus Christ is not truly God, how could He help us? If He is not truly man, how could He help us?”
“Only by being both deity and humanity could Jesus Christ bridge the gap between us and where God is.” — David Jeremiah
The Deity of Jesus is a cardinal Christian doctrine.
Infact, what you believe about Jesus is actually one of the 4 tests every person who claims to be a Christian should conduct to know whether they are a true Christian as described in the Bible.
God bless you.
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