Apologetics Courses

Answers to the Errors in the Book

The person of Jesus. The early Christians did struggle to come to terms with the person of Jesus. Clearly He was unique. His frequent use of the phrase “Son of man” shows that He wanted to identify with God as the phrase is used in Daniel 7 v 13 but at the same time He wanted to identify with ordinary human beings. As the God/man He lived on earth revealing to us what God was like and what God wanted us to know regarding how we could be saved. His use of the phrase is deliberate for a number of reasons:- He was seeking to give a gradual understanding of who He was, He did not want to reveal that He was the promised Messiah too early, He wanted time to show the true nature of His Messianic work, He wanted to keep the people from hailing Him as the Saviour from the power of the Romans (the popular misconception of His day regarding the Messiah).

The New Testament writers are clear as to who Jesus was. They saw Him as absolute deity from the beginning of the Church. The following are just some of the passages we could quote for this:-

Jesus Himself claimed to be God on numerous occasions in the Gospel of John:-
In John 5 vv 22, 23 we read:-

Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.
In John 8 vv 23, 24 we read:-

But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”

In John 8 vv 58, 59 we read:-
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
Here Jesus used the phrase “I am” from the Old Testament showing that God is eternal and applied it to Himself. This is why the Jews wanted to stone Him since they recognized what He was saying about Himself. He was making a very strong claim about His own divinity.

The statement of Thomas who, when He saw the risen Christ, cried out “My Lord and my God”. Peter speaking on the Day of Pentecost spoke of Christ not as only a man but as God and in Acts 2 vv 32 – 36 he shows the divinity of Jesus

“….God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”‘ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Then we have that glorious affirmation of the divinity of Christ in two passages in the New Testament:=

Philippians 2 vv 5 – 11
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Then in Colossians 1 vv 15 – 20 we have this affirmation of the person of Jesus.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Finally from the New Testament I will quote from the Apostle John who was given a glorious revelation of Christ whilst on the Isle of Patmos but the same author in 1 John 5 vv 1 – 5 writes:-

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Conclusion: So from the biblical record we have the clearest possible statements about the divinity of Christ. The word Lord is used since the writers are seeking to show us that Jesus is divine. The belief of the early Christians was clear. Jesus is the divine Son of God. He is to be worshipped as God.