Who or what is Jesus? God? Man? Angel?
This subject deserves far more space than we have here, but here goes...
If anyone requires that all that can be learned and understood about Jesus Christ, had to come out of His own mouth, then you will be very limited in your understanding about who & what was Jesus. (see John 21:25). You may have noticed in the Bible that Jesus came to speak of the Father, and the Holy Ghost came to speak of the Son? Surprisingly, Jesus did NOT come speaking of Himself. (see John 5:19-47) To learn the greater truth ABOUT who & what was Jesus, one must search the Scriptures, which were made know to God's servants by the Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21, "...holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." & "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." (2 Tim. 3:16). The answers to our questions about Jesus must come right out of the Bible, but will not necessarily come from the lips of Jesus about Himself.
Perhaps we should begin at the beginning.
The Holy Scriptures reveal that Jesus Christ existed in eternity past, prior to His entering the womb of Mary at conception. Gabriel said to Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Lk. 1:35_ the Father, Son & Spirit are together in this verse, again in 3:22, and in John 3:34, and again in John 14:16 & 14:26, and many other references. The doctrine of the Godhead [Father, Son & Holy Spirit] is easily established from the Scriptures.)
The Bible proof that Jesus existed prior to His first advent is in Colossians 1:12-17, where "by Him [Jesus] were ALL THINGS CREATED, that are in heaven...earth...all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." Also, we read in the gospel of John "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS GOD. The same was in the beginning WITH God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made...And the Word BECAME FLESH, and DWELT AMONG US, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-3, 14)
Those are powerful verses, which state clearly that Jesus is the Word, who spoke and all things were created, just as we read in the book of Genesis! This Word was clearly identified as God in verse 1, then said to have been the Creator of "all things," then that Word is revealed as none other than JESUS!
If this isn't enough, we have the testimony of the Father about the true identity of the Son in the book of Hebrews. The writer of the book of Hebrews makes the point that Jesus is superior than any of the angels. He quotes from Psalm 2:7, applying those words to Jesus, as the Son, whom the Father calls GOD! That's right, God the Father called Jesus GOD. Here is the verse: "But unto Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom...And, Thou, Lord [Christ], in the beginning hast laid the FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH; and the heavens are the works of thine hands..." (Hebrews 1:8-10, the entire chapter should be read, to fully appreciate the meaning in context.) This is PROOF, for any who will receive it, that the one who came to earth as Jesus, was the Son of God, who shared glory with God the Father in eternity past, AS God, and is the Creator mentioned in Genesis one! The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God! (Holy Spirit is God, Acts 5:3-4). This is an astounding truth revealed right in the Bible. It doesn't require man's comments or interpretation, for it is plainly stated in the Word of God. But why didn't Jesus say this about Himself over and over again, while He was on earth? Because He came to make the Father known, then after Jesus would depart, the Holy Spirit would then make the Son known through individual believers. He -- the same one who came to earth and obtained a mortal body from Mary, so that He could die for our sins -- is the God who created all things!
Now I have only used a very few verses in the Bible to prove the grand truth that Jesus is in fact God, but there are more, many more that could be given. Space, as I mentioned at the outset, doesn't allow for an exhaustive study of this subject.
But one more truth.
How can the Father be God, the Son be God, and the Spirit be God, when the Bible plainly teaches that there is but ONE true God?
The answer is simple. The word "God" is a uniplural noun, like the words "people," "family," "church." Each of those words are uniplural nouns, which imply MORE THAN ONE. One person is not a people, one person does not a church make, nor is one singular person a family. But God is one God, who exists as three persons: the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. Each is God, with the same essence and character, yet God is made known as ONE GOD made up of three persons.
"Great is the MYSTERY OF GODLINESS," wrote the apostle Paul to a young pastor. "God was manifest in the flesh..." (1 Tim. 3:16).
Yes, I believe Jesus is God. Not because it feels right, or seems right, or because some scholar, priest, pastor or rabbi said I should believe it. I believe it because of the testimony of Holy Scripture.
Jesus is God.
-David Cosma
