Listen:  95 Question 4

Jesus is absolutely God.  The Bible is emphatic about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let’s read Hebrews 1:1-8, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.  And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.  But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”  What more proof could we ask for?  Here, God the Father, says to His son Jesus, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”

This verse, of course, is a quote from Psalms 45:6-7 which says, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”  The writer of the book of Hebrews is led of God to ascribe this verse to identify the Son of God as God Himself.  Jesus is the Son of God, and He is God the Son.  Did Christ ever claim to be God?  Yes He did.

Let’s begin by reading John 5:17-18, “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”  Here Christ spoke of His being equal with God, thereby claiming to be God.

Now let’s read John 10:27-33, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”  When Christ claimed equality with God by saying, “I and my Father are one”, the Jews knew exactly what He meant by those words.  What outraged them so much was that they understood Christ as speaking of a unity of nature with God.  He was declaring that He is God.  They accused him of blasphemy and were intent on killing Him because of His claim to be God.

Now let’s consider the words of the Lord Jesus as He stood before Pilate, just before His crucifixion.  I want to read this from the New American Version, which makes the words of the Lord very clear.  Luke 23:3 says, “So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “It is as you say.””  The Lord acknowledged to Pilate that He is, indeed, God, who is the King of the Jews.

I encourage you so search the Word of God to find more references to the person of the Christ.  Scripture is so clear on this matter.  One would have to blindly reject the Word of God to deny that Jesus Christ is God.  (95.4)