By Abdullah Ibrahim
The Bible teaches that Jesus is God in human flesh! This has already become clear by studying the Trinity. (A free article on this subject is available from the author upon request.) Moreover, there is further evidence to verify that incredible conviction.
1) EVIDENCE TAKEN FROM VERSES THAT SPEAK ABOUT GOD IN ONE PLACE AND REFER TO JESUS IN ANOTHER
In the following list the corresponding extracts from the Bible will be listed one after the other. Those verses which are taken from the Old Testament, the Torah, are even more astonishing since several hundred years had passed until they were referred to Jesus Christ!
In the year that King Uzziah died, I (Isaiah) saw the LORD seated on a throne...And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:1,3)
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.(John 12:41)
For this is what the LORD says..."Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear." (Isaiah 45:18,23)
...that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow,..and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,..(Philippians 2:10,11)
"They will look on me (God), the one they have pierced,...."(Zechariah 12:10)
This verse is applied to Jesus in John 19:37, Revelation 1:7!
This is what the LORD says-Israels king and redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last;(Isaiah 44:6)
This title is applied to Jesus in Revelation 1:17-18!
They will make war against the Lamb (Jesus, see John 1:29), but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings..."(Revelation 17:14)
..God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords..."(1 Timothy 6:15)
2) EVIDENCE TAKEN FROM THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58)
By saying "I am" and not "I was", Jesus is using the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses! (Exodus 3:14) In this way he expresses his oneness with God and the eternity of his being.
You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23)
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20, see also 28:19-20)
Then Jesus said to them, "How is it that they say the Christ is the Son of David? David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: "'The Lord said to my Lord:"Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."?David calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?"(Luke 20:41-44)
Jesus is here quoting from Psalm 110 which was viewed to be a prophecy about the coming Messiah (Christ, the anointed one) by the Jews before the Christian era.Verses from this Psalm are frequently applied to Jesus in the New Testament.(Acts 2:34-36; Hebrews 1:13, 5:6-10, 7:11-28) The Christ is known as the Son of David (Jeremiah 23:5-6) and also as the one whom David called "Lord!" The only answer to Jesus' question as to how this could be, is found in that the Christ is both, God in human flesh since the Old Testament can not contradict itself!The infinite is combined in the finite in much the same way as our eternal souls are united in earthly bodies. (Surah 3, Ali' Imran, verse 185)
"I and the Father are one. Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these,"replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."(John 10:30-33)
The Jews understood correctly that Jesus was not just speaking about being one with the Father in purpose but in essence or nature. Neither is Jesus saying that he and the Father would be identical persons for the Greek construction is neuter, meaning "one thing" not "one person." Verses 34-39 show clearly that Jesus spoke about himself differently than others who were called "gods" in the law, for his audience still wanted to seize him. The context of John 17:21 shows that the oneness there has to be understood relationaly.
3) EVIDENCE FROM JESUS' DIVINE ACTS
Jesus is described as doing things which are exclusively the works of God:
All the nations will be gathered before him (Jesus), and he will separate the people one from another...Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25:32,46)
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."...Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2:5,7)
I (Jesus) give them eternal life, and they shall never perish...(John 10:28)
4) EVIDENCE FROM THE TESTIMONIES OF JESUS' FOLLOWERS
Thomas said to him (Jesus): "My Lord and my God! Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me you have believed;...."(John 20:28-29)
Jesus commended him for what he said. If Thomas would have used the words "My Lord and my God" only as a way to express his surprise, Jesus surely would have rebuked him for going against the ten commandments by misusing God's name.(Exodus 20:7)
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours...(2 Peter 1:1)
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.(2 Peter 3:18)
In the verses above and other ones (2 Peter 2:20, Titus 2:13) the following rule of Greek grammar followed throughout the old Roman Empire has to be applied and confirms clearly that Jesus is God: "When two nouns in the same case are connected by the Greek word "and" and the first noun is preceded by the article"the," and the second noun is not preceded by the article, the second noun refers to the same person or thing to which the first noun refers, and is a farther description of it." ("Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, Volume III, Book II, by K.S Wuest, Eerdmans, Michigan, page 31)
A further conformation of the Deity of Jesus is found in the fact that the Greek word, "Kyrios," translated "Lord" in 2 Peter 3:18, "was an accepted title of Deity in the terminology of Israel, the Roman empire, and Christianity." ("Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, Volume III, Book II, by K.S Wuest, Eerdmans,Michigan, page 32) This profound truth is reflected in that the very common Hebrew name for God , "Jahwe" in the Septuagint, the first Greek translation of the Old Testament 3rd century B.C) is also rendered "Kyrios", meaning "Lord!"
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,... ((Colossians 2:9)
In the light of all these strong evidences one must ask the question, "How is it possible that God can condescend to take on human form? After all, God does not need to eat, He never gets weary like Jesus did." The answer is found in Philippians 2:6-7:
(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!
God revealed Himself in Jesus as perfect man. As such he was given birth by his earthly mother Mary, he had a normal human body, and therefore, he naturally felt hungry and weary. In his humanity he could also make statements like,
By myself I can do nothing...(John 5:30)
...the Father is greater than I. (John 14:28)
In other words, Jesus has two natures; He is fully man and fully God! Then those who where in the boat worshiped him, (Jesus)......(Matthew 14:33)Jesus received worship which is only due to God on many more occasions. (e.g.John 9:38; Matthew 2:11, 8:2, 9:18, 14:33, 15:25, 28:9,17; Luke 24:52)
For questions, comments, more information, a free Bible in the language of your choice, a free Bible correspondence course please send mail to Abdullah Ibrahim
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Last Updated 10/05/03