Who Is Jesus Christ?

Probably one of the most detailed documented teachings in the New Testament, except for the Resurrection, is that Jesus Christ was and always claimed to be God incarnate.

Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah declared that the Messiah was to be uniquely the Son of God and still in some mysterious sense God the Son. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

That this Person would share the nature of God Himself is further enunciated most clearly in the Gospel of John, sometimes called the Gospel of the deity of Christ.
John declares, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)." In verse 14, John reveals that this same Word "became flesh and dwelt among us," and in verse 18 that "no one has seen God at any time; God, the only begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him" (literal translation).

The Greek word for "revealed" (exsegesato) literally means "lead out" or "make known." From the same word we derive our theological word "exegesis," literally "to take out." The Word was therefore made flesh for the express purpose of "exegeting" or interpreting God the Father to mankind.

Many theologians have speculated concerning the Greek word logos (Word) in John 1:1. Some say it is a carryover from the Greek philosophy of Philo of Alexandria. Others maintain that it has a relationship to the Jewish Targum, which uses the Aramaic term Memra to express the divine nature.

Upon closer examination, the concept of the logos having come from Philo must be dismissed, for John was writing from the background of Judaism, and his illustration is from Oriental custom and not Greek philosophy.

In ancient days, an oriental king held audience in his court within the throne room itself. Not wishing to be disturbed by the sight of some of his petitioning subjects, the king sometimes had a heavy curtain stretched across the back of the throne room, hiding the throne from the view of the petitioner. On the other side of the curtain stood the kingís oracle or interpreter. On his right hand he wore the kingís ring, and around his neck hung the medallion or royal seal symbolizing the authority to exercise judgment for the king. The oracle spoke for the king; he was known as his "interpreter" (Greek logos), the visible representative of the veiled monarch.

John uses this illustration to show us that even as the absolute authority to exercise judgment rested in the kingís "interpreter" (logos) in the oriental courts, so the Lord Jesus, He who was "face to face with God" as the eternal Logos, became incarnate, taking upon Himself our form and as such becoming the mediator between God and man. He is the divine-human interpreter of the invisible God to fallen mankind.

The Lord Jesus carried with Him at all times the seal of His Father, performing all His miracles through the power of His Father ("Öthe Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" John 14:10, 5:30 KJV). As the ancient logos or interpreter in the oriental courts spoke in the name of the king behind the curtain, so the Man of Galilee perfectly interpreted or "exegeted" the will of His Father, who was veiled behind the curtain of eternity.

No wonder that it could be said by Christ, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" and "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his handÖthat all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (John 14:9; 3:35; 5:23 KJV).

With this knowledge we can better understand the great majesty and authority which rested upon our Savior. The writer of the Epistle of the Hebrews described Christís majesty as "the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person" (Hebrews 1:3). This passage, which literally reads, "The radiance or effulgence of His glory and the image imprinted by His nature or character," testifies again to the true identity of Jesus Christ. He is Deity stamped in human flesh for eternity.

The Pharisees objected to Christ because, among other things, He claimed true Deity. In John 8:58, Christ unhesitatingly taught, "Before Abraham was, I am," and John stated that He made "himself equal with God" (John 5:18).

When we note that the identical terms used by Christ in John 8 are used by Jehovah in His discourse with Moses (Exodus 3:14ff.), we see that not only did Jesus fully understand His identity, but His enemies also understood His claim, for they "took up stones to stone Him" (John 8:59). The Jews stated clearly, "For a good work we stone thee not: but for blasphemy: and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God" (John 10:33 KJV). This then was our Lordís claim- nothing short of eternal pre-existence. Some persons wishing to reject this teaching point to John 9:9, where the term "I AM" also appears in the mouth of one who obviously was not Deity, thus "proving" that Christís usage was not significant. They ignore, however, the context of John 8 and its companion texts, 18:5-6, when, after Christ declared that He was Jehovah (I AM), those who came to imprison Him fell to the ground until He permitted them to take Him. The context of John 8 and the Jewsí taking up of stones to stone Him for blasphemy establishes Christís claim positively.

Evidence of the deity of Christ abounds throughout the New Testament. The Apostle Paul speaks of the great "mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ" (Colossians 2:2) and states, "for in Him dwells all the fulness of the Deity bodily" (Colossians 2:9, literal translation). It is significant to note here that Paul does not use the term "Divinity" or "Divine quality" (Theiotes) but the word signifying absolute Deity (Theotetos), which differs from the former as essence differs from quality.

In Zechariah 12:10, as God is speaking, the terminology suddenly switches form the Father to the Son. "I will pour out my Spirit upon the house of DavidÖ.and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son." Note once again the trinity of God ñ "My SpiritÖMeÖ.Him."

When this is compared to Revelation 1:7, the application of Zechariah by the Holy Spirit is evident. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindred's of the earth shall wail because of him."

The deity of our Lord leaps from countless pages of the New Testament which deal with the mysterious relationship between Christ and His Father. This relationship caused the Apostle Paul to exult, "Looking for that blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13, literal translation). "The great God" is the antecedent of the phrase "our Savior Jesus Christ." It is this same "great God" who could dogmatically say to His antagonists, "If ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24 KJV).
Link upon link the golden chain of the deity of Christ is forged through the pages of Scripture until at last it rests complete about the neck of Him who by angelic proclamation is declared to be "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (1 Timothy 6:15 KJV), a chain which clasps together at the royal medallion of the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).

It is little wonder, then, that through the ages men have been willing to "face the tyrantís brandished steel and the lionsí gory mane" and to face the fires of a thousand deaths for the love of Him who is conqueror of death, because He and He alone is "Prince of Life" (Acts 3:15).

The Christ of Scripture is not the wishy-washy bloodless Jesus of certain liberal theologians, nor is He "the divine principle or Christ-idea" of Christian Science, Unity, or the other gnostic cults. He is not the angelic creature of Jehovahís Witnesses, the "advanced medium" of the Spirtualists, the spirit brother of Lucifer as the Mormons proclaim, or the abstract Principle of philosophic speculation. He is most certainly not the "historical Jesus" gouged out of the New Testament by either ignoring or minimizing sections of the divine Record.

The Christ of Scripture is the very Oracle of God Himself, designated Logos or spokesman for the Father, in whose nail-pierced hands the fate of all creation rests. Truly God has spoken unto us in this age "by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:2).

It is now wonder, then, that Paul could write: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).

Few persons who read this quotation from the Word of God fully realize that it is a direct testimony of the deity of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:10 is a paraphrase of Isaiah 45:23 in the Greek or Septuagint version, which was in use at the time of our Savior. Paul therefore cites Isaiah 45:23, where Jehovah is speaking, and applies it to the Lord Jesus Christ as positive proof of the mysterious union between God the Father and God the Son.

By virtue of His true deity and perfect humanity, Christ transcends all human personalities. Muhammad, it is claimed, was a prophet; Buddha, a teacher; Confucius, an ethical politician; Zoroaster, a sage; Ghandi, a Hindu mystic and social reformer. Though the teachings of these dead men still live, their bones lie moldering in the graveyards of earth. But the Christ of Scripture not only lives in His teachings and in the hearts of those who trust Him, but He lives "at the right hand of the majesty on high" and makes intercession for us with the Father (Hebrews 7:25 KJV).

Christianity, then, does not rest entirely upon the principles, ethics, and teachings of Jesus, but upon the facts of the Incarnation and the Resurrection, the fact that the eternal Word truly became flesh and dwelt among us, and that we truly beheld His glory, "the glory as of the unique Son of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14, literal translation).

We can believe in nothing less than a divine-human Redeemer, for Scripture knows none other.

At this point, though it need not occupy a great deal of our time, it is important to note some facts about our Lordís human nature, lest we have an incomplete picture of His whole being and Incarnation.

In Jesus Christ, God became man in a unique but very real sense. Scripture tells us that in Him (Christ) "all the fullness of the Deity resided in the flesh" (Colossians 2:9, literal translation). But although He never ceased possessing His divine nature, Christ accepted the limitations of human life with one important exception- He knew no sin. Jesus Christ alone could say, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me," for He alone was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (John 14:30; Hebrews 7:26 KJV).

He is designated in Scripture as the "last Adam" and "the Lord from heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). His was the zenith of human nature as the Father always intended it to be.

However, granting the truth of all this, we must not fall into the error of some fundamentalist theologians who have emphasized Christís deity at the expense of His humanity, thus making Him God without a corresponding acknowledgment of His self-limited humanity. We must also avoid the excesses of liberal theologians, who have emphasized His humanity to the detriment of His deity. The "sane center," theologically speaking, must be the recognition of both of our Lordís natures in their proper context and in the perspective of all that the Scriptures teach concerning the Savior.

Let us never forget that the limitations of our Lordís earthly life do not detract from either His deity or His humanity. Some of Christís self-imposed limitations (Philippians 2:8-11) can be seen clearly in Scripture and should be recognized as the logical outgrowth of the Incarnation. Limitation, then, should never be interpreted as either weakness of imperfection.

The New Testament irrefutably teaches that Christ did not exercise at least three prime attributes of deity while on the earth prior to His Resurrection. These were omniscence, omnipotence, and omnipresence. Had He done so while a man He could not have been perfect humanity.

Christ is neither all God nor all man but is instead the God-Man of divine prediction, the true Savior of the world.

Jesus Christ, then, is God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, the One who loved us and died that we might live forever in the everlasting fellowship of the redeemed. Far from being a myth, Christís historical existence is better validated than that of all the prophets combined. It was said of Helen of Troy that she possessed the face that launched a thousand ships, but it can be said of Jesus Christ alone that He provided the inspiration, love, and devotion that launched a billion souls from darkness to eternal light.

Here is hope for the hopeless soul, power for the powerless sinner, and victory for the defeated life. All this is true because of who Christ is, and because He alone of the sons of men "hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). We can joyfully join in the confession with the Apostle Thomas of old, "My Lord and my God," for as Christ Himself stated, "You call me Lord and Master, and so I AM" (John 13:13).

If you do not know Jesus as the God-Man; if you have been in a cult that teaches totally contrary to the truth; if you have been struggling and running from Jesus, run no longer - where you are right now, kneel down, and pray this prayer:

Dear God,

I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ, the real one, to come into my heart and life as my personal Savior. Thank you Jesus. Please help me to learn of you - please teach me.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen.