...even as a baby in the manger
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Why is Understanding the true identity of Jesus Christ vital? It's vital because if Jesus isn't God, He can't forgive you of your sins. Check out Luke 5:21
Luke 5:21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?“
Heresy
There are heresies, then there are damnable heresies. I believe not rightly discerning who Jesus Christ is, is one of those heresies that can cost you eternal life.
Every non-Messianic Jew
Every Muslim
Every Universalist
Every Jehovah's Witness
Every Mormon
and Others
don’t believe Jesus Christ was God. They may think good thoughts about Jesus and say things like, "I think he was a very good person." or "He was a great prophet," but they don't understand what his true identity was and is.
There are billions of people that have a false understanding of the identity of Jesus Christ.
1. Explicit Verses on the Divinity of Christ(Matt. 1:23): The angel was referring to Isaiah's prophecy: "'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel'. Which is translated, 'God with us"' (Is. 7:14).
(Is. 9:6): "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is
given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And
His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace“.
2. Jesus the Logos of God
(Jn. 1: 1): "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
(Rev. 19:13): "He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.“ The term "The Word" stands for 'Logos" in Greek.
If A is C and B is C then A is B
If the Word is God and Jesus is the Word then Jesus is God.
3. Jesus the Creator
(Jn. 1:3): John says about the Lord Jesus Christ "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.“
(Heb. 1:2): says "He made the worlds.“
(Col. 1:16): "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."
4. Sending the Holy Spirit
We know from the Old Covenant that God is the One that sends the Holy Spirit.
"I am the Lord your God and there is no other... And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams" (Joel 2:27-29).
Here Jesus says He will send the Holy Spirit.
"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me" (Jn. 15:26)
5. Jesus Descended from Heaven
The Lord Jesus Christ says: "I am the bread which came down from heaven" (Jn. 6:41), and thus He is the Giver of life, 'for the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world' (Jn. 6:33).
The Lord Jesus Christ repeats: "I have come down from heaven" (Jn. 6:38), and explains His coming down from heaven by saying:
“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father" (Jn. 16:28).
6. Being the Lord
"I am the Lord, that is My name, and My glory I will not give to another" (Is. 42:8).
a. Lord In prayer
Prayer using the word 'Lord' should be addressed to God only. Regarding this the Lord Jesus Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).
b. Lord at Birth
"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord' (Lk. 2:10,11).
c. Lord During Life
"'Lord, save me! 'And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him" (Matt. 14:30,31)
d. Lord at The Resurrection
"You seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen' as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay" (Matt. 28:5,6).
e. Lord at the Ascension
"So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs" (Mk. 16:19,20).
7. Being the Son of God
Christ's Sonship to God was the reason for the Sanhedrin's sentencing Him to death. The chief priests could not find a reason to condemn Him because even though many false witnesses came forward, their testimonies did not agree. So the high priest rose and said to Him: "I adjure You by the living God that You tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God' (Matt. 26:63).
If His Sonship were an ordinary sonship like the sonship of all the people to God, what was the significance of the high priest adjuring Him before the greatest Synagogue at the time asking Him if He was the Son of God?
When the Lord answered in the affirmative, "the high priest tore his clothes, saying, 'He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!"' (Matt. 26:63-65) And they sentenced Him to death for this reason.
- Blasphemy - of those who speak contemptuously of God or of sacred things
- Contempt - the act of despising : the state of mind of one who despises: lack of respect or reverence for something
Satan addressing Jesus as, The Son of God
Satan's question implied the Sonship to God which has extraordinary miraculous power that can change stone into bread, and not the ordinary sonship of all the children of God.
Satan speaking through the crowd at the cross
"If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross“ (Matt. 27:40). Therefore it was understood by all that Christ's Sonship was not a common sonship, but a Sonship which had miraculous power that could enable descent from the cross.
8. The Only Begotten Son of the Father
"He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God' (Jn. 3:18).
If belief in This Only Son gives everlasting life and takes away condemnation, then this is further proof of His Divinity.
9. Belief in Him
"You believe in God, believe also in Me" (Jn. 14: 1). Thus Jesus put the belief in Himself equal with the belief in the Father.
10. His Relationship with the Father
11. Being beyond Time
12. Being the First and the Last
13. Him Being Omnipresent
14. Him Being the Judge
15. Him Being the Examiner of Hearts and Minds
16. Him Being Good and Holy
17. Being the Forgiver of Sins
When Apostles are Worshiped
Acts 14:8-15
8In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. 11When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15"Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you.
Acts 10:25,26
25As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."
18. Jesus Accepting Worship and Prayer
a. When He gave sight to the man born blind and called
him to believe in Him as the Son of God, the man born
blind said: "'Lord, I believe! 'And he
worshipped Him"
b. After He had walked on the sea and made His disciple
Peter walk with Him, "those who were in the boat came
and
worshipped Him, saying, 'Truly You are the Son of
God' " (Matt. 14:33), and He accepted this worship from
them.
c. The woman who suffered from a flow of blood
worshipped the Lord Jesus after He healed her (Mk 5:33).
d. Jairus
worshipped Him, saying: "My little daughter lies
at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her,
that she may be healed, and she will live" (Mk. 5:23).
Thus it was worship preceded by faith in Christ that He is
able to raise the dead by merely laying His hands on
them. And Christ did raise his daughter for him (Mk.
5:41,42).
There are approximately 12 instances of these type of things that happen in the Bible further illustrating the Divinity of Christ
19. Him Being the Giver of Life
20. Authority over Nature
21. Authority over Angels
22. The Kingdom Belongs to Him
23. His Authority over Life and Death
24. His Authority over the Law
25. His Authority over Himself
26. His Authority over Demons
27. Being the One to Whom Glory and Power Belong
28. Being the Savior and the Redeemer
a. God alone redeems and saves the human race
"Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God “ (Is. 44:6).
b. Christ alone is the Redeemer and Savior of the world
"for He will save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:2 1). Yet His salvation was not for His own people only, for He said: "I did not come to judge the world but to save the world' (Jn. 12:47). And it was said of Him: "This is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world‘ (Jn. 4:42)
Giving the proceeding scriptural realities it's obvious that a logical conclusion for the identity of Jesus Christ is that his is God in the flesh.
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Let's explore the idea of someone making distinctive claims to deity in modern times. Suppose your neighbor walks over to you and says, "Hey come over here, I've got something to tell you." You walk over and he whispers in your ear, "God and I are one!", "When you've seen me you've seen the father". Now, you have a choice to make. Is your neighbor telling you the truth or is he not? If he is you should stop what you are doing and worship him on the spot but if he isn't you could not conclude any longer that your neighbor is a "good person". Let's explore what you must conclude if he's not telling the truth.