Jesus Is God

by Micky Galloway

John 1:29-34, “On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who is become before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing in water. And John bare witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John the Baptist reflects the interest of God in man’s redemption through the blood of Jesus (cf. Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 1:14). The Gospel of John is written for the express purpose of providing evidence that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” and men may have “life in His name” (John 20:30,31). Therefore, the apostle introduces the book by declaring that Jesus is God! “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 through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made” (John 1:1-3).

Jesus made numerous claims to be the Son of God. The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things.” Then Jesus said to her, “I that speak unto thee am (he)” (John 4:25-26). After healing a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years, Jesus claimed, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work” (John 5:17). The Jews understood His claim and “sought the more to kill him” (John 5:18). Jesus claimed that He was not of this world and then said, “for except ye believe that I am (he), ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:23-24). In that same discourse, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.” Once again, “They took up stones therefore to cast at him …” (John 8:58-59). Jesus claimed, “I and the Father are one” and, “The Jews took up stones again to stone him” (John 10:30-31). The Jews clearly understood the claims of Jesus. In John 10:36, Jesus said, “I am the son of God.” He later said, “If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also: from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?” (John 14:7-9).

Jesus offered indisputable proof for His claim of deity indwelling flesh. Therefore, He is “Emmanuel … God with us” (Matthew 1:23). He demonstrated it with the palsied man by both healing him and forgiving him of his sins (Luke 5:18-26). All the attributes of deity dwelt in Jesus while on earth; He manifested God to men (John 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:16). He stilled the winds and waves (Matthew 8:27; Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25), turned water to wine (John 2:1-11), healed the blind (John 9), cleansed lepers (Luke 17:11-19) and all diseases (Matthew 4:23). He also raised the dead to life (John 11:43-44)! Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:1-2). After his imprisonment, John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which ye have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them” (Luke 7:22). The miracles of Jesus proved His claims to be the Son of God!

The prophets said His coming would be with salvation. “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come (with) vengeance, (with) the recompense of God; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:4-6). Jesus told the Jews the value of these prophecies, “Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me; and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life” (John 5:39-40). Peter preached to the Gentiles, “To him bear all the prophets witness, that through his name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). Certainly, the scribes and Pharisees understood the prophets pointed to one who would bring salvation. But they did not associate the salvation to be forgiveness of sins through Jesus. They asked, “Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” (Luke 5:21). Yet, Jesus forgave sins and told those Jewish leaders, “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he said unto him that was palsied), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go unto thy house” (Luke 5:17-26). If Jesus actually forgave sins, He is God!

Jesus told the disciples after His resurrection, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).

Either Jesus is who He claimed to be or He is a liar, and an imposter. Now what does that mean for us? For sinners Jesus interposed in death that He might save them that come to God through Him. “Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews. 7:25). Will you come to Him that you might have life? Paul asked, “Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). Indeed, “In none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).