God is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4, I Thessalonians 1:9-10). Nevertheless, God is a Trinity, consisting of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, II Corinthians 13:14). These three persons are united in being, each being one with the other (John 10:30; 17-21); not 1+1+1=3, but 1x1x1=1.
John 20:31 says, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
We live in a day when many people speak about Christ but are not talking about the Christ of the Bible. The Christ of the Bible is Jesus of Nazareth, the virgin-born One, Emmanuel, “God with us.” Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Christology is the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the Creator God, not a created god. The question of who Christ is remains the foundational issue of Christianity. There is nothing to be said that is true of God that is not true of Christ.
Jesus Accepted What the Old Testament Said About Him
After the resurrection of Christ, on the Emmaus road, He had a conversation with the disciples who were traveling that road. We take up part of that conversation in Luke 24:25-27,
“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Our Lord Jesus accepted what the Old Testament declared about Him, that He is God. In Isaiah 9:6, the Bible gives titles for the then coming Messiah. The Lord Jesus accepted these titles for Himself. He accepted that Isaiah 9:6 says He is the “mighty God.” He accepted that He is the “everlasting Father.”
Jesus Christ Affirmed That He Is God in the New Testament
In the Gospel according to John, the Lord Jesus speaks of Himself in John 3:13. As He was speaking with Nicodemus, the Bible says,
“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”
With the natural mind, without faith, we cannot understand this. Often we use an expression about Jesus Christ that is not correct. We mean to say something correct, but it is not entirely correct. We say that the Lord Jesus “left” heaven. But when we speak of God, we speak of the indivisible God; He cannot be divided. In this passage in John 3:13, Christ speaks of being on earth and in heaven at the same time. This is something only God would be capable of. He is affirming that He is God. He made Himself equal with God:
- Jesus said He is equal with God in works (John 5:19).
- Jesus said He is equal with God in power (John 15:20).
- Jesus said He is equal with God in honor (John 5:22-23).
Jesus Christ Is Who He Says He Is, and We Can Know God
If the Scriptures teach us that Christ accepted what the Bible says about Him in the Old Testament, if He affirmed in the Gospel Records that He is God, where does this leave us? It leaves us with the wonderful truth that because Christ is who He says He is, we can know God.
In John 14:5-9, the Bible says,
“Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
This is not just a good idea; it is absolutely the most important matter in life that Jesus is God and that we can know the Lord Jesus as our personal Saviour.