One of the most important aspects of His identity is that He’s God. Interestingly, it’s the most difficult to grasp and explain, since we’ve never possessed the attributes of deity.<\/p>\n
Jesus Is God<\/b><\/span> In this passage, John isn’t setting forth a polytheistic doctrine, that there are multiple Gods which we worship. Rather, he is stating that Jesus is divine, in perfect fellowship with Jehovah, though a separate person.<\/p>\n This is made clear when we understand John’s use of the definite article, which identifies Jehovah apart from the Word, in\u00a0John 1:1<\/a>. (The definite article isn’t translated in this passage relating to the word “God”).<\/p>\n A more literal translation of\u00a0John 1:1<\/a>, translating the definite article with “God”, would read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with\u00a0the<\/b>\u00a0God. . . .” (Jn. 1:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n In the latter part of this verse (“and the Word was God”), the absence of the definite article before “God”, along with the preposition, expresses the deity of Jesus as the Word, though He’s a separate person from Jehovah.<\/p>\n When we say “Jesus is God,” we don’t mean that He’s the same person as the Father. Rather, we mean He’s divine, possessing the same divine attributes of the Father, as one of the three persons of the Godhead.<\/p>\n Jesus: Equality With God<\/b> The word translated “equality” is\u00a0isos<\/i>, denoting equality in quantity and quality. Therefore, Paul tells us the qualities of Jesus were equal to God. In other words, as he stated early in the verse, Jesus was “in the form of God” before His incarnation, namely that He was divine, and a member of the Godhead.<\/p>\n Jesus’ Eternal Existence<\/b> Then Jesus, after his birth, confessed His deity before the Jews with the phrase “I am” (Jn. 8:58<\/a>), similar to the phrase used by Jehovah in\u00a0Exodus 3:14<\/a>, “I AM WHO I AM.”<\/p>\n Jesus used the phrase “I Am” to express His divine quality of eternal existence.<\/p>\n In the context He said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (Jn. 8:56<\/a>).<\/p>\n The Jews responded and asked, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham” (Jn. 8:57<\/a>)?<\/p>\n Jesus replied, confessing His eternal nature as deity, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (Jn. 8:58<\/a>).<\/p>\n Jesus’ Divine Power<\/b> In the New Testament, Paul says Jesus is “the\u00a0power of God<\/b>\u00a0and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24<\/a>), as the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18<\/a>).<\/p>\n As a result, “the\u00a0word of the cross<\/b>\u00a0is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the\u00a0power of God<\/b>” (1 Cor. 1:18<\/a>).<\/p>\n Therefore, in Revelation Jesus refers to Himself as the\u00a0Almighty<\/b>. “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty'” (Rev. 1:8<\/a>).<\/p>\n Other Phrases Expressing Jesus’ Deity<\/b> <\/p>\n Who is Jesus?<\/b><\/span> In\u00a0Part I<\/a>, we began a series on the names and phrases expressing Jesus’ identity, talking about\u00a0Jesus as God<\/a>.<\/p>\n This week, we want to talk about Jesus as our creator, and the relating assurances we have from God.<\/p>\n Jesus is the Word<\/b> As the Word, Jesus had a role in creating everything that was created.<\/p>\n The Godhead at Work During Creation<\/b> The word for “God” is the plural form of\u00a0‘elohiym<\/i>, obscurely revealing the doctrine that the three persons of the Godhead were at work during creation.<\/p>\n Then when it came time to create man, God said, “‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . .'” (Gen. 1:26<\/a>), again indicating that separate persons of the Godhead were at work.<\/p>\n Jesus, The Word, Creation<\/b> The Bible says:<\/p>\n So we ask ourselves, “What does the Bible tell us about the role of Jesus in creation?” I believe He was the Word.<\/p>\n So then, what did Jesus, as the Word, do during creation as we read the Genesis account? I believe He spoke the word of God, whereby each thing was created.<\/p>\n There may be other ideas regarding the role of Jesus as the Word in creation, but this point is important to understand, whereupon our hope rests today with Jesus as the Word of God.<\/p>\n We Can Trust Jesus’ Word<\/b> To express the surpassing blessings of the word spoken by Jesus, and the resulting covenant, Paul sets forth six facts in\u00a0Hebrews 1:2-4<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two of the above facts relate to Jesus as our creator, and the One who sustains the creation, which is our topic in this article.<\/p>\n With these facts, the Scriptures impress upon us that we can trust Jesus and His word for salvation.<\/p>\n Paul also uses these facts to warn us, that we carefully heed the word spoken by Jesus.<\/p>\n We Can Trust Jesus as Our Savior and Leader<\/b> Therefore, we can trust Jesus as our Savior.<\/p>\n And, we can trust Jesus as our leader, the head of the church.<\/p>\n Who <\/b><\/span>is Jesus?<\/b><\/span> Thus far in this series, we’ve talked about Jesus as\u00a0God<\/a>, and our\u00a0Creator<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this article, we talk about Jesus as the Word, and the significance this bears in reference to the working of Jesus in our lives.<\/p>\n Jesus is the Word of God<\/b> In Revelation, John sees Jesus coming on a white horse to wage war with the enemies of God.<\/p>\n Jesus’ Weapon Is His Word<\/b> To the church in Pergamum, Jesus referred to Himself as the one who has the two-edged sword, indicating that His word is the weapon of God (Rev. 2:12<\/a>;\u00a0Heb. 4:12<\/a>).<\/p>\n Then in the vision of His war with the beast and the kings of the earth, Jesus defeated them with the sword that comes from His mouth — The Word of God.<\/p>\n As the Word, Jesus is the Power of God<\/b> Paul’s statements are in perfect harmony with the fact that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.<\/p>\n Statements in Hebrews and First Thessalonians also enlighten us regarding Jesus as the Word and power of God, as He works in us.<\/p>\n Jesus is the power of God, who works in us through the Word of God.<\/p>\n As the Word, Jesus is the Wisdom of God<\/b> Therefore Paul says:<\/p>\n As the Word, Jesus is the Truth<\/b> So then, as the Word, Jesus is the truth.<\/p>\n Therefore, Jesus said of Himself that He’s the truth.<\/p>\n He is:<\/p>\n Jesus is the one and only standard of truth.<\/p>\n Anything that disagrees with His word is false. It’s from the devil, the father of all lies (Jn. 8:44<\/a>).<\/p>\n Anything in agreement with His word is truth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Who is Jesus?<\/b> <\/p>\n In this series we’re talking about the names and descriptive phrases identifying Jesus. Thus far we’ve talked about Jesus as\u00a0God<\/a>, our\u00a0Creator<\/a>, and the impact He has in our lives as the\u00a0Word<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this article, we talk about Jesus as the Son.<\/p>\n Only Begotten of God<\/b>
\n“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n
\nWhen writing to the Philippians, Paul addresses the divine qualities of Jesus, saying, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Phil. 2:6<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nIsaiah, prophesying of the birth of Jesus lists a number of descriptive names, one of which is “Everlasting Father” (Is. 9:6<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nIn\u00a0Isaiah 9:6<\/a>, not only does the prophet foretell of Jesus’ eternal existence, he also tells about His divine power as God.<\/p>\n\n
\nAlthough this article isn’t exhaustive regarding the divine terms identifying Jesus, three others are noteworthy:<\/p>\n\n
\nCreator<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n
\nLast week we discussed in detail the fact that Jesus is the Word, and thus one of the three persons of the Godhead (Jn. 1:1<\/a>;\u00a0Col. 2:9<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n
\nThe Bible begins with, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nGenesis doesn’t give specifics as to the exact part of creation performed by Jesus, but John and Paul give insight into Jesus’ work as the Word.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe book of Hebrews begins speaking about the word of God, comparing the days in which God spoke through prophets, with the last days in which God spoke through His Son, Jesus.<\/p>\n\n
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\nIn\u00a0Colossians 1:15-20<\/a>, Paul uses the fact that all things were created through and for Jesus, and that they all hold together in Him, to show His preeminence over all things.<\/p>\n\n
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\nThe Word
\n<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n
\nAs we’ve discussed in the first two articles, Jesus is the Word.<\/p>\n\n
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\nJesus fights evil with His word.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe word of the cross is the power of God. Therefore, when we preach Christ, we are preaching the power of God.<\/p>\n\n
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\nPaul also tells us that Jesus is the wisdom of God.<\/p>\n\n
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\nThe word of God is truth (Jn. 17:17<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n
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\nThe Son<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n