Deutero Q

Since this coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday, I thought I would post some thoughts on the related theme of the deity of Christ.

There are many passages in the New Testament that refer specifically to the deity of Jesus Christ. For example, John 1:1 says about Christ, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Notice that the Word (Christ) was God. Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Observe that Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being.

Philippians 2:6 speaks of Christ “…being in very nature God.” The phrase “in very nature (μορφή) God” is also a very strong affirmation of the deity of Christ, as is Col. 2:9: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form….”

The New Testament also reveals in other ways that Jesus is God: He forgives sins (Mark 2:8-10); refers to the angels as His angels (Matt. 24:31); speaks of judging the world (Matt. 25:31-46); and is considered worthy of worship (Heb. 1:6). Consider also the names of Jesus, which have counterparts to names for God in the Old Testament: Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8; 2:8; Isa. 41:4; 48:12); Lord (1 Cor. 12:3; Ps. 96:7-8); Savior (John 4:42; Isa. 43:11); King (Rev. 17:14; Ps. 95:3; Isa. 43:15); etc.

On numerous occasions I have dialogued with Jehovah’s Witnesses about the deity of Christ. In defense of their view that Jesus is not God, Jehovah’s Witnesses have invariably cited John 14:28, where Jesus says, “…for the Father is greater than I.” My response is that, in His incarnation, Jesus humbled Himself and became a servant (Phil. 2:5-11). Jesus was “less” than the Father in the sense that He came into the world as a servant; Jesus was not less in terms of His deity. Elsewhere in Scripture (as we have seen), Jesus is clearly presented as being God. Augustine’s words are helpful here:

"The Son of God, then, is equal to God the Father in nature, but less in 'fashion.' For in the form of a servant which He took He is less than the Father; but in the form of God, in which also He was before He took the form of a servant, He is equal to the Father" (On the Trinity, I.vii).

Biblically speaking, the only way to get around the deity of Christ is to approach Scripture with a presuppositional understanding that He is not God. Then you have to make the Bible fit your beliefs, rather than vice versa. This, of course, is exactly what groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses do: they conform the Bible to their theology, rather than conform their error-filled theology to Scripture.

# posted by Deutero Q @ 9:44 AM