Do You Believe - The Deity of Jesus Christ

Introduction: We are in a series this Christmas season that I have entitled: Do you Believe – fundamentals of the faith in the Christmas account.

What are the fundamentals of the Christian faith?

1. The Inspiration of Scripture.

2. The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ.

3. The Deity of Jesus Christ.

4. The Substitutionary Atonement.

5. The Bodily Resurrection.

The Bible teaches that our Lord Jesus Christ is fully God as well as fully man. Here are a few verses that teach us this truth:

● Matthew 1:23 – The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us.”).

Note: The name “Immanuel” literally means “God with us.” This prophecy from Isaiah 7:14, quoted in Matthew 1:23, emphasizes the divine nature of the child to be born.

● Colossians 2:9 – For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.(NIV)

Paul is very clear in that verse about the deity of Jesus Christ.

● Philippians 2:6-7 – 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

God became man.

● Hebrews 1:3 – 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

● Luke 2:11 - 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The word “Lord” here in Luke 2:11, is a title ascribed to the newborn Jesus which signifies His divine authority and deity.

The question we must ask ourselves today is:

Who is Jesus?

Was he just a good man? or a good teacher? or maybe a prophet? Maybe a well known man in a period of time that we celebrate during Christmas.

I want to encourage you today that The book of John in the first chapter answers this very question of the Deity of Jesus.

The point that I am seeking to drive home is that Jesus has always existed as God and always will. I want you to open your Bible to John 1:1-18. This wonderful passage of Scripture teaches us about the deity of Jesus Christ. That He was both 100% man and 100% God. He was the God/Man.

Here is what we discover…

I. He was God – John 1:1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the very first verse of the Gospel of John, Jesus is referred to as God in the flesh (Deity). We read,

In the beginning was the Word,

The Greek word for “Word” is “Logos” and it means, something said, a topic, reasoning, communication, divine expression, or utterance.

Why didn’t John just use the word Jesus?

The word Logos would have been understood by both the Jewish and Greek culture.

Both cultures would have understood that what John is writing about is what we might refer to as today “intelligent design” and both cultures at this time would have had no problem with this word.

So through this we have the understanding that when John refers to “word” that the author is referring to Jesus.

and the Word was with God,

The Logos and God were in relationship with one another. In theology we call this the Godhead.

We have here God the Father, and God the Son. Two out of three persons of the Trinity.

It is so important that we look at this opening verse of the gospel of John to understand that John is answering the question of who is Jesus.

Next in the last part of the verse we read:

and the Word was God.

Who was God? The “Word” Logos was God. Keep this in mind as we make our way through these verses together.

Next, we read,

II. He was in the beginning with God – John 1:2

2He was in the beginning with God.

Before time as we know it, He was with God. God and the Son existed together in eternity. They were and always were. There never was a time when they were not. They have always been, and there was never a time when they won’t be. God is eternal!

Jesus was not a created being. He was in existence when the heavens and the earth were created.

Whatever existed before the creation is eternal.

Look at the word “was” describes continuing action in the past that further reinforces the eternal preexistence of the word.

Note that John did not use the word “became” (Ginomai) came into being vs. “was” (Eimi) eternally existed

III. He made all things – John 1:3

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Once again John expresses a profound truth here in verse 3.

“All things were made by Him” All things were made through Him” Jesus created everything that came into being. So this emphasizes that the only person that could create creation could not have been created!

This verse goes on to say that without Him nothing was made without him.

That Jesus created everything and that apart from him nothing was created further proof to Jesus’ Deity.

First: the creator of all things must Himself be uncreated.

Second: Only the eternal God is uncreated

This sound to me like Jesus the Son created all things. Which clearly makes Him a part of the Godhead, or what we as Christian’s call, the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).

In Genesis 1:1 we read,

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

According to verse 3, Jesus made all things, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Again, what we are reading here is that Jesus was God, and that in eternity past He was with God, and that together they created all things.

IV. He is the life and light of men – John 1:4-5

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The only person who can bring forth life is the eternal creator himself.

Oftentimes we see in scripture that the word light is referred to as the truth and darkness as falsehood or evil. The light refers to holiness and darkness refers to sin. But in this verse we see “that the darkness did not comprehend it.” I believe that a better explanation for the word comprehend is “overcome” and not the word "understand" as we commonly use in the English language.

I believe that there is a spiritual war that is going on right now! If Jesus is not God then why is Satan trying to overcome this light?

In 1 John 2:8 we read the following:

It is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

We know that in Revelation chapter 19 when Jesus returns to judge the earth that written on his robe was the following: King of Kings and Lord of Lords

So this light that refers to holiness will overcome the darkness or evil of this world. Only the Godhead can overcome evil!

V. He had a forerunner – John 1:6-10

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

John in his gospel never refers to himself in his writings. So when we see the name John he is referring to John the baptist.

In Matthew chapter 3 verse 1-3 we read the following:

In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “ Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” for this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “ the voice of the on crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.

In Mark chapter 1 verses 7-8 we read the following:

7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

VI. He offers us sonship – John 1:11-12

11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

There is so much that we can take away from these two verses and actually we could preach an entire sermon on verses 11-12 but what I think is so important is that we see the following today that further shows the Deity of Christ:

Three Steps to Faith

I love these verses because in them there are three key words that everyone needs to get a grasp on. They are:

1. Believe – put your faith in.

2. Receive – accept and invite Him into your life.

3. Become – a child of God (son or daughter of the King).

Those three words are SALVATION words. These are words from God, from deity.

VII. He dwelt among us – John 1:14

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Last week we sang the song Hark the herald angels sing:

Charles Wesley captured the wonder of the incarnation is verse 2:

Christ by highest heaven adored,

Christ the everlasting Lord,

Late in time behold him come,

offspring of the Virgins worb:

veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

hail the incarnate Deity,

pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus, our immanuel.

Jesus tabernacled among us. He took on human flesh. He became man, so that we could become sons and daughters of God. How good is this?

VIII. He brought us grace and truth – John 1:15-17

15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The phrase we see in verse 15 “He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me” references back to verses 1 and 2 speaks of Jesus’ eternal preexistence.

Next we see that John is calling on the testimony of believers who have received the fullness of his truth and grace.

Grace - Unmerited favor. This is the type of grace that has been extended to each one of us.

Truth– Jesus is the epitome of TRUTH. In a world of error, lies and darkness, there is one that stands above all others. It is Jesus Christ the God-man.

IX. He revealed the Father to us – John 1:18

18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

The Greek word for “declared” is “exegesis” and it means, to explain, unfold, lead the way.

Not one of us have seen God, and yet when we came to faith in Christ we came face-to-face with God. In Colossians chapter 1 verses 15-17 we see how Jesus revealed the Father to us:

15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17. And he is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19. For in him ALL the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20. And through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross

Jesus showed us the Father. Like Father Like Son. Jesus lived out everything as the Father planned.

Not only does this section of John’s Gospel teach us about the deity of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, but there are a host of other verses scattered throughout the Gospel of John that teach the same thing.

Conclusion: Christmas is about God becoming man, so that man may become sons and daughters of God.

Everything that we looked at today points to the truth that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh.

So, we must ask ourselves this very question.

Who is Jesus?

Maybe today you have had a misunderstanding of who Jesus is.

Many people have missed the Messiah that was predicted to come who would be sacrificed on a cross for our sins. But because he was both fully God and fully man he not only died on the cross but he was raised again and is now seated at the right hand of God interceding for us. Maybe today you have realized that you have never put your faith in Jesus and Savior and Lord.

I would urge you today to pray this prayer with me:

Lets Pray:

Heavenly Father today I realized that I do not know your son Jesus. I ask that you would forgive me of my sins and that you would come into my life as Savior and Lord. I believe that you died on the cross and rose again and today I yield my life my will to you AMEN.