The Man Who Is God

It is just after Christmas as I write this chapter. The cards are still coming in each day, bulging the mailbox and dazzling the eye. Many of them have pictures of Jesus, some as a baby in a roughhewn cradle, others as a shepherd, surrounded by His children. The world is fascinated with how He might look. From the magnificent cathedrals of Europe to Sunday school classrooms in the USA, we see pictures of artists’ conceptions of Jesus. I was in Africa a few days before Christmas and saw Jesus depicted as a black baby. Last year we were in the Orient just before Christmas and saw Him depicted as an Oriental.

What is the image the world has of Jesus Christ? Some visualize him as a pale, blue-eyed man, smiling rather weakly beneath an ethereal halo. In America, the new popular Jesus is a handsome, virile type with robust charm and appeal. Probably Jesus looked Middle Eastern, with a swarthy-colored skin—we really don’t know. And it’s just as well that we don’t know what He really looked like physically—because today He belongs to the world!

No matter how we imagine Him to be, Jesus Christ has no stronger portrait than the one in the Bible. It is a picture of the man who is God. The claim that Jesus Christ is deity is the focal point for all belief. It is the foundation of Christianity. Since the quickest way to destroy any edifice is to tear out or weaken its base, men have always tried to disprove, ignore, or scoff at the claims of Christ. However, our hope of redemption from sin is dependent upon the deity of Christ.

Who is He?

Jesus: Unique in All Ways

We know that Jesus lived. He was a man in history, as well as a man for all times. Tacitus, perhaps the greatest Roman historian born in the first century, speaks of Jesus. Josephus, a Jewish historian born in A.D. 37, tells of the crucifixion of Jesus. A contemporary Bible scholar said that “the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing this person, Jesus. His description took more space than was given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, or Napoleon Bonaparte.”¹

Rousseau said, “It would have been a greater miracle to invent such a life as Christ’s than to be it.”

Jesus lived, taught, and died on earth in a small area of the Middle East, mostly in what is Israel today. That is a confirmed fact of history.

His Intellect

Many men in history have been admired and many have been given honors for their intellectual achievements, but no man has had the incisive intellect of Jesus. In all circumstances, whether tired from a long journey, or plagued by his enemies, Jesus was able to confound some of the greatest minds of His day.

He had three years of intellectual encounters with the religious leaders of His day. These men often tried to put Him on the spot by asking questions which were difficult to answer. On one occasion, when He was teaching in the temple, the chief priests and elders questioned Him belligerently. They asked, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” (Matt. 21:23).

Here were the men who had control of all the religious teaching, and this Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth, who was not their pupil, was teaching in their territory. Can you imagine what would happen at one of our prestigious seminaries if the janitor suddenly stepped onto the platform and began to instruct the students?

Jesus answered the question of the religious authorities with another question. “I will ask you one thing too, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?”

Now, John the Baptist had not been ordained by them either, and he had urged his followers to obey Jesus. The religious leaders were thrown into confusion. They knew if they said, “From heaven,” that Jesus would say, “Then why didn’t you believe him?” On the other hand, if they answered, “From men,” they feared the people would become irate, because they believed John was a prophet. So they simply said, “We don’t know.”

Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things” (Matt. 21:27).

Jesus possessed a mental agility that has astounded scholars for two thousand years.

His Frankness

No matter what the consequences, Jesus was very open and frank. The members of the religious establishment of His day were meticulously following certain rites for cleansing the dishes they ate from each day. Using this practice as an illustration, Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also” (Matt. 23:25-26).

The charge Jesus made is just as applicable today. True belief in God is inward and has to do with a personal commitment and attitude, rather than strict observance of rituals and rules. Most of us would be reticent to speak so frankly to church leaders of our time. Jesus, however, was a man who was frank, bold, and honest in every situation.

His Openness

Jesus had the ability to understand all people, no matter what their position in society. On one occasion He was dining with a prominent religious leader named Simon. While they were eating, a repentant prostitute came into the hall where the meal was being served and began to wash the feet of Jesus with her tears and to dry them with her hair. The religious leader was shocked and began to look at Jesus with doubt. He thought, If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him.

Jesus, sensing his thoughts, told him this story: “A certain money-lender had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii [a denarius was then a day’s wage], and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?”

Simon must have wondered, What’s the purpose of this story? He probably shrugged as he answered, “I suppose the one to whom he forgave more.”

Jesus told him that was the right answer. Then He reminded Simon that when He had come into his house as a guest, Simon had ignored all the normal courtesies of the day. “You gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.”

Then Jesus turned to the woman and reassured her that her sins had been forgiven.

The other guests at the dinner party were astounded. They asked, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” (Luke 7).

We know that Jesus often dined with the social elite but defended the social outcasts.

His Forgiving Spirit

His opponents were powerful and persistent. They mocked Him, plotted against Him, and finally maneuvered the crowds to support His death by crucifixion.

As He was hanging on the cross, bleeding and suffering from the pain and the hot sun, many jeered at Him, saying, “Save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” (Mark 15:30).

Under such extreme circumstances, Jesus exhibited a trait that was beyond our comprehension. He spoke to God the Father and said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

How many mere men could forgive their persecutors under such brutal circumstances?

His Moral Authority

The pictures of Jesus as a vague, colorless man do not fit the true account of His strength and moral authority. At the end of His life the establishment, both religious and political, had united together to end His work by sending officers to arrest Him. The burly henchmen approached Jesus, but stopped to listen to what He was saying. They returned to their superiors without Him.

“Why didn’t you bring him?” they were asked.

The officers replied in astonishment, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks” (John 7:45-46). They were experiencing what the crowds of ordinary people already knew. “The crowds were amazed at His teaching,” Matthew reported, “for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29).

Jesus Christ lived the type of life He taught. There are many men we know who are noble, intelligent, frank, and open, and who speak with authority. But only in Jesus do we find the human characteristics which we would expect God to display if He were to become a man.

Jesus’ claim to deity is fully supported by His character. He was unique in history.

More Than Just a Man

If this were all we had to say about Jesus Christ, He would have very little more to offer than many great men of history. However, the uniqueness of Christ is that in His life on earth He displayed every known attribute or characteristic of deity.

What is an attribute? One Bible scholar offered this simple definition: “The attributes of God are those distinguishing characteristics of the nature of God which are inseparable from the idea of deity, and which constitute the basis and grounds for His various manifestations to His creatures.”²

Jesus Christ was the supreme manifestation of God. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).

He was no ordinary man. Several hundred years before He was born, Isaiah, the prophet, said, “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son” (Isa. 7:14). No other man in all history could say that his mother was a virgin. The Scriptures teach that He did not have a human father; if He had, He would have inherited the sins and infirmities that all men have, since “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). Since He was conceived not by natural means, but by the Holy Spirit, He stands as the one man who came forth pure from the hand of God. He could stand before His fellow men and ask, “Which of you can truthfully accuse me of one single sin?” (John 8:46, The Living Bible). He was the only man since Adam who could say, “I am pure.”

If we honestly probe our minds, we have to admit that there are mysteries about the incarnation that none of us can ever understand. In fact, Paul speaks of God, manifest in the flesh, as a “mystery” (1 Tim. 3:16).

Paul explained the Man who is God in another epistle: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:5-7).

First, God is holy. This is a characteristic possessed by Jesus Christ which is central to the entire Christian faith. What does holiness mean? It is a term used in reference to people, places, and sometimes circumstances. However, this very common word, often misused and misunderstood, means “self-affirming purity.” No mere human being now or ever could possess pure holiness and moral perfection.

In the Old Testament, God is described as “righteous in all His ways” (Ps. 145:17) and the prophet Isaiah, in his vision of the Lord God, declares “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:3). In the New Testament this unique attribute is possessed by Jesus Christ, the holy child, the sinless man. Thus Jesus Christ had a characteristic that only God could possess.

Second, God is also just. In order to guard His holiness, God must exercise justice. Since all sin is an offense to God, the principle of God’s justice is vital to an orderly universe, just as a nation must have certain laws and codes. But unlike human government, which uses justice in ways that are suitable to the rulers or heads of government, God’s justice is pure; no mistake is ever made.

Jesus Christ was just. During His earthly career He exhibited this characteristic when He drove the racketeers out of the temple with a whip. He is also described as faithful and just in forgiving us our sins. When He died for our sins it was “the Just” dying for the unjust.

Third, God is mercy. This characteristic of deity was seen in the entire life of Jesus Christ. When the woman who was an adulteress was brought before the authorities and condemned to be stoned, Jesus defended her with the charge, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Her accusers retreated in embarrassment. Jesus Christ, exhibiting God’s mercy, told her to go and sin no more. The love, mercy, and compassion of Jesus comes out time after time throughout His public ministry. In the opening address that Jesus gave at His hometown of Nazareth, He quoted Isaiah the prophet, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18).

Fourth, God is love. The first songs children learn in Sunday school, when they are barely able to carry a tune, are about God’s love. A child can understand God’s love, but the depths are so infinite that an adult finds it difficult to fathom. God’s love is the continuing result of His holiness, justice, and mercy.

As a holy God, He hates sin and can have no fellowship with sin. Because the Bible tells us that the soul that sins must surely die, we can see that separation from God is a result of sin. However, because God is also mercy, He longs to save the guilty sinner and must then provide a substitute in Jesus Christ. There is God’s love: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God and Jesus Christ the Same

Fifth, Jesus Christ possesses the three great “omnis” of God. This prefix means “completely or all” and when used within the word omnipotent it means that the possessor has all power. The dictionary has one word to describe the Omnipotent, and that is God.

While a man on earth, Jesus Christ performed many miracles. He raised people from the dead; He took a few loaves and fish and multiplied them to feed thousands; He cured the chronically sick and healed the crippled. But why should this be surprising? Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18, KJV). That is a startling statement if it were made by any ordinary man. Only God could make such a claim.

Jesus Christ was also omniscient. This means that He knew all things, and He still knows all things. The Scriptures say, “Jesus knowing their thoughts” (Matt. 9:4); “He knew all men . . . He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25); “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).

Do you know anyone of your acquaintance or any person in history who knew everything? Have you ever heard of a person who could know, without a mistake, the minds of men? Only an all-powerful God knows everything, and Jesus Christ was omniscient.

Probably no idea is more difficult for man to comprehend than the thought of omnipresence. How can God be everywhere at once? From our viewpoint we are bound by time and space. We are physical creatures who can only be one place at a time. We frequently complain, “I can’t be everyplace at once!” God transcends time and space, and so does Jesus Christ. He existed before time began. “Before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). “He is before all things” (Col. 1:17).

Jesus is not earthbound. He said, “Wherever two or more of you are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of you.” He can be with a gathering of believers in a primitive hut in New Guinea or a businessman’s luncheon in Dallas. He can be at the supper table of a family or in the banquet hall of royalty. Jesus Christ is omnipresent.

Jesus Christ claimed to be God. He said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) and, “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me” (John 12:45). He made it very clear when He spoke to the religious leaders of his time who He was. “I am He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” Members of the local church hierarchy said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me, nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

Christ represents Himself as having been “sent from God” and being “not of this world.” He declares that He is “the light of the world,” “the way, the truth, and the life,” and “the resurrection and the life.” He promises eternal life to everyone who believes in Him as Lord and Savior.

Knowing the claims of Jesus Christ, you are faced with this vital decision—What will you do with Jesus?

Question: Who do you think Jesus Christ is? If He is not who He claimed to be, He is a deceiver or an egomaniac. We cannot settle for a middle-of-the-road answer that He was “a good man,” or the modern form of adulation as a “superstar.” He Himself eliminates a neutral answer. Either we decide He is a liar or a lunatic, or we must declare Him to be Lord.

In light of the evidence of Scripture and the physical fact of the Resurrection, the only wise conclusion is that He is God, worthy of our worship and trust. When I decide to be a Christian, I am deciding who Jesus Christ is. Trust in Him makes me a believer in Him and leads to being truly alive!

Out of His Private Wilderness

We heard about a young couple who were separated during World War II.

While the father was gone the mother gave birth to a baby girl. The months passed, and the mother kept a large picture of her husband on the desk so that the little girl would grow up knowing what her daddy looked like. She learned to say “Daddy” and associated the name with the picture on the desk. Finally the day came when her father returned home from the war. The whole family gathered to watch the little girl when she saw her father for the first time. Imagine their disappointment when she would have nothing whatever to do with him. Instead, she ran to the photograph on the desk, saying, “That’s my daddy.” Day after day the family had to blink back the tears as they saw the young father on his knees trying his best to get acquainted with his little daughter, explaining as simply as he could that he was her daddy. But each time she would shake her head, then run to the picture on the desk and exclaim, “That’s my daddy.” This went on for some time, but one day something happened. The little girl, having gone repeatedly to the picture on the desk, returned to her father and looked carefully into his face. Then she went back to the picture on the desk and studied it. The family held their breath. After several trips the little face lit up as the child exclaimed excitedly, “They’re both the same daddy!”

C.S. Lewis describes his experience: “You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady unrelented approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words compelle intrare, compel them to come in, have been so abused by wicked men that we shudder at them; but, properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and his compulsion is our liberation.”

A certain professor said that in over forty years on campus he had never been asked, “Are you a Christian?” When he was a student he had read books that explained away Christ’s miracles; he considered himself well informed and sophisticated on the subject. As a result, on the one hand he disbelieved the deity of Jesus Christ while on the other hand he kept some vague belief in God.

In practice, however, he said, “I usually chose to ignore Him in my early post-college days. This started the path into my own personal wilderness. I tried to satisfy my inner needs by reading and studying literature and science. These studies often confirmed my opinion that I could leave Christ out of my life because He was just another prophet.”

Then one day a student entered the professor’s “private wilderness” to invite him to hear a campus talk on the deity of Christ.

The professor later recalled, “I was confronted with the positive side of Christ’s deity for the first time since I was a child. I didn’t expect to have my disbelief in the deity of Christ changed.

“As I listened that evening, partly in skepticism, partly in hope, I admit I also yearned to be convinced. The speaker had scarcely completed half of his remarks before I was convinced of the deity of Christ. A lifetime’s assumption that Jesus was just another gifted teacher was destroyed. The turnabout in my convictions was simple.”

I must agree with the professor. It is simple. Jesus is God. Our earthly lives and eternal destinies depend on our belief in that fact.