CHRIST IS TRUE GOD
"We are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus
Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life" (1 John 5:20).
"Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my
God" (John 20:28).
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us" (John 1:1,14).
"We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of
all men, specially of those that believe (1 Tim 4: 10).
"According to the commandment of God our Saviour
(Titus 1: 3).
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23).
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
[Comment: Since a true son will be made of the same substance as his
father, while a created son (puppet/statue) will not, the ancient
creeds speak of Christ as being "God of the substance of the Father,"
in order to highlight the fact that He is true God.]
AS GOD HE HAS ALWAYS EXISTED
"Thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy
name is from everlasting" (Isaiah 63:16).
"Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto
me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58).
CHRIST IS ALSO TRUE MAN
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
"The gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus
Christ, hath abounded unto many" (Romans 5:15).
"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was
raised from the dead according to my gospel" (2 Timothy 2:8).
"For verily he took not on him the nature of angels;
but He took on him the seed of Abraham" (Hebrews 2:16).
"Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of
the seed of David?" (John 7:42)
"Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was
made of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Romans 1:3).
BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23).
"To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was
Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin‘s name was Mary" (Luke
1:27).
"Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,
seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:34-35).
AS GOD CHRIST IS EQUAL TO THE
FATHER
"Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him,
because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was
his Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).
"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:6).
"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" (John 14:9)?
YET AS MAN HE IS INFERIOR TO THE
FATHER
"And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then
shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28).
"My Father is greater than I" (John 14:28).
AT THE SAME TIME THERE IS ONLY
ONE CHRIST, NOT TWO
"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom
are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are
all things, and we by him" (1 Cor. 8:6).
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5).
[To these verses we could add every passage that speaks of Christ in
the singular.]
SOME ERRORS THAT CHRISTIANS REJECT
Since there is only one God, Bible believers reject
the idea that Christ is half man and half God. Such a being would not
be truly God or truly man, therefore, that idea contradicts the
passages that tell us that Christ is God, as well as the passages that
tell us that He is man. Furthermore, since God said, "I change not" we
reject the idea that He changed into man (during the time Christ was on
earth) and then changed back (Malachi 3:6). Instead the words "He took
on him the seed of Abraham" tell us that Christ took the nature of man
into His divine nature through the virgin birth (Hebrews 2:16 and
Philippians 2:7).
CHRIST'S HUMILIATION AND
EXALTATION
While Christ has always been true God, during the
time He was on earth he humbled Himself in that He did not make full
use of the divine knowledge and power that were at His disposal. As it
is written, "Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians
2:8).
Since His humiliation ended, all of the attributes
of deity are His, even according to His human nature. As it is written,
"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18).
[See also Philippians 2:9-10.]
CHRIST, AS PROPHET, PRIEST, AND
KING
The following passages reveal Christ as our Prophet,
Priest, and King. The Doctrine of His Vicarious atonement deals with
what he accomplished as our High Priest.
"A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you
of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear" (Acts 7:37).
"By one offering he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14).
"But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is
forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy
kingdom" (Hebrews 1:8).
CONCLUSION
While I could add many other passages, they would
only repeat and enlarge upon what has been said. However, I do want to
stress the fact that the true church of Jesus Christ accepts everything
that the Bible says about Christ, without trying to make it conform to
the mind of man (John 10:27). In contrast, cults will interpret some
Bible passages to contradict others, while rejecting and explaining
away any that do not conform to their own ideas (1 John 4:6).