Why Jesus is God according to the Bible (1/3)
A. Introduction
Here is a small selection of Bible texts that prove that Jesus is God according to the Bible. I first quote the Bible text according to the English Standard Version (ESV) and then write a short commentary to emphasize, interpret and comment on parts of the text. At the end of the text I briefly summarize the most important statements regarding the deity of Jesus.
B. Texts and Comments
I. John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
Commentary on John 1:1-18
1. John 1:1 says the Word was God. John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory. So God became flesh and dwelt among John and the others of whom John speaks. The context of chapter 1 makes it clear that Jesus is this Word of which John is speaking here. So Jesus is the Word, and because according to John 1:1 the Word is God, Jesus is God.
2. Note also that Jesus is called “the only God, who is at the Father’s side,“ in John 1,18, so Jesus is the only God (μονογενὴς θεὸς).
3. John 1:3 says that everything came into being through the Word. That means the Word created everything. Because Jesus is the Word and God created heaven and earth according to Genesis 1:1, Jesus as God created everything. Col 1:9-20 also says very clearly that Jesus created everything. I will mention this text below.
II. Col. 1:9-20
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 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 his cross.
Commentary on Col. 1:9-20
1. Col 1:16 says that in him, i.e. Jesus, all things in heaven and on earth were created.
2. Col 1:16-17 says that not only was everything created through the Son (Col 1:13), but that everything was also created for Him, the Son was preexistent before everything and everything exists through the Son, so he is the Sustainer of everything. This also fits beautifully with Paul's speech in Athens in Acts 17:16-34, where Paul says in verses 22-31:
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Paul says in Acts 17:24 on the one hand that God made the world and everything in it. On the other hand, Col. 1:16-17 says that the Son, i.e. Jesus, created the world and everything. Acts 17:24 can only be true with Col 1:16-17 if Jesus is also God and created everything.
On the one hand, according to Acts 17:24-25, God himself gives life, breath and everything to everyone, which means: God sustains the living. On the other hand, according to Col. 1:17, everything exists through the Son, i.e.: Jesus sustains the living. Acts 17:24-25 and Col 1:17 can only be true at the same time if Jesus is God, so Jesus is God if one accepts the truth of the two texts.
3. The word “firstborn” (πρωτότοκος) in Col 1:15,18 has multiple meanings and is easily misunderstood, so I will briefly address it: In biblical culture the firstborn had a higher status and received a larger share of the inheritance. Analogously, Jesus has the superior status and inherits all things (cf. Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22). In biblical culture the firstborn need not be the one born first, although this is often the case. For example, the people of Israel are described as the first-born son of the LORD, i.e. God, in Ex. 4:22 and God wants to make David the first-born in Ps. 89:21-28, although according to 1 Sam. 16:11-13 he was the youngest son of Jesse. You can find out more about firstborn here: Why is the firstborn so important in the Bible?
So when Col. 1:9-20 speaks of Jesus as the firstborn of all creation, this text does not mean that Jesus was born before all creation and thus has a beginning, but that Jesus has a higher rank or status than all creation . In other words, Jesus is above all creation because he is God and God is above all creation.
III. Col. 2:8-10
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Commentary on Col. 2:8-10
According to Paul and Timothy, the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ/Jesus and Jesus is the head of all power and authority. Jesus is therefore fully God and stands above all rule and authority.
I want to translate part 2 and part 3 in the near future, if it is the Lord’s will and I find time.