Some "Christians" believe that Jesus was a good teacher, moral man, a prophet, or even a created being; some saying a spirit only and others flesh only. To be a Christian it is necessary to believe in the deity of Jesus. If he was just a man, then he had not the power of God to save, and if a spirit, then he didn't really die for mankind on the cross. Was Jesus God? A mere man? A spirit? Let's look at scripture:
John 1:14 ESV "And the Word (Jesus) 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."
John 10:30 ESV "I (Jesus) and the Father are one.”
Colossians 1:15-17 "He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. "
Who is God? Trinitarians believe that God has three personalities; not really three persons. He is God the Father, "I AM"; God the Son, "Jesus" and the Holy Spirit of God. Although the word "Trinity" never appears in the bible, a Trinitarian God is existent in all scriptures and is essential. Trinitarians are monotheistic. We believe in One God; with the name of the tetragrammaton, "JHWH", transliterated later as "Jehovah". (Just because a person doesn't understand the mysteries of God doesn't make it untrue!). Being Trinitarian is essential for a Christian to be a Christian. Denying the existence of God in any one of his personalities is apostasy!
In Colossians we see that Jesus created everything! "I thought God did that!" you say! My point exactly! Jesus and God are one and the same. They are the first and the last; the alpha and omega.
John Chapter 1 explains that the Word, Jesus, was with God in the beginning. Our eyes cannot look upon the glory of the Father. He is holy, and as such, sinful man is not privileged to look upon him. Therefore, whenever God takes on the form that mankind can see, that's Jesus! He appeared as a cloud, as an angel of God and as a man in the oven with Shadrack, Meshak and Ebednego. However, God's eternal plan for himself was that he take on a body of flesh so he could feel our temptations, pain, sorrow and death. God in the flesh is Jesus, Immanuel (God with us)! (See John 1:14).
Jesus specifically stated "I and the Father are one." He confessed to his own kingship. Jesus is the "image of the invisible God" as we see from Colossians 1:15.
Proposal #2: To be a Christian one must believe in Jesus!
John 3:15 :...that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
Eternal life is the reward for being a Christian. What does it take? Belief in Jesus! Yes, many believe that Jesus existed, that he walked the face of the earth, that he taught and maybe even that he died on the cross. However, belief in Jesus in that manner stops short of what a Christian is to believe. If you don't believe that Jesus is God in the flesh, your belief is in vain!
Jesus put the icing on the cake with this statement:
Mark 6:48-50 (AMP) 48 "And having seen that they were troubled and tormented in [their] rowing, for the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night [between 3:00-6:00 a.m.] He came to them, walking [directly] on the sea. And He acted as if He meant to pass by them, 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and raised a [deep, throaty] shriek of terror. 50 For they all saw Him and were agitated (troubled and filled with fear and dread). But immediately He talked with them and said, Take heart! I Am! Stop being alarmed and afraid."
The Amplified Translation gives the most literal sense of the textus receptus. Therein Jesus says "I AM". What's God's name? "I AM THAT I AM". He has no name! He just IS!
Exodus 3:14a (KJV) "And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am..."
Jesus, while walking on water as only God could do, said "I AM" (God)! How much clearer can it be?
Believing that Jesus is God because the word of God tells us so is a great step! However, if Jesus is God, how did he get here? That leads to the next proposal:
Proposal #3: A true Christian must believe that Jesus was born of a virgin and was conceived by God's Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:27 (KJV) "To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women... 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus..."
35" 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."
How powerful! God via the Holy Ghost overshadowed the Virgin Mary because she was highly favored among women and she conceived and delivered Jesus, the son of God!
Do you believe? "Yes", you say! But do you believe this? Jesus IS the son of God and that he was born of a virgin and was conceived by the Holy Ghost? Many "Christians" don't believe this, but from gospel days one must believe this! The Apostle's Creed says this:
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
This Apostle's Creed is based on orthodox understanding of biblical canon (God-breathed word). It is criteria to be a true believer in Christ, not because the apostle's said so, but because God said that!
Proposal #4: There is one God with three personalities, all three being God. God is the Father, son and Holy Spirit as we can see from:
Matthew 28:19 (KJV) "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..."
Here we have the third personality of the "trinity"; the Holy Spirit. (Note that I use personality rather than person because person might cause some to misunderstand that God is one, but has three different aspects which we call personality).
The next aspect of which we'll examine is that Jesus is the Messiah.
(To be continued)
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