Some who claim to believe the Bible is God’s Word deny the Deity of Christ. They are asked to please consider the following:
1. It was against God’s Law to worship anyone but God (Exo. 20:3-5; Deut. 6:13-14; 2 Kings 17:35; Matt. 4:10); therefore, either Christ is divine, or Christ sinned by accepting worship on many occasions (Matt. 2:11; 8:2; 9:18; 28:9, 17; cf. Acts 12:23; Heb. 4:15; Rev. 22:8, 9). We know Christ never sinned (Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22), so it must have been God’s will for Jesus to be worshiped. In fact, God the Father commanded the angels to worship Jesus at His birth! (Heb. 1:6). Although Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and angels all refused to be worshiped because they knew that would be wrong, Christ did not (Acts 10:25-26; 14:12-18; Rev. 19:10; 22:8-9).
2. Jesus forgave men’s sins while He was on earth, and the Jews said, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” (Luke 5:20, 21).
3. Jesus was “equal with God” in His glorious form before He became a man (Php. 2:5-8).
4. When Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, the Jews rightfully understood that Jesus was claiming to be divine, like His Father (John 5:18).
5. In Exodus 3:14, 15 God said, “I AM THAT I AM…YHWH [Yahweh / Jehovah] GOD.” That is God’s name, which implies His eternal self-existence. Jesus said, “…if ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). In John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM.” The Jews understood what Jesus implied and sought to kill Him. YHWH God is the I AM (Ex. 3:14, 15); Jesus is the I AM (John 8:24; 58); therefore, Jesus is divine, eternally existent. The Father and Son are both eternally existent Beings, so they can both be called YHWH (existing one, e.g., “I AM”), although they are not the same Person. An earthly father and son may wear the same name, but that does not mean they are the same person.
6. YHWH was repeatedly called the Rock who took care of His people (Deut. 32:3, 4; 1 Sam 2:2; 2 Sam 22:32; Psa. 18:46); and Paul called Christ the Rock who followed the Israelites and helped them (1 Cor. 10:4; cf. Ex. 17:6).
7. Exodus 13:21 says YHWH was in the pillar, and Paul says it was Christ who was with the Israelites (1 Cor. 10:4).
8. Psalm 102 states that YHWH laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of His hands (102:21, 25-27), but the Hebrews writer applied that passage to Jesus (Heb. 1:8-12).
9. Isaiah saw YHWH (Isa. 6:5), but no man hath seen God (the Father) at any time (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12). John said Isaiah saw Jesus (YHWH) in His glory (John 12:41).
10. Christ was called “Emmanuel,” which literally means “God with us,” and Christ is often referred to as “God” in the Scriptures (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; John 1:1, 14; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rom. 9:5; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8, etc.).
11. YHWH was called a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Isa. 8:13, 14), but Paul directly applied this to Jesus (Rom. 9:33; cf. 10:9-11).
12. Isaiah said the Messiah would be called “the Mighty God” (Isa. 9:6). When Jesus claimed to be the Messiah (John 4:25, 26), He was claiming to be “the Mighty God.”
13. John was preparing the way for YHWH (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3). John was preparing the way for Jesus; therefore, Jesus is called YHWH. John referred to Jesus as the one coming after him. John was preparing the way for Jesus by baptizing, and Christ would later command people to be baptized for the remission of sins (John 1:23; 29-31; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). John went before Christ, who is here described as the Lord their God: “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:16-17; cf. John 20:28).
14. “The first and the last” is YHWH (Isa. 41:4; 44:6), and Jesus repeatedly referred to Himself as “the first and the last” (Rev. 1:11, 17, 18; 2:8; 22:12, 13, 16).
15. YHWH said He would not share His glory with another (Isa. 42:8); yet the Father shares His glory with His divine Son (John 17:1, 5; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 5:12).
16. YHWH says every knee will bow to Him (Isa. 45:21-23), but every knee will bow before Jesus on the Day of Judgment (Rom. 14:10, 11; Php. 2:10, 11). Apparently the wicked will never see the Lord God the Father in all His glory (Matt. 5:8; Heb. 12:14); but all will kneel before Jesus (YHWH), whom everyone will see on the last day when He appears (Matt. 25:31-33; 1 Thess. 4:13—5:3; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Titus 2:13).
17. Joel said that whosoever calls on the name of YHWH will be saved, or delivered (Joel 2:32), yet the New Testament clearly applies these words to Jesus (Acts 2:21, 38; Rom. 10:9-13).
18. The Branch of David is obviously King Jesus, born of the seed of David, and that Branch is called YHWH: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD [YHWH] OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23:5, 6; cf. Zech. 6:12, 13).
19. Revelation 1:8 says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega saith the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 22:13-16 says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end…I Jesus…” The Lord God Almighty is the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 1:8). Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 1:11, 18; 22:13, 16); therefore, Jesus can rightfully be called the Lord God Almighty.
20. Because of this evidence and much more, Thomas was completely justified in saying to Jesus, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Although Jesus rebuked Peter for his words in Matthew 16:22, saying that Peter did not savor the things that be of God, Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for his words in John 20:28. What Thomas said must have been “of God.” Jesus is our divine Lord and God, and “the God of Jesus” is God the Father, who is “above all” in authority (John 20:17; 1 Cor. 3:23; 8:4, 6; 11:3; Eph. 1:3, 17; 4:6; Heb. 1:8, 9; 1 Pet. 1:3).