For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9 NKJV).
It never seizes to blow my mind when I think that at some point in human history, God literally came into this world and walked, lived among mortal humans whom He created and loved with an eternal and divine love. You see, Scripture teaches us that the man Christ Jesus who came, lived, and died some 2000 years ago, was no less than God Himself.
Paul gives us in this verse one of the clearest statements regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ. This was for Paul, as it is for all who have met Jesus personally, an experiential truth that had fundamentally transformed him and had made of him a new creation in Christ. Paul teaches us that God’s nature and person are in Christ’s human body, that the man Christ Jesus possessed all the attributes of deity. Marvin Vincent says: “The verse contains two distinct assertions: (1) That the fullness of the Godhead eternally dwells in Christ…; (2) The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him…as one having a human body.”
Jesus Himself made the claim that He existed in eternity past before His birth in Bethlehem’s manger, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). Christ has always been, in other words He never began and when He came as one of us, He came still being what He was. John concurs with the statements of both Jesus and Paul when he declares: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14).
The importance of this truth can in no way be overstated. Why is this doctrine so important, because Christianity stands or falls on the eternality, the preexistence of Christ. If it is true that Christ began at Jesus’ birth, then He is not God, He is not divine, He is not eternal, and it would mean that Jesus, Paul, and John, along with the others writers of Scripture, all lied.
So what other biblical evidence do we have to prove that the man Christ Jesus was indeed God incarnate? Let’s consider a few more biblical references:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross (Phil. 2:6-8).
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Col. 1:15-17).
We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:12).
But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Heb. 1:2-3).
Without question the New Testament presents Christ as fully God. Jesus Christ is unlike any other religious leader; none can be compared to Him. Jesus is the eternal God who willingly came into this world to reveal the Father and to die on Calvary’s cross in order to make salvation possible for any and all who would acknowledge their sin, repent, and trust Him and Him alone for eternal life.
Followers of Christ do not simply follow a mere religious leader from among a multitude of religious leaders, or a good teacher, or a prophet. Biblical Christians follow the one and only, eternal, sovereign, almighty, Holy One.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 22:13).
It never seizes to blow my mind when I think that at some point in human history, God literally came into this world and walked, lived among mortal humans whom He created and loved with an eternal and divine love. You see, Scripture teaches us that the man Christ Jesus who came, lived, and died some 2000 years ago, was no less than God Himself.
Paul gives us in this verse one of the clearest statements regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ. This was for Paul, as it is for all who have met Jesus personally, an experiential truth that had fundamentally transformed him and had made of him a new creation in Christ. Paul teaches us that God’s nature and person are in Christ’s human body, that the man Christ Jesus possessed all the attributes of deity. Marvin Vincent says: “The verse contains two distinct assertions: (1) That the fullness of the Godhead eternally dwells in Christ…; (2) The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him…as one having a human body.”
Jesus Himself made the claim that He existed in eternity past before His birth in Bethlehem’s manger, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). Christ has always been, in other words He never began and when He came as one of us, He came still being what He was. John concurs with the statements of both Jesus and Paul when he declares: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14).
The importance of this truth can in no way be overstated. Why is this doctrine so important, because Christianity stands or falls on the eternality, the preexistence of Christ. If it is true that Christ began at Jesus’ birth, then He is not God, He is not divine, He is not eternal, and it would mean that Jesus, Paul, and John, along with the others writers of Scripture, all lied.
So what other biblical evidence do we have to prove that the man Christ Jesus was indeed God incarnate? Let’s consider a few more biblical references:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross (Phil. 2:6-8).
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Col. 1:15-17).
We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:12).
But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Heb. 1:2-3).
Without question the New Testament presents Christ as fully God. Jesus Christ is unlike any other religious leader; none can be compared to Him. Jesus is the eternal God who willingly came into this world to reveal the Father and to die on Calvary’s cross in order to make salvation possible for any and all who would acknowledge their sin, repent, and trust Him and Him alone for eternal life.
Followers of Christ do not simply follow a mere religious leader from among a multitude of religious leaders, or a good teacher, or a prophet. Biblical Christians follow the one and only, eternal, sovereign, almighty, Holy One.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 22:13).
Comments
Post a Comment