How Do We Know Jesus is Real and He is God?
One of the most famous people to ever walk the Earth was Jesus of Nazareth who was and is both God and man. While many believe He was an historical person, many also believe He was not and is not God. The deity of Jesus is recorded all throughout the Bible and Jesus is the essence of God sharing all of God’s honor, attributes, names, deeds and His seat on the Heavenly throne. As a Christian, we can understand and defend the deity of Christ and share this truth with others.
As you read on, it should be clear to you that I am not the one who can convince you that Jesus is God, furthermore, unless you have the Holy Spirit in you, you cannot know that Jesus is God (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; Hebrews 5:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). As a true believer and Christ-follower, I am called to share the truth with you, so my purpose here is to show you the things that I have found that support what I already believe: Jesus is God, and as such, He deserves everything that our Heavenly Father has. All glory, honor and power belong to Jesus; He is worthy (John 1:29, 36; Galatians 2:20; Revelation 4:11; 5:1-14; 20:4; 22:3)!
Who is Jesus?
In my studies on man said, “Christ is a central figure in our society”. Absolutely this is true. For example, in the United States of America, we celebrate Christmas in winter time every year. Most anyone you talk to can tell you that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. They can even tell you that He was born as a baby to “The Virgin Mary” and had to stay in a stable because there was no room at the Inn. And in the spring of the year, we remember the Resurrection of Jesus. Sadly, this is the only Jesus some folks ever come to know.
As Christians who study the Bible, we can see that Jesus Christ is the theme of Scripture. His coming is foretold in every book of the Old Testament and His life on Earth is documented in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as the Book of Acts. As in the Old Testament, the Epistles tell of His return. The picture of Christ is painted throughout the entire Bible (See figures 1 & 2 below).
Figure 1: Jesus in the Old Testament
Figure 2: Jesus in the New Testament
How the Bible Describes Jesus
Scripture tells us that Jesus is the preeminent Lord. As you look through the Bible and really study Jesus, you can see things like:
- Jesus is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3; John 1:18; 14:9)
- Christ is before time, but He is also Lord over all creation as in the above context because:
- Christ’s superiority is preeminent over all
- He is superior over all creation
- Firstborn – He cannot be part of all things if He created all things because you cannot create yourself
- The firstborn recieves the worship of all angels (Hebrews 1:6). You don’t worship created things
- The Greek word for firstborn in Colossians 1:15 means firstborn (prōtótokos) or it would have been a different Greek word. (cross reference Psalm 89:27)
- Christ is before time, but He is also Lord over all creation as in the above context because:
- Christ is the eternal creator. He is the architect of all creation – He is the builder, and He is the owner, the creation is to bring Him glory (John 1:3; Revelation 4:11)
- He is the eternal sustainer and maintainer of creation – The Alpha and the Omega. Without Christ all things would fall apart, and nothing can separate believers from Him (John 8:25; Romans 8:27-39; Revelation 1:8)
- He is the Lord of the Church. He brought life to the Church – He is the head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18-19; 1 Corinthians 12:12).
- Christ is fully God the Son – All the fullness of Deity dwells in Him. There is nothing of God that is not in Christ (Colossians 1:19; 2:9; John 1:1).
- He is the Reconciler – He is the only mediator (Colossians 1:20-22; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
- Jesus is the sovereign over creation (Colossians 1:16-17)
In Part 2 of this study, we will look at Jesus and His Earthly ministry.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Series Page
Pamela Rose Williams, Founder of Christianity Every Day, is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She and her husband, Dr. Michael L. Williams have served in Christian ministry since 2001. She has Master of Ministry in Biblical Counseling and Bachelor’s in Christian Education degrees. Most of her time is spent as a professional editor and writer, working with many Christian authors and artists. She also uses her extensive experience in information technology providing Christ-centered teaching tools and resources for people all over the world. To learn more about Pamela visit her About page.
