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Did Jesus Ever Claim to Be God?
Topics: Church Article
Anonymous user Fri Jul 27, 2007 15:56:02 PDT
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0 responses 1 comment Location: 26180 Plateau Way, Tehachapi, CA 93561

It should be clear from reading the New Testament that Jesus definitely claimed to be God.  Jesus affirmed Peter’s statement when Pete said Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 16:15-17).  Jesus spoke these words to the disciples, "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am." (John13:13).  Jesus stated that He is the Messiah and the Son of God to the high priest (Matthew 26:63-64). 

Even Jesus’ enemies understood that Jesus was equating Himself with God.  They said, "He was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:17-18).  Before those individuals, Jesus justified His claim to deity in John 5:19-30.  From this passage, Jesus makes five strong claims to deity.  Jesus does not come right out and say, “I am God,” but that does not mean Jesus did not proclaim He is God.  It’s obvious from this text that Jesus is asserting that He is God with other words.  Jesus not only tells us that He is God with His own lips, but He shares with us the basis for Him making such a claim.  He tells us how we can know He was not blaspheming. 

One of Jesus’ claims to deity is based on Him being authoritative.  Notice how Jesus describes His level of authority in John 5:22:  “For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son.”  Verse 27 reads: “And he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.”  You say, “So when will Jesus judge people?  When will He exercise His authority to judge?”  Well in the future, He will exercise authority at three major judgments.  The next time Jesus will exercise His authoritative judgment will be after the Rapture, which will be a judgment for every Christian who has ever lived.  It will take place at the bema seat in heaven.  The Apostle Paul mentions this judgment in 2 Corinthians 5:10:  “For we must all appear before the [bay’-muh-tos tu krist-tou’] judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

There’s another time that Jesus will exercise His authority and judge.  Following the tribulation and the second coming of Christ, Jesus will sit on His glorious throne and separate all the nations.  This will be the judgment of the sheep and goats.  It’s all spelled out in Matthew 25:31-46.

Finally, at the end of the millennium, there will be a judgment reserved for all unbelievers.  Every unbeliever, who has lived throughout history, will appear at the great white throne of judgment.  The One presiding as judge will be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the Lord Jesus Himself (Revelation 20:6,11).

In light of Jesus’ claims to being God, and in light of Jesus being able to back up those claims with His life, you and I ought to exalt Jesus with our lives.  Lifting up and glorifying the Lord Jesus ought to be a priority with us.  The importance of exalting Jesus can be seen in verse 5:22f:  “For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father.”

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Comment From: aProletarianNamedPhilip

a husband and wife are one, a leader and his followers are one, but they are all separate bodies.It's simple, Jesus was created, and the Father (Jehovah) had always existed.Some more evidence. "Keep this mental attitude in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he was existing in God's form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. " (phillipians 2:5-6)To elaborate on this further i'll just send a link to a article about the subject. http://bible-truths.com/tri... Trinitarian Doctrine is a fabrication of old pagan triune Gods that existed long before Christianity.