This is a study about Jesus Christ being God. It is not a conclusive or exhaustive study by any means, but I hope that this presents a simple amount of scripture to show that Jesus was at the same time the fullness of Deity in the fullness of man. Now certainly we can conclude that man was made in God’s image. Also when man was made in God’s image he was made perfect. He was without sin at that time. "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness… (Gen 1:26)" There was no sin in the world at that time. Certainly then we can conclude that if man was made in God’s image then Jesus was God in the image of man.

Was Jesus God or was he made in the image of God? For Jesus to be God there had to be some very specific qualifications. God is the creator of all things. He never had a beginning or and end, for He is infinite. Jesus is God, in the fullness of deity and in the fullness of man. Colossians 1:19 says, "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him." Jesus was in the beginning as the word. In John 1:13 it says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

He was the word and was God. To show this further John 1:14 says "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." He was in the beginning with God the Father before all creation. He could fully say ""I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev 1:8)."" Jesus came to bring salvation to all men. Only God could bring salvation for Isaiah says salvation can only come from God. In Isaiah 43:11 "I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me."

Jesus is in the fullness of deity in the fact that He has all the attributes and nature of God. In Hebrews 1:1-3 it says "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Another way that He was God is that He was the creator of all things. John 1:1:3 says "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." So He is declared the Creator of all things before all creation. He is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15-17 says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." So the very first verse in the Bible speaks of Jesus as God.

Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The name of God in this verse in Hebrew is 'elohiym (el-o-heem') and means the plural of Deity specifically used in the plural thus, especially with the article of the supreme God [1]. It is the plural form of 'elowahh (el-o'-ah; meaning a deity or the Deity [1]. Now the definition of Deity according to Webster’s New World dictionary is "The state of being god; divine nature; godhood or a god or goddess – the Deity God [2]."

Fausset's Bible Dictionary says in regards to God as ELOHIM. "ELOHIM concentrates all the divine attributes assigned to the idols severally, and, besides those, others which corrupt man never of himself imagined, infinite love, goodness, justice, wisdom, creative power, inexhaustible riches of excellence; unity, self existence, grace, and providence are especially dwelt on, Ex 3:13-15; 15:11; 34:6-7. The plural form hints at the plurality of Persons, the singular verb implies the unity of Godhead [3]."

The New Unger’s Bible dictionary says this about God "God as revealed through the Scriptures is the one infinite and eternal Being. He is purely spiritual, the supreme personal Intelligence, the Creator and Preserver of all things, the perfect Moral Ruler of the universe; He is the only proper object of worship; He is tri-personal-the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constituting one Godhead [4]." I think a good and simple definition for God is what a Pastor named Larry Wright once told me regarding a marriage.

He said, "God can create something out of nothing and give life to that which is dead." Only God can create something out of nothing and give life to that which is dead and that is the perfect definition of the Deity of Christ. Isaiah 44:6 shows the plurality of God the Father and God the Son. It says "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me." Jesus is the LORD of hosts and repeats this same statement in Revelation 1:17. We can clearly see that Jesus is the fullness of God in the fullness of man.

Since Jesus was God and had all the fullness of deity then why did it take Thomas so long to recognize this fact? He needed to see where the nails had been before his doubting heart would believe. Thomas who was a disciple of Christ and upon seeing Jesus after His resurrection "said to Him (Jesus), "My Lord and my God (John 20:28)." Thomas acknowledged that Jesus was not just a man or prophet, but that He was God. Paul wrote in Titus 2:14 that Jesus was the great God and Savior.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:11-14)."

Now Isaiah prophesized that one name He would be called is "Mighty God. In Isaiah 9:6 we read "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Jesus was not just Mighty God; He is the Eternal Father and Prince of Peace. Jesus is our great and mighty God and the Eternal Father. If He is the Eternal Father then He is the God of Old Testament or other wise known as the Tanach. Jesus made some pretty bold claims when He was here on earth. He would take the claim as the Messiah and also claim to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The claims He made were worthy of death and considered blasphemous to the Pharisees. Jesus said "John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Now the "He" in the verse is not apart of the original Greek text and this is why it is in Italics. So it actually reads "…For unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." You might wonder what the significance about that is. Well you see to the Pharisees that statement was painfully obvious. He was saying He was the Mighty God, Eternal Father and the Prince of Peace. He was saying He was "Yehovah".

Yehovah (yeh-ho-vaw') is the Hebrew word for "The LORD"; and means the self-Existent or Eternal. Jehovah was the Jewish national name of God –"Jehovah, the Lord [1]". Further on in John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." To understand what this meant to the Jews of that day let’s look Exodus 3:14 where "God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you.'" He was the great I AM that delivered them from Egyptian captivity. Now this was no laughing matter to them and that is precisely why they "…picked up stones to throw at Him (John 8:59)."

This was the Great I AM that told them this statement. It was these claims that brought Him to trial and finally conviction to death on the cross. Irwin Linton, a lawyer, says of His trial before His accusers, "Unique among criminal trials is this one in which not the actions but the identity of the accused is the issue [5]." He is the perfect Christ and since He was God He was perfectly innocent. Even Pilate said Himself "I find no guilt in this man (Luke 23:4)". He was the innocent so that He could become the guilty.

For God to have appeasement for sin it requires a blood sacrifice and the pouring out of blood on the mercy seat of the altar of God. Though God commanded this to be done by the Levitical priests it was not a perfect sacrifice. Also this had to be done once a year, so it was never completed atonement. For God to have propitiation for sin He required a perfect sacrifice, one that was without blemish (Hebrew 9:13). So God had to send the only thing that is perfect and that is Himself. God purchased us with His own blood to atone for our sins. Jesus was the blood of the sin offering of atonement once for all (Ex 30:10, Romans 6:10-11, 1 Peter 3:18)."

In Acts 20:28 we read "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." Since only God could meet the righteous demand for sin, and only God could have purchased us with His own blood then Jesus was God Himself. For Jesus to be God He had to be perfect and without sin. Only God could pay the price for sin once for all (Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18). Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus "…has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" meaning He was perfect all ways and every sense of perfection. If Jesus were not God it would not have been enough. This means He qualified to pay the price for the sins of all (1 Cor 6:20).

God the Son, Claim to Power-Proof of Power:

Another way that Jesus showed He was God was that He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19)." He said "I" not my Father. He also said "I and the Father are one (John 10:30)." Only Jesus could make that claim because He and the Father are God. He made the statement of power and then proved the statement of power. Jesus is God the Son, and only God could have torn down the temple and rebuilt it in three days speaking of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Himself.

Jesus showed that He was God the Son through the power that could only be of God. Only God could have given up His Spirit willfully. Jesus said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30)." Only God could control when He would come into the world and then die for the world. Remember Jesus was called the "Mighty God" in Isaiah 9:6. So Jesus was God because He had control of His Spirit and the time He would fulfill what the prophets of old said. We on the other hand have to wait for these old bodies to give out before we can be absent from the body and present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8).

Lewis Sperry Chafer says two things about the incarnation of Christ "1) Christ became at the same time and in the absolute sense very God and very man, and (2) in becoming flesh He, though laying aside His glory, in no sense laid aside His deity. In His incarnation He retained every essential attribute of deity. His full deity and complete humanity are essential to His work on the cross. If He were not God, His death would not have had infinite value [6]." This is as perfectly a definition as humanly conceived possible. Paul E. Little who wrote "Know What You Believe" says something similar.

He says, "Jesus was not only fully God – He was also fully man, fully human. This is a vital aspect of the person of Christ. If He were not fully human, He could not have represented us on the cross and He could not be the High Priest who comforts and strengthens us. But He has gone through our human experience (Heb 2:16-18) and if fully able to understand us and sympathize with us [7]." To follow this up we can read Philippians 2:6-7 which says "…although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 it says, "Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." God was in Christ fully man and fully God giving us something that could only come from God and that is reconciliation to Himself. For us a small understanding of this will help us understand the person of Christ and the fullness of Deity in the fullness of man. We will not be able to really comprehend this though until we stand face to face with Jesus Christ –God the Son.

Paul E. Little writes further and says, "A proper knowledge of Christ’s Person is crucial in understanding His work. If He were not the God-man, His work could not have eternal an personal significance for us [7]."

He was the eternal God the Son before He became the incarnate Son of God. In Micah 5:2 is says, "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity." Remember Jesus was in the beginning as the word, but He never began. Eternity is infinite and never ending. God was never formed He just always was, is and will be. Isaiah 43:10 says "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

In Jesus’ last prayer He said "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was (John 17:5)." Jesus was God before the world and before all creation. He was God on the cross before the entire world to see as a public display for payment of the sin for all mankind. He is God the Son and will come in His glory to reign as King of King and Lord of Lords. Only Son of God as God could be worthy of that title.

"The truth –the terrible truth, the irrevocable truth –is that The Lamb of God, this One who suffered from the before the earth was shaped and flung into space, was fulfilling in human flesh and form all that had been foretold for the uncounted centuries. The dreadful, bestial abuse He underwent did not come as any surprise to Christ." W. Philip Keller [8]

Notes:
(1) Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.
(2) Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, Copyright © 1984 and 1970, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
(3) Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Electronic Database Copyright © 1998 by Biblesoft
(4) The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright © 1988.
(5) Irwin H. Linton, The Sanhedrin Verdict. New York: Loizeaux Brothers Bible Truth Depot, 1943. As quoted from "The New Evidence That Demands a verdict", Josh D. McDowell, Copyright © 1999.
(6) Major Bible Themes, Lewis Sperry Chafer, First edition copyright © 1926, 1953 by Dallas Theological Seminary. Revised edition copyright © 1974 by Dallas Theological Seminary. Published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
(7) Know What You Believe, Paul E. Little, pg.’s 47 & 54, Copyright © 1970, Scripture Press Publications, Inc.
(8) A Laymen Looks at the Lamb of God, W. Philip Keller, pg. 108, Copyright © 1982