It was the question that the LORD Himself asked:
MATTHEW 16:15, 16-17
15 … "But who do you say that I am?”
Your answer to that question will not only determine the course of your life, but your eternal destiny as well.
16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
We who know the LORD have found the answer to that question, just as Peter did. Everyone needs to find it before they leave this world!
There are those so-called pastors, like Andy Stanley, who believe we should ignore the Old Testament in our daily reading and study. I could NOT possibly disagree more!
Throughout the Old Testament the LORD used prophets to foretell the coming of the Messiah:
ACTS 3:22-24
22 "For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 'And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' 24 "Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.
And so from the Old to the New, GOD has laid down a divinely intricate prophetic plan that would bring about the full revelation of Jesus as the Christ and His Gospel. GOD intended on presenting His Son Who is just like Him, and just like us (yet without sin) – theologians call this the hypostatic union: Jesus Christ – fully GOD and fully Man.
The LORD identified Himself as “the Son of Man” which is directly connected with Deity wrapped in human flesh. In DANIEL 7:13 The Son of Man is coming in the clouds of heaven; likewise we see the LORD Jesus in REVELATION 1:7. The other passage showing Christ returning from heaven to earth is found:
REVELATION 19:11-13
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
And of course JOHN’s Gospel in Chapter One reveals to us that “the Word was GOD” (JOHN 1:1-3,14), the Son “was GOD”? That is to say, He perpetually exists as GOD with GOD (Who is the Father). So when Peter declared what GOD the Father revealed to him, that Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah, the Anointed King and Priest and Prophet foretold to come and rule on the throne of His father David, from Jerusalem over Israel forever and ever – he also declared that He is “the Son of the living GOD”.
Jews in the days when Jesus dwelled among us bodily didn’t believe that the Messiah would be GOD – and while they were expecting the Messiah in those days, to deliver them from Roman oppression (when His all-important mission was to deliver Israel, and all of us, from sin!), they were not at all expecting the Messiah to declare Himself as Deity!
That wasn’t always the case! There was a time prior to the Babylonian captivity, more than five centuries before the birth of Christ that there were Jewish sages and rabbis who did in fact believe that the Messiah would be YHWH in the flesh.
There is a book called The Search For the Messiah by Dr. Mark Eastman and Chuck Smith that documents the ancient texts, showing that the Messiah would be GOD Incarnate. I wrote a five-part series of articles using that book as a basis that expounds on the documentary evidence (See link at the conclusion of this article).
If you really want a lot of information, check out “Evidence for Jesus Deity and Existence” (also at the end of this article)!
For any young people here, who have been raised in a Christian home:
To know Jesus as Christ, as LORD, as Savior and as GOD the Son – you need to understand these things for yourself, not depend on parents, pastors, publications, but to know Jesus personally, you need to prayerfully seek Jesus in the Scriptures. You need this revelation from GOD by the Word, just as Peter received revelation from GOD the Father.
This 20 minute teaching will be barely adequate to point you in the right direction:
Can we rightly identify Jesus as the Messiah? Yes – He was identified as such from personal testimony, and more importantly, identified by the prophetic Scripture:
In JOHN 4 the LORD spoke with this Samaritan woman and when she mentioned the Messiah, Jesus told her, “That’s me!” (JOHN 4:26).
Andrew identified Jesus as the Messiah in JOHN 1:41.
We just read where Peter identified Jesus as the Christ/the Messiah and the LORD confirmed his declaration.
Jesus did the miracles that prophecy said the Messiah would do, and the people in Israel recognized those (MATT 12:23). He admonished His followers to believe Him for the miraculous works He did (JOHN 14:10-11).
Again, at His trial before the Jewish leadership the high priest put him under a sacred oath to tell the truth: “Are you the Christ, the Son of GOD?” To which the LORD Jesus answered:
MATTHEW 26:64
… It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven.
THE PROMISE OF THE COMING MESSIAH TO ADAM, EVE, SATAN
Right at the beginning of the holy revelation of GOD, there in GEN 3:15, we have the first hint of GOD’s plan: The LORD told the serpent, Adam and Eve, that “her Seed” will crush its head. Any biology student knows that the woman carries the egg, not the sperm, yet here GOD indicates "the woman’s seed” which points directly to the miraculous birth of Christ, without a human father.
Being without a human father, the curse of sin that was laid upon Adam (1 COR 15:21-22) wouldn’t pass on to Jesus Whose Father is the Holy GOD. That seed which is Christ, is later identified as belonging to the one descendant of Abraham:
THE PROMISE OF THE COMING MESSIAH TO ABRAHAM
GALATIANS 3:16
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ (quote from GEN 17:7; “seed” in KJV).
Let's have a look at GENESIS 22! (the preceding link will bring you to a full study of this awesome chapter!)
GENESIS 22:1-2
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
THE PROMISE OF THE COMING MESSIAH TO ALL ISRAEL
ISAIAH 9:6
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
A couple chapters prior, Scripture tells us that the Messiah would be conceived of a virgin (having no husband):
ISAIAH 7:14
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel.” [GOD with us]
Liberal scholars deny the miraculous virgin birth. If they’re right (and they’re not) then we are still in our sins, because Jesus, having an earthly father would be born a sinner, just like his father (Joseph). Therefore He would not be acceptable as a sacrifice for our sins.
Those scholars state that the Hebrew word used for “virgin” is almah, meaning – not just a virgin but “a young woman, maiden, virgin”, whereas betulah means only “virgin”. They propose that in the context of ISA 7:14. It just means “a young woman” who gave birth to the Christ child (by natural means) – a miracle?? Hardly, young women have babies all the time!
The Holy Spirit led Isaiah to use the word almah instead of betulah, why? Because an old woman could be a virgin (and even be married) but in the case of Mary – she was indeed an almah-type virgin who was also a young woman and a maiden (unmarried).
THE PROMISE OF THE COMING MESSIAH TO JUDAH
GENESIS 49:10
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
“Shiloh” meaning “He who is peaceful, who brings peace, peace-giver” – we know Him as He’s described in ISA 9:6, “the Prince of Peace”. Shiloh coming from the tribe of Judah would be eligible to rule Israel as a member of the royal line (all kings of Israel came exclusively through Judah, just as the priesthood was selected exclusively through Levi). The prophecy Jacob gave here indicates that the ruling authority in Israel would endure until Shiloh come, at which time, the rule would go to Him.
THE PROMISE OF THE COMING MESSIAH TO KING DAVID AND MARY
Then we learn from a prophecy given to King David (who is from the tribe of Judah) that the Messiah would come through his family lineage (2 SAM 7 and PSA 89 are your go-to chapters).
From there, Scripture ties together the prophecies of Isaiah’s virgin, the promise to David for the Messiah to be born into his family tree, and Mary, the betrothed of Joseph – a young woman (she was probably somewhere in her mid to late teens), a maiden (technically she wasn’t married yet to Joseph, just betrothed) and a virgin, which she herself admits (LUKE 1:34). Listen to the Word of the LORD that GOD gave her through His angel Gabriel:
LUKE 1:31-33
31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS. 32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
While Jesus was on Earth He never sat on the royal throne of Israel because it didn’t exist – Israel was no longer a kingdom. It was a hot, dusty, despised Roman province no soldier ever wanted to be stationed at! But GOD’s Word is true – which means that He WILL sit on the throne of David once He returns to establish His Kingdom!
Really quick now, let’s go over some verses that point to the Deity of Christ:
We already saw ISAIAH 9:6… Also from ISAIAH:
ISAIAH 43:10-11
10 "You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior.
TITUS 1:2-4
2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, 3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
These two verses coupled together form a proof text for the Trinity, and also confirms the Deity of Christ.
PSALM 45:6-7
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions. (this is quoted by apostle Paul in HEB 1:8-9).
1 TIMOTHY 3:16
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
JESUS IS GOD - Part One
EVIIDENCE: JESUS's EXISTENCE & DEITY
CHECK OUT the Late Dr. Chuck Missler's teaching on The TRINITY
MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST In The Old Testament - A SUMMARY of the TTUF series
The MILLENNIUM: REIGN of the MESSIAH - 12-Part Series
MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST In The Old Testament - A SUMMARY of the TTUF series
The MILLENNIUM: REIGN of the MESSIAH - 12-Part Series
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