jesus 2

Did Jesus claim to be God?

Many are willing to accept Jesus Christ as a good man, or a great prophet, but argue that Jesus never claimed to be God. Those who deny Jesus’ deity point out scriptures that back up their belief that Jesus never intended to be worshipped as God.

The evidence, however, indicates that from the time of the apostles, Jesus was worshipped as Lord. After the apostles died, several first and second century church leaders wrote of Jesus’ deity. Finally in 325 A. D. the leadership of the church articulated the belief that Jesus is fully God.

Some argue that the church “invented” Jesus’ deity by rewriting the gospel accounts. In fact, the world’s best-selling fictional book, The Da Vinci Code sold over 40 million books by making that claim (See “Was there a Da Vinci Conspiracy?”). Although the book made its author, Dan Brown, wealthy, his fictional account was debunked by scholars as bad history. In fact, the New Testament has been deemed the “most reliable of all ancient historical documents” (See. “Are the Gospels True?”).

In this article we will examine what Jesus Christ said about himself. What did Jesus mean by the terms, “Son of Man,” and “Son of God?” If Jesus wasn’t God, why did his enemies accuse him of “blasphemy?” More importantly, if Jesus wasn’t God, why did he accept worship?

First let’s look briefly at what Christians believe about Jesus Christ.

From Creator to Carpenter?

At the core of Christianity is the belief that God came to earth in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus is not a created being like the angels, but is the very Creator of the universe. As theologian J. I. Packer writes, “The gospel tells us that our Creator has become our Redeemer.”²

The New Testament reveals that, in accordance with his Father’s will, Jesus temporarily set aside his power and glory to become a tiny helpless baby. As he grew, Jesus worked in a carpenter shop, experienced hunger, got tired, and suffered pain and death like us. Then at age 30 he began his public ministry.