The Bible reveals that Jesus is unique in his person and his purpose. He wasn’t just some spiritual individual during His time on earth; He was both God’s Son (John 3:16) and God Himself—God in human flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Yes, He was fully man, but He was also fully God (Colossians 2:9). He was both God and man in one person. It might be hard to understand, but it’s important to remember that God is much bigger and more powerful than we can fully comprehend.

Scripture is repleted with many verses that points out the deity of Jesus christ. Jesus himself made many startling statements that expose his deity. Of course, Jesus also says that he is less than the Father (John 14:28), but this refers to his incarnate state in which he took on human nature and restricted himself to human limitations. And though equal to the father in divinity, he is subordinate to the father in administration.

Jesus Claimed Divinity

Note that jesus made exclusive claims that no prophet of the entire bible made or could possibly make. This obvious reveals what he knows himself to be. Jesus claimed attributes and powers exclusive to God. Think of Jesus saying he is the first and the last; the beginning and the end, (Rev 22:13) a claim made by God the Father himself (Rev 21:6). As it was impossible to have two first and last, and two beginning and end at the same time, he must be one with God himself, and this he made clear in another of his claim that he and the Father are one (John 10:30). He forgives sins (Mk 5:2-7), gives life (John 5:26-29) and answers prayers. These things are not within the powers of man to do: they are exclusive to God (1Sam 2:6; Isa 43:25).

Jesus said He was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mk 2:28), and, since the Sabbath was instituted by God, Jesus’ claim to be “Lord” over the Sabbath was an assertion of deity. 

He says all men should honour (give reverence to) the Son as all men honour the Father. That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. John 5:23 . To honour the Son as you honour the father is to honour the Son as Deity. For you can’t honour the Father any less than a Deity. Moreover, the interests of the Father and Son are so inseparably twisted and interwoven that the Father never reckons himself honoured when the Son’s honour is denied. And any honour that falls short of what the truly is or what his glory deserves, is no honour.

Furthermore, Jesus says he shares God’s glory and that his glory is God himself.

“And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” John 17:5

If Christ’s glory is not what God has or can give but God himself, then he inevitably is God, not a mere man or an angel. This is true since man and angel are less than God and cannot arrogate to themselves, or receive for themselves God’s exclusive glory.

Scripture tells us that God will not share his glory with anybody: that is obvious for if he does, such a one with whom he would share his glory would become Deity and therefore an object of true worship. Yet Jesus says he shares God’s glory and many portions of scripture validate this claim, showing he is truly one with God and therefore Deity.

Christ Shares God’s Glory

God’s glory among other things include his glorious attributes, viz:

• Omnipotence: Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
• Omniscience: John 16:30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
• Omnipresence: Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
• Eternal: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

God’s Name Apply to Christ

It is interesting to know that in Scriptures Jesus bears the very name of God showing he is mystically one with the Father in a way beyond man’s comprehension, but clear enough to be understood that he could not be anything less than Deity given that God isn’t anything less than Deity.

Jesus is called:

1. The Mighty God (Isa 9:6)
2. The Everlasting Father ( Isa 9:6)
3. God with us (Mt 1:23)
4. Jehovah our Righteousness (Jer 23:6)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: …and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:23

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness. Jeremiah 23:6 (ASV)

The Jews Understood It

The Jews understanding the very meaning of Jesus’ claim in John 10:30, and not willing to recognize his deity, like some today, accused him of blasphemy:

John 10:30-33 KJV
[30]I and my Father are one.
[31]Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
[32]Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
[33]The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

John 5:17-18
[17]But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
[18]Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

The Apostles Called Jesus God

The understanding of the followers of Jesus on the issue of Christ’s divinity was very clear. They knew he was God incarnate (God manifested in the flesh) and called him God on different instances.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. — Apostle John: John 1:1 KJV

This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. Apostle Peter: 2 Peter 1:1 NLT

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and, yet have believed. —   John 20:28-29 KJV

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. — Apostle Paul: 1 Timothy 3:16 KJV

To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. Apostle Paul: Rom 9:5 ESV

In Colossians 2:9 Paul says in Jesus dwelled the fullness of deity bodily.

Early Christians Recognized the Deity of Christ

Contrary to what some think, the deity of Christ was not invented by the Nicea council of the fourth century. Earlier quotes from the Church fathers show that the belief in Christ’s deity predated the council’s decree, and that it was simply the revealed theology about the person of Jesus Christ that the church has always held. Below are quotes from early Christian writers:

Polycarp (AD 69-155) was the bishop of the church in Smyrna. Irenaeus tells us Polycarp was a disciple of Apostle John. In his Letter to the Philippians he says:

Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal high priest himself, the Son of God Jesus Christ, build you up in faith and truth…and to us with you, and to all those under heaven who will yet believe in our Lord and God Jesus Christ and in his Father who raised him from the dead

Ignatius (AD 50-117) was the bishop of the church of Antioch he died 17 years after the apostolic age. He was also a disciple of the Apostle John. In one of his letters to various churches he writes:

For our God, Jesus the Christ, was conceived by Mary according to God’s plan, both from the seed of David and of the Holy Spirit.

Justin Martyr (AD 100-165) A renown Christian philosopher and apologist of the second century in one of his apologies writes:

The Father of the universe has a Son; who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God.

Justin Martyr, First Apology, 63. ANF, I:184.

Melito of Sardis (died c. AD 180) A second century bishop of the church of Sardis writes:

He that hung up the earth in space was Himself hanged up; He that fixed the heavens was fixed with nails; He that bore up the earth was born up on a tree; the Lord of all was subjected to ignominy in a naked body—God put to death!

Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130-202) was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul. Irenaeus was born in Smyrna in Asia Minor. He was a disciple of Polycarp, who in turn had been a disciple of John the Apostle.

Christ Himself, therefore, together with the Father, is the God of the living, who spoke to Moses, and who was also manifested to the fathers.¹⁹

Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215) was another early church father who wrote around AD 200. He writes,

This Word, then, the Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for He was in God) and of our well-being, this very Word has now appeared as man, He alone being both, both God and man—the Author of all blessings to us.

Hippolytus of Rome (AD 170-235)

Let us believe then, dear brethren, according to the tradition of the apostles, that God the Word came down from heaven, (and entered) into the holy Virgin Mary, in order that, taking the flesh from her, and assuming also a human, by which I mean a rational soul, and becoming thus all that man is with the exception of sin, He might save fallen man, and confer immortality on men who believe on His name….

The Father calls Jesus God

God does not merely exist, existence begins with him for he always is. It is beyond imagination to imagine when the creator never was. Hence God is beyond time because time begins with a beginning and any thing that has a beginning was at a time never in existence. Now whatever is one with him must be of his nature indivisible from him, beyond time and space and without a beginning, hence God. Observe that in Hebrews 1:8 God calls the Son God:

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom Hebrews 1:8

Having learnt credence to the Son’s deity, he further commands that the Son be worshipped. Indeed he must be worshipped for he is the creator of all created things, and inevitably shares in the Father’s glory being one with the Father.

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. Hebrews 1:6

The Son Never was created

Contrary to what some have purported, the Son of God (Jesus Christ) was not formerly an angel, begotten into the world. He was never created. No created being such as an angel can share of the uncreated Creator’s characteristics such as being omnipotent and eternal, and bear his names, and yet be an angel in essence. And none who share this characteristics can himself be created. Scripture refutes that claim in Hebrews 1

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, …much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a son? But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Hebrews 1:1-8

Wisdom Personified

The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. Proverbs 8:22-23

It has been misconstrued by some that Proverbs 8: 22-23 refers to Jesus as a created being. But that is not correct. Proverbs 8 referred to wisdom personified. It is simply a work praising the importance of wisdom. And to create a mental pictoral depiction, a figure of speech called personification is employed in which wisdom is figuratively referred to as a person, not Jesus a real person, however. To further clarify this verse 2 and 3 of the very chapter refer to wisdom as a she. No where is Jesus referred to in Scriptures as she.

In conclusion, the deity of Christ is a revealed truth of Scriptures which cannot be denied, and which the Church has always held from the very beginning.