Jesus is God

John 8:23-24 He said to them,“You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

In my interactions with certain skeptics I’ve come to realize one thing for certain…the way people perceive Jesus determines the breaking point between most belief systems.

One of the most common complaints I see is that Jesus never actually proclaimed His position as God. Jesus didn’t walk up on a high hill and yell out to the crowds…”I am God”. But what He did do was far more reaching. If we examine what Jesus actually said, you may be surprised how clear He was about His position.

The Light of the World

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

What do you think the people in Jesus’ day thought when Jesus declared Himself to be the “light of the world”? Not only did He claim ownership of being light, but also declared that when someone follows Him they too will have the light of life.

To receive light is to divinely receive spiritual illumination. Jesus wasn’t talking about the Sun, He was referring to the spiritual understanding that comes (from Him) to those who follow Him. For a follower to receive something from Jesus, they must receive a divine gift, and that gift is the Holy Spirit. When Jesus declared that He would give the Holy Spirit to His followers, He was making Himself equal with God.

John 3:21 “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

To receive the “light” is to receive God. This is the reality for all true believers. When a humble heart comes before God in repentance and confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior, they are anointed with the very Spirit of Christ Himself. Forget about all the ridiculous transubstantiation (doctrine of communion) belief about Jesus blood and body entering upon communal participation. I would place my hope in what Jesus promised, He has never been wrong.

Jesus as Judge

John 8:16 “Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

Since God wrote the moral law and it reflects the very nature of God, then it makes sense that God will judge the world according to how they have offended God personally. The law is the measure of God’s holiness, but even more so, it is a revelation of God’s divine being.

Jesus proclaimed that He Himself would judge the world, a statement that declares His divinity. When Jesus described the Father as the One who “sent Him”, He is saying that He existed before time began with the Father.

This is not a light declaration, it is a bombshell to whomever was listening.

Who do you think met Moses on the mountain and etched the law into stone with His finger?

Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

1 Timothy 1:17 “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

God the Father is Spirit, in other words….He is invisible No one has seen Him because He can’t be seen. He has no form, there is no image of the Father that can be painted on a tapestry.

If you want to see God, if you want to touch His hands or see Him upon His throne…well, you’ve got to see Jesus. Jesus met with Moses in the tabernacle, Jesus was there at creation, He has always been here and He made that clear to all who can hear.

Jesus is Salvation

John 8:23-24 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

Jesus described the place of His origin. Sure he was born in Bethlehem as was prophesied in Micah 5:2, He was a Nazarene as referenced in Matthew and prophecies by Isaiah, but He had existed long before those moments on earth.

Jesus declared…”I am from above”, His dwelling place was in heaven and He came down for a purpose. This is only accomplished by God.

John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Jesus is the Bread of heaven. Like manna falling in the wilderness for the nation of Israel, Jesus embodied life. Jesus is the gift of God to all who hunger and thirst for righteousness. It is a divine position that declared His glory.

Did Jesus declare Himself God? Most definitely. If he had outright declared Himself God then the Pharisees would have killed Him immediately. But Jesus did something that was far richer, He began to reveal all of the signs that pointed to Him in Old Testament times. Each moment had substance, from water flowing from the rock, to manna falling from the sky, to the designs of the Temple, Jesus’ glory resonated throughout time. There are many examples of Jesus’ divine glory revealed to all who will look and see.

Fellowship with the Father

John 8:38 “I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

When Jesus related to His listeners how He got His message, it should have placed them in a sense of awe. He stood in the presence of the Father and what He saw He tells His people now.

Psalm 24:3-4 “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.”

No one who is a sinner can stand in the presence of God. Like an unholy priest entering in the Holy of holiness, they would drop dead.

Jesus had no sin, therefore He was not condemned. Only God is good (righteous), therefore Jesus once again declared His divinity.

Authority of God

There really was no doubt as to what Jesus was saying, the Pharisees were continually offended and tried to stone Him for what they claimed was blasphemy. They would have been right if Jesus had only been a man, and when Jesus forgave sin, He assumed a position as Judge over mankind.

Matthew 9:2 “And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

The reason why God alone forgives sin is because it is His law that has been violated. The law is perfect as God is perfect and Jesus left no doubt that the law was His.

Can you see? Everything in the Bible revolves around Jesus. Creation was His idea, and when He created mankind, He made the decision to give His life for His people.

Out of all of the claims that Jesus made, and I’m only giving you sampling, the most shocking had to be in regard to Abraham.

The Great “I Am“

As Moses was receiving his marching orders to go to Egypt and free his people, he questioned God as to His name. He knew Pharaoh would ask and so God declared it to him…tell him “I Am” has sent you. It was a title that would have reverberated across nations and cultures for generations. So, when Jesus declared His position before Abraham was even born, it was a truth bomb.

The lead in set the stage….

The Pharisees were accusing Jesus of having a demon, and this was Jesus’ reply:

John 8:54-56 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”

Satan glorified himself. Jesus was making it clear to them that it was the Father who glorified Him and then He threw in a wrench…Abraham rejoiced that he would see Jesus day!

How did Abraham see Jesus’ day? He lived 2100 years before the time of Christ. So the jews responded like many skeptics do today.

John 8:57 “Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”

Then the revelation was made….

John 8:58 “Truly, truly, I tell you,”Jesus declared,“before Abraham was born, I Am!”

Jesus existed for eternity. He had no beginning and He will have no end. The life and death He experienced as a man did not change this fact, it only completed what He had planned all along.

Jesus was the One who sent Moses to retrieve His people from Egyptian slavery and He will once again take His people when He returns in glory.

There is no doubt as to the claims Jesus made about Himself, what people attempt to do is relabel Jesus into someone He was not. He wasn’t just another prophet, or teacher, or Rabbi…He was and is God incarnate. God in the flesh.

We have a choice to make. How do you see Jesus? The way you respond to Him will determine your eternal future.