Westside church of Christ - Irving, Texas

How Teen-Agers Can Know Jesus is Deity

Tim Jennings

“Who do men say that I am?” Jesus asked His friends. That’s not the question of an insecure man trying to see where He stands in the public opinion polls. It’s a probing inquiry to determine if people understood Jesus’ true nature. The talk on the street was that Jesus was a moral man, a wonderful teacher, a powerful leader. The problem with the talk on the street is that it is inadequate. Jesus was not just a fine man, he was God in the flesh. Some may think such a claim may seem better suited for science fiction, but the fact is that no claim was ever more reasonable or certain.

Certainty From Prophecy No prophecy foretold the coming of Buddha, Confucius or Muhammad. Yet, Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies through His life, death and resurrection. These prophecies, recorded hundreds of years before His birth, were so specific, and so unexpected as to eliminate any chance they were fulfilled by accident.

A whole chorus of prophetic witnesses sing in unison that Jesus was God in the flesh. Isaiah says, “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14; see Matthew 1:23). Jesus wore the name “Immanuel,” which means, “God with us.” Could His deity be any more clearly prophesied? Isaiah’s refrain continues calling Jesus, “Mighty God, Everlasting Father.” (Isaiah 9:6). Malachi adds his voice to the chorus singing, “The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple.” Jesus was not just a prophet, not just a great leader, but “the Lord!” After a great man dies people look back and wonder what made him special. We don’t have to do that with Jesus. Before He was ever born we were told what made Him unique, He was God in the flesh.

Certainty From Miracles The powerful miracles Jesus worked also affirm His deity. You say, “Many people worked miracles in the Bible, and they weren’t divine.” True. The miracles Jesus worked showed He was from God, but did they prove He was God? Oh yes. The ability to perform miracles were never so focused within one person, and they testify that Jesus alone possesses the attributes of God. Only He had total mastery over the physical universe: He walked on water, healed the sick, turned water to wine, and raised the dead. Only He had absolute dominion over the spiritual universe: He cast out demons, and forgave sins. Only He could know what was in someone’s heart before they spoke it. Only He could fully know a person He never met. Only He could see a person without using physical eyes. The signs recorded in the gospel provide ample evidence to believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:30-31).

Certainty From The Cross In a moving way we are brought face to face with the deity of Jesus at the cross. The events of that day layer together to vividly illustrate that the Man on that Cross was Someone significant. The sun darkened at noon, the earth quaked, the rocks split, the veil was torn in two, giving proof that Jesus was no mere man. Even more telling is the character of the One on the cross. He forgave His executioners, extended salvation to a dying criminal, and selflessly cared for His grieving mother.

When Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him,” he was absolutely correct. Jesus was perfectly sinless. Even his enemies could not accuse Him of a single sin. Jesus was the expression of God’s perfect purity. Yet, on the cross He willingly suffered so others might live. While heaven and earth wept at the injustice of it all, a pagan, Roman soldier could not contain the truth, “Truly, this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39). I’m not sure he completely understood what that meant, but since that day millions have looked at that Man on the cross and came to the same conclusion. “Jesus, who, being in the form of God…equal with God… became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8).

Certainty From The Resurrection The crowning evidence of Jesus’ deity is His resurrection. The Bible says in Romans 1:4, “Jesus Christ our Lord was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead.” How do we know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Because no one else has the kind of power that can conquer death. The empty tomb says that death is not a culde- sac, it’s a highway. He who had life in Himself could not be held by the chains of death. He is the only one in history to die, be raised back to life, never to die again. Even the most doubtful skeptic can look at the nail scarred, resurrected body of Jesus and echo the testimony of Thomas, “My Lord, and My God!” (John 20:28).

The evidence of Jesus’ deity is so overwhelming that in the end it’s not really He on trial, but us. Since Jesus is God then I can know He has the power to save me. I can know His word is true. I can know He will be my ultimate judge. The real question then is not, “Is Jesus God?” but “Is Jesus my Lord?”