The divinity of Jesus Christ

The divinity of Jesus Christ is the cardinal Christian doctrine. This Christological teaching lies at the heart of Christian theology. We need to turn to the Holy Bible to study this truth. God, being what he is – holy, sovereign, gracious and forgiving – came to save mankind from sin. He came to this sin-sick world to redeem mankind from the condemnation of sin. He prophesied about sending his sinless Son, Jesus, to this world, who would take away the sins of man and pay the ransom price for sin. St John wrote in his gospel: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son so that whosoever believe in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). Sin must be punished or paid for. A sinful man cannot redeem himself or pay the price for his sin. Because of sin, everything in man got corrupted. Man is alienated or estranged from holy God. Nothing on the part of man can reconcile man to God. Every sin committed by man goes against God. So the remedy for sin must come from God. Christ, the sinless Son of God, paid that ransom for man. His sinless life was the only acceptable offer to God for sin. God sent his eternal and sinless Son to the world for this vicarious suffering and atonement for mankind.

Paul wrote about Christ: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The clause “to be sin for us” means that God made his Son Jesus the bearer of the sins of all mankind, and as such, he took upon himself the punishment that was due for us. The penalty for sin is death. Jesus’s death on the cross was the vicarious death; he became our substitute. He bore the punishment that was due to us for our sins. God is immortal; he does not die. In order that the divine Son of God might die so that the price for sin is paid, he came to the world as a human person. Without Jesus’ humanity, we cannot think of God’s love for man. In the epistle to the Philippians, Paul wrote about Jesus Christ thus: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11). There are about 400 prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament. Many titles and epithets are used in the Bible about him.
Jesus was self-conscious about his divinity. His virgin birth, his sinless life, unique and authoritative teachings, his authority over nature, his authority to forgive sin, all his miracles, his resurrection from the death, his ascension to heaven, and above all his selfless love, kindness and so on and so forth-- all testify to his uniqueness and divine origin. It is true that he himself did not explicitly say, “I am God.” But his divinity is manifested and proclaimed in everything pertaining to him.
He is the eternal Word of God. John wrote, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' The entire New Testament is a commentary on Jesus’ holy life and wondrous work for the salvation of man from the bondage to sin. Colossians 1:16-17 says, 'He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born over all creation.'  For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers, rulers or authorities … He is before all things and in him all things hold together.”  The Bible teaches that Christ will also be the Judge of all in the end (Colossians 4:1). This is rather a modest attempt to talk about the deity of Christ. The Holy Scriptures contain great teachings on this subject. The first prophecy in the Bible testifies to Christ as “the seed” or “offspring of the woman”: God said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, and he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  This is considered the mother of all Biblical prophecies. God refers to Christ here as the offspring of woman, implying Christ’s divinity and Immaculate Conception. After Satan (the devil) brought death to the world, God cursed Satan and prophesied about Christ destroying the works of Satan, which is death and destruction. Because of Christ’s deity, he is able to reconcile alienated man to God, for nothing else would avail.
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers, rulers or authorities … He is before all things and in him all things hold together.”  The Bible teaches that Christ will also be the Judge of all in the end (Colossians 4:1). This is rather a modest attempt to talk about the deity of Christ. The Holy Scriptures contain great teachings on this subject. The first prophecy in the Bible testifies to Christ as “the seed” or “offspring of the woman”: God said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, and he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  This is considered the mother of all Biblical prophecies. God refers to Christ here as the offspring of woman, implying Christ’s divinity and Immaculate Conception. After Satan (the devil) brought death to the world, God cursed Satan and prophesied about Christ destroying the works of Satan, which is death and destruction. Because of Christ’s deity, he is able to reconcile alienated man to God, for nothing else would avail.
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The writer is a Christian Theology teacher and Church leader