“What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” 
 
The core of the Christian faith revolves around a pivotal question:
Is Jesus truly God?

The question of who is Jesus Christ is the most important question. The Holy Spirit has declared that He is God in John chapter 1. The early disciples declared that He is God in John chapter 1. John the Baptist declared that He is the Lamb of God, the Messiah, the Savior early in the gospel of John. His authority over the Temple was a declaration that He is divine. His miracles are proof that He is divine. His omniscience, the fact that He knows what people think and He knows their history, never having met them, indications of His omniscience show that He is God. And John covers all of that.

According to Christian belief, Jesus is considered to be both fully man and fully God. This belief is based on various passages in the Bible that suggest Jesus’ divinity.

The Bible states that Jesus is unique in both His person and His purpose. He is referred to as both God’s Son and God Himself in human flesh. Jesus claimed to be God, stating that He existed before Abraham, that He and His Father are one, and that He is equal with the Father. Additionally, Jesus’ identity is not solely based on what He says but also on what He does, including fulfilling prophecies, performing miracles, and living a sinless life.

In John 5:17- 47, Jesus speaks directly to them, directly to the leaders. The purpose of the entire section is to declare to them that He is in fact God, that He is the Messiah, and more, He is God.

The indirect evidence of Scripture also supports Jesus’ divinity, as the names of God are often applied to Him.

It is important to note that the belief in Jesus’ divinity is part of the doctrine of the Trinity, which states that within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three co-equal and co-eternal persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit..

Jesus is God

If someone claims to be saved (born again) and bound for heaven they have to believe Jesus is God, if not they are not saved. The Bible clearly states Jesus is God without a doubt. So when witnessing to people who are involved in a cult or false religion and they claim Jesus is not God they are not saved. This is definitely a salvation issue.

Jesus claimed to be God according to the New Testament. While the precise words “I am God” are not recorded, Jesus made statements that implied His divinity. For example, in the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” and “I and the Father are one”. These statements indicate His divine nature and equality with God.

Furthermore, Jesus’ followers believed Him to be God. The provision of salvation through Jesus only works if He is God. The New Testament also refers to Jesus as the eternal Alpha and Omega, God our Savior, and the Word who became flesh

John begins his Gospel by stating, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This verse establishes several important facts. It affirms that the Word, Jesus, existed from the very beginning and was with God. It also declares that the Word is God Himself.

By referring to Jesus as “The Word,” John emphasizes His divine nature and His role in creation. The Word is the one through whom all things were made (John 1:3). This concept aligns with the opening verse of Genesis, which states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). John’s use of the term “The Word” highlights Jesus’ eternal existence and His active involvement in the creation of the universe.
Later in the same chapter, John further clarifies that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). This refers to the incarnation of Jesus, where He took on human form and lived among humanity. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus revealed God’s glory and fulfilled God’s plan of redemption.

In summary, “The Word” in John 1:1 refers to Jesus, emphasizing His divine nature, His role in creation, and His incarnation as the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation

No writer ever made more of an issue of this than John.  John tells us that Jesus repeatedly said that He had a right to do whatever He wanted on the Sabbath because He, like God, was Lord of the Sabbath.  He said that He and His Father were one.  He said that any man who knows Me knows My Father, and who knows the Father knows Me.  He said anyone who honors Me honors the Father, anyone who truly honors the Father honors Me.  He said if you’ve seen Me you’ve seen the Father.  He said in John chapter 8, chapter 5 both that He was equal in power, equal in authority, equal in judgment, equal in works, equal in honor with God the Father.  In every sense Jesus is God.  That’s why over in verse 43 of Luke 1 it is said, “And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”  This isn’t the mother of just someone human. This is the mother of the Lord Himself.  Chapter 2 of Luke and verse 11, “Today in the city of David there has been for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” When the angel came to Joseph to announce to Joseph, the engaged-to-be husband of Mary, the angel said to Joseph, “This child will be called Immanuel,” El, those two words, E and L, is God in Hebrew, this is God with us, God with us.  ~ John MacArthur

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. ~ Luke 1:35

Read more about Jesus being God – Click Here

  
Read / Listen

Numbers 21:1-22:20
Luke 1:26-56
Psalm 57:1-11
Proverbs 11:9-11

 

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New Testament

Luke 1:26-56

Summary
Birth of Jesus Foretold
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat
  

The human nature of Christ is here called a “thing”; for it was not a person; it never subsisted of itself, but was taken at once into union with the person of the Son of God, otherwise there would be two persons in Christ, whereas he is God, and man, in one person; and it is said to be “holy”, being free from that original pollution and sin, in which all that descend from Adam, by ordinary generation, are conceived, and brought forth; and is, moreover, said to be born of a virgin, “of thee”, or “out of thee”. Christ’s flesh was formed out of the Virgin’s; he took flesh of her; his body did not descend from heaven, or pass through her, as water through a pipe, as some heretics of old said: nor did his human nature, either as to soul or body, pre-exist his incarnation; but in the fulness of time he was made of a woman, and took a true body of her, and a reasonable soul, into union with his divine person; and “therefore should be called the Son of God”: not that he was now to become the “the Son of God”; he was so before his incarnation, and even from all eternity; but he was now to be manifested as such in human nature: nor does the angel predict, that he should, for this reason, be called the Son of God; for he never was, on this account, so called, either by himself, or others: nor is the particle, “therefore”, causal, but consequential: the angel is not giving a reason why Christ should be the Son of God, but why he should be owned, and acknowledged, as such by his people: who would infer, and conclude from his wonderful conception and birth, that He is the “Emmanuel”, God with us, the child that was to be born, and the Son given, whose name should be Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God. Isaiah 7:14. Moreover, the word, “also”, is not to be overlooked; and the sense is, that seeing that human nature, which should be born of the virgin, would be united to the Son of God, it likewise should bear the same name, being in personal union with him, who was so from all eternity. ~ John Gill
  

 

 

 

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Two Bethlehems – Luke 1:26-35 – Our Daily Bread

 

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Listen to John MacArthur on today’s scripture below:

Mark by John MacArthur

 

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