The fact that a man named Jesus who lived nearly 2000 years ago in the land just east of the Mediterranean Sea cannot be successfully denied. The question that effects each human being is: Was he merely another human being, or was He (as is commonly claimed) the Son of God? If he was but a man, he ought to be rejected and ignored; but if He was the Son of God, then every human being ought to seek and follow His every word. Thus, was He or was he not the Son of God?
HIS PRE-EXISTENCE PROVES THAT HE IS GOD. If Jesus existed before He existed on earth in the form of a man (yea, even since eternity), then Jesus is God (for only God has such a pre-existence). The Scriptures reveal that Jesus did have such a pre-existence. In Matthew 22:41-46 the question was pressed “How could Jesus be both, David’s Lord (i.e., before David) and David’s descendant (i.e., after David)?” The answer was in the dual nature of Jesus: He was man born after David, but He was also God who existed before David. Thus, Jesus had a pre-existence as God!
CLAIMS BY GOD THE FATHER PROVE THAT HE IS GOD. If God the Father declared that Jesus was the Son of God, then Jesus is God. God the Father, who neither was mistaken nor lying, announced for all mankind to know that “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mat. 3:17). This statement, along with the same exclamation in Matthew 17:5, makes clear that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.
JESUS’ OWN CLAIMS PROVE THAT HE WAS THE SON OF GOD. In Mark 2:9-12, Jesus established that He was God by forgiving a man of his sins (something of which only God can do) and confirmed His statement by performing the miracle of healing the lame man’s legs. Also, in Matthew 26:63-65, He affirmed in His trial that He was the Son of God. Then, in John 20:27-29, following His resurrection, Thomas called Him God, of which Jesus accepted. Yes, Jesus’ own claims (which are endorsed by the Holy Spirit Who inspired the writing of the Bible) prove that He was God.
Was this man who lived 2000 years ago the Son of God or not? The inspired Word of God makes clear that He is the Son of God. Thus, every human being ought to seek and follow His every word, for “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).
Gary Henson