The Deity Of The Lord Jesus Christ

by J. Drain | Category: The Deity Of The Lord Jesus Christ | Sept 1956

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus was an outstanding event in the workings of God which are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Here was a man who for a time had a deep and bitter hatred for the Person whom he knew as Jesus. But, when it pleased God to reveal His Son to Saul and in him, a remarkable change took place. Immediately after his conversion, "he proclaimed Jesus, that He is the Son of God" (Acts 9.20). Paul accounted all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord. What knowledge had Paul of Christ? Let us examine some statements which he was moved by the Holy Spirit to write.

In Romans 9 Paul refers to his kinsmen according to the flesh, "who are Israelites." He traces some of the privileges and blessings which belonged to that people, and he includes "of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever" (Romans 9.5). The line through which the Seed promised in Eden was to come was narrowed by the revelation of God to Abraham. "Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his Seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of One, and to thy Seed, which is Christ" (Galatians 3.16). Christ, concerning the flesh, was of the line of Abraham, and of the Israel people, and also of the seed of David, but He was also "over all, God blessed for ever, Amen." He is God. Could language be plainer? Could truth be more definitely and dogmatically stated? Christ is God.

Exhorting the saints of God in the Church in Philippi Paul wrote, "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." He focuses the attention upon Christ Jesus, and then he says of Him, "Who,

being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God" (Philippians 2.6). In the margin of the Revised Version we see that the word "being" means "being originally." It has the thought of being aforetime and continuing to be. Christ always was and never ceased to be in the form of God. The word" form "is related to essence and nature. The meaning is so vital to the subject that we quote from three well-known scholars. Trench says that it is the utterance of the inner life, the mode of existence, and only God could have the existence of God. Lightfoot says that it is the one form proper to the thing or person, and it cannot change as long as the nature is the same. Gifford says that it is the divine nature actually and inseparably subsisting in the Person of Christ. Gifford continues to say, "For the interpretation of 'the form of God' it is sufficient to say that-

(1)it includes the whole nature and essence of Deity and is inseparable from them, since they could have no actual existence without it;

(2)that it does not include in itself anything accidental or separable, such as particular modes of manifestation, or conditions of glory and majesty, which may at one time be attached to the form, at another separate from it.

(3)The Son of God could not possibly divest Himself of' the form of God' at His incarnation without thereby ceasing to be God.

Whatever shades of difference exist between these definitions there is agreement in substance. Thus it follows from the expressions used by Paul that whatever changes may have taken place as a result of Christ Jesus emptying Himself and becoming in the likeness of men, He is essentially of the Being and Nature of God. Christ Jesus is God.

It is evident from an epistle, such as that to the Colossians, that in Paul's time there were those who by heretical teaching were seeking to dislodge Christ from His place as the Creator and sole Mediator between God and men. Writing concerning Christ, Paul asserts in Colossians 1. 18-17:

(1)He is "the Son of His (God the Father's) love."

He is absolutely of the same substance as the Father.

(2)He is "the Image of the invisible God." He is the absolute likeness of God.

(3)He is "the Firstborn of all creation."

He takes absolute priority of all creation.

(4)He is the One in whom, through whom, and unto whom "all things have been created."

He is absolute Creator.

(5)"He is before all things."

He is One of absolute existence.

(6)" In Him all things consist." He is One of absolute power.

Some would have us believe that these words refer to one who is a created being. Paul says of the One to whom these words apply,

In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians

2.9). All that God is, Christ is. Every attribute and every characteristic of Deity are in Christ. He is " of the full Deity possessed, eternally divine."

After the fall of man in the sin of Adam, the revelation of God to man was of a progressive nature. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (generally thought to be Paul) shows that the revelation of God has reached its crisis in Christ. God has spoken in One who is SON. Of Him Paul writes: "Who being the Effulgence of His glory." The glory will include the aggregate of all the attributes of God. Of these attributes, each of which has the infinitude of Deity, Christ is the Effulgence. He is not merely the reflection of them. He is the Radiation.

"And the very Image of His substance" (Hebrews 1.8). The substance is the essence, the essential Being of which glory may be a manifestation. Of the essential Being of God the Father, Christ the Son is the exact expression. Can any dare to think of these descriptions as applying to a created being? Sad it is that many do! They seem to be unable to distinguish between what is necessary to the manifestation of absolute Deity, and what is proper to the manifestation of created being and intelligence.

In demonstrating the superiority of Christ over such important created beings as angels, Paul says, "For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee?" (Hebrews 1.5). Only One stands to God in this relationship of the only begotten Son. The greatest being in the angelic hierarchy does not share it. It is a unique, unshared, unoriginated relationship. "Thou art My Son." There never was a time when He was not the Son. The eternal Sonship of Christ is involved in the eternally present "Thou art." We cannot get beyond it. We cannot get behind it. "This day have I begotten Thee." "This day" stands in relation to the eternal "Thou art." Ever begotten, Thou art.

We observe also the very impressive words quoted of Christ from Psalm 45: "But of the Son He saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever" (Hebrews 1.8). Words could not possibly state more definitely the Deity of Christ. He is explicitly addressed as " 0 God," the divine Occupant of the throne of Deity.

The apostle John had the privilege of being one of those who went about with the Lord Jesus during the time that He was on earth. Towards the close of his life John wrote, "We have beheld and bear witness, that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4.14). "God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him" (1 John 4.9). The blessed Person who by His accomplished work on earth secured salvation for men and women, and who gives life to those who believe in Him, is God the only begotten Son. Having finished His work on earth, He has gone back to heaven in resurrection triumph and glory. And He is coming again. To Titus Paul wrote, "Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2.18). The closing book of the Bible is The Revelation of Jesus Christ-this glorious Person who is our great God and Saviour. He says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 22.18). He was God's faithful Witness on earth. He is the Firstborn of the dead; He will be the Ruler of the kings of the earth. And He is the One who is coming. He stands out as the divine and sovereign Executor of God's purposes in creation, in revelation, in salvation and in administration.

We need not wonder that the truth of the Deity of Christ has been assailed. In Paul's day there were already in existence the doctrines of demons. And he speaks of seducing spirits. How do these work? "Through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies" (1 Timothy 4.2). John tells us, "Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also" (1 John 2.22, 28). There is in the world-today a vast array of religious organizations, varying much in what they teach, but united in one central Satanic objective and boast-the repudiation of the truth of the Deity of Christ. Here those labelled Christian Scientists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Unitarians, Modernists, join hands. Whatever place they deign to give to Christ in their schemes and creeds, He is not God the Son. Many of them, claiming progress through modern research and knowledge, give but a rehash of heresies which were refuted in early centuries of the present dispensation. Some of them practise baptism, and immerse their fellows in water. That disciples of the Lord Jesus should be baptized in water is perfectly clear in the Scriptures. Giving commandment for such the Lord said, "Baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit " (Matthew 28.19). Observe, into the NAME, not names! "The Name" has been defined as "the expression of the sum total of the divine Being." The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are equal. But according to the teaching of such persons as those called Jehovah's Witnesses, we have, "Into the name of the Father (divine Being) and of the Son (a created being) and of the Holy Spirit (a mere influence)." In seeking to bolster up what is taught by some of these organizations,. reference is frequently made to private translations of the Scriptures. Let none be misled by this device.

However profound and inexplicable may be the truth of the Deity of Christ, and whatever apparent difficulties may attach to matters affecting the manifestations of Christ, let us hold fast to the clear and complete testimony of the Scriptures that Jesus is God. This was the faith of the apostles. This was the faith of the noble men and women who suffered martyrdom rather than deny God their Saviour. This has been the faith of many men unsurpassed in scholarship and scientific attainment. Let our grateful testimony ring clear in the words of Thomas: "MY LORD AND MY GOD."

J. Drain | Sept 1956
The Deity Of The Lord Jesus Christ