A few months ago I had an interesting visit from a couple of older Jehovah Witnesses. They were polite and so was I. They wanted to talk about the tragic world situation; I wanted to talk
about Jesus. I told them that I didn’t want to dwell on the past because I would be inclined to talk about the many unfulfilled prophecies of the Jehovah Witness writings, but I would talk about my future with Jesus Christ who came to earth fully God and fully man, died on the cross for my sins, and has given me, through my acceptance of Him, assurance of an eternity in heaven. We had a little discussion after that, but they seemed less inclined to stay on our porch.
We didn’t even get into the biggest sticking point between Christianity and every other “religion” in the world- the deity of Christ. All the major religions believe in the person of Christ, but they do not see Him as God incarnate. Skeptics say that the trinity and the deity of Christ are not overtly mentioned in the Bible, but the overall body of evidence is overwhelming- Jesus is part of the triune Godhead and He, in fact, is God. Let’s just look at a few of the many verses that illustrate this truth.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1
The cults try to change the translation of this verse, but language scholars are in agreement that this is how this verse should be translated. We not only see that Jesus was “In the beginning” but that He was God in the beginning. Jesus was not just a god, but He is God. That is a huge difference.
John also tells us that there is only one God, and that there will never be another god, or anyone equal to Him. The Jews became angry and wanted to kill Jesus for calling God His personal Father, and making Himself EQUAL to God (John 5:18). Jesus also said the words, “I and the Father are one,” and the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill Him. When Jesus asked them for which miracle were they stoning Him, they replied, “We are not stoning you for any of these, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” Christ does not disagree with them, but replies, “Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” (John 10:30-38)
Even Christ’s followers referred to Jesus as God. After Thomas touched the resurrected Christ he said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28) He addresses Jesus as Jehovah God, and even though worship is reserved for God alone, Jesus does not correct Thomas. He accepts the worship. Christ had made it very clear throughout His ministry that we are to ONLY worship God (Matthew 4:10), yet He accepts worship from His disciples (Matthew 28:9), from the crowds (John 9:35-38), and even from the angels in Heaven (Hebrews 1:6). That is a lot of worship that either He deserves or deserves to be stoned for.
Jesus spoke and acted as God. He openly accepted worship, forgave sins, counted Himself equal to God, performed miracles, met all prophecies regarding his coming and as Paul said “He was all the fullness of God in bodily form.” Jesus was not just a teacher or good man. If that were the case, He was a bad man because He falsely portrayed Himself as worthy of worship. Worse yet, He would have allowed millions to put total trust in His words for eternal life. Do I understand His deity completely? No, but I believe the scriptures clearly teach it and it is imperative in knowing the true Christ. As He Himself said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but by me.” To accept Him is to accept Him for Who He is.
Like I told my JW visitors as they left, there is nothing more awesome or reassuring than knowing the great God of this universe became a man on my behalf, died for my sins, and as God incarnate undid what man has done by giving us access to the Father. No one else has ever claimed what He claimed; No one else has ever done what He did. He is what makes what believers believe, believable.