INTRODUCTION
We are in a generation where many Christians cannot defend the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to non-Christians because of their limited knowledge on the person they call Lord and Savior. This limited knowledge on the person of Jesus Christ, has even led many away from Christ, or doubt about their salvation. But as you journey through this article, I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes of understanding to see and know Jesus Christ. Jesus being the Christ, Son of God, and God is very confusing to non-Christians, and to some Christians. But before going into this topics discussion, let us look at what the Bible says about the creation of man. Knowing man, will give us some understanding about the nature of God since man was created in the image and likeness of God Himself.
MAN
The Bible says God created man in his own image and likeness with the dust of the ground. When God created man, he was in a lifeless state (without life), and then God breathed into his nostrils a breathe of life, and man became a living soul.
The soul is the seat of emotions, passions, desires, appetites, and all feelings. While man's spirit is the seat of intellect, will, conscience, and other invisible faculties that make him a free moral agent and a rational being. This tell us that even man has three folds, the body; which is made of the dust of the ground, the soul and the spirit which are immortal. If man is three in one, so the question of Holy Trinity shouldn't be a problem.
The closest human being to you or whom you can see now may be your father, mother or even your child. But the truth is, you have never seen or met any person even if you can hold or touch them physically.The real person of a man is the soul and the spirit, but not the body. At death, our bodies return to the dust of the ground, while our souls and spirits go to their eternal homes (Heaven or Hell). These bodies we care for so much, ends on this earth at our deaths, but on the resurrection day, we will be clothed again with new bodies that are eternal. Therefore, the body is only a jacket for the real person - the soul and the spirit. Man has a body, soul and spirit but he is not a body, instead a spirit being with soul.
THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
The Torah or the Pentateuch are the first five Books in the Bible written by Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Bible also tell us that God appeared to Moses on Mount Sanai like a burning fire. And God identified himself to Moses as "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob",( Exodus 3:6).
In ancient Egypt, there were many gods, and each god had a given name(s). Moses grew up in that culture, and because of that, when God sent him to Pharoah to let the Israelites go, he further asked God his other unique name. And God again answered him in Hebrew, EHEYEH ASHER EHEYEH, means I AM THAT I AM, Exodus 3:14. I AM THAT I AM mean self-existent or Eternal Creator, which also means Jehovah-Elohim.
In our daily conversations with others, many times we use these words; "I am", but when it comes to spiritual sides, no human being ever used these words except Jesus Christ, because the words are deity (God's nature).
In the Bible, and across the entire four gospels, we have seen many times Jesus Christ used the words I AM. For example, Jesus Christ said:
I am the way, John 14:6 I am the life, John 14:6 I am the truth, John 14:6 I am the light, John 9:5 I am the gate, John 10:9 I am the resurrection, John 11:25 I am the beginning and the ending, Revelation 22:13
Jesus also said, verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:58 KJV.
Here too, Jesus never said I was, but I am; just like when God told Moses "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob". Which means, before these people, I exist; self-existent or Eternal Creator; Jehovah-Elohim.
The deity of Jesus Christ cannot be disputed; because it is not a fiction or fictitious. Even the Quran has made some undisputed remarkable assertions on the person of Jesus Christ which it gives to no one else in the entire Quran. These remakes are nothing else but only the deity of Jesus Christ.
1. He was born of a Virgin – Surah 3:45-47; Surah 19:17-21.
The Quran also agreed with the Bible on this virgin birth of Jesus Christ. This is what we called incarnation (God became a man), and also Jesus without human father; out of Adam's bloodline.
2. He was the Word of God – Surah 4:171.
The Quran also stated that God created the heaven and the earth with spoken words, which is also true in the Bible. The very word of God is himself, and the Quran also tell us that Jesus Christ is really the word of God, which means he is God.
3. He was a Spirit from God – Surah 4:171.
The Bible tell us that God is Spirit, and the Quran believed that Jesus is the Spirit of God, then who is Jesus? The hard fact is, he is God.
4. He was Faultless (Sinless) – Surah 19:19.
The Bible says all human beings from Adam to to the most newest baby are all sinners, except Jesus Christ because his origin is not from Adam. Jesus Christ is perfect, and the only perfect self-existent being is God. This verse also confirmed the deity of Jesus Christ as perfect God.
5. He was the Messiah – Surah 4:171.
The Quran believed that Jesus Christ is the Messiah; means Savior. A sinner cannot save a sinner, but only someone without sin can save the sinner. Here too, the Quran confirmed that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and also without a sin.
JESUS CHRIST SON OF GOD
The only way human beings and animals can reproduce it's kind is through fertilization. This fertilization can be internal or external. The internal fertilization can happen through sexual intercourse, or insemination; the introduction of semen into a female by natural or artificial means for the purpose of fertilization. While the external fertilization is when semen and egg are kept in a special chamber by artificial means for the purpose of fertilization.
The above fertilization processes can only take place among those that are mortal; men and animals. The Bible says God is not a man or animal, but Spirit being. So is very wrong to limit or lower God to human or animal level when it comes to fertilization. So Jesus being the Son of God has nothing to do with these fertilization processes mentioned.
Before going in depth of Jesus being the Son of God, let us pause and look at other natures of God.
Omnipotent God: all powerful, unlimited power, supreme, able to do anything.
Omnipresent God: He is present everywhere at the same time. God can be in Heaven and at the same time on the earth.
Omniscient God: all-knowing, all-wise, and all-seeing God. God knows what each of us think at the same time, no one can fool Him, he see everyone of us, and every places too at the same time.
John 1:1-3, 14 KJV
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
From the above verses, the word has being existing in dateless past, the same Word created the heaven and the earth, and the same Word is God. That same Word became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.The Bible says, God sent His Angel Gabriel onto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth to a virgin Mary, that she will conceive a son, and call him Jesus. God gave His word to Gabriel, and Gabriel delivered the word to Mary.
For every spoken word must have power (spirit) for it to be effective, and work. For example, you have two kids living very distant from you, One of them is your kid, and the other is not. When you call them to come, your kid will come but the other may not. If the other kid chooses not to come, it is because he sees no power (spirit) in your word, but your kid does.
Genesis 1:2 KJV.
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
From the above verse, we can see the move of the Holy Spirit fixing and quickening what was immersed in the waters before God said let there be. This can tell us that without the Holy Spirit (the power of God), the Word of God cannot do nothing. Likewise too, Holy Spirit cannot do any work where there is no Word of God.
God gave his word to Gabriel, and the Angel delivered the word to Mary, and she accepted the word. But for the word of God to be the child and alive, the Holy Spirit must be involved. Remember, it was the Word of God that became flesh, and the Holy Spirit is the life in that flesh; the word.
As human beings, we carry our biological parents DNA, (mostly fathers). Because of our DNA too, we also know our origins. Since Jesus Christ has no human father, the very life in him is the Spirit of God, which is the Holy Spirit. If God is Spirit, and Jesus is that Spirit of God, then who is Jesus Christ? He is the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the Son of God because he was from God himself.
Someone can say if Jesus Christ is God, then who was in Heaven that he prayed to?
Secondly, if God left Heaven and came to the earth in the person of Jesus Christ, then there must be no God in Heaven while Jesus was on the earth.
The answer to both questions are the same. Remember that God is omnipresent; he can be in Heaven and on the earth at the same time.Someone can also say how possible can God become in the form of a man?
Again! Remember that He is omnipotent; all powerful, and able to do anything.
Finally, no matter how apologetic we are, let us not forget that the Gospel; which is the Good News, is the main subject; Jesus Christ is truly the Savior of the world, and this should be our focus.