To state that Jesus was fully and only man when he walked this earth is to invoke the assumption that his deity is being denied. If as a man he was not God, how could he be divine? That’s a question that must be answered if we are to avoid much confusion and rightfully understand the nature of Christ in relation to God.
Sadly, when trying to search out and present the answer, there’s a problem. Because the answer advanced differs from traditional notions, a normal reaction is to reject it out of hand without a fair, objective hearing. This is natural and we confess to having done the same, but God help us to not jump to unfounded conclusions. Let’s remember that as disciples we are all commanded to carefully seek out the truth by our common Savior. Do we not all acknowledge the Bible to be the depository of all God’s revelation, accurate to the last jot and tittle, providing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, never contradictory when properly understood? Have we not all admitted our own sinful estate and trusted the One who could change our eternal destiny? Have we not been born again by the holy spirit of God and experienced His power to change our lives? Do we not rest and rejoice in the promises of a God who cannot lie or fail to bring about His intentions? Yet haven’t we discovered how helpless and error prone we are in ourselves apart from God’s marvelous grace. Have we not all had to be corrected many times? With all this in mind, we beg the reader to not write us off but to search out and evaluate all we say.
In regard to our question, seldom is the deity of Christ investigated in the full light of all that the Bible reveals about it. Normally the existing cultural teaching is accepted. Rather than diligently searching the scriptures objectively, it is easier to rely on hearsay, be it creeds or the preaching and writings of men. This is not to diminish any who have labored to arrive at truth; but it is a reminder that men, no matter what their rank and station, are fallible and subject to error. Our teaching can only reflect what we have been taught, whether right or wrong, as evidenced by so many conflicting scriptural views causing so much division in Christendom today. Tragically, once a misconception over scripture is affirmed to be true, it can spread like a contagious disease, blinding those infected to the cause of their error. Such, we believe, happened at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. when the Trinitarian doctrine was conceived. Over the centuries this speculation by men to explain God has become so entrenched in popular thought that to question it is to be thought heretical. Perhaps this is a major reason so few dare take issue with it; to question presumptions, to honestly challenge majority opinion, to risk disfavor, such runs against our natural bent. But if we are to arrive at the truth, we must hold to scripture alone no matter how much it goes against the grain of popular thought. Do we dare do this? We dare not. What follows is, as briefly and straightforwardly as we can explain it, what we are convinced is God’s answer. But again, don’t take our word for it; search it out for yourself.
First, as we have noted from Isaiah 46:10 and elsewhere, God planned from before creation to become identified by means of Christ Jesus. Consider I Peter 1:20:
He [Christ] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. [That is, God decreed beforehand the birth and life of His Son in whom He would indwell, and when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His son born of a woman, born under the Law, according to Gal. 4:4].
Second, apart from condescending to us in human terms, God necessarily had to remain unknowable for He "alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see." Question: If God, invisible and immutable, was to be known by means of His Son, what would He need to do? Answer: He would have to indwell the spirit of Jesus, enlighten him, motivate him, be behind all his words and actions. In short, He would literally clothe Himself in the body of His Son who willingly trusted and obeyed his Father. Yes, God was truly incarnate in His Son; the name Immanuel (God with us) in Isaiah 7:14 spoke of God in Christ. What’s more, if God was to be known by His Son, He would do all in the name of His Son, crediting him even with His miraculous works and titles. Viewed in this way, the divinity of Christ takes on a new light in scriptures that appear to make him God in himself. For instance, note Col. 1:15-18 NKJV that identifies Christ with the work of Creation.
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16) For by [better "in"] Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18) And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19) For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20) and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." [NOTE THIS: The Greek word “en” translated “by” in verse 16 is most often rendered as “in.” Though it is legitimately translated "by" oftentimes, we think it is a mistake to use it here as we will try to explain below.
Some questions are in order. Do we not believe there is only one God, one creator? Then, if we make Christ himself creator according to the above passage, how do we reconcile the many instances in Isaiah and elsewhere that insist that Jehovah alone is God and creator? Are they one and the same? One might conclude as much from comparing Isaiah 45:23. speaking of Jehovah, and Philippians 2:10, speaking of Christ, where it is said of each, "every knee shall bow." Indeed, they are both also said to be our "Savior." But how can that be? Only by recognizing that in Christ there are two natures, that of humanity and that of Deity, each distinct from the other. As Jesus instructed Phillip in John 14:10, "Do you not believe that I am IN the Father, and the Father in Me?" Surely, "God was in Christ" according to II Cor. 5:19. But let's also remember that Christ was IN the Father: "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world" (I Pet. 1:20). He was the very centerpiece of God's plan that God would execute "in the fullness of time when He sent forth His son" (Gal. 4:4), when in declaring the end from the beginning He promised "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." (Isaiah 46:10). Sure enough, God did! God would make every scripture find its fulfillment in Christ. Determining to make Himself known in all His fullness, God would be IN Christ all that Christ was said to be IN Him. Regarding Col. 1:16 above, hopefully this should help explain why "IN Him all things were created." As the Son, he is being credited with the Deity of the Father in Him.
To be the perfect image of God, Christ had to reflect Him in all His majesty while making clear his own role of humanity. Christ came to reveal the Father. The Father determined to be known by His Son. We need to ponder this. Are they not two sides of one coin? Surely God continued to be one and the same when He indwelled Christ. He had not given His glory to another god; He had simply indwelled His Son to make Himself known in human terms. Christ was the human means by which his Father's Deity could be manifested. To worship him is to worship the Father because his Deity is that of the Father.
Third, we need to distinguish between the humiliation of Christ and his later exaltation to the right hand of God. Here I Cor. 15:42-49 is instructive.
"So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man."
The passage not only speaks of Christ, that he is the firstborn of many brethren, but of us. We are reminded of 2Cor 5:16:
Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
There is a profound difference between his humiliation and his exaltation, true in his life just as in ours. Like us who believe, on this earth he walked in dependence by faith regarding the promises and spirit of his Father, but after his ascension he entered into the glory promised him and became a life-giving spirit. Having been given the name above every name, Christ in union with God the Father will rule as Lord in the coming kingdom of God until the Day of God when all things having been subdued to him, even death, he shall be subject to God so that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15:24-28).
In view of all this, certainly we may attribute deity to Christ, the deity of his Father in him. We do well to remember the life of Joseph, how ultimately he was given all authority by the Pharaoh though not displacing him. For Joseph to give a command was just as if the Pharaoh had decreed it. So it is with Christ who has been given all authority by God. Let us remember the order of God as set forth in I Cor. 11:3, “the head of every man is Christ . . . and the head of Christ is God." Yes, Christ is subordinate to God but he is clearly in authority over us as our God.
To hopefully clarify all this even more, perhaps it will help to ask a simple question. Where was God the Father during the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? The answer must be that He was indwelling Jesus’ physical body. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself ” (II Corn. 5:19). Can it be said any more clearly? God the Father indwelled Christ every moment from His baptism until the third hour on the Cross when God had to forsake His Son in order to judge the sins of the world laid upon Him, after which He raised Christ from the dead, now ascended into Heaven, given all power and authority to rule as Lord of lords and King of kings in the coming Millennium.
Do you believe this? Then what are we to think of the prevailing view that assigns Christ a deity of his own, crediting him, for instance, with omniscience and omnipotence in such instances as when he saw Nathaniel under the fig tree or when he stilled the waters of the Sea of Galilee? If God was in Christ where is the need for Christ himself to be God? Jesus surely didn’t think so when He said,
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. [i.e., miracles].” John 14:10.
Do the words of Jesus mean anything? “The Father is in Me.” “The Father is indwelling Me.” The Father speaks through Me.” “The Father performs miracles through Me.” In the light of His words, can we not safely say without contradiction that Jesus indeed has a deity that indwells Him? Cannot it also be said without contradiction that the DEITY IS THAT OF THE FATHER HIMSELF? It would certainly appear so. To carry that to its ultimate conclusion, is it not safe to say that the deity of Jesus is that shared with Him by His Father? Further, we ask for what reason need Christ have a deity of His own? If God the Father, who is over all, indwells Christ, speaks through Christ, and performs miracles through Him, what more could Christ do than is done by the Father? Obviously, NOTHING. Let’s carry that out still further. If Christ had a deity of His own and could do all the above things attributed to the Father, then what need for the Father to indwell Jesus? Surely the argument is moot; for the scriptures have already settled the issue. God the Father is indwelling the Son. Jesus is not a liar. He is the personification of truth. He said clearly, unmistakably, “I AM IN THE FATHER AND THE FATHER IS IN ME.” God was in Christ by His Spirit. Likewise, God through Christ is in every believer by His Spirit. (God is Spirit --John 4:24). “Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.” --I Corinthians. 15:23.
We are to walk as He walked—in total dependence upon our Father, born by His spirit by which He promises to direct our steps as we seek to please Him by faith. True, Christ was born without sin, while God has seen fit to allow our sin nature to remain, though foreign to our new nature in Christ. Facing our own wilderness of temptation and trial, like the man Jesus, our challenge is to overcome by faith in God’s word, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” --Phil. 2:13. Is this not true? Think about it.
Search the scriptures for yourself, taking care not to be blinded by preconceptions, looking at it anew. Your admiration and love for Christ will soar to new heights as you discover He had to tough it out just like the rest of us. Though fully man with no divinity of his own, he shared the divinity of his Father who indwelled him in full measure. We reverence Jesus' words in John 17:3, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Father/Son--you can't have one without the other. Just as He was chosen—forever to be worshipped as the firstborn—even so, we also are chosen to walk in His steps.