On what basis can a person be convinced that Jesus Christ is God?[1]
A person can be convinced that Jesus Christ is God incarnate on the basis of at least four points, all of which come together to firmly support Jesus’ claims to deity. Consider these four points:
First, Jesus fulfilled dozens of Old Testament prophecies that were written hundreds of years before his birth. From the nature of the Messiah’s birth (Gen. 3:15; Is. 7:14), to the exact Jewish tribe he would emerge from (Judah, Gen. 49:10), to the exact town the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2). These are a fraction of the OT prophecies that Jesusfulfilled.[2] “The chance probability of all these prophecies coming true in the life of Jesus Christ,” Kenneth Samples remarks, “is utterly staggering”[3]
Second, “according to the well-attested Gospel records Jesus was a prolific miracle worker”[4] The Gospels miracles testify to Jesus’ messianic claims (John 5:36). These miracles were witnessed by many of Jesus’ enemies in contrast to modern day enemies of Jesus who reject them on the basis of their anti-supernatural biases. Kenneth Samples rightly observes: “While an anti-supernatural bias often keeps modern skeptics from carefully considering the life and actions of Jesus, such a bias shouldn’t stand in the way of accepting remarkable events if those events are well established historically”[5]
Third, “Jesus exhibited a matchless moral character during his three-year public ministry that succeeded in changing the world forever”[6] While suffering on the cross Jesus forgave the very ones who put him up there (Luke 23: 34; 43). Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7), which still stands as an unmatched moral teaching. Jesus’ enemies found no fault in him (John 18:38), as well as those who knew him the most intimately (1 Pt. 2:22).
Lastly, “The New Testament records in great detail firsthand testimony of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead”[7] The Gospels and the epistles of Paul record dozens of instances where the resurrected Jesus appeared to individuals, as well as groups both small and large. These appearances include the separate occasions with Mary Magdalene, Mary and other women, Peter, two disciples, ten apostles, eleven apostles, seven apostles, all apostles (Great Commission) 500 Brethren, James, all Apostles at the Ascension (Acts 1:9), and the Apostles Paul.[8]
The case for the deity of Christ stands upon several lines of converging evidence that begins in Genesis 3:15, and runs all the way through to the Book of Revelation.[9]
[1] Kenneth Richard Samples, Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004), 32.
[2] For a treatment on the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, see Messianic Christology by Arnold Fruchtenbaum.
[3] Samples, Without a Doubt, 30.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid. See Miracles by Craig Keener for a detailed defense of the miraculous and thorough documentation of extra-biblical accounts.
[6] Ibid., 31.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Baker Academics, 1998), 648.
[9] On the deity of Christ see Putting Jesus in His Place by Bowman and Komoszewski; Dethroning Jesus by Bock and Wallace.
