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ETERNAL DEITY
A. Introduction: In this series we are talking about who Jesus is according to the Bible, especially the New
Testament, since it was written by eyewitnesses of Jesus, or close associates of eyewitnesses.
1. We’re living in a time of great religious deception. And much of the deception centers around who
Jesus is, why He came into this world, and how His followers are supposed to live. Jesus warned that
this would happen, prior to His second coming. Matt 24:4-5; 11; 23-24
a. It is vitally important that we have accurate information about Jesus—who He is, why He came, and
what He expects from those who profess to believe in Him. That’s why we’re looking at the
eyewitness testimonies about Jesus.
b. The men who walked and talked with Jesus believed that He was and is fully God become fully man
without ceasing to be fully God.
2. In these lessons we’ve made the point that the Bible reveals that God is Triune (three in one). The
actual word Trinity is not found in the Bible, but the doctrine (teaching) is.
a. According to the Bible, God is one Being who simultaneously manifests as three distinct but not
separate Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These Persons co-inhere
or share one Divine nature. The Father is all God. The Son is all God. The Holy Spirit is all God.
b. This is beyond our comprehension, since we are talking about an Infinite, Eternal Being (limitless,
without beginning or end) and we are finite (limited) beings. All efforts to explain the nature of
God fall short. We can only accept what the Bible reveals and rejoice in the wonder of God.
3. Two thousand years ago, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, incarnated, or took on a full
human nature in the womb of a virgin named Mary, and was born into this world. Luke 1:31-35
a. Mary gave birth to the Son of God. Most Christians know that Jesus is the Son of God, but think
that He is somehow less than God. However, the eyewitnesses believed that Jesus was and is fully
God—one Divine Person with two natures, human and divine. Phil 2:6-7
b. Recently, we’ve focused on the fact that even though God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity,
took on a full human nature in the womb of Mary, He remained what He was—Eternal Deity.
1. The title Son of God does not mean that Jesus was less than the Father. It means sameness of
nature. Jesus is the Son of God because He is God and possesses the qualities of God.
2. Although Jesus became fully man, He was never just a man, nor did He cease to be God. Jesus
was and is the God-man—fully God and fully man. Everything Jesus did, He did as God, as a
Divine Person with a human nature. This is the mystery of the Incarnation. I Tim 3:16
4. In this lesson we’re going to continue to look at the testimony of the eyewitnesses to the fact that Jesus is,
was, and always will be God, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son—Eternal Deity.
B. One of Jesus’ original twelve apostles, John, wrote the gospel that bears his name. John stated that He wrote
his document so that people would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God John 20:30-31
1. The first eighteen verses of his book are known as the prologue (or introduction). In his prologue, John
clearly states that Jesus is God become man without ceasing to be God.
a. In his prologue, John calls Jesus the Word. The Greek word that is translated Word is Logos. It
was used among classical Greek writers of that day to mean the principle that holds the universe
together, and was a common way of referring to God’s revelation of Himself to mankind.
1. John identifies Jesus as the Eternal Creator. Note that John refers to God as distinct from the
Word. John 1:1-3—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 anything made that was made (KJV).
2. John states that at a specific point in time, the Word, the Eternal Creator, became man without
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ceasing to be God. John 1:14—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 (KJV).
A. Note that John called Jesus the only begotten of the Father. The Greek word that is
translated only begotten (monogenes) refers to uniqueness or one of a kind.
B. We hear begotten and think of a created being. But to 1st century people, the emphasis
was on only or unique. Jesus was a unique Being—fully God and fully man. Note that
John made no attempt to explain the Incarnation. He simply stated that it happened.
b. By the time John wrote his gospel, challenges to who Jesus is were beginning to arise. False
teachings that denied either the Deity of Jesus or His humanity were infiltrating the church.
1. Some taught that Jesus was simply an ordinary man who was indwelled by God’s power at Him
baptism. Others, who became known as Docetists, proclaimed dualism—the idea that spirit is
good and physical matter is evil.
2. They said that because Jesus was holy, he couldn’t have become truly man. He only seemed
to have a physical body, only seemed to die, and only seemed rise from the dead. Stories
spread that when Jesus walked on the beach with His disciples, He left no footprints.
3. Much of what we read in the eyewitness writings was meant to combat these false teaching.
John wrote in one of his epistles that the apostles saw Jesus and touched Him: The one who
existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and see. We saw Him with our own eyes
and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life (I John 1:1-2, NLT).
c. Note that in John 1:14 John wrote that the Word who was made flesh dwelled among us. And we
beheld or saw His glory. The eyewitnesses saw the glory of God in Jesus.
1. Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words says this about the meaning of the word glory: “It
is used of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation, what He essentially is and does, as
exhibited in whatever way he reveals Himself…and particularly in the Person of Christ, in
whom essentially, His glory has ever shown forth and ever will do”.
2. Consider one example of what the eyewitnesses saw. Not long before Jesus was crucified, He
took Peter, James, and John into a high mountain and was transfigured before them.
A. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance changed so that his face shone like the sun (Matt
17:2, NLT); and His raiment (clothing) became dazzling white—flashing with the
brilliance of lightning (Luke 9:29, Amp)
B. At the Mount of Transfiguration His intrinsic glory shined through. This light was from
within, not upon. The fullness of Jesus’ Deity, His intrinsic glory, showed through His
human nature. John’s point—He dwelled among us and we saw this with our own eyes.
2. John ended his prologue with a statement that is basically a rephrasing of his opening line that the Word
was with God and God. John said that the only Son is God: John 1:18—No man hath seen God at any
time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him (KJV).
a. Earlier (older) manuscripts translate the phrase “only begotten Son” as “the only God”: No one
has ever seen God. But his only Son (monogenes theos), who is himself God, is near to the Father’s
heart; he has told us about him (John 1:18, NLT). Note, once again, two Persons are mentioned.
b. No man has seen God the Father at any time. But, the Unique One, the Son, has made the Father
known. God wants to be known by the creatures He has created. Note these points:
1. In the Old Testament, when people saw God, it was Preincarnte Jesus (the Eternal Logos), the
Son before He took on a human nature (lessons for another day).
2. This Son not only knows the Father and can reveal Him, the Son Himself possesses Deity (is
God). He has no equal and is able to fully reflect that nature of God and be the perfect image of
God because He is Himself Eternal God.
A. Heb 1:1-2—In many separate revelations—each of which set forth a portion of the Truth—
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and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets. [But]
in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the Person of a] Son (Amp).
B. Heb 1:3—(The Son) is the radiance of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of his nature,
and he upholds the universe by the word of his power (ESV).
3. A little later in his gospel John wrote: God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16, KJV).
a. This Son is God Incarnate, the Second Person of the Trinity, who took on a full human nature in the
womb of the virgin Mary, so that He could die as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of men and open
the way for us to be reconciled to God. Note that God the Father gave God the Son.
b. Although Jesus is fully God, the Second Person of the Trinity, at the Incarnation, humbled or
lowered Himself by taking on flesh. He did this so that He could accomplish (obtain) our
redemption from sin through His sacrificial death on the Cross.
1. The word flesh can mean the physical body, but it is also used to mean the whole human nature.
Human nature is everything that makes us human. Jesus took on a full human nature.
A. Phil 2:6-7—(Jesus) who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant and was
made in the likeness of men (KJV).
B. Heb 2:9—What we do see is Jesus, who, “for a little while was made lower than the
angels” and now is “crowned with glory and honor” because he suffered death for us.
Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world (NLT).
2. Equality of being and subordination in a working relationship is not contradictory. Difference
in function does not mean inferiority of nature. Jesus never ceased to be the Eternal Creator.
c. John later wrote: God showed us how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so
that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins (I John 4:9-10, NLT).
C. Jesus was born into a people group (1st century Israel) that, based on the writings of the prophets in the Old
Testament, was expecting a Redeemer to come to earth and deliver them. Consider some of what they knew.
In the Old Testament there are hints that this Redeemer will be God the Son Himself.
1. Based on promises that the Lord made to Israel’s great king David, 1st century Jews expected the coming
Messiah (Redeemer) to be a descendant of David. God promised David that a descendant of His would
rule forever. Ps 89:4, 19, 27, 29, 36-37
a. II Sam 7:12-13—I will set up thy seed after thee…He shall build an house for my name, and I will
stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever (KJV). I will establish your descendants as kings
forever; they will sit on your throne from now until eternity (Ps 89:4, NLT).
b. David was born in Bethlehem. Micah the prophet wrote: But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be
ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, of everlasting (KJV) or “from the days of
eternity” (NASB). The idea in the original language (Hebrew) is eternality.
1. The prophet Habakkuk used this same word when referring to Jehovah, the Lord God: Art
thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God mine Holy One (Hab 1:12, KJV).
2. Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David by different branches of the family, which
accounts for the differences in Jesus’ genealogies in Matt 1 and Luke 3.
2. Isaiah the prophet wrote: The Lord Himself shall give you a sign, Behold the young woman who is
unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel—God with us
(Isa 7:14, Amp).
a. He later wrote: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be
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upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be
no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform
this (Isa 9:6-7, KJV).
1. Isaiah wrote a child would be born and a son will be given. A child born is the Incarnation.
Note the prophet also said a Son will be given. The Sonship won’t come from the child’s birth.
His Sonship is essential and uncreated. He is the Second Person of the Godhead, the Son.
2. God so loved the world that He gave His Son (the Second Person of the Trinity), and the Son
willingly lowered Himself, took on a human nature, and was born into this world to die a
humiliating death and purchase our freedom from the guilt and penalty of sin.
b. Over five hundred years before the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, incarnated, Israel’s great
prophet Daniel had a vision in which he saw a Being called the Son of Man, who will come at the
end of the world to judge mankind and rule the world forever. Dan 7:13-14
1. When Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, He was making a claim of Deity. In that culture,
the title Son of was used to indicate likeness or sameness of nature and equality of being.
2. That is why religious leaders tried to kill Jesus for referring to God as His Father—because by
doing so, He was making Himself equal with God. John 5:17-18
3. Matt 22:41-46—In a confrontation with the Pharisees the week of His crucifixion, Jesus asked them:
Whose son is the Messiah? They answered: He is the Son (or offspring) of David. Based on their
prophets, they were expecting a man (someone born, a son) to be to be the Messiah, the Redeemer.
a. Jesus responded: Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, call him
Lord (Matt 22:43, NLT). Jesus was referencing a psalm written by His ancestor David.
1. Ps 110:1—The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool (Ps 110:1, KJV).
2. Jesus then asked the Pharisees a question: Since David called him Lord, how can he be his
son at the same time (Matt 22:45, NLT). The Pharisees had no answer. The answer is:
Because that man is also God. By the way, no one asked Jesus any more questions after that.
b. The night before Jesus was crucified, when He arrested, He was taken to stand before the High
Priest of Israel (Caiaphas) and the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish court of justice).
1. Various eyewitnesses made accusations against Jesus, but Jesus answered nothing. The High
Priest then demanded that Jesus swear by God and tell them whether He was the Christ (the
Messiah), the Son of God. Matt 26:62-63
2. “Jesus replied, ‘Yes, it is as you say. And in the future you will see me, the Son of Man, sitting
at God’s right hand in the place of power and coming back on the clouds of heaven’” (Matt
26:64, NLT).
A. Jesus referenced a passage from the prophet Daniel, where the Son of Man is shown to be
the Divine Judge to whom everlasting dominion will be given.
B. Dan 7:13-14—I saw someone who looked like a son of man coming with the clouds of
heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given
authority, honor, and royal power over all the nations of the world, so that people of every
race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His
kingdom will never be destroyed (NLT).
D. Conclusion: We have more to say next week. Consider two thoughts as we close. Much of this is beyond
our comprehension. The eyewitnesses didn’t try to explain it. They simply accepted that Jesus was, is, and
always will be Eternal Deity, God become man without ceasing to be God—the God-man, God with us.
