Are Jesus and God the same person? (2)
A theological argument on the Deity of Christ and the identity of the Father, Son, and Godhead: distinct Persons or the same divine Person?
Going through my diaries from 2024, I came across this write-up about the infallibility of Christ as the Godhead. I’m not sure whether I authored all of it or if most of it was from research. However, towards the end of the writing, I did find a reference to a website. Although the website does not contain all the information in the writing, it does include a list titled “160 Reasons Jesus Christ Is Almighty God.” I am republishing that write-up here because I believe its central argument remains worth considering. Where the original drew from external sources, I have retained them where possible. My goal is not merely to reproduce an old note but to preserve and share a line of thought that continues to be relevant for anyone seeking to understand the identity and divinity of Christ more deeply.
This is the second and last part of this study. You can read the first part here:
Let’s continue with the study.
6. A New Testament case study from Revelation
Here we shall find Jesus applying the words of Isaiah found in chapters 41:4, 44:6, and 48:12 to Himself. A reminder of what the Isaiah verses say:
“Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, am the first, and with the last — I am He.” (Isaiah 41.4)
“This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, says: I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but Me.” (Isaiah 44.6)
“Listen to Me, Jacob, and Israel, the one called by Me: I am He; I am the first, I am also the last. [13] My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens;” (Isaiah 48.12-13)
Turning to Revelation 21.1-7, note especially verse 6:
[1].”Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. [2] I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. [3] Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. [5] Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” [6] And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. [7] The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.”
The voice from the throne is God speaking. These are the key words in verse 6: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”
Does it have a ring to it? Rather similar to “I am the First and the Last,” right?
Now let’s look at the next and last chapter of Revelation. Chapter 22.12-16 :
[12] “Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done. [13] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. [14] “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. [15] Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. [16] “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright Morning Star.”
Note that all the above verses 12 -16 are in “red typeface”. That signifies it’s Jesus speaking. Verse 16 confirms it too: “I Jesus”.
Verse 13 is the clincher ...
“ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Here Jesus draws both references “First and Last” AND “Beginning and the End” to Himself.
7. Jesus receives worship
Here Jesus claims equal status and equal honour (which includes worship) as God the Father: Because He is the Father manifested as Christ.
“that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” (John 5:23)
Of the many facets of Jesus’ deity, always the biggest clincher of all is that He ‘demanded’, received, and never rebuked worship of Himself.
We worship Jesus because He is truly God. Jesus came to earth as a humble servant (Philippians 2:7-8). He came to serve, not to be served, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). His mission on earth was to die for the redemption of sinners; for this reason, God became flesh. Hence, it was not His primary role on earth to demand His creatures worship Him — believers did this naturally, responding to His first loving us.
However, in John 5:22-23, Jesus states that the purpose of the Father giving all judgment to Him was for the result of all honouring the Son in the same way (kathos) they would honour the Father. The honour that is given to the Father is clearly divine honour — namely, reverential worship. Therefore, Jesus asserts His essential equality with God by expressing that the worship/honour given to the Father is to be given to the Son, and if one does not worship/honour the Son, he or she “does not honour the Father who sent Him.”
Further, we find many examples in both the OT and NT where Jesus was worshipped in a religious context, and He accepted it (Daniel 7:14; Matthew 14:33; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:13-14)
Worship strictly in this context we are discussing means “reverence paid to a divine being.”
If Jesus was offered and accepted worship, then by doing so He was confirming His divinity. This is important because some deny the deity of Christ, relegating Him instead to a lesser position than God. Yes, Jesus accepted worship. Not as a lower person in the Godhead, but as God alone! He was and still is worshipped. Without His inclusion, it would be impossible to please or worship God. The Bible could not be clearer.
Examples where Jesus was worshipped:
The wise men worshipped Him from the moment He was born.
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.” (Matthew 2:10-12)
The leper worshipped Him at his healing:
“And behold, a leper came to Him, and bowed down to Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2)
The synagogue ruler worshipped Him:
“While He was saying these things to them, behold, there came a synagogue official, and bowed down before Him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” (Matthew 9:18-19)
The disciples worshipped him in the boat.
“And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:32-33)
The Canaanite woman worshipped Him.
“But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” (Matthew 15:25-26)
The mother of James and John worshipped Him.
“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down, and making a request of Him.” (Matthew 20:20-21)
The blind man worshipped Him at his healing.
“Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him.” (John 9:35-38)
The women worshipped Him at the empty tomb.
“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.” (Matthew 28:8-10)
The disciples worshipped Him at the Ascension.
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him” (Matthew 28:16-17)
All these acts of worship were in obedience to:
“that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” (John 5:23)
8. Who resurrected Jesus?
The question: “Who resurrected Jesus?” goes to the heart of divine power and authority. It’s a litmus test of Jesus claims to divinity.
Answer: In Acts 2:24, Peter says that “God raised [Jesus] from the dead” (see also Romans 8:11 and 2 Corinthians 4:14). Romans 1:4 (and possibly 1 Peter 3:18) seems to say that the Spirit raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11 clearly says that God will resurrect believers “through His Spirit”). And in John 2:19 Jesus predicts that He will raise Himself from the dead (see also John 10:18). So who exactly resurrected Jesus from the dead? Was it the Father, the Son, or the Spirit?
The basic answer is that “God has raised . . . Jesus to life” (Acts 2:32). The Father is God, and the Father raised His Son to life on the third day after the crucifixion (Romans 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:4). The Spirit is also God, and the Spirit had a part in raising Jesus from the dead. The Son is also God, and the Son, too, was responsible for His own resurrection.
These three manifestations are of the same person and spirit, not three different beings.
How can a dead man resurrect himself?
Jesus was more than a man who died; He was the eternal Son of God incarnate as man. Wicked men could kill His body, but they could not change His eternal nature or diminish His divine power. In John 10:17–18 Jesus says something that no mere mortal could ever say:
“I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”
No one else in the history of the world has ever had the authority both to lay down his life and raise it again.
Furthermore, Jesus said,
“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).
He did not say, “My Father is the resurrection.” He claimed to be the resurrection Himself; life resides with Jesus, and He has absolute authority over life and death (Revelation 1:18). Jesus is God. He could say He would raise His body on the third day because He is part of the One Being of God.
Who resurrected Jesus from the dead?
God did, and by that we mean all three Persons of the Trinity were involved.
All three Persons of the Trinity participated in creation (1 Corinthians 8:6; Genesis 1:1–2).
All three are involved in salvation (John 3:6, 16).
And all three are responsible for the resurrection of Christ Jesus.
9. The doctrine of a three different God is of pagan origin and is still today
All through the ages, a lot of pagan concepts of god include a being with three faces but one body; this satanic doctrine was brought into Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church, and many churches have been drinking of that wine since.
The doctrine is confusion at its peak, as many Christians try to balance up between Father, Son and Holy Ghost as some sort of higher and lower class of beings, when praying.
In short, ALL that the Father does the Son does in like manner: because the Father is the Son manifested in flesh.
“Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.” (John 5:19 HCSB)
Then we find the Spirit only speaking what He hears from the Son. (John 16.13)
Likewise, in reverse order we find the Spirit glorifies the Son (John 16.14) and the Son glorifies the Father (John 14.13). This is why Jesus did not overtly seek or demand ‘worship’ for Himself while on earth, which would have put Himself, not the Father, centre stage. Jesus always gave the glory to the Father (in that way acting as our example too).
He did this knowing that His body would be taken up and returned to its original estate as the Father and eternal Godhead.
Philosophical Implications
Jesus receiving from the Father and glorifying the Father rather than Himself does not rule out His deity. But showing us by example how we should be.
Having greater authority doesn’t necessarily mean that the person is greater in essence, or that the one who is in subjection to another is inferior in nature to the other. To assume otherwise is to make a categorical mistake, a category fallacy, treating two distinct categories (nature and authority) as if they were one and the same.
Jesus publicly showed himself lower than the Father he spoke of, and at the same time proved to his disciples he is One with the Father.
The following citation puts this in perspective:
“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after DESTROYING every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)
Here is a classic example of how one manifestation of the Godhead can relate to another manifestation or give something without this implying that one of the manifestations isn’t God or separate individuals.
Note that the Father subjected all things to the Son, and that the Son gives to the Father the kingdom. Christ’s sovereignty and supremacy are clearly seen in this passage since he can destroy all other powers and authorities, bringing them into complete subjection to the Father.
Thus, the Son receiving authority to rule no more disproves that he is God more than the Father receiving the kingdom from his Son disproves that he is God also, but these two are ONE.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, according to the Scriptures, Christ voluntarily came down from heaven to assume the role of a slave, a servant. While on earth, Jesus subjected himself to the authority of the Father, doing nothing of his own initiative, but only doing the very thing that the Father commanded and desired:
“And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:24-28)
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)
Conclusions
In this article we have the core evidence for the deity of Jesus the Messiah. It is by no means complete, but it is a comprehensive case.
Muslims and other sceptics who wish to overturn it will have to present a similarly robust and comprehensive blow-by-blow rebuttal of each strand of evidence presented here. Merely going to a single verse will not cut it.
Muslims who deny the deity of Jesus the Messiah can only ever attempt to deny it one cherrypicked verse at a time, but when faced with the cumulative weight of evidence in its totality (albeit still incomplete) they are overwhelmed by it and have nowhere to hide and nothing to say.
We cannot close without a mention of Jesus as Creator.
Jesus Created ALL things: Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2, John 1:3, Ephesians 3:9
God created all things: Acts 14:15, Isaiah 45:18, Isaiah 44:24, Isaiah 42:5.
Jesus is our Creator God: 160 Reasons Jesus Christ is Almighty God, http://www.scionofzion.com/160_reasons.htm,