Are we equal to God? Are we Christ?
A conceptual exegesis on the believer's equality with Christ and God
Some years back, the Internet was enraged when the “I am Christ” mantra broke out. Clergies took turns to disprove that claim. But it is not so much as making a baseless confession without understanding the real meaning of such claims.
Man has suffered from self-inflicted subjugation for millions of years. This has warped his mind to believe that he is too bad and God is too good, which is correct, anyway.
But then, he believes he is so bad that the too-good God cannot redeem him.
Well, this is blindness on steroids.
He has become so blinded by his failure that he thinks everyone, including God, is a failure like himself. So, when the good God who made him told him of his love and plan to make him like himself, his senses shattered, and his failed mind could not understand why a good God should want to give all of that to a bad man.
But that’s why he’s God.
He doesn’t react to his creation, for he created reactions. He does what he pleases without a say from anyone.
So, in his own sovereignty, he has included man in himself. Sadly, the bad man who is used to badness can do nothing about it. He can only submit under his maker.
You didn’t ask God to love you. He decided to love you. Whether you need this love or not is not your decision to make, except in accepting it.
The same way he decided to love you is the same way he decided to make you equal with himself so that you and him would rule creation side by side.
1 Corinthians 3:9:
“For we are labourers together with God...”
“Together” means “a companion in work, fellow worker.”
This is one reason why the “I am Christ” mantra is not JUST about a confession; it’s about WORK. But some just shout, confess, and go back to living their normal lives. So the whole essence is lost in baseless arguments.
Jesus is called the head of the body.
It means where the head is is where you are. Where Jesus is, you are.
Jesus is called the firstborn of the church.
Colossians 1:18:
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
“To have preeminence” means “to have the first place.”
So, he is first in everything.
And guess who’s second, third, fourth, etc.?
You and I, the church.
Does the first have exclusivity? No.
That’s why we are called joint heirs.
Romans 8:17:
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
What does joint-heir mean?
It means “a fellow heir, one who obtains something assigned to himself with others, a joint participant.”
It means whatever was given to Jesus was shared equally between him and us.
So, in the things God has given to Jesus, we too are among the people God gave those same things. So, all power in heaven, earth, and under the earth has also been given to you and me, the church. Whatever glory Jesus has right now, you also have it.
“...that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:17).
We will rule not just in this world but also in the world to come.
2 Timothy 2:12:
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him...”
So, yes, you are in the same class with Jesus. He’s our elder brother, and we are his brothers and sisters.
Hebrews 2:10:
“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
Also,
Romans 8:29:
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Most Bible scholars affirm that believers share in God’s nature and life, yet they draw a distinction regarding God’s power and authority.
However, one may ask: can we truly speak of equality with God if we do not possess the same life, power, and authority that come from Him?
The issue lies in an age-long misunderstanding of what it means to “have the Spirit of God.”
From Genesis, we see that God made man in His image and likeness and breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living being (Genesis 1:26–27; Genesis 2:7). We must note, however, that Scripture explicitly states that God breathed into man. No other earthly creature is described in this manner.
“Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7)
What, then, does this breath of life mean? What does the Spirit of God in man signify?
To understand this, we must return to Genesis. In Genesis 1:26, the words “image” and “likeness” describe a profound correspondence between God and man.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” (Genesis 1:26)
To bear God’s image means that humanity reflects Him to creation, much like a mirror reflects the person standing before it. We carry His representation into the world. To bear His likeness means that we are not merely representatives; we also partake in characteristics that originate from Him—love, wisdom, life, dominion, and authority.
This was the original design of humanity.
If one argues that humanity lost this original state through the fall, then this is precisely what Christ came to restore. Jesus is described as the exact representation of the Father.
“He is the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15)
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” (Hebrews 1:3)
In this sense, Jesus reveals God in human form.
What Adam disrupted in Genesis, God restored in Christ. This is why believers are described as a new creation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)
Creation, in a sense, began anew because humanity had fallen. Throughout Scripture, God responds to human failure not by abandoning His creation but by moving toward redemption.
The new humanity in Christ exists to address the consequences of the first creation’s fall. Yet this restored humanity also bears a greater responsibility: first, to cast off ignorance and falsehood, and then to participate in God’s work of restoring creation.
This is part of the Church’s assignment.
“And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:10)
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19)
The Spirit in humanity is not presented in Scripture as a different kind of spirit from God’s Spirit. Rather, believers are said to partake of the divine nature through Christ.
“He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4)
One may compare this to water in a cup and water in the ocean. Though they differ in measure and expression, both possess the same essential composition.
Therefore, be confident in the dignity and identity that God has given you in Christ. Jesus Himself walked in full awareness of His union with the Father:
“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
The believer’s calling, therefore, is to manifest God’s life and character in creation, reflecting His love, wisdom, and authority to the world.
So, yes, again, you are in the same class with Jesus. And this is not for eating and drinking or for winning baseless arguments on social media, but for the work of the Kingdom.
We must do the works of our Father.
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