Who Was Jesus?
Recently, I read an article that was disputing the fact that Jesus was really God. The author asserted that not only was Jesus not divine, but He never claimed to be God. His theory was that Jesus was really just a man. He went on to say that it was fanatical followers of Jesus who advanced the thought that Jesus was God. According to this author, the false idea that Jesus was God took a number of centuries to evolve and develop. By the way, this article was not the first time I have heard such heresy. What got my attention, however, was the assertion that this bad theology is growing in acceptance by “church-going” people. The author quoted statistics that show a growing portion of church attendees accept the idea that Jesus was just a man and that He never claimed to be God. If this assertion is accurate, it points to troubled times for Christianity in America.
If there is a portion of Christians who believe that Jesus was merely a man and not God, how deep can their faith be? What is their faith based upon? The problem at hand is that many people base their faith on popular opinion rather than sound Bible study. At the risk of sounding “old-fashioned” and out of touch with popular opinion, let me examine perhaps the greatest Bible verse that speaks about Jesus and the fact that He was God. Philippians 2:5-11 says the following: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (NIV)
This passage of Scripture is rich and full of truths that we do not have the time to unpack. I’ll assume that each reader can investigate and ponder the message of these verses. I want to focus on something that is not obvious to the casual reader - that these verses are lines of poetry. As Paul is writing about Jesus and the fact that Jesus was God, he quotes what must have been a song or liturgical chant from the early church. Greek experts universally agree that these lines of Bible verse are written with poetic meter. This passage is taken from the verse of a song! It may not sound like a song to our 21st century ears, but it certainly did to the 1st century followers of Jesus. Perhaps you are saying, "So what? What are you getting at, preacher?” Here is my point: the first Christians undoubtedly held to the idea that Jesus was God. The deity and divinity of Jesus was not an idea that was inserted into Christianity at a later date. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus claimed to be God. Jesus’ followers correctly taught that Jesus was God. The idea of Jesus’ Godhood was so widely held that it was made into an early church song, and this song was quoted by Paul to his readers in Philippi.
In closing, what is your faith based on? Does your “belief system” arise from popular media channels? Are you going with the flow? Are your views on God and eternity just a loosely held group of superstitions? Let me offer a word of warning: When the end comes, there will be a time when we all will stand before the Creator of the Universe. God will examine each person, and it will be supremely important to have a faith that rests squarely on the Bible. Keep looking up!