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| EVIDENCE FOR THE DEITY
OF JESUS |
#104
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What in the world would possess anyone to believe that Jesus
of Nazareth was actually “God in the Flesh”? Well, it might
surprise you to find that God has left us a trail of evidence
which is rather compelling. Many directions of thought could be
followed; but, because of limited time, this Bible Talk will
deal with only four.
First of all, some people have been impressed by the
tremendous teachings of Jesus and the effect they had on people.
Years ago, a prominent physician named John T. Fisher highly
praised the teachings of Christ when he wrote: “If you were to
take the sum total of all the authoritative articles ever
written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists
on the subject of mental hygiene - if you were to take the whole
of the meat and none of the parsley, and if you were to have
these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely
expressed by the most capable of living poets, you would have an
awkward and incomplete summation of the Sermon on the Mount. And
it would suffer immeasurably by comparison.” When Jesus finished
this great declaration, “the multitudes were amazed at His
teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and
not as their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28-29) Some people are
impressed and even believe in Jesus’ deity simply because of the
“goodness” of His teachings. Even the enemies of Jesus had to
admit, “Never did a man speak the way this man speaks.” (John
7:46) But, does this prove that Jesus was a divine visitor to
this world?
The apostle Paul considered the Resurrection of Jesus from
the dead to be the ultimate proof of His identity. In Romans
1:4, Paul asserted that Jesus “was declared the Son of God with
power by the resurrection from the dead ....” The Resurrection
of Christ was indeed the focal issue in all of Paul’s writings.
He said that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was
“the gospel which I preached to you” (I Cor 15:1). In the verses
which followed, Paul claimed that he had actually seen the
resurrected Jesus, and so had over 500 others, including all the
apostles. The apostle Peter boldly proclaimed, “This Jesus God
raised up again, to which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). He
emphatically demanded that “we did not follow cleverly devised
tales ... but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (II Peter
1:16). He powerfully challenged the people of His day with their
own recollection of Jesus’ deeds. He reminded them that Jesus of
Nazareth was “a man attested to you by God with miracles and
wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst,
just as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22). Truly, as Paul
observed in Acts 26:26, these things were done in the open for
everyone to see.
You know, if Jesus actually did all the things these
witnesses claimed He did, then He was surely who He claimed to
be. A quick scan through the four gospels provides a variety of
evidence. The gospel of Matthew emphasizes numerous Old
Testament prophecies which were fulfilled in Jesus. The gospel
of Mark presents Jesus as a powerful individual who could order
a storm to cease, make evil spirits beg for mercy & could even
bring people back from the dead. Luke’s gospel was intended to
verify all the stories about Jesus that people told. Luke said
that he had “investigated everything carefully from the
beginning,” & that he had written in “consecutive order ... the
exact truth about the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3-4).
John’s gospel ends with the staggering concept that only a few
of Jesus’ mighty deeds had been recorded (John 21:25). But he
said, “these have been written that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have
life in His name.” (Jn 20:31)
If we could only believe the witnesses, then we could
accept the deity of Jesus. But, were they telling the truth? Did
Jesus really fulfill those prophecies? Did He really do those
Miracles and teach those truths? Did they really witness His
death and resurrection? Or was it all just a grand conspiracy --
all just made up and carried out simply for fun and profit? We
shall explore the credibility of the witnesses in "WERE THE
WITNESSES CREDIBLE?".
| Bible
Probe |
EVIDENCE FOR
THE DEITY OF JESUS |
104
|
1. Please number in order (from 1 to 4), which of these
evidences for the deity of Jesus has most impressed you:
_____ Jesus’ Teachings
_____ Prophecies Fulfilled
_____ Jesus’ Miracles
_____ Jesus’ Resurrection
2. Do you think that Matthew and Paul and Peter and Mark and
Luke and John actually believed that Jesus did the things they
claimed He did?
(Matthew 1:22; 7:28-29; Romans 1:4; I Corinthians 15:1-8;
Acts 2:32;
II Peter 1:16; Acts 2:22; Mark 4:35 -- 5:43; Luke 1:3-4;
John 21:25; 20:31)
3. Do you believe they were telling the truth?
4. What reasons would you give to explain why you believe in the
deity of Jesus? |
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Your Bible questions answered here.