There are many, some even among churches of Christ, who deny that Jesus is God. What does the Bible have to say about the matter?
Jesus is Yahweh (YHWH). One way of showing the deity of Christ is to show that the name Yahweh is applied to Him. Some do not realize that Jesus is referred to by this name, but He is. Consider these Old Testament passages applied to Christ in the New Testament:
Isaiah 40:3 – “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
The word Lord is Yahweh. Now notice how this passage is applied to Jesus in Matthew 3:3 – “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” In the first two verses of Matthew 3, it is clear that Isaiah spoke of John the Baptist. John is the one who would prepare the way for the Lord. Well, for whom did John prepare a way? Obviously it was for Jesus. If there is any doubt about this, compare Lk. 1:76 with Jn. 3:28. Both of these passages talk about John going before one and preparing His way. However, one indicates that he would go before Yahweh, and the other one before Christ. Be sure to take a look at that. Without question John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus. Hence, we have Isaiah referring to Jesus as Yahweh in Isaiah 40:3.
Joel 2:32 – “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”
Much of this verse sounds familiar to most of us, even those of us who have not spent a lot of time studying the book of Joel. Why? Because Paul quotes Joel in the popular epistle of Romans. Romans10:13 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” There should be no doubt at all that Paul is referring to Christ Jesus, the Son of God. We are to confess the Lord Jesus with our mouth, and believe that God has raised Him (Christ) from the dead (ver. 9). So Paul applies the Joel passage to Jesus, but, again, the word Lord used by Joel is Yahweh. Joel, then, refers to the one who would be Christ, i.e., Jesus, as Yahweh.
Jesus is God. This is not to say that the Father and the Son are the same person, for clearly they are not. In John 1:1 we are told the Word (Jesus before He took on flesh) was with God, i.e., with the Father. The preposition “with” implies mutual association, and it emphasizes a personal relationship between two or more persons; hence, Jesus and the Father are two different persons. Jesus is called God, not because He is the same being as the Father, but because he is a part of the family of deity. Here is a list of passages that you can examine and see that Jesus is referred to as God: Hebrews 1:6-9; Titus 2:13; I Timothy 3:15,16.
Jesus was worshipped. The Bible teaches clearly that only God is to be worshipped. Jesus acknowledged this when He was being tempted by Satan to worship him (Matthew 4:10 – “…for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Jesus was worshipped by His disciples after He walked on water (Matthew 14:33). The fact that Jesus did not object to it is very revealing. Furthermore, angels were commanded to worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6). This proves that Jesus is God.
Jesus claimed equality with God. Every time Jesus said he was God’s Son, He was, at least indirectly, asserting His deity. He was affirming His equality with God, i.e., that He was the same kind of being as God (John 5:17,18; 8:24, 56-59; 10:30-33).
What about Deuteronomy 6:4? In Deuteronomy 6:4 the record says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one!” Is this statement in conflict with the position that Jesus is Deity, or for that matter, with the Trinitarian doctrine of the Godhead? No! The word one in Deuteronomy 6:4 is the Hebrew word echad. According to authorities on Hebrew words, this word refers to a united one. This is certainly in harmony with New Testament passages that use the Greek equivalent of this Hebrew word (John 17:17-22; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Matthew 19:5, etc.). The Father and the Son are one in work, word, doctrine, judgment, creation, etc.
Yes, Jesus is deity. But, does that not mean that we believe in more than one God? Am I polytheistic because of the things that I have written in this article? No! It is not polytheism to believe that there are three persons that make up the Godhead. Polytheism is believing in gods or deities. I do not believe in deities, I believe in a deity, i.e., one state of being God. I do not believe that there are a plurality of gods. I believe that there is one God that is made up of three distinct persons who are divine in nature, possessing divine attributes. That is the clear and unequivocal teaching of the scriptures.