Jesus is God - Alex Hackett / Pastor Ed Hedding - Monday March 22nd, 2010

Monday, March 22

Jesus Is God

By Alex Hackett and Pastor Ed Hedding

"... I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" John 10:30-32

Alex wrote that Jesus is a man who claimed to be God. There are many great teachers of religion who say that Jesus was a great man, a great teacher, or a great philosopher, but they say that Jesus never claimed to be God. The verses we read today make it plain that the Jews recognized that Jesus claimed to be God. In this passage, He is saying that He is equal with the Father. Why then did the Jews pick up stones to stone Him? Because they understood that Jesus claimed to be God. They were not confused about what Jesus was saying.

Today, the battle in our culture is to show how distinct Jesus is in comparison to others who claim to be God. Jesus came to reveal who He was--equal with the Father as the Word of God in the flesh (John 1:1,14). Jesus was God’s special revelation to us so we could grasp a small understanding of God and His desire to reconcile us to Him. God affirmed all of Jesus' teaching and ministry by raising Him from the dead. Jesus claimed to be God and backed up His claim by doing what He came to do--to reveal the Father to us and provide the payment for our sin. That is a claim that no other god predicted and fulfilled.

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Have you ever doubted Jesus' claim to be God? Have you investigated not only the claims from the Bible but also the evidence from history?

Jesus, help me when people challenge my belief that you are God just like the Father and the Holy Spirit. Give me the words to say to show others the truth of Your claims. Allow me to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks me to give the reason for the hope that I have, and help me to do this with gentleness and respect.