Scriptural Proof That Jesus
is God by Nature

This Is How Jesus Is God, But NOT The Father

Much confusion has existed over the deity of Christ, in part, because people are not aware that Jesus is God by nature, but not the person of the Father. This article will help show the truth about Jesus' deity. (Please also know that Jesus is also a man. In fact, he is the God-man. His humanity will not be dealt with here.) This article is the result of the following email:

[Email] Hello and God Bless you,

I wrote not too long ago regarding the deity of Christ. I would like to show your article to my father, who stands behind ___________ belief, that Jesus couldn't possibly be God. I would like to know what verses you refer to, when describing God's NATURE in Jesus; hence, why Jesus is considered God. I will need to spend time in the scriptures regarding this subject, before I discuss this with my father.

Thank you in advance.

[Bible ANSWER]: There are many Scriptures which concisely identify Jesus as God, such as John 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Heb. 1:8; Col. 2:9; John 1:1; etc.

Furthermore, in Hebrews 1:3 from the KJV, we read:

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

The word in the KJV translated person is correctly translated nature in other versions, such as the following ones:

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (NASB).

He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (RSV).

He is the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Holman).

The actual Greek word translated person in Heb. 1:3 (KJV) is hupostasis and means, according to Strong:

a setting under (support), i.e. (fig.) concr. essence, or abstr. assurance (obj. or subj.):confidence, confident, person, substance.

Though the word nature is not actually found in Strong's definition, the word substance is. A synonym for substance is essence which is also a synonym for nature. This is how the aforementioned translations can correctly render Hebrews 1:3 as containing the word nature.

Hence, Jesus could be worshiped by the disciples (Mt. 14:33; 28:9), the angels (Heb. 1:6) and even prayed to (John 14:14, Greek; Acts 7:59,60) without anyone committing the sin of idolatry, which would be the case otherwise. This is only possible because Jesus is God (by nature). Remember: What Jesus said belongs to God alone, that is, worship (Mt. 4:10), the angels are commanded by the Father to give to Jesus (Heb. 1:6)! Also, not to honor Jesus the same way as the Father is honored is not to honor the Father (John 5:23):

That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

Since God does not share his glory [or honor, Hebrew] with another (Isa. 42:8), and we must honor Jesus the same as God the Father (John 5:23), then we have another glimpse at his nature being God.

Please see our other articles on the Deity of Christ, Trinity, Jesus: YHWH Of The Old Testament , Jesus Is Not the Father but is Deity, and 100 Biblical Names and Titles of Christ for more information.

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