DAY 5 – THE ‘DIVINE JESUS’

Two thousand years ago there was One here on this earth who lived the grandest life that ever has been lived yet—a life that every thinking man, with deeper or shallower meaning, has agreed to call divine.

Fredeerick W. Robertson

Exploring the Wonders of Christ’s Divinity

WHILE RECOGNIZING THAT CHRIST WAS INDEED HUMAN, and fully so, we must likewise recognize that He was and is fully God as well. Novatian, a Roman theologian and scholar (c. 235), said of Christ:

“He is indeed proved to be the Son of His Father. But He is found to be both Lord and God of all else. . . . For He is God, and all things are subjected to Him.”1

Almost a century after Novatian wrote these words, the framers of the Nicene Creed (AD 325) would declare,

“Christ is One Lord, only begotten Son of God; begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.”

This brings our journey of a “Month in the Son” to explore the wonders of the Divine Jesus.

Most readers would have a basic understanding of the meaning of divine, but allow me to expand on it a bit. A more complete definition of divine reads: “That which suggests the nature of, or is associated with or derived from God; connotes supreme greatness; belonging to or coming from God; Almighty, Author, Creator, Supreme Being.” Also: “Of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God; being a deity (i.e., the divine Savior).”2

Dazzling Radiance

The apostle Paul was clear in his writings that although Christ was human, He was fully divine. In his second letter to the Corinthian believers, he wrote:

“At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:16–17 NLT).

Here we especially note Paul’s explanation that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.” To believers in Rome, Paul would directly claim Jesus to be God: “Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen” (Romans 9:5 NLT, emphasis added).

Peter also can be added to our list of those apostles who referenced Christ as God and Savior:

“I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior” (2 Peter 1:1 NLT, emphasis added).

The author of Hebrews likewise adds his voice in declaring Christ as fully divine when writing:

“The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, the exact expression of God’s true nature—his mirror image! He holds the universe together and expands it by the mighty power of his spoken word”

(Hebrews 1:3 TPT)

Christ is indeed God. I agree with John Piper: “God without Christ is no God. God-in-Christ is the only true God and the only path to joy. If we would see and savor the glory of God, we must see and savor Christ.”

The Bottom Line

Of importance to note is that Christ Himself declared He was God. He told harassing Jewish authorities, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19 NKJV). Later, when speaking with the Pharisees, Christ described His disci­ples as sheep who follow Him and even boldly declared that He gave them eternal life and that they would never perish (John 10:27–28 NKJV). Jesus further highlighted His deity in saying,

“I and My Father are one” (John 5:30).

One of history’s oft-repeated fallacies comes from those who say Christ was merely a great human being, a wonderful moral teacher and even a prophet, but not divine. C. S. Lewis addressed this fallacy in his classic work Mere Christianity:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God

May we choose this day, and every day, to fall at the feet of our Lord and God—the Divine Jesus!

A Prayer for Today

Awaken me, Lord Jesus, to Your goodness inhabiting all things. Awaken me to Your presence in my life and those whom I may encounter today. Awaken me to Your awe­some creation. Awaken me to Your awesome wonder that I might bring You greater glory. Awaken me to Your grace in every moment of my day. Capture my attention, Jesus, so that I may spend all my days in astonished awe of You. Amen!

Author: Dr Dick Eastman.
We are grateful to Dr Eastman and Dr Doug Clay of US AG who has provided these resources. This is an edited version for the international audience.