Is Jesus Really God?

By Eli Stutzman

January 1, 2011

In these days the question arises more frequently than ever before. Recently when the "World's Squarest Teenagers' was shown on British TV, their visit to a mosque had the statement from a Mosque leader to the Amish teenagers that they didn't believe Jesus was the son of God, but a prophet.

When Jesus asked his disciples in Matthew 16:15, who they said He was, Peter replied:

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. -Mathew 16:17-18

Here is the foundation rock of where the church is anchored; that is the firm belief that Jesus is Christ or Messiah, the son of God. Without this truth, everything we know about salvation falls apart. Our hope totally lies in His ability to deal with our sin. Take away this truth and the entire church's efforts at explaining salvation are rendered useless. Jesus is only a prophet? That takes out the foundation stone of Christianity.

Now when I was young, I was taught that Jesus Christ is the son of God. My father and grandfather before that believed it. That is a good thing. However, that does not tell me why that is true. What I aim to do is show how any of us can find a base for that belief.

We really believe Jesus was actually the son of God. And we need to say so to an unbelieving world. To a Muslim, or an unbeliever the statement seems far-fetched, even blasphemous. Indeed, the statements made by Jesus were either true or totally offensive. How can we tell the difference?

When a person comes to our country and claims to be sent by the official government of Germany, we need to check their credentials. This can be done by a phone call to the foreign affairs department of Germany and asking whether they sent so and so. Also, Germany might have sent advance notice that the diplomat was coming.

No person ever can by his own insistence assure you of his official status. If for instance a doctor said he was a doctor, but had no valid certificate, he would soon be removed from his office. Someone higher up has to say and certify the person is a doctor, or we simply have an imposter. Who then, can validate Jesus as the Son of God? Obviously, only the Father.

The first indication of a coming Messiah is found in Genesis 3:15.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The word "seed" is singular in the Genesis rendition. One person is seed, whereas numerous people would be "seeds."

Galatians 3; 16 says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

This is God telling Adam what is to come

During Old Testament times, there were numerous predictions of a coming messiah.

Isaiah 7:14 says; Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

This is like a foreign nation announcing the coming of an important person so we will not miss him. To fit the criteria, the Promised Redeemer had to be born of a virgin.

This is God speaking through Isaiah

Luke chapter 1 tells us of the angel announcing the birth of Jesus to his mother Mary. Angels are messengers from God. He said; "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

This is God speaking through angels.

Luke 3;21-22 says; Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. Here you have a voice (God) from heaven telling us Jesus is His son. This also happened in the transfiguration.

Matthew 17 verses 5 says; While He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Now we have God Himself speaking to the issue. Matthew was an apostle that was with Jesus throughout his ministry. Mark also records this in the same way in Mark 9; 2. Mark was not an apostle, but lived in the same time frame as Jesus. Matthew's account is first hand experience, not hearsay.

Next we have Jesus himself saying to Peter in Matthew 16;13-17: When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

Then when Jesus was being tried before Caiaphas, the high priest, he stated under charge of oath the following:

Matthew 26;63b-64: ...But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Next month: the reason why this doctrine is so important.

Keywords: amish, amish voice, christian living, eli stutzman, god, jesus, map ministry, mission to amish people