The divinity of Christ

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man.  We say that to mean that his perfection is not just for being God but also as man.  If He is not perfect then He would not be God because to be God means to be perfect.  Perfection means complete or lacking nothing in power, goodness, wisdom and other attributes. It can also mean not making any mistake.  Christ did not commit a single sin, not even venial sin, when He was here on earth.  God does not make mistakes.  We might have some objection to that because the world He created is a mess with so much crime and evil happening but He will explain everything that is hard for us to understand right now, in the next life and at the end of the world.  God will make us understand that even evil that is happening now, in the past, and in the future, both man made and so-called God made or a better term might be God-allowed-evils such as natural disasters, cancer in innocent children, that it is “all for the good of those who love God.” (Romans 8:28) That everything will turn out into good, especially spiritual good.

God’s ways are not our ways.  He does things we think is wrong but in the long run is for our own good.  Christ for example could have been scandalous.  He did not come to topple Caesar and the injustice of the current political system at His time.  You could compare it to 1942 and imagine Jesus came at that time.  He would not go against Hitler and he would just let holocaust (the killing of many Jews in gas chambers) happen.   The reason is simply He did not come for external salvation but an internal one.  He came to save us from sins.  He did not come to save us from external slavery but from the internal slavery of sin.  Christ was not even the savior of the consequences of sin which is suffering and death.  No, Christ came to save us from sins.  Because sin is a greater evil than death and suffering.  Death and suffering can be turned into spiritual good but sin will always be sin which is refusal to live according to God’s purposes and desires for our true good.

Christ proof of divinity is quite extensive in the Gospels.   No ordinary man for example would  say, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”  (Matthew 10:37) The only person we should love more than our parents is God and that’s why Christ has the authority to say that.  Or to say, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:31) Or “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9:2) Or “’Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” (John 8:58) The phrase “I am” is the name of God in the Old Testament (I am Who I am, Exodus 3:14) If Christ is not God while making those statements, then He would have been the most dangerous lunatic that has lived and has fooled millions if not billions of people throughout history.

Likewise, Christ’s wisdom was no ordinary wisdom because it’s God’s wisdom.  Whenever his enemies try to trap him and pin Him down, He pins them down instead.  When asked, “Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:17) Had Christ answered that Jews should not pay taxes, then He would be going against Caesar and be arrested for rebellion.  And an answer of yes to taxes would be betraying the Jews who were unlawfully colonized by the Romans.  Either way Christ would make the wrong reply.  But Christ replied with a wisdom that is not from this world, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21) And the Gospel says, “When they heard this, they were amazed.”  Christ escaped the entrapment question by answering that you have to uphold your duties to both authorities out of justice.

The Jews’ constant impression of Jesus in the Gospels was that of amazement and wonder.  Why? Because He is God.  And someone who is amazing is never a boring personality.  That’s why when we are with God in heaven, continual amazement will be our disposition (which is part of the reward in heaven) because God will forever surprise us and He will never get boring, because God is infinite.