John 1:1-3 (Legacy Standard Bible)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
For Christ-followers, it’s awe-inspiring to contemplate God and all of His attributes. Our triune God, Yahweh, is beyond complete comprehension, but He has revealed His disposition through the Second Person of the Trinity. God and Jesus are One.
Not only is Jesus’ pre-existing and eternal, but He possesses all of the attributes of God. Jesus identified His deity on a number of occasions. He proclaimed to the Jews that He was Yahweh (God is and wills it to be). In John 8:58, Christ stated, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” The expression “I am” is connected to Exodus 3:14 that identifies God.
Jesus was there at creation when He mediated its formation, He was there talking to Moses through the burning bush, and He will be the ruler of all upon His return. He is omnipotent. I am personally overcome with joy when I understand that I am important to Christ, our God, who controls everything. Likewise, there is no other “place of safety” that matches the security of being held by the living God.
In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul tells us how to think about Jesus’ incarnation in a proper perspective. Although Jesus existed in the form of God, He “emptied Himself” by taking on the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of man. In the correct context, Christ nullified His reputation in humility to walk among us, and He even went further by dying for our sins. He did not give up attributes of God, however. These facts should give the believer great comfort, knowing the lengths that Yahweh went through to save His chosen people.
Throughout the gospels, we get a glimpse of Christ’s care in dealing with humanity while physically dwelling on this planet. He exhibited emotion, He pointed to the truth, and He communicated in a way that can be understood by our limited thought processes. Jesus called those who followed His commands “friends,” and He broke bread with them. He loved all by telling them to repent. If believers understand Jesus’ nature, then we should understand our victory. It is loving, unstoppable, and inevitable.
Before His resurrection, it was even difficult for His disciples to discern Christ’s divinity to the fullest extent. In John 14:8, Philip exclaimed, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus’ response in verse 9 is profound, “Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
Fully God and fully man…a miraculous state ordained by Yahweh. God’s image has been revealed to us, we have seen the Father. We have a King, Savior, and High Priest Who is intimate with His creation. We are blessed beyond words.
Matthew 1:23
BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL, which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
John 1:14-16
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’” For of His fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
John 8:55-59
“…and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So, the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
John 14:8-11
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus *said to him, “Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the delight of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Philippians 2:5-11
Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name, which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.
Colossians 1:15-20
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation?
For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.
