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You can turn in your Bibles to 
John chapter 1. The Gospel According to John, 
chapter one. You'll remember last time we 
looked at an introduction to Christology. We read from John, 
chapter 20, the account of the risen Christ appearing to the 
disciples and specifically the encounter with Thomas and his 
confession, my Lord and my God. We used that as a text to introduce 
the doctrine of Christology. This time we're moving on then 
from that introduction now to a look at the person of Christ. We noted last time that Christology 
is the study of the person of Christ, and it is the study of 
the work of Christ. And so we begin our study in 
the person of Christ by tonight looking at the deity of Christ. I'm going to read from the Gospel 
of John 1, verses 1 to 3, and then verses 14 to 18. Here we are with the Word of 
the Living and True God, John 1.1, 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 were made through 
Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him 
was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines 
in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Verse 
14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld 
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 
full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and 
cried out, saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes 
after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And 
of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the 
law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through 
Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Well, this 
prologue to the Gospel of John is rich with Christology, and 
no doubt it is, in essence, the purpose of the prologue. Now, 
the purpose of the book, remember, is that statement in John 20, 
31, these things were written so that you might believe that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may 
have life in his name. And we noted a number of Sundays 
ago, if that's the purpose statement, then this is the theological 
and Christological undergirding for the entirety of the book, 
the prologue to the Gospel of John. And in what we just read 
there, we have a minefield rich with Christological truths concerning 
our Savior, our Redeemer, the Savior of men. Now, tonight we're 
going to begin looking at the person of Christ. Who is he? 
And specifically, first off, the deity of Christ. And to do 
so, Or to start us off, another quote from C.H. That is Spurgeon. Christians have many treasures 
to lock up in the cabinet of memory. They ought to remember 
their election, chosen of God, ere time began. They ought to 
be mindful of their extraction, that they were taken out of the 
miry clay, hewn out of the horrible pit. They ought to recollect 
their effectual calling, for they were called of God and rescued 
by the power of the Holy Ghost. They ought to remember their 
special deliverances, all that has been done for them and all 
the mercies bestowed on them. But there is one whom they should 
embalm in their souls with the most costly spices, one who above 
all other gifts of God deserves to be had. perpetual remembrance. One, I said, for I mean not an 
act, I mean not a deed, but it is a person whose portrait I 
would frame in gold and hang up in the stateroom of the soul. 
I would have you earnest students of all the deeds of the conquering 
Messiah. I would have you conversant with 
the life of our beloved, but oh forget not his person. It 
is Christ's glorious person which ought to be the object of our 
remembrance. So the study of the person of 
Christ is absolutely vital. We noted that last time, the 
importance of Christology, a number of elements that we went through, 
a number of points that we noted with regards to the importance 
of Christology. And so we come now, first off, 
to the deity of Christ. And this is an absolutely vital 
doctrine. It's one of those doctrines, 
I know all of you understand this. That is a non-negotiable. It is paramount. It is a paramount 
doctrine that cannot be jettisoned from Christianity. If it is, 
then we have lost Christianity. It is a cardinal truth. By this 
doctrine, our orthodoxy is tested. If we reject the deity of Christ, 
then we are no longer safely in the fold of the Redeemer. 
Throughout the history of the church, Christians come against 
Jews, Monarchians, Adoptionists, Arians, Ebonites, Muslims, Remonstrants, 
Sassanians, Anti-Trinitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, all at the 
point of this particular doctrine, other doctrines to be sure, but 
this doctrine most especially. the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we want to look first 
off, and we're going to look at three things. The first thing 
is the meaning of the deity of Christ. Secondly, the biblical 
testimony to the deity of Christ. And then thirdly, important affirmations 
in confessing the deity of Christ. So first off then, the meaning 
of the deity of Christ. We're going to get to some Bible 
in a few minutes, but let's first off look at the meaning of the 
deity of Christ, and as is always a good exercise, we want to eliminate 
first what the deity of Christ isn't. The deity of Christ does 
not mean First, some of you might recognize some of this language 
when we work through the confession, but it's important to repeat. 
The deity of Christ does not mean, first, that he is one God 
among many in a pantheon of deities. That's a simple statement, a 
simple denial with regards to Christ. He is not one God among 
many in a pantheon of deities. We do not subscribe to any notion 
of polytheism, and so we must affirm that the deity of Christ 
is not that He is one God among many. Secondly, the deity of 
Christ does not mean that He is of a similar or derived substance 
as the Father. In the early church there was, 
and following after the early church, there was the notion 
that Christ was, or his deity was seen in, that he was a similar 
substance as the Father. He wasn't of the same substance 
as the Father, but just a similar one, and many by that doctrine 
could claim that there was a time where Christ was not. like the 
Aryans and others. And so we must say that the deity 
of Christ does not mean that, yeah, he's still divine, but 
he's only of a similar or derived substance as the Father. That 
must be rejected. Thirdly, the deity of Christ 
does not mean that he is divine in the sense of being filled 
with the Holy Ghost. That's not where in his divinity 
lies. His deity is not seen in that 
he is Holy Spirit filled. In his humanity, he is Holy Spirit 
filled. The Bible discloses this time 
and again. The Old Testament anticipates 
and prophesies that reality, and the New Testament bears witness 
to that. But his deity is not seen in 
that. that he is filled with the Holy 
Ghost. Fourthly, the deity of Christ 
does not mean that he is an exalted man, his divinity being a result 
of being in some way chosen or honored by the Father. Some heiress, 
and we must say some heretics, of course, have proposed that 
is where the deity of Christ is seen, that he is just an honored 
or chosen by the Father and has a sort of honorary divinity by 
virtue of being chosen by the Father. No, that is of course 
not where the deity of Christ is seen. Fifthly, the deity of 
Christ does not mean that he merited divinity by virtue of 
his obedience, that a la Mormonism. Mormonism teaches that Christ 
is received divinization, if you will, deification by virtue 
of the completion of obedience. And so by that he is deified 
or his divinity is seen in being exalted by virtue of his obedience. 
That, of course, is not what the deity of Christ means. Lastly, 
and certainly not exhausting what some propose the deity of 
Christ is, but lastly, the deity of Christ does not mean that 
as the personification of an impersonal logos, he was an enfleshed 
agent of God, and so can be called God in some ambassadorial way. That's a lot of language and, 
you know, what are you talking about there? Basically, there 
are those today and some that have recently debated, James 
White, as well as Michael Brown. James White and Michael Brown 
teamed up in a debate against two fellows. Their names, Anthony 
Buzzard, I think is one of them, and some other fellow who proposed 
that sort of reality with regards to the deity of Christ, that 
he was Prior to the incarnation, he was this impersonal Logos 
principle in God, the Word, but not an actual person of the blessed 
triune. So he was just an enfleshed agent 
of God and can be called God in some ambassadorial way. That is not wherein the deity 
of Christ lies. So then, where does the deity 
of Christ lie, or what do we mean by the deity of Christ? Well, a good definition is that 
we can simply say he is true and essential God, coessential 
with the Father. That's the language of Turretin. 
So what do we mean by the deity of Christ? He is true and essential 
God, coessential with the Father. He is of the same substance or 
of the same essence as the Father. The Confession of Faith reads 
this way, and this is what the deity of Christ does mean. The 
Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very 
an eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one 
substance and equal with Him who made the world, who upholdeth 
and governeth all things He hath made, which person is very God. And so that is what we mean by 
the deity of Christ. To simplify it and go back to 
the Turretin definition, which agrees with the confession, He 
is true and essential God, coessential with the Father. You'll remember 
hopefully some of you if you've rehearsed or sought to remember 
the Westminster Shorter Catechism. How many persons are there in 
the Godhead? There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, 
the same in substance, equal in power and in glory. That speaks 
to the true and proper deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Co-essential, co-glorious, consubstantial. all equal in their divinity, 
having the essence and the essence undivided. And so moving on now 
to the biblical testimony of the deity of Christ. The biblical 
testimony, what does the Bible say with regards to the deity 
of Christ? We won't tonight work through 
much of the church history as we have in the past when we've 
gone through the confession, but just a note briefly with 
regards to the testimony of the church throughout the ages at 
the point of the deity of Christ. We must say at the outset that 
the church has always confessed the deity of Christ. within the 
safe confines and blessed confines of the revealed truth regarding 
the Trinity. Christ is truly God. The deity 
of Christ is not some imposition by an ecclesiastical power that 
squashed out true professors of proper Christianity like the 
Arians. Arianism is a heresy. It was 
not by ecclesiastical power and tyranny that the deity of Christ 
was propagated throughout history. It was not by political power 
that the deity of Christ was thrust upon the church, but rather 
it was by apostolic proclamation followed by faithful, divine, 
providentially guided defense of the doctrine The deity of 
Christ that we have professed the church the the doctrine throughout 
the ages at the outset of the if we look at the if we look 
at Nicaea and just very briefly and the the conciliar of declarations 
concerning the person of Christ upholding his true divinity and 
his true humanity, we see that what they are doing is they're 
reflecting upon or they're defending 200 years of reflection upon 
the person of Christ that the church underwent. The church 
is brought to a point where they have to defend the deity of Christ 
against heretics, and what they do is they're reflecting upon 
the baptismal formula, baptizing them in the name of the Father 
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. They're reflecting upon 
liturgical doxology when the church is saying, Jesus is Lord, 
what does that mean? And they're reflecting, they're 
reflecting upon, stuff like salvation. How is it that we are saved? Can we be saved by a created 
mediator? Or are we saved by one that is 
truly the God-man? And they come out, of course, 
on the side that we can only be saved by a divine savior, 
a human savior or a created savior solely and alone. cannot affect 
true and proper and lasting salvation. So what then does the Bible say? 
The Church has always upheld, though in the midst of opponents, 
the deity of Christ. What is the biblical testimony 
to the deity of Christ? First off, the deity of Christ 
is proved by Christ's self-identification. Now with fingers at the Bible, 
let's go to John 8. So the first point of evidence 
regarding the biblical testimony to the deity of Christ, the deity 
of Christ is proved by Christ's self-identification. John chapter 
8. Notice what we find there in 
two places in John 8. The first beginning at verse 
23. And he said to them, you are 
from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not 
of this world. Therefore I said to you that 
you will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I 
am, you will die in your sins. We noted this last time at the 
importance of Christology, specifically with regards to salvation. We 
must confess the true and proper Christ, lest we prove our profession 
to be false. And here we see this absolute 
truth, and this glorious truth brought out by the lips of the 
Redeemer Himself. Therefore I said to you that 
you will die in your sins, For if you do not believe that I 
am, you will die in your sins. He is self-identifying himself 
as that Exodus 3.14, Isaianic, I am who I am. Secondly, in John 
8, we have the verse in 58. In John 8, in verse 58, notice 
what we find there. This is in response, and actually 
maybe backing up to verse 54, Jesus answered, if I honor myself, 
my honor is nothing. It is my father who honors me 
of whom you say that he is your God. Yet you have not known him, 
but I know him. And if I say I do not know him, 
I shall 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. Then the Jews said to him, you 
are not yet 50 years old. Have you seen Abraham? And Jesus 
said to them, most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham 
was, I am." Very, very striking and strong statement, evidenced 
by the fact that they understood fully well what Jesus was saying 
in verse 59. When we read the narrative, then 
they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself 
and went out of the temple. going through the midst of them 
and so passed by. You see, Christ was saying, before 
Abraham was, I am. And it's, again, not that he's 
saying, before Abraham was, I existed, as if to just uphold some measure 
of pre-existence prior to Abraham. He could have been created, you 
know, but he's definitely before Abraham, no. He doesn't say, 
before Abraham was, I was. He says, before Abraham was, 
I am. a clear affirmation of the full 
and unabridged deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice as well 
in the Gospel of John, with regards to Christ's self-identification, 
in John 13, There's a statement there, and we certainly aren't 
exhausting the instances of Christ's self-identification as God. But notice in John 13 at verse 
18, I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have 
chosen, but that the scriptures may be fulfilled. He who eats 
bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you 
before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe 
that I am." And then the last one of these instances is in 
John chapter 18 and verse 5. We have quite a shocking scene 
here that speaks to the glory of Christ in His true divinity. They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am, and 
Judas who betrayed Him also stood with them. Now when He said to 
them, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground. In an interesting 
twist of appropriating this particular verse, that is to be the proper 
response to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, of falling 
to the ground. Whether by his enemies or his 
friends, the proper response to the one who has or who is 
a true and essential God, coessential with the Father, is that we are 
to fall as dead men to the ground before his holy feet. So, the 
deity of Christ is proved by Christ's self-identification. 
A number of other verses we could go to to prove this, but we move 
on. Secondly, the deity of Christ 
is proved by Christ's equality with the Father. And these, in 
fact, are more statements with regards to Christ's self-identification, 
but specifically at the point of equality with the Father. And still in the Gospel of John, 
you can turn to John 5. John 5 and beginning in verse, 
well just reading verse 17, but Jesus answered them, my father 
has been working until now and I have been working. There's 
a solidarity there, or an identity with the Father, a distinction 
of person, but nevertheless, an identity at the point of the 
working. As well in John, in the Gospel 
of John, in John 8, we have this same reality, Christ's equality 
with the Father in John 8, 38. John 8, 38, where we read, I 
speak what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have 
seen with your Father. Again, distinction of person, 
but identity with respect to glory and equality. In John 10, 
we have two instances there where we find Christ's equality with 
the Father. Notice in John 10 at 15. As the father knows me, even 
so I know the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Notice 
the language there. As the father knows me, even 
so I know the father. You see the reciprocal parallelism 
there and identity with the knowledge of each other. Just as the father 
knows the son, so the son knows the father. There is equality 
as well in John 10 at verse 30. Actually backing up to verse 
28, And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, 
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who 
has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able 
to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and my Father are one. You see the equality at the point 
of the soteriological grip that each member of the Trinity has 
upon the chosen people, and then it's punctuated by this, I and 
my Father are one. Clearly, Christ affirming by 
this language of equality with the Father, that he is most certainly 
true and essential God, co-essential with the Father. We could note 
as well John 14.10 and John 17.5, but turn to the book of Philippians 
because there we have that glorious Christological statement upholding 
with apostolic authority the identity, the equality of Christ 
with the Father. In Philippians 2, in that Carmen 
Christi, the hymn to Christ as to God, we have this language 
beginning in verse 5. Let this mind be in you. This 
is Philippians 2.5. Let this mind be in you, which 
was also in Christ Jesus. who being in the form of God 
did not consider it robbery to be equal with God." There's in 
fact a double statement there with regards to Christ's deity, 
who being in the form of God, We ask the question there, well, 
why didn't Paul just say Christ who being God? Why does he have 
to say who being in the form of God as if to give ammunition 
to the Jehovah's Witnesses? Well, it's a statement of deity 
that is specifically by, we may say, antithetical parallelism. It's not opposing, but it's set 
in comparison to a statement that comes later. taking the 
form of a bondservant. Just as he is truly man in taking 
the form of a bondservant, so too is he eternally truly God, 
brought forth in this statement, who being in the form of God. 
And then we have the statement of equality following, did not 
consider it robbery to be equal with God. And that verse might 
better be rendered, did not consider equality with God something to 
be held onto at all costs. In other words, he condescends 
in the incarnation. He doesn't hold on to his divine 
and sovereign prerogatives with a strong grip, but rather condescendingly 
comes, taking upon himself man's nature, with all the essential 
properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. Christ 
self-identifies himself as God, and Christ states, and the Apostle 
states, his equality with the Father. Thirdly then, the deity 
of Christ is proved by explicit apostolic statements of Christ's 
deity. We already saw one in John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Language is 
quite clear. That language bringing out the 
reality that the Word, as to His very nature, is deity, is 
God. There is personal distinction. 
He is not the father, but there is identity. There is the reality 
that he is true and essential God, co-essential with the father, 
because John states clearly the word was God. We have that statement 
that we noted later on in John 20, 28, that we looked at last 
time, the statement of Thomas, my Lord and my God. the silly notions of the Muslims 
and the Jehovah's Witnesses who say it's, you know, it's just 
an exclamation of surprise. Thomas saying, oh my God. The 
stupidity of such an approach to the statement of Thomas need 
not be exhausted. Thomas is confessing the lordship 
and the deity of Christ there in John 20, 28. It's not an exclamation 
of surprise. Thomas wouldn't use the Lord's 
name in vain to exclaim, oh, that really is the resurrected 
human Christ. No, he's stating with absolute 
clarity, and John rehearsing the statement, my Lord and my 
God, an ascription of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. This 
is Robert Raymond on John 20, 28. My Lord and my God. Thomas' confession of Jesus as 
his Lord and God is, now notice this, the supreme Christological 
pronouncement of the fourth gospel. That's the importance of that 
statement in the Gospel of John. Thomas' confession of Jesus as 
his Lord and God is the supreme Christological pronouncement 
of the fourth gospel. Here within a week of Jesus' 
resurrection in the presence of the other disciples, who would 
surely have learned from Thomas' words and Jesus' favorable response 
the appropriateness of doing so, a disciple for the first 
time employs theos as a Christological title. That's the Greek word 
for God. This demonstrates that there 
is no basis in fact for the view of some form critical scholars 
that the church only gradually came to the view of an incarnational 
Christology. Christians virtually from the 
beginning believed that in Jesus they had to do with God incarnate. That is, Thomas' words, my Lord 
and my God, is the supreme Christological declaration, proclamation, statement 
of the fourth gospel. As well, under this, the deity 
of Christ is proved by explicit apostolic statements of Christ's 
deity. We have a few other verses in the the Pauline epistles, 
you can turn to the book of Romans for a moment. We have one there. Depending on your translation, 
it might not be so apparent, but if you have the New King 
James and others, it's there. Romans 9, notice what we have 
in verse 5 with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom are 
the fathers, Romans 9, 5, and from whom, according to the flesh, 
Christ came, who is overall the eternally blessed God. Amen. A clear Pauline statement affirming 
the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is true and essential 
God, co-essential with the Father. As well in Titus 2, we have the 
language of our God and Savior. You'll notice there what we have 
again is Clear Pauline statement with regards to the deity of 
Christ. This is Titus 2 and verse 13. Notice what we read there. Looking for the blessed hope 
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. That isn't a separation into 
two objects with regards to this glorious appearing, but one. 
And further elaboration in the latter identification, our great 
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our God and Savior. And that same sort of language 
is employed by Peter in his second epistle. Notice in 2 Peter, right 
at the beginning of his particular letter, Simon, Peter, a bondservant 
and apostle of Jesus Christ, this is 2 Peter 1.1, to those 
who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness 
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Now we could go to other verses, 
but the testimony is clear. Christ himself, the apostles, 
Paul and Peter here, John as well, all upholding the deity 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fourthly, under the biblical 
testimony to the deity of Christ, and hopefully, just a brief pause, 
hopefully as we move through this, we're moving sort of quickly 
through this material, but let it never be just material to 
us. This is a glorious revelation about the person of Christ, our 
blessed Savior. He is fully God, and this one 
who is fully God condescended to take man's nature and redeem 
guilty sinners. It truly is a blessed thing to 
rehearse these truths. Fourthly, the deity of Christ 
is proved by Old Testament Yahweh verses applied to Christ. Old 
Testament Yahweh verses applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice 
in Psalm 45. You can turn there. There's a lot of Bible turning, 
but hopefully it's always healthy Bible turning. And whenever we 
turn to our Bibles, hopefully that's always the case. It's 
good to read from God's inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word. 
Notice what we have in Psalm 45 at verse 7. And then prepare 
your minds and fingers to quickly turn to the book of Hebrews. 
Psalm 45 verse 7, you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore 
God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more 
than your companions. We turn to the book of Hebrews 
and notice what we find there in Hebrews 1. the apostle there 
rehearsing that very psalm to argue for the superabounding 
excellence of Christ over and against the prophets and the 
angels. Notice in Hebrews 1 at verse 8, but to the Son, he says, 
that is to the Son of God, he, the Father, says, your throne, 
O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is 
the scepter of your kingdom. And now notice Psalm 45, you 
have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore 
God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more 
than your companions. Again, continuing with Old Testament 
Yahweh verses applied to Christ, we have, don't turn there, but 
Psalm 102, 25 to 27, is here in Hebrews 110. You, Lord, in 
the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens 
are the work of your hands. A clear statement with regards 
to the deity of Christ, quoting Psalm 102, 25 to 27. Now, notice what we have in Romans 
10, 13. If you turn there, Romans 10, 
13. Well, actually, well, yeah, sorry, 
Romans 10, 13. You can go there. And then keep 
in mind the Pentecostal sermon of Peter in Acts chapter two. Notice what we read in Romans 
10 at verse 13. For whoever calls on the name 
of the Lord shall be saved. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
well, that's a reference to Joel 2.32. where, clearly in view, Yahweh 
is being spoken of, and that's the language used in Joel. Well, 
in Acts 2, the same verse is quoted by Peter at the end in 
verse 21, and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the 
name of the Lord, on the name of Yahweh, shall be saved. In view, it's captured within 
the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ by Peter on the day of 
Pentecost. we would want to note as well, 
Isaiah 9.6. What do we find there in Isaiah 
9.6? But a connection between a prophecy 
concerning the incarnate Christ and then clearly a statement 
with respect to His deity. In Isaiah 9, verse 6, a passage 
well familiar to you all. For unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, 
and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. Everlasting 
Father, Prince of Peace. See, the language of Mighty God 
applied there to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Jehovah's Witnesses 
will even affirm and say that yes, that is Christ that's being 
spoken of, but you see, it says Mighty God, it doesn't say Almighty 
God. We read elsewhere, actually even 
in the book of Isaiah, where Yahweh is referred to as mighty, 
not almighty. We need not play these silly 
word games. It's clearly an affirmation of 
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mighty and almighty at the point 
of God are interchangeable. And besides, there is no other 
God save the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As well, 
we could note, and if you're making notes, you can just make 
a note of this, Isaiah 44, 6 is repeated by the Apostle John 
in Revelation 1, 8 and 11, 2, 8 and 22, 12 to 13. So that's 
Isaiah 44, 6 is brought forth by the Apostle John in the book 
of Revelation in chapter 1, verses 8 and 11, chapter 2, verse 8, in chapter 22, verses 12 to 13. Remember the passage that we 
looked at if you were here on the Lord's Day, or if you listened 
to the sermons on the Lord's Day. In Isaiah 6, verses 1 to 
3, we observed from Isaiah that language, in the year that King 
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted 
up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. We come to 
John 12, 40 to 41, and we find there John the Apostle bringing 
together Isaiah 53 and John 6, saying that these things Isaiah 
wrote when he saw the glory of Christ and spoke of Him. The 
biblical evidence to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is clear, 
it is astounding, and for anyone to come up against it is to be 
found as a potter's vessel being dashed to pieces upon the rock 
of clear biblical clarity. Lastly then, under the biblical 
testimony to the deity of Christ, the deity of Christ is proved 
by verses ascribing to Christ those things which can only be 
predicated of God. So this is the fifth point, the 
deity of Christ is proved by verses ascribing to Christ those 
things which can only be predicated of God. And the first thing is 
the forgiveness of sins. In Mark 2 and verse 7, who can 
forgive sins but God alone? Christ in the context is forgiving 
sin. And so clearly, Christ identifies 
the fact that He, by divine authority, is forgiving sins. And not simply 
by divine authority granted, though we can see that in there 
at the point of His mediatorial ship as the God-man. But the 
statement is clear, who can forgive sins but God alone? And Christ 
owns that He does forgive sin as God. Secondly, I want to note the 
hearing and answering of prayers. This is, again, those things 
only predicated of God. The hearing and the answering 
of prayers, Acts 7.59. Stephen calls out to Christ. receive my spirit. Stephen himself 
cries out to the risen and exalted Christ and prays to him. John Gill on this idea or this 
truth says he does this is and this is by the way speaking of Christ with regards 
to intercession and prayer and those sorts of things from John 
14, 13. He does not say that he would be a mediator between 
God and them and advocate with the Father for them and would 
intercede and use his interest with him that it might be done, 
which would have been saying much and all which he does, but 
he declares he will do it himself. which is a proof of his deity 
and an instance of his omnipotence. What he's citing is, if you ask 
anything in my name, I will give it to you. To paraphrase the 
language of John 14, 13, that is an instance and proof of his 
deity and an instance of his omnipotence. Christ hears and 
Christ answers prayer. Thirdly, of those things that 
can only be predicated of God, accepting praise and worship, 
we could note Matthew 21 16 and John 20 28 the latter instance 
is what we've already talked about the instance of Thomas's 
declaration my Lord and my God their Christ does not rebuke 
correct or offer any sort of, you know, qualification, well, 
Thomas, you shouldn't do that. Angels elsewhere in the Bible 
do reject such worship, rightly, because there is only one to 
be worshipped, the living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit. So there in that instance of 
Thomas saying, my Lord and my God, Christ does not reject, 
but rather receives, rightly, that worship and praise. Fourthly, 
under those things that can only be predicated of God, The possession 
of sovereign divine prerogative. The possession of sovereign divine 
prerogative. You can turn to the book of Matthew. 
In Matthew chapter 11. This is another verse that is 
familiar to you, no doubt. Matthew 11. Beginning in verse 
25, at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, 
Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things 
from the wise and the prudent and have revealed them to babes. 
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. All things 
have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the 
Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except 
the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." 
You see, Christ has the possession of sovereign divine prerogative, 
in this case, the authority and the sovereign prerogative to 
reveal to whom He wills the truth of the Gospel. It's a clear statement 
with respect. to the deity of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. There's an instance as well in John 5, 21. But moving 
on, lastly, under this heading, verses ascribing to Christ those 
things which can only be predicated of God, still not exhausting 
the list, but we would want to say attributes. Attributes, and 
there are many. Eternity, Micah 5, 2. Immensity 
and omnipotence, or excuse me, immensity and omnipresence in 
Matthew 18, 20 and 28, 20. He says, lo, I am with you always. In the Matthew 18 instance, with 
regards to church discipline, he says, there I am in your midst 
when two or three are gathered together. So eternity, immensity, 
omnipotence, omniscience, and immutability, all these things 
are ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ. So the biblical testimony 
to the deity of Christ, we only spent 35 minutes in that, and 
we scratched the surface, really, in summarizing and only going 
to a few select passages. But let's take pause again to 
glory in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he is true 
and essential God, coessential with the Father. You see, Thomas 
serves as a prototypical exclaimer of every Christian professor 
that follows after him. We are all to be Thomases, my 
Lord and my God. our precious, glorious, divine 
Christ. He is true and essential God, 
the brightness of the Father's glory in the express image of 
His person. Well, moving on lastly now then, 
so we've looked at the meaning of the deity of Christ, the biblical 
testimony to the deity of Christ, and now lastly, important affirmations 
in confessing the deity of Christ. Some of these have sort of already 
come up, but this is to hone and to specify, to ensure that 
we have our proper Christological ducts in a row when we are affirming 
the deity of Christ. The first important affirmation 
is this, his essential identity with the Father. Another way to say this would 
be, his essential identity with the Father and Spirit. Another 
way to say this would be everything predicated of God, for example, 
in that regal chapter in our confession, chapter two, paragraph 
one, everything predicated of God there can and should be predicated 
of Christ. All those blessed perfections. 
So when the confession says things like, and rehearses truths of 
God like, The Lord our God is but one only living and true 
God, whose subsistence is in and of himself, whose essence 
cannot be comprehended by anyone but himself, a most pure spirit, 
without body, parts, or passions, immutable, invisible, most holy, 
most loving, most wise, et cetera. All those things are true of 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and all equally. And so his essential 
identity with the Father must be upheld. In paragraph 3, the 
language is that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have the 
same essence and the essence undivided. And so Christ is, 
has, essential identity with the Father, and of course with 
the Spirit. Where might we see this in our 
Bibles? Well, one of the places that we see this is in Hebrews 
1, to be sure. This is an address of Holy Scripture 
that is rich with affirmations of the deity of Christ, and at 
this particular point, His essential identity with the Father. Notice 
in Hebrews 1.1, God, who at various times and 
in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has 
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the 
worlds, Now notice, who being the brightness of His glory, 
and the express image of His person, and upholding all things 
by the word of His power. Christ's essential identity with 
the Father, He is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the 
express image of His person. The biblical testimony to Christ's 
essential identity with the Father is absolutely clear, and the 
language is quite glorious. The brightness of His glory and 
the express image of His person. The express image of His person 
there, that language in the Greek is transliterated well into English 
as character. The word isn't used in the Bible, 
but the language employed there, the express image of His person, 
we could have in view some sort of implement whereby the exact 
representation is impressed upon something else. Christ has essential 
identity with the Father. He's the brightness of His glory 
and the express image of His person. We've already noted Philippians 
2.6. But that is the first important 
affirmation in confessing the deity of Christ, His essential 
identity with the Father. All that the Father has with 
respect to essential deity, the Son has. Now the second important 
affirmation in confessing the deity of Christ is his personal 
eternal distinction from the Father and the Spirit. So he 
has essential identity. with Father and Spirit. In this 
divine and infinite being, there are three subsistences, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. And all three are of the same 
substance and eternity, all sharing the divine essence, the essence 
undivided. we must confess that this as 
the second point, his personal eternal distinction from the 
Father and Spirit. And so, if everything predicated 
of God in, for example, chapter 2, paragraph 1 and 2 of our confession, 
paragraphs 1 and 2 of our confession, must be predicated of Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit, at this point, everything said of the 
Son cannot be said of the Father. Everything said of the Father 
cannot be said of the Son, and everything said of the Spirit 
cannot be said of Father and Son. What do I mean by that? 
At the point of personal eternal distinction, at the point of 
the Father, we must say that he is the only one who is the 
eternal begetter of the Son. At the point of Christ specifically, 
because we're studying His divinity, His deity, His personal eternal 
distinction from the Father is seen in that He is eternally 
begotten from the Father. The distinction of father and 
son from the spirit, we would say, is that father and son breathe 
out the spirit eternally. The spirit proceeds from the 
father and the son. But getting back to this point, 
Christ's personal eternal distinction from the father and spirit, his 
personal distinction from the father is that he is the son. How is He the Son? He is the 
Son by virtue of His being eternally generated by the Father. The 
Father is begotten of none. He is neither begotten nor proceeding. 
The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit 
is proceeding from the Father and the Son. Where do we see 
this language in the Bible? We see this language of eternal 
personal distinction in John 1. We read at the outset. If there's any questions afterwards, 
because this is a lot of information, but hopefully, we need to perhaps 
operate by this sort of maxim. Actually, two maxims. We said 
last time that we're not saved by theological precision. were 
not saved by theological precision. However, the saved are to be 
theologically precise. God demands it, Christ demands 
it, the apostles demand it. We're to grow in the grace and 
in the knowledge of Christ. The apostolic prayer in Ephesians 
1.15 and following is that we would grow in wisdom, spiritual 
understanding, and knowledge. Christ himself says, this is 
eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ whom you have sent. So we are not saved by our theological 
precision, but the saved are to be theologically precise. 
There's another maxim that we should operate by. And to use 
the language of Carl Truman, mystery is the refuge of the 
disreputable theologian. In other words, very often the 
Christian wants to abandon to just, you know, the confession 
of mystery without being required to actually know the blessed 
God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent to a full and to a proper 
and to a glorious knowledge. We ought to want to know the 
Redeemer of men. we ought to not get to a point 
where we just stop and say, you know what, I've learned enough 
of my glorious God-man redeeming King, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
So mystery is often the refuge of the disreputable theologian. 
Deuteronomy 29, 29 is an escape hatch from those who don't want 
to learn the, you know, to a proper Christian fullness, the glorious 
truths of Christ. But yet we must also confess 
nevertheless that there is a point where we must say, at just, you 
know, fall on our faces and worship the triune God of heaven and 
earth. Sometimes when we dive into Christological truths like 
this, while these truths are necessary, we get to the point 
where, because of our finitude, we must only fall on our faces 
and worship the One who gives us life through Jesus Christ 
the Lord. All that to say, where does the Bible teach the eternal 
personal distinction of the Son? In John 1, We have it in verse 
1 first, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God. There we have both of those truths, 
his essential identity with the Father, but then his personal 
distinction from the Father. And then at the point of what 
that personal eternal distinction is, eternal begottenness, notice 
in verse 14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and 
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father, full of grace and truth. And then verse 18, No one has 
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Theologians, 
Christians throughout the ages have gone to these passages in 
order to defend the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ because 
you see His deity is upheld here by the eternal generation from 
the Father. Christ is eternally begotten 
or eternally generated by the Father. What does that mean or 
what's a good definition of eternal generation. Here's a couple for 
you. These are truths that ought to be upheld. The first one, 
you might roll your eyes and say, do we really need to multiply 
that many truths about this? Yes, it is important. So don't 
roll your eyes at Stephan Lindblad's definition of eternal generation 
because it is a very good one. This is what eternal generation 
is at the point of Christ. The Father is necessary eternal, 
supernatural, and incomprehensible personal act of communicating 
His whole essence to the Son, as to the Son's personal subsistence, 
without any imperfection, dependence, succession, multiplication, mutation, 
causation, derivation, confusion or division, either of the one 
common divine essence or of the divine personal subsistences 
of the Trinity. If you want a more simple answer, 
though that is a rich and good one, Bavink defines it this way, 
the divine deed by which the father gives the son to have 
life in himself. Now this is important to understand 
because in saying this, we're not railing against the deity 
of Christ, we're upholding how Christ has his deity. He has it by eternal generation. And that might be an overly simplistic 
statement, but notice in John 5, the biblical warrant for this 
definition of the eternal generation of the Son. He is the only begotten 
Son. John 3.16 upholds that as well. But notice in John 5, with regards 
to this doctrine, where God the Father eternally begets the Son 
as to His personal subsistence and eternally communicates the 
divine essence to the Son. Notice in John 5 at verse 26, 
there we read this, For as the Father has life in Himself, so 
He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And it must 
be stressed that He does this eternally. And when we say He 
does this eternally, we don't say that He stopped doing this 
at some point in time, because God is timeless, autemporal. Eternal generation means that 
Christ is eternal. And He has that eternality, if 
you will, as it pertains to His personal subsistence, being the 
Son, by virtue of the Father eternally begetting Him. We'll 
move on, though, because that is sort of the stuff of high 
theology. Another verse is Proverbs 8.22. But when I say high theology, 
when we dive into beyond the veil of the simple profession 
of the truth and confession of that truth, which we must confess, 
it can be very rich with theological inquiry. and speculation, and 
wholesome speculation, and those sorts of things. But we must 
confess His eternal begottenness. When we ask the question, how 
is the Father the Father, or why is the Father called the 
Father? It's not just because that's 
the name that He reveals Himself by, or because that's just, you 
know, that's just by name only is He the Father. No, He's the 
Father by virtue of eternally begetting the Son. How is the 
Son the Son? He's not the Son in name only, 
but He's the Son by virtue of being eternally begotten of the 
Father. We would say then, how is the 
Spirit the Spirit? Not in name only, but by being 
eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. Spiration, 
being eternally breathed out by the Father and the Son. So, important affirmations in 
confessing the deity of Christ, His essential identity with the 
Father, His personal eternal distinction from the Father, 
and then Thirdly, His unchanging, undiminished, post-incarnation 
deity. What does that mean? It just 
simply means we uphold divine immutability at the point of 
the incarnation of Christ. The incarnation doesn't bring 
to the Son of God any change to His deity, to His divinity. Remember a quote from Calvin, 
you might not remember, Sunday night, it was a few days ago 
now. But at the point of the incarnation, Calvin says, The 
Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that without leaving 
heaven, He willed to be born in the Virgin's womb, to go about 
the earth, and to hang upon the cross. Yet he has always been 
as he always was from the very beginning, filling the heavens 
and the earth. The incarnation doesn't bring a change to Christ 
as it pertains to his divinity, as it pertains to his deity, 
in the same way that creation did not bring a change to God. Creation did not bring a change 
to He who is immutable, impassable, neither does the incarnation 
bring a change to He who is eternal, unchangeable, and infinite in 
all of His blessed perfections. So the third truth that we must 
affirm is His unchanging, undiminished, post-incarnation deity. And then lastly, before we close, 
a couple comments, pray, and then if you have any questions, 
you can ask away. The fourth important affirmation 
in confessing the deity of Christ is his role in the incarnation. the deity of Christ and the point 
of the deity of Christ in the role of Christ in the incarnation. Notice, to sort of clear things 
up on what we mean by that, John Owen. He says this, that the 
Lord Jesus Christ as man did and was to exercise all grace 
by the rational faculties and powers of his soul, his understanding, 
will, and affections. For he acted grace as a man, 
made of a woman, made under the law. His divine nature was not 
unto him in the place of a soul, nor did it immediately operate 
the things which he performed, as some of old vainly imagined. But being a perfect man, his 
rational soul was in him the immediate principle of his moral 
operations, even as ours are in us. Now, in the improvement 
and exercise of these faculties and powers of his soul, he had 
and made a progress after the manner of other men, for he was 
made like unto us in all things, yet without sin. In their increase, 
enlargement, and exercise, there was required a progression in 
grace also, and this he had continually by the Holy Ghost." In other 
words, the role of Christ in the incarnation, at the point 
of his deity, we might say this, Christ as God didn't go about 
the earth as God, doing all of those things just enfleshed in 
humanity. It wasn't an enfleshed God, God 
in man doing those things, but rather God as man. The incarnation 
was real. Christ, the son of God, the second 
of the blessed triune, took to himself man's nature. And so 
he went about the earth as man, doing the miracles, walking on 
water, fasting 40 days and 40 nights. It was God as man. It wasn't the Son of God just 
wearing a flesh suit. He truly did those things as 
man. We would want to see a verse 
such as Acts 2.22, which speaks to this reality. Notice what 
we find there. We'll quote another couple fellows 
and we'll close. This is important because it 
brings us into next week's section where we'll talk about the incarnation 
and the humanity of Christ. Because there are some essential 
truths that I think perhaps sometimes we might get wrong with regards 
to the divinity of Christ and the incarnation. Notice what 
we have in Acts 2 at verse 22. Men of Israel, hear these words, 
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, 
and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves 
also know. Now, I read through that quickly, 
deliberately. Notice again, men of Israel, hear these words, 
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, 
and signs which God did through him in your midst. Gil, on this 
particular verse, says this, that as man, not but that he 
did the miracles himself as God and the Son of God, but as he 
was man, God did them by his human nature as the instrument. 
In other words, it's what Calvin is getting at when he says this, 
and we'll see more of why this is important next time. For the 
power wherein Christ exceeded, proceeded from the Spirit alone. Therefore, when as the Heavenly 
Father anointed His Son, He furnished Him with the power of His Spirit. 
Peter saith immediately after that, that this power appeared 
in miracles, although he expresseth one kind only in plain words, 
that Christ testified that he was endowed with power of the 
Holy Ghost, that he might do good in the world. Ferguson as 
well on this line, as Jesus' obedience to the Father grew 
in harmony with his developing capacities as a man and at the 
demands of his ministry as the Messiah, so he received the power 
of the Spirit's anointing for each step of this way. So what 
does this have to do with the deity of Christ then and his 
role in the incarnation? Well, the role of Christ in the 
incarnation as it pertains to his deity is seen not in him 
doing the miracles, wonders, and signs, not in him walking 
on the water, not in him fasting in the wilderness for 40 days 
and 40 nights, not in him raising Lazarus from the dead. Those 
were all done in his spirit-filled humanity. His divinity is seen 
in this, the assumption of his human nature. He did that according 
to his divinity. It's seen in the provision of 
the personality. The human nature did not have 
a personhood independent of the divinity of Christ. In other 
words, as Burkoff says, the Logos furnishes the basis for the personality 
of Christ. And then lastly, What else does 
his deity have as the role in the incarnation? The point of 
sustaining. So it's assumption, it's providing 
the personality of his humanity, and it's in sustaining the humanity, 
called sustentation. It was requisite that the mediator 
should be God, that he might sustain and keep the human nature. 
from sinking under the infinite wrath of God and the power of 
death. Why did we rehearse that? We 
rehearsed that because next week we'll look at the humanity of 
Christ. And to properly have a doctrine of the incarnation, 
and maybe even more to the point, a proper doctrine of substitutionary 
salvation, the one who went about the earth doing good and hanging 
upon a cross must be fully human. And so to do those things as 
God, to do obedience as God, according to His divinity, would 
not be true and proper satisfaction of the demands of God to have 
a human substitute, to live in our stead, to die in our stead, 
and to rise again. So the role of the deity of Christ, 
or the role of Christ, according to his deity in the incarnation, 
is not in going about and doing the miracles and all of those 
things, but it's seen in assuming, it's seen in providing or furnishing 
the personality of Christ, and it's seen in the upholding, the 
maintenance, and the sustaining of the human nature of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Well, to close, and you can ask 
some questions afterwards, if anything, what we need to do 
is we need to glory in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We need 
to glory in the fact of His deity, that He is true and essential 
God, co-essential with the Father. Next time we'll look at why we 
need to glory in Christ for a second point, and that point being the 
incarnation and His humanity unto the salvation. sinners. 
Well let's close in prayer and then if there's any questions 
you can ask away. Heavenly Father we thank you 
for this time in Christology. We thank you for the fact that 
we can look at these portions of your word to see revelation 
concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that 
you would help us to have our thoughts and our contemplations 
and our blessed reflections about the person of Christ aligned 
with your holy word. You might help us by your spirit 
to jettison any errors that may linger in our conceptions of 
the Savior. that we might wholly and truly trust in what the Bible 
reveals. At this point that we discovered 
tonight, studied tonight at the point of the deity of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, we rejoice in you, the Son of God, and we praise 
you, Christ, for that one, as that one who came in the fullness 
of the times, that one who has a true and essential deity, who 
came and took to himself humanity to save us from our sins. We 
pray that you would help us to rejoice in truth, help us to 
rejoice in the Savior, and might you receive all honor and all 
glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We pray in Christ's name, 
amen.