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Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6
The next category of biblical evidence for the deity of Christ is passages that declare that he does things that only God does; they ascribe divine works to him.
Most theologians will tell you that the works of God are three: Creation, Providence, and Miracles. You’ll be shocked to learn, of course, that Jesus is said to perform all three.
- Creation
Three different New Testament books, written by three different authors, begin by saying that Jesus is the creator of the world:
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (Jn 1.3).
The “him” here is referring back to “the Word” in John 1.1, and later in the same chapter John writes that “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory” (Jn 1.14). And as is obvious, the rest of the book is about Jesus.
By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him (Co 1.16).
This is Paul, writing three decades before John wrote his Gospel, and thus very early in Christian history. And note that Paul says more than John did; Paul says that creation—all of it, physical and spiritual—was created not only by Jesus, but for him. That is a remarkable claim. This was not some doctrine that developed slowly, over time, like the size of the fish some guy caught.
[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds (He 1.2).
Now, since I’ve said that these three statements are by three different authors, it’s obvious that I don’t think Paul wrote Hebrews. (That’s a topic for a different post, if ever.) This remarkable sermon-in-a-letter paints a picture of Christ as exalted as anything said about God by any of the Old Testament prophets.
A threefold cord is not easily broken. These three statements make it clear that Jesus, who “became flesh and walked among us,” is the same as the Elohim who spoke, and there was light; who created the heavens and the earth; and who filled the heavens with stars and the earth with all that has the breath of life.
This is God’s work.
- Providence
Two of the three passages we’ve just cited go further and ascribe the second work of God to Jesus as well. Providence is God’s care for and direction of what he has created. We call his care Preservation, and his direction Government. I like to say that in school we call Preservation “science,” and we call Government “history.”
And, it turns out, Jesus does those works too:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist (Co 1.17).
You’ve likely heard it taught that this word consist means “hold together.” I find that phrasing intriguing. If you were Paul, living with first-century scientific understanding, what direction would you say things go when they wear out? Well, down, of course. Buildings fall down; trees fall down; people fall down when they die.
But Paul doesn’t say that; he says they ”are held together,” which implies that without Jesus’ action they would … fly apart, I suppose.
What’s intriguing about that?
Well, what Paul could not have known is that all matter consists of atoms, in the nucleus of which are two kinds of subatomic particles: protons and neutrons. Now, protons have a positive charge, which is no problem for hydrogen, the simplest atom, but becomes a problem as soon as you get 2 or more protons together in the nucleus. Why? Because positive charges are supposed to repel; those 2 (helium), or 8 (oxygen), or 103 (Lawrencium) protons are supposed to fly apart. But they don’t.
Physicists have noticed this, of course, and they have given a name to the force that must be holding them together; they call it the “strong nuclear force.” (They’ve gotten considerably more imaginative in coming up with names for other subatomic things, like spin quarks.)
Now, I’m not saying that Jesus is the strong nuclear force; I suspect that creation is far more complex than that. But I am intrigued by the fact that Paul doesn’t seem to reflect the scientific understanding of his day when he chooses his words.
I’m running long here, so I’ll save the second Providence passage for next time.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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