The Undiminished Deity of God the Son

Matthew 1: Jesus, the Son of God

Who was Jesus?

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins”  (Matthew 1:20b-21).

The Divinity of Jesus

Some say that Jesus was a great man. Beyond doubt, He was, but if you only tip your hat to Jesus, you have missed it all. He is more than Jesus the Great; He is Jesus the One and Only.

Others speak of Jesus as a moral teacher. But He was and is so much more. 

In “Mere Christianity,” C.S. Lewis said, “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse…. let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”  

Jesus is God, manifested in human flesh. He is the Son of God, and God the Son.

The Son of God in the Old Testament

This brings us to the Trinity. In the passage above, you see: “…That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS...So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord” (see Matthew 1:20-23; emphasis added). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in one, and one in three.

God unfolds these things in the Old Testament prophecies.

“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:22-23).

I AM that I AM

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14).

Later, Jesus said to the Jews,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58b).

Did you catch that?

Creation

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

The Hebrew word used for “God” there is Elohim. El- is the singular name for God. The -im pluralizes it. This is the triune God acting as a unity.

“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” (John 1:1-3).

“The Word” is the Bible’s description of Jesus. Baby Jesus is the mighty God of Genesis 1.

The Person of Christ, Son of God

“But we don’t learn about God’s Son until we get to the New Testament.”

Wrong.

“‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God’” (Daniel 3:25).

Who walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego through the fiery furnace? Jesus.

“Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?” (Proverbs 30:4b).

His name is Jehovah, and His Son’s name is Jesus.

“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” (Isaiah 9:6).

Jesus is “Mighty God”—El Gibor, which literally means “God-man”!