From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 24 of a series. Read part 23.

Many Christians are surprised to find that the Old Testament contains some of Scripture's strongest declarations of the deity of the Messiah. In view of Scripture's massive evidence, how can only 40% of today's Evangelicals believe that Jesus is both fully God and fully man?

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

As we have noted before in this series, even many self-described Evangelicals today have little comprehension of the true nature of the Messiah. So at this point in our study of the Scripture texts of Handel's oratorio it is highly appropriate for us to focus on this vital subject.

Jesus is spoken of as "the Son" throughout the Bible, from as early in the Old Testament as the second Psalm. The Holy Spirit further reinforces these declarations in the book of Hebrews, God's great New Testament commentary on Old Testament truth.

The Son in the Old Testament

Jesus is spoken of as "the Son" in the second Psalm's great prophecy of the coming of Christ as Redeemer and King:

Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel."

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalm 2:6-12)

The Holy Spirit's Commentary

Hebrews is the Holy Spirit's great New Testament commentary on Old Testament truth. Messiah librettist Charles Jennens well understood this fact, quoting Messianic passages from Hebrews twice in the second major section of the oratorio. The writer of Hebrews spends a great deal of time explaining the Messianic types and symbols of the Old Testament in light of the incarnation, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of these things find their fulfillment in Him. In Hebrews chapter one beginning at verse eight, the inspired writer quotes three passages from the Psalms (45:6-7, 102:25-27, and 110:1), and he declares that they all address and describe "the Son," Jesus Christ.

But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions." And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail." But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"? (Hebrews 1:8-13)

The Messiah Before & After His Incarnation

We have further testimony of Scripture supporting these Old Testament declarations of the Messiah's deity in the Holy Spirit's explanations of exactly what took place when God the Son came into the world at His first advent. Before His incarnation the Son was, according to Philippians 2:6, in the form of God. The Greek word for "form" is morphe, which means that His outward appearance was in agreement with His inward essence; in other words, Jesus the Messiah was God in His very essence before He came to earth. Philippians 2:6 also declares that He was equal with God. The Greek word for "equal" is isa, which means "the same as." In other words, Jesus the Messiah is the same as God - identical with Him.

Furthermore, Jesus Himself declared that He is equal with God. We find this at length in John 5 beginning at verse 19:

Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

"I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish - the very works that I do - bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me." (John 5:19-36)

As we have already seen, Scripture tells us that in His incarnation, Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, not of a human father, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." We find this prophecy fulfilled in Luke 1:31-35 and Matthew 1:20. The virgin-born Messiah was given the name Immanuel, which means "God with us," as we read in Matthew 1:23.

This, once again, is why Paul declares in Colossians 1:15 that Jesus Christ is the very "image of the invisible God." We read later on in Colossians, in chapter two verse nine, that in the incarnate Messiah dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. I submit to you that this is a statement of the most amazing and monumentally important fact in all the world. In the incarnate Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a human body. He is fully God and fully man.

Direct Declarations of Messiah's Deity

Scripture also repeatedly emphasizes the deity of the Son of God by teaching the Messiah's deity in His names. A few examples:

• But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom" (Hebrews 1:8).
• When Thomas saw the resurrected Christ after he had expressed his doubts about the reality of the resurrection, and Jesus said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)
• Paul says that we Christians are "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).
• Jesus said to the unbelieving Pharisees, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "The Son of David." He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool" '? If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore (Matthew 22:41-46).
• Jesus Himself spoke to the unbelieving Jews about His Second Coming, and He said this: "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live" (John 5:25).

How Can Today's Church Deny the True Christ?

How is it, in the face of such overwhelming and detailed evidence, that a 2016 survey revealed that only half of self-described Evangelicals believe that there is "one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit"? How can it be that only 40 percent believe that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man? How can half of self-described Evangelicals believe, as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses do, that Jesus Christ was created by God and is not God from all eternity?

The answer is that there is a serious famine of sound teaching on these vital matters in our time.

Dear reader, how is it in your church? How is it in the Christian school to which you send your children, or the Christian college to which you send your young adults? How it is in the seminaries from which your church would recruit its pastors? We must face these questions honestly, and we must be prepared to separate ourselves from those who refuse to believe in and preach the true Christ without equivocation or apology.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. (2 John 7-11)

Next: The Names of the Messiah in Isaiah 9

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