The Deity of Christ Seen through the Lens of His Worshippers, Part 4

December, 2004

by: Brodie McClain

Across the pages of Scripture the doctrine of the Deity of Christ is clearly expounded and can easily lead one to an intellectual understanding of the Son of God. Mere academic acknowledgment, however, is a far cry from the living examples that are recorded in the New Testament. The people surrounding Christ did not merely pay intellectual assent to the fact Christ was God, but they actually got on their knees to worship Him. They called Him God. They prayed to Him. Their actions reflected what they believed in their hearts about the Son of God.

As we track through the books of the New Testament we see this practice not fading after Christ’s life on earth but instead growing ever stronger. Paul clearly reflects a life which was dramatically changed by the knowledge of the deity of Christ and Paul is not alone in his treatment of Christ as God. Peter calls Jesus Christ, “our God and Savior” (2 Pet. 1:1), and John states, “the Word [being Christ] was God” (John 1:1). It is in John’s apocalypse where we get a vivid glimpse into the praise of Christ as we witness myriads of angels and creatures and elders in an ongoing song of worship to Jesus (Rev. 5:12-14). It is this future worship which already was taking place in the hearts and minds of the first Christians. It is this proper worship which Paul and other writers expressed in their letters. It is this amazing worship which many people participated rightly in even before Jesus went to the cross. It is this worship which reveals that the nature of Christ consisted of more than mere humanity.

As Christ walked the earth, people came to hear His teaching, people came to be fed, people came to be healed. Some bowed and worshiped the man they came into contact with and their worship proved to be the first fruits of a practice which would permeate the early church and the New Testament writings. For the intensely monotheistic Jew this was a practice of utmost heresy and blasphemy, but the further Christianity spread the further this practice spread. The only explanation is the one clearly given in Scripture. Christ could rightly be worshiped because Christ was rightly God, as it is written, “For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9).

As you consider the doctrine of the Deity of Christ how does it affect your life? Are you caught in the sinful trap of acknowledging truth but not believing it? Those in the Scripture who truly believed in the power of Christ as God, acted upon that belief and their lives reflected it. Do you spend consistent time in the Word getting to know this Jesus, who is God, so that you too can worship Him? Do you boldly proclaim the Gospel knowing you have Christ, who is God, within you? Do you regularly say no to sin knowing you have Christ, who is God, within you? Do you seek for ways to love others knowing that Christ, who is God, commands you to? How would your life change if you truly believed Jesus Christ, that all–too–familiar name, was really God, and God of your life?