Jesus is the son of God. But, Jesus is God.
The Trinity is one of the divine mysteries I don’t think we’ll ever fully understand this side of heaven.
One of my favorite explanations of this is in a children’s book by Joanne Marxhausen, A Picture of God 3 in 1. This book compares God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to the three parts of an apple – the peel, the flesh, and the core. The different pieces of the apple serve different purposes and are unique, but they are all parts of the apple. And, the apple is not complete if a component is missing. In the same way, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all distinct but intertwined elements of the one true God.
So, how do we know that Jesus is God?
- Jesus inferred that He was God multiple times:
- “The Father and I are one.” (John 10:30)
- “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. . . . Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” (John 14:9 and 11)
- “You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am.” (John 13:13)
- God calls Jesus God. “. . . but to the Son: Your throne, God, is forever and ever . . . .” (Hebrews 1:8)
- God says the angels must worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6). And Scripture is explicit that only God should be worshipped (Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 8:19).
This is only a sampling of the passages that point us towards Christ’s deity. Some non-believers assent that Jesus lived but argue that he was a prophet or a great moral teacher. C.S. Lewis summed this stance up well in Mere Christianity:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic – on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but 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.”
God has truly walked among us. Although those of us living today will not physically see Jesus until we get to heaven or until He returns, the model God chose still relays His authenticity. We live in a world where we are busy to the point of distraction, constantly connected but disengaged. But God, in charge of every detail in the universe, is not distracted or disengaged from His creation. He did not send an intern or an Evite or a text. He showed up in person, and He did life with His people. Living on this side of the cross, we have all of God’s Word to guide us. And, if we are believers, we also have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit to help lead us (Romans 8:26).
Jesus was fully man, and fully God. Our response to that should be one of awe, wonder, humility, and encouragement. God cared enough about mankind that He sent a piece of himself to teach, and eventually, to die an unfair death to atone for our sins. Jesus experienced every temptation and has deeply felt every emotion that we know as humans.
I think we too often envision God as a distant disciplinarian, seated on a throne somewhere far away. The truer picture is of a present, gentle, gracious Father. He views us through the lens of Jesus, redeemed and purified.
Our God sees us. He knows us. He is fully aware of the potential we have for His kingdom and of the limits of our humanity, and He meets us there.
Grace and peace,
Sara
Sara is a West Texas girl, currently living outside of Dallas. She adores her husband of 14+ years and delights in the daily chaos of raising and discipling their 3 young girls. She is also a physician, specializing in MRI imaging.
Thank you for these words today! I have always believed in the holy trinity but it’s hard to get a grasp on on! The apple analogy is great!! I
Thank God for being our almighty Father, our alpa and omega. then to come down from heaven and live as one of us on this earth, living as we do and feeling the joys, pain, frustrations , temptations we do, only to be nailed to the cross to save us and give us new life. And then to top it off he blessed us with the help and guidance of his holt spirit! We are so blessed and so loved! God is good!
Mondee~LGG Encourager
How can you say “God Loves Greatly” who is it that “God Loves Greatly”? There is great suffering and oppression in the world, which God does absolutely nothing to alleviate, oddly God acts like he doesn’t exist! What exactly is that God loves? Because all I am seeing is a disquieting list of the people God hates; eg…
Unbelievers
Thieves
Cowards
Haha
Gypsies
Jews
Liars
Those who eat shrimp
Those who are deformed (Lev 21:18)
The unattractive
The less fortunate (Matt 25:29)
The list goes on, these people, according to your so-called “merciful” and “loving” God will burn forever, and ever and always in hell.
Great love? Are you people stupid?
Wow! Thank you Sara the apple analogy was PERFECT!
Since I’m reading on leadership right now this is what pierced my heart this morning:
“Jesus was fully man, and fully God. Our response to that should be one of awe, wonder, humility, and encouragement. God cared enough about mankind that He sent a piece of himself to teach, and eventually, to die an unfair death to atone for our sins. Jesus experienced every temptation and has deeply felt every emotion that we know as humans.”
What a beautiful example of true leadership. You have been where you want others to go and you leave a part of who you are with those you are leading to that place. Such humility, selflessness and grace. And because He had been where He is leading us we was willing to invest His life for what He believed. True, true leadership exampled in the flesh for us.
“Our God sees us. He knows us. He is fully aware of the potential we have for His kingdom and of the limits of our humanity, and He meets us there.”
That touched my heart. It is just what I need!!!
God bless you Sara.
I loved this too Ebos!
Mondee
Needed this greatly today as my heart is missing my younger sister who went to be with Jesus a month and half ago! I’m experiencing grief at a whole different level. Prayers would be welcomed! Thank you Sisters in Christ.
Deann, prayers as you go through this period of mourning.
Dear Lord, be with Deann as she grieves for the loss of her sister. Be with her and wrap your arms around her for comfort. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Praying for comfort and peace in your heart! So sorry for your loss!
Mondee~LGG Encourager
Sara, such beautiful words. This whole blog touched me, but this: “I think we too often envision God as a distant disciplinarian, seated on a throne somewhere far away. The truer picture is of a present, gentle, gracious Father. He views us through the lens of Jesus, redeemed and purified. ” Hit me. God is a gracious Father. Because of Him I am redeemed and pure in His eyes. Thank you so much for your insight and sharing today.
Thank you for this beautiful message and analogy today, Sara! The example of the apple and quote from C.S. Lewis really touched my heart.
I really loved this blog post today. I mean I love them all but that analogy with the apple…wow!!! I have never heard that before and I just love that. It is right on!! Wonderful blog post, thank you Sara for this posting.
I heard an analogy for the Trinity that did wonders for me, especially when I catch myself trying to separate them.
My husband is one person. Yet he is a son, he is a father, and he is my comforter. He is all of those things and all of those roles are him. One does not diminish any of the others. And what is his name? Kevin. Regardless of what role he is in, he’ll always respond to his name. Our God is our Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. And what is His name? Jesus!
It has helped me and I hope I articulated it well enough that it might help someone else.