Why do I believe Jesus is God? Pastor Jack Hibbs

By Hedieh Mirahmadi Falco

Why do I believe Jesus is God? 

Why does Christianity Claim to Be Right? Pastor Jack Hibbs, Calvary Church Chino Hills

I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior largely based on a personal experience I had hearing Him call my name. I was in desperate need of a direct relationship with God and I asked Him to reveal himself to me. Jesus answered my call. It was that clear and convincing. However, a believer should always be able to objectively articulate why we believe salvation comes only through faith in Jesus and why the Bible is the infallible, living word of God.

In this sermon by Pastor Jack he gives simple, clear reasons why everyone should believe the bible is God’s word and therefore the only true way to reach Him.   Religion by its definition is man’s attempt to reach or find God. But God cried out to us to meet him face to face, to be in a relationship with Him. That goes way beyond a set of rules of religion. He communicates this desire to humanity through the Bible.  The defense of Christianity is not based on a feeling, it must be based on a reality. That reality is rooted in the transformative experience of the believer when he/she accepts Christ. If your life doesn’t change then that is not being in a relationship with Christ. It is not just answering an altar call or getting baptized. It’s not pinned to an act you perform or deeds you do in the church, it is a radically personal experience with God.    

So what are the ways in which we can objectively defend that the Bible is the word of God?  

The apostles Luke and Peter both claim they wrote as eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life and miracles and what they wrote was based on inspiration by God through the Holy Spirit. 

Luke 1:2-4: just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having [b]had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

 2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

Both of them witnessed Jesus’ miracles and say it was not fantasy. So how can we test they were telling the truth? 

  1. Honesty Test: Did the authors write anything embarrassing about themselves that bolster the claim of its veracity? This hypothesis centers around the notion that a historical account that includes disparaging details about the author is significant because it implies that he/she is more concerned about telling the truth than telling an amazing story about themselves. Otherwise they would have changed the facts to make themselves look better, if they were making up a lie.  In Peter’s gospel he said Jesus called him Satan and was upset that the disciples fell asleep in Gethsemane, despite repeated requests to stay awake in prayer. Both Luke and Peter explain how all the disciples abandoned Jesus when he was arrested. They all denied knowing Jesus and even hid after he died. Furthermore, all the authors of the gospel except John died gruesome deaths. Why would they be willing to die for a lie? All they would have to do is renounce their faith but they didn’t. They were so committed to relay the truth, they were willing to die for it. 
  2. Telephone test: Did the documents come to us accurately? One way to test that is the time gap: when was the first copy written after the actual events occurred? Handwritten documents of historical or spiritual significance are referred to as manuscripts before they are made into copies and reproduced. The manuscripts we have about Caesar, were written 1000 years after his life and for Plato it is 1200 years. The time gap of the New Testament is ONLY 50 years after the life of Jesus. The first biography of Alexander the Great bio is 400 years after he lived but no one doubts he lived. Jesus’ time gap is far less then all of these figures and far less than  any other major event in ancient history. How many manuscripts are there about Jesus’ life? Everything about Caesar was in only 10 manuscripts, Plato had 7 but the New Testament has over 24, 633 original manuscripts! The closest is the Iliad by Homer which has only 643. But everyone believes the others and contest Jesus??
  3. Corroboration Test: What other historical material confirm or deny the facts in the Bible? There are 9 non christian sources that mention Jesus within 100 years of his death, and 33 additional sources written by Christians, 42 in total. Ceaser has only 10. Jesus’s life, his crucifixion, his reappearance and his ascension was corroborated 4 times as much but yet people still deny that he died and rose again. 

The bible passes all 3 tests by dramatic proportions. Even the skeptic should take pause and consider that the Bible IS the living word of God. The Bible is more than a book, it’s God’s living word and he wants to talk to each of us through its words. God wants to tell each and every one of us that we are loved.  It is through His word that He can send this message of Love to all of us, throughout humanity and for all time. 

People meet their mates online through the internet and can live all their lives in love with that person. In the old days, people would write letters to each other and become romantically involved by what was expressed. The written word is how God taught us to communicate love. If we can believe in love for another person coming through the written word, why can we not accept that from God? Test it. Read the bible and pray about what God is trying to communicate to you. Do you read it and believe He loves you? I pray you do. The bible communicates a message to all of us, if you have an open heart to hear it. 

Romans 1

By Hedieh Mirahmadi Falco

Jesus being the Son of God is considered one of the most controversial aspects of Christianity. People have a hard time conceptualizing what that really means. In Islam, it is erroneously interpreted as Christians being polytheists. But that is not what Scripture is telling us at all. Simply put, there is only ONE God, and He manifests in 3 separate beings—The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which does not have a flesh form per se and resides in ALL believers simultaneously. From my perspective, if a person can accept that God created the whole universe, including all of the planets, solar systems, and created beings, in six days, it is not hard to accept He can manifest Himself in as many ways as He chooses, especially to make himself known to humans who are the crown of his creation and made in His image.

One of the most beautiful descriptions God provides a believer of his Son, Christ, appears in Colossians:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. [1]

In the first chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul begins his teaching by affirming the dual nature of Christ and how he is entirely human and entirely God, simultaneously. The human aspect of Jesus was created, but the Divine nature within Him that was God, is eternal and uncreated. He is 100% both in one[2].

 3 concerning his Son, who was born ⌊a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared Son of God in power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 1:3–4

In another passage where God foreshadows the arrival of Jesus, He says “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given[3].” Therefore, the part of Christ that is Son of the Father is not born to the Father, he is given. Like the Father Himself, that aspect of his being is entirely uncreated[4]. However, that uncreated Divine nature was “wrapped” in flesh and was born on Earth through the virgin Mary in order to save humanity from the penalty of its sins. When Mary was upset at the notion that she would give birth to a child even though she was chaste and had never been with a man, the angel of God tried to calm her fears and explain to Mary this dual nature of her child. 

 35 And the angel answered and* said to her,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore, also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

Luke 1:35

Despite the elaborate detail of Jesus’ duality, Paul subtly warns the reader not to think Jesus’s human nature means that we should worship mortal things. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! He teaches us that no mortal things can ever fulfill the place of the immortal God and that focusing on material things is just foolishness that eventually leads only to sin and death.

As an example, Paul seems to mock the Jews for assigning Godlike qualities to foolish things like the Golden Cow. It’s an admonition for us not to worship worldly things like money or fame, thinking they can answer our “prayers/wants and needs.” He is also intimating that no being of any kind other than God is worthy of worship. As human beings, we try to fill the hollow places inside us with these “beings” but they never can fill the void that only a relationship with Christ/God can fill.

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the likeness of an image of mortal human beings and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles. Romans 1: 22-23

Romans 1:26

Because of this, God gave them over to degrading passions, for their females exchanged the natural relations for those contrary to nature.

Paul goes on to say that when we are willing to sacrifice such an important truth as the supremacy of God then the lesser truths aren’t far behind. Paul’s approach is less of a moral judgment and more of an observation regarding the natural consequences of human decisions.

This also foreshadows how human beings end up tolerating all sorts of emotional “degradation” in abusive co-dependent relationships. We “trade” in our dependence on God alone for dependence on a spouse or a parent and expect them to fill the void in our life. Inevitably they fall short. Wholeness and true contentment can only come from a relationship with God, through Christ.

[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Col 1:15–16, then 19-20). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] Runge, S. E. (2014). High Definition Commentary: Romans (p. 27). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[3] Isaiah 9:6

[4] Ibid