New Testament Christology

The Deity of Christ

This lesson has been adapted from J. Ed Komoszewski and Robert M. Bowmans Putting Jesus in His
Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2007).

H.A.N.D.S.
Honors: Jesus shares the honors due to God.
Attributes: Jesus shares the attributes of God.
Names: Jesus shares the names of God.
Deeds: Jesus shares in the deeds that God does.
Seat: Jesus shares the seat of Gods throne.

Attributes

Attributes Attributes of God are qualities that belong to Gods essential nature and that are
found wherever God becomes self-revealed. They are those reliable character patterns that belong
to God as God.When theologians discuss the attributes of God, they frequently distinguish
between the communicable and incommunicable attributes of God. Communicable attributes are
those attributes that God shares in some way with creatures (particularly human beings), such as
love, holiness, and faithfulness. Incommunicable attributes are those attributes that God does not
and cannot share with creatures, such as being all-knowing, all-powerful, and eternal. To say that
Jesus is exactly, perfectly like God is to say that he possesses both the communicable and the
incommunicable attributes of God. (PJIHP, 74)

Two Points of Distinction 1) Attributes are not properties: In Christian theology property is a
technical term that has been used to speak of the characteristics of the interior relations of the
persons of the Godhead. (PJIHP, 75) E.g., The Father is unbegotten while the Son is begotten of the
Father (Heb. 1:5) and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (John 15:26) therefore unbegottenness of
a property of the Father while begottenness is a property of the Son and procession a property of the
Spirit. 2) Not all of Jesus attributes are the attributes of God but Jesus has all the attributes of God.
In other words, Jesus as the God-Man has all of the attributes of God but also all of the attributes of
humans. Those human attributes (e.g., hunger; thirst; mortality; etc.) are not Gods attributes.

Like Father, like Son There is said to be none like God yet we find throughout the New
Testament that to see the Son is to see the Father and that Jesus is the image of God so now rather
than conforming to Gods image we are to conform to the image of his Son.

God (Exod. 8:10; 9:14; 15:11; 2 Sam. 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23; 1 Chron. 17:20; Ps. 86:8; Isa. 40:18,
25; 44:7; 46:5, 9; Jer. 10:67; Mic. 7:18)
Jesus (John 12:45; 14:710; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:13, 15, 19 (cf. Ps. 68:16); 2:9; Heb.
1:3)
Preexistent To exist beforehand; in this case to exist before ones earthly life.

God (see eternal & uncreated)

Jesus (Matt. 9:13; 20:28; 23:34, 37; Mark 2:17; 10:45; Luke 4:43; 5:32; 12:49, 51; 13:34; 19:10; John
1:1; 8:42, 58; 10:36; 12:3941; 13:3; 16:28; Rom. 8:3; 1 Cor. 10:4, 9; Gal. 4:46; Phil. 2:67; Jude 5)

Eternal Being without beginning or end; existing outside of time.

God (Pss. 90:2; 102:2527)

Jesus (John 1:13; 8:5659; 17:5; Col. 1:1617; Heb. 1:2, 1012; 7:3)

Uncreated Self-explanatory.

God (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 43:10)

Jesus (John 1:3, 10; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:1516; Heb. 1:2, 1012; cf. Prov. 8:22; Rev. 3:14)

Immutable Unchanging.

God (Num. 23:19; Ps. 102:2627; Mal. 3:6; James 1:17)

Jesus (Heb. 1:1012; 13:8; cf. 2 Cor. 1:20)

Loving Self-explanatory.

God (Deut. 7:8; 10:15, 18; Ps. 146:8; Prov. 3:12; Isa. 63:9; Jer. 31:3; Hos. 3:1)
Jesus (John 13:34; 15:9, 1213; Rom. 8:3539; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:19; 5:2; Rev. 1:5; cf. Rom. 5:8)

Omnipotent All-powerful.

God (Job 42:2; Luke 1:37)

Jesus (Matt. 28:18; John 2:1922; 10:1718; 1 Cor. 1:2324; 2 Cor. 12:9; Eph. 1:1921; Col. 2:10; 1
Peter 3:22)

Omnipresent Personally (not physically) present everywhere; presence not limited spatially.

God (Gen. 28:15; 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:710)

Jesus (Matt. 8:513; 18:20; 28:20; Mark 7:2430; Luke 7:110; John 1:4749; 4:4654)

Omniscient All-knowing.

God (John 4:2024; 1 Kings 8:39; Ps. 139:14; Isa. 46:910; Matt. 10:30; 1 John 3:20)
Jesus (Matt. 9:4; 11:2123; 12:25; Mark 2:68; 8:3132 (etc.); Luke 6:8; 10:1315; 21:2024; John
4:1618; 11:1115; 13:1011, 2129, 3638 par.; 16:3031; 21:17; Acts 1:24; 1 Cor. 4:5; Rev. 2:23;
cf. Mark 13:3032)

Incomprehensible Not able to be known or understood fully.

God (Job 11:7; Ps. 145:3; Isa. 40:18)

Jesus (Matt. 11:27; cf. Luke 10:22)