What do Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims, and Jews all have in common? They all agree Jesus was a real historical figure, they all agree he was a great man and teacher, and they all agree he was not God.
God expects us to believe on His Son, Jesus Christ. What does that mean? At he least, we can understand he means for us to believe that Jesus is his Son. But must we believe more than that?
Jesus himself challenged the Jews of his day to believe some specific things about him. His statement in John 8.58 knocked their socks off: “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Jesus referred to himself with exactly the same term that God had named himself in Exodus 3.13-14 as he had spoken with Moses from the burning bush: “I AM WHO I AM…Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
“I AM” means that HE IS…obviously! “He is what?” you might ask, but that is the wrong question. “He is when?” is the correct question. The answer is, simply, that He is. It is a statement of being without regard to time; He is timeless. He had no beginning and will have no end—just like the Father.
Jesus said about himself in Revelation 1.8,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Think about what Jesus said in his prayer in John 17.5: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses change the wording of John 1.1 in their New World Translation. John began his gospel with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Jehovah’s Witnesses change it to “and the word was a god.” There is absolutely no reason from the Greek text to translate it that way.
Hebrews 1 has several references to Jesus which point out His deity in clear and certain terms.
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…”
In the Old Testament, the people of God, the people of faith, called upon the name of the Lord (Gen 4.26; 2 Sam 22.4, 7; 1 Kings 18.24; 2 Kings 5.11; Psalm 17.6) to be saved. They called upon the name of YHWH, the great I AM. In the New Testament the same language is used for Jesus.
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.
1 Cor. 1.2
13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
Acts 9.13-14
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Rom. 10.9-13; cf. Acts 2.21
If Jesus expected the Jews to see in Him more than a good man, a great teacher, and a wise counselor, I don’t believe God’s expectations for belief in the Son have changed from then until now.
We must, like Thomas, recognize Jesus as “My Lord and my God!” (John 20.28) That demonstrates the faith Jesus is looking for. In that way we call upon his name. We thank him. We love him with all of our being and all of our hearts. We adore and praise him.
He is.