Jesus is God? - by Ben Bonython
Firstly, Christology is about the nature and work of Jesus. Christology helps us to grow a faithful understanding of Jesus, helping us be in awe! As we truly know Jesus more, we want to know Him more. Christology is our ongoing attempt to enter into the mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Secondly, without a FAITHful understanding of Jesus, we are left with an opinion, a world view of Jesus, a view that can cause us to drift away from the truth, ever so subtly that He existed but isn’t God?
One chapter of the Cambridge History of Judaism contains over 60 pages on Jesus, offering a scholarly and historical considered perspective on the historical Jesus, who they assert is beyond all reasonable doubt, including:
his teaching, fame as a healer, openness to sinners
selection of “the twelve” apostles
prophetic actions like cleansing the temple
clashes with elites, and his death on a cross
And while the authors do not tackle the resurrection, they acknowledge as a matter of historical fact, that the first disciples of Jesus “were absolutely convinced that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised and was Lord and that numerous of them were certain that he had appeared to them.”
In todays world, there are varying views of Jesus. A 2021 (NCLS) survey found that 49% of Australians believe Jesus actually lived. 22% believe He is a mythical or fictional character leaving 29% who “Don't know” if Jesus lived. A 2015 (Barna) survey found that 52% of Americans believe that Jesus committed sins while living on earth. And the 2020 (Ligonier) survey found that 52% of Americans and 30% of evangelicals believe Jesus was a great teacher, nothing more. In the same survey, 85% of Americans believe that Jesus the Son of God did not exist before Jesus was born, while 65% of evangelicals agreed that "Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God".
Why talk about this? Well, what you believe about who Jesus is matters for believing about what Jesus said and what Jesus did! Therefore Christology matters because:
We want to know the truth of Jesus, know Him more and obey what He taught, and follow Him faithfully;
We want to share what we believe about Jesus, witness to others, and importantly, do this faithfully;
If we drift slightly on Jesus, we become increasingly at risk of drifting in our belief of Jesus and our propensity to drift in our faithfulness in following Jesus increases;
Unless we have His truth, drifting in our beliefs about Jesus happens more easily, and is hard to recognise, such is the nature of drifting – ie you look up one day only to find how far you have drifted, and with drifting comes a hardened heart as we worship our own Jesus;
Therefore are we believing and worshipping Jesus Christ? Or are we following a Jesus of our own image?
There is a wonderful statement or expression of who Jesus is that we profess and accept and explore and it was developed by the Ligonier group, known as the":
Word Made Flesh [Ligonier Statement on Christology]
We confess the mystery and wonder of God made flesh and rejoice in our great salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. With the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Son created all things, sustains all things, and makes all things new. Truly God, He became truly man, two natures in one person. He was born of the Virgin Mary and lived among us. Crucified, dead, and buried, He rose on the third day, ascended to heaven, and will come again in glory and judgment. For us, He kept the Law, atoned for sin, and satisfied God’s wrath. He took our filthy rags and gave us His righteous robe. He is our Prophet, Priest, and King, building His church, interceding for us, and reigning over all things. Jesus Christ is Lord; we praise His holy Name forever. Amen.