What are the strongest biblical arguments for the divinity of Christ?

This Name of the Messiah indisputably denotes the deity and the omnipotent power that belongs to such a glorious Person. It is in the middle of the five features of the Name of David's greater Son. It guarantees that illimitable power will be available to Him to effect all that the other features represent. “There be god's many”, wrote the apostle Paul, but for the intelligent Christian there is only one living and mighty God (1 Cor. 8:5-6). Dagon, the fish god of the Philistines, was humiliated beside the Ark of God. The gods of Egypt were impotent in the presence of Jehovah's power (Ex. 12:12). Baal and his worshippers were ridiculed by Elijah on mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:21-39). But someone might say “The title The Mighty God is connected with a man, David's seed, who will sit on David's throne. Can a man be The Mighty God?” The answer is an emphatic “yes”. The Man who will fill David's throne is God. The Old and New Testaments bear witness to this fundamental truth. In Micah 5:1-2 the prophet wrote that the ruler who would come from Bethlehem Judah was One whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity. Zechariah prophesied that the coming Shepherd who was to be smitten would be none other than Jehovah's Fellow (Zech. 13:7. See also Mark 14:27). A careful comparison of Isaiah 6:1-5 with John 12:37-41 will reveal that the King, Jehovah of Isaiah 6, is the Jesus of John chapter 12. Three times in the book of Isaiah Jehovah is called the First and the Last (Isa. 41:4; Isa. 44:6; Isa. 48:12. There is a slight difference in Isaiah 41:4). Three times in the book of Revelation the Lord Jesus is called the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17; Rev. 2:8; Rev. 22:13). Compare Exodus 17:9 with Matthew 1:21 (Mr. Darby has a footnote to Ex. 17:9, “Joshua — Jah the Saviour, called Jesus in Greek”). The Jehovah the Saviour of the Old Testament is Jesus, Jehovah the Saviour of the New Testament. In the New Testament the testimony to Jesus being God is abundant and plain. Jesus the Word, is God (John 1:1-4). That unequivocal testimony should be quite sufficient for any unbiased reader. So called “Jehovah's witnesses”, who do not believe that Jesus is God, have attempted to alter the accepted Greek text of this passage to support their denial. Competent scholars have exposed their errors. The Jews were in no doubt that when the Lord Jesus claimed that God was His Own Father He was claiming equality with God (John 5:17-18). When Jesus said, “I and My Father are One” the Jews attempted to stone Him. They accused Him of blasphemy and that He was claiming to be God (John 10:30, 33). Thomas, the doubting apostle, addressed the Lord Jesus as “My Lord and My God” (John 20:28). The Lord Jesus didn't rebuke him, as the angel rebuked the apostle John (Rev. 22:8-9). Jesus is God, but the angel was a creature. Paul worshipped the Lord Jesus in his doxology in Romans 9:5. Christ is God blessed for ever. The fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell in Him, the Son of God (Col. 1:19. See also 2:9). That could never be said about a creature. Jesus existed in the form of God and did not grasp to be on an equality with God. He is God (Philip. 2:6). This is the great contrast between the first man and the second Man. The Lord Jesus is the great God and our Saviour who is to appear in glory, the Son of God (Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:7-8). Peter refers to the Lord Jesus as our God and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1). John ends his first epistle as he began his gospel, with a clear testimony that Jesus is God: “We are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This (He) is the true God, and eternal life” (1 John 5:20. See also John 17:3). The Lord Jesus is referred to as the Image of God (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4). He is never referred to as being in the likeness of God for the simple reason that He is God. A humble contemplation of these Scriptures will provide substance in the soul for worship. What a glorious Man to sit on David's throne. The Mighty God, possessor of omnipotent and irresistible power, will subdue all things to Himself (Philip. 3:21).

The deity of our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the most vital truths to be found in the Scriptures; many writers inspired by the Holy Spirit of God enlarge upon this holy theme. The blessed God Himself sets His seal on this precious truth in that remarkable utterance — "Unto the Son He (God) saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8). Critics have sought to weaken the importance of this verse by saying it is "just a quotation from Psalm 45," but the vocative case us used — one Person addressing Another, the "God of truth" addressing the Son as God! The Lord's own references to His deity are many, including the assertion of His Sonship to the erstwhile blind man of John 9, and of His Messiahship to the Samaritan woman of John 4. Again, we have that truly magnificent statement in John 8, "Before Abraham was I AM," — the Name so frequently used to express the eternal character of the blessed God; a Name which in an atmosphere of hatred and betrayal shone with a power and glory before which men could not stand (see John chapter 18). The simple, yet powerful, monosyllables of John's gospel assert the deity of our Lord in a way which is beyond all questioning — "the Word was with God, and the Word was God"; "All things were made by Him;" "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men." Eternally divine, the mighty Creator in whom life is inherent! We bow in adoration and worship, the volume of which is increased as we contemplate the apostle Paul's words in Colossians 1 — "Who is the beginning, firstborn from among the dead, that He might have the first place in all things; for in Him all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell" (New trans.). These are but a few of the very many Scriptures which plainly teach the deity of our Lord.

The Scriptures clearly affirm the Deity of the Lord Jesus in that again and again in the Bible He is called God. Several well known verses can be quoted in relation to His incarnation: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His Name Emmanuel; which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matt. 1:23). "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14). "And, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit" (1 Tim. 3:16). Yet, while we see that Scripture is not silent as to who it was that came into the world, He is presented to us as God in every position which He has and will take as man, not only before the cross, but also after it. To Him in resurrection Thomas could say, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, contemplating His glory in heaven, quotes from Psalms 104 and 45: "And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." In connection with His second coming we are "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). In relation to His reigning Isaiah 9:6 tells us: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God."

Psalm 104 speaks of angels as servants. "He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." They are spirit and not flesh. They are made to do His will and can never be anything else but servants. And then the contrast is shown what the Son is by the quotation from the Forty-fifth Psalm. Angels are servants and cannot reign nor can they ever occupy a throne, "but unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." He is addressed as God in this psalm in which He is revealed as the coming King Messiah. He has a throne which is forever and ever, and as Messiah, and the promised King, He will have an earthly throne and rule with a sceptre of righteousness, He loved righteousness and hated iniquity when down here and therefore He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. Thus we learn from this psalm His deity. He has a throne forever and ever. His humanity: He was on earth and loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Who are the fellows mentioned? Angels are not His fellows and could not be. His fellows are all they who are made one with Him through grace and who will be ultimately conformed to His image. It includes the believing remnant of Israel and all who put their trust in Him.

(Vv. 7, 8). Secondly, the throne He takes, as come into the world, is above every throne. The angels are made spirits; the Son is not made anything, but He is addressed as God, and, in contrast with the thrones of earthly kings, His throne is for ever and ever. The quotation is from Psalm 45, which, we know, is “touching the King”. From the Epistle we learn that this King, who is going to reign over Israel, is none less than the Son — a divine Person. The thrones of men come to an end for they have no righteous foundation; but the throne of the Son is a lasting throne, for His rule will be in righteousness.

First, then, we lay it down as undeniable scripture truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son Of God as God. This is the express testimony of the Father Himself—”But. to the Son He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Hebrews 1:8). Is it not clear from this express declaration from the Father’s own lips, that the Son is God, and God as being the Son? How else is He “the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of His Person”? (Hebrews 1:3) The human nature of Jesus was not “the brightness of God’s glory,” for how could a created, finite nature represent the brightness of the glory of the infinite, self-existent I AM? Nor could the nature assumed in the womb of the Virgin be “the express image of God’s Person.” The Person of God must necessarily be divine, and the express image of it must be necessarily divine also.

Let the reader well note, that in the two epistles which speak of the atonement most fully, Romans and Hebrews, Jesus is "declared to be the Son of God with power." (Rom. 1:4.) "But to the Son He says, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." (Heb. 1:8.) Surely we need not say, Such words as these could not be applied unless Jesus was essentially and eternally divine.

The Son is here contrasted with angels who were the highest order of being known to the Jew. They are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Unto the Son He saith, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." God the Father addresses Him as Son, He speaks to Him, but of the angels. God the Father addresses Him as God the Son. While He abides Man for ever, and while we prove and know Him as our Lord to all eternity, He still remains God in the immutability of His being, infinitely above us, and above all creation for ever.

The opening words of the first verse carry us back to the most remote moment that our minds are capable of conceiving: the moment when there began the first thing that ever had a beginning: the moment on the further side of which there was only — GOD. In that moment of "beginning" the Word "was," that is, existed. He did not begin then; He existed then. His eternal Being is proclaimed, and we are carried back before the opening words of Genesis 1. Further He was "with God." Our minds are still back at that remote moment, and we discover that then He was possessed of distinct Personality. The Word is not a title of the Godhead in a general way, apart from any special distinction, for in being "with God" a special, distinctive place is definitely stated.

This being so, the reasoning mind would be inclined to argue: then we cannot speak of the Word as being God in any full or proper sense; even if He is not exactly a creature, seeing He existed before creation. Such reasoning is flatly contradicted by the closing words of verse 1, "the Word was God." Essential Deity was His. Attempts have been made to weaken the force of this great statement, and translate it, "the Word was Divine," or, "the Word was a god," based upon the omission of the definite article; i.e., it does not say, "the Word was the God." But we are told by those who know the Greek that there is in that language no indefinite article, and the word translated "God" is a strong one, denoting proper and absolute Deity; and had it stated that the Word was the God, it would have confined Deity to the Word and excluded therefrom the other Persons of the Godhead. The words are chosen with Divine exactitude: the Word was properly and absolutely God.

In the beginning, then, before there was any creature, was the Word, and the Word was with God. There was distinct personality in the Godhead, therefore, and the Word was a distinct person Himself (not, as men dreamt, an emanation in time, though eternal and divine in nature, proceeding from God as its source). The Word had a proper personality, and at the same time was God — "the Word was God." Yea, as the next verse binds and sums up all together, He, the Word, was in the beginning with God. The personality was as eternal as the existence, not in (after some mystic sort) but with God. I can conceive no statement more admirably complete and luminous in the fewest and simplest words.