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

In this brief passage six tremendous facts are stated as to "the Word." 1. "In the beginning was the Word." He did not begin to be in the beginning, but He was, i.e., He existed in the beginning. The Word has eternal existence. 2. "The Word was with God," and if with then He must be distinguished as having a Personality of His own. The Word has distinct Personality. 3. "The Word was God." Though distinct as to His Person yet none the less God. The Word has essential Deity. 4. "The same was in the beginning with God." He is not, therefore, merely a manifestation of the Deity in time. The Word has eternal Personality. 5. "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." He was the active Creator and nothing originated apart from Him. The Word had creatorial originality. 6. "In Him was life." Here we pass from "all things" which includes inanimate creation, to that profound mystery of life which in its very nature must remain unsolved to the creature. The Word has essential vitality.

Here we have FOUR STATEMENTS OF THE MOST VITAL IMPORTANCE. (1) The eternity of the Being of the Son of God, in itself an assertion of Deity, for only God has immortality inherently. (2) The assertion of His distinct Personality in the Godhead. (3) The assertion of His Godhead. (4) The assertion that His relation to Divine Persons and His Godhead are eternal.

What a statement, "In the beginning WAS!" … That word, "WAS," goes back to that which was before the beginning, which had no beginning, even to God Himself, uncreated and eternal, and John 1 tells us that the Son of God was there, a distinct Person in the Godhead, and yet God.

In John 8 we find, "before Abraham was I AM," in contrast with His age as man; which the Jews perfectly understood, and would have killed Him for blasphemy.

Here is the most unqualified assertion of Deity. He claimed to be the great "I AM", Jehovah, the self-existent One.

There was and could be no light, no Divine life, no blessing from God to man, no revelation of Divine love, no truth, no knowledge, apart from Him. Could any servant of the Lord, however eminent or gifted put forth such claims? They would be laughed to scorn. But on the lips of the Lord Jesus they carry conviction with them.

Christ is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. Thus John 12, Isaiah saw His glory, and spoke of Him, quoting Isaiah 6. Whose glory was seen there? Jehovah of hosts.

So John the Baptist's ministry was preparing the way of Jehovah, Matthew 3:3, quoting Isaiah 40.

Jehovah has sworn that every knee shall bow to Him, and every tongue give an account of himself to God, but it is at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.

The more we compare passages as to this, the more we shall see this identification, and that it is not forcing one or two texts, but the doctrine of Scripture woven into its whole texture.

"But to the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." … Messiah is GOD. He is so saluted of God the Father! His throne is for ever, His sceptre is right.

"Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: they shall perish; but Thou remainest…" The Jesus who has endeared Himself to our hearts by dying is declared to be the Creator, the Sustainer, and the ultimate Finisher of all things. He is THE SAME.

Here we get God addressing His beloved Son as GOD. Is it possible to get a stronger proof of the Deity of the Son of God than this?

Would God, who gave the ten commandments with their majesty and power, the first of which was that they should worship no other God but Himself, have bidden the angelic hosts to break that command? Would He have brooked the worship of the creature? Assuredly not.

"Wonderful." — Something singular or unique, altogether surpassing ordinary human knowledge. "Counsellor." — One marked by wisdom, resource, and authority. He who is in the secret of the divine counsels and able to put them into effect. "The mighty God." — The full title of Deity. The Hebrew word for God is in the singular El, not Elohim, which is plural. The virgin's Son is singularly God, if one may so speak. "The everlasting Father" or "Father of Eternity." — He from whom eternal ages spring and have their being. "The Prince of Peace." — He who will ultimately end all the discords of earth under righteous rule.

We may sum up the whole passage by saying that there is only one word which adequately describes the real character and being of the virgin's Son, and that word is GOD.

"All things were created by him and for him," where it is unquestionable Christ is spoken of, the true force of verse 19 being "all the fulness (pleroma) was pleased to dwell in Him," and accomplished in fact in chapter 2:9, "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

When it is said the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, it is not a vague word, as we speak of what is divine. The Greek has a distinct word for these two things; for the vague thought it is theiotees, used in Romans 1; and theotees, used in Colossians 2.

Perhaps the most striking case was the response that Thomas made, when the Lord in resurrection showed him His hands and side. He exclaimed, as the reality of Christ in resurrection dawned upon him: "My Lord and my God." The Lord accepted this homage without question.

When the Apostle John fell down to worship the angel that had shown him the vision of things to come, we read: "See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow-servant…WORSHIP GOD." Would not the Lord, like the angel, have refused worship, if it had not belonged to Him as the Mighty God?

And such was Jesus, "God manifest in the flesh," commonly veiled under "the form of a servant," always without robbery equal with God in the faith and worship of His saints, and at times shining forth in divine grace and authority.

This is the truth which forms and fills the house of God: "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

In Romans 9:5 we read of Israel's crowning glory, viz., that of their race "as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever."

Bethlehem was of small consequence in itself, insignificant amongst the thousands of Judah, yet was it to leap into undying fame. And wherefore? "Out of thee shall He come forth to Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

Yet was this holy Servant so infinitely great that His goings forth were from of old, from "the days of eternity."

Again and again the Lord forgave sins in an absolute way. "The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"

They were quite right in proclaiming that God alone could forgive sins; they were quite wrong in refusing to acknowledge the Person of Christ, and that this power belonged by right to Him, and that He was Jehovah Himself, as marked out in Psalm 103.

When Peter and John healed the lame man at the Gate Beautiful of the Temple, they invoked another Name than their own, and said, "In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk," and they disclaimed that it was by their power or holiness that the miracle was performed.

Not so in the case of the blessed Son of God. He spoke as from Himself. If He had not been "God manifest in the flesh" He could not have done so.