Why the deity of Christ matters

There are many things that I love about Christmas. I love the
cookies, the Christmas trees, and waking up early to open presents. I
love the extra time with the extended family, seeing people that I don’t
normally see throughout the year. I love all those things, but what I
love the most about Christmas is it’s the one time of the year where
even non-religious people find within them the desire to sing about the
God who came to earth in the form of a baby wrapped in swaddling
clothes lying in a manger. Often during this time of the year I wonder
how so many millions of people can sing songs like “Hark the Herald
Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World” without considering the meaning
of the words they are singing. Today on this Christmas day I’m going
to ask you to do just that.

About six weeks ago, I was flying over the Pacific Ocean when a
very nice guy about the same age as me decided to engage me in
conversation. In the beginning it felt like I was talking to a fellow
missionary and we were encouraging each other in our respective
faiths, but not too long into the conversation I realized I was talking
with a Jehovah’s Witness.

Let me say first that I have a lot of respect for Jehovah’s

Witnesses. When I was in Senegal my wife and I, along with our
faithful disciple Jean Pierre, used to go every week to the university to
distribute Christian literature. One of the questions people often asked
us is “Are you Jehovah’s Witnesses?” That my wife and I would be
mistaken for Jehovah’s Witnesses speaks powerfully to the dedication
that many people in this movement have for their cause. I also admire
the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses stand for their convictions. Even
though it’s culturally taboo to knock on doors, they still do it. Even
though American culture praises people that vote, celebrate the
holidays, and serve in the military, Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse.
Regardless of whether one agrees with these positions or not, that
takes grit. They genuinely don’t care what others think about them—
and I deeply admire that.

Even on the linchpin subject of “Who is Jesus?” Jehovah’s

Witnesses are light years ahead of the vast majority of people in our
culture that take their theological cues from books like “ The Da Vinci
Code” and “Embraced by the Light.” Jehovah’s Witnesses will tell you
that all things were created by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus.
They’ll tell you that Jesus holds everything together. They’ll even tell
you that Jesus is the exact representation of who God is. All of these
statements are Biblical truths. But even though they have a very high
view of Jesus, in Kingdom Hall thinking, Jesus is still a created being,
not God Almighty. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is the Son of
God, but they stop short of saying that He is God.

So why split hairs over a technicality?

Shortly after I got home from my trip, I called my good friend

Dianne Kannady with Riches in Christ Ministries
(http://www.richesinchrist.com). Dianne is one of the best Bible
teachers that I know, so I decided to pick her brain for a few minutes
about a question that had been nagging at my mind since the start of
my dialogue with Nick (We’ve been corresponding with each other ever
since). If you read the Book of Acts, one thing that you will notice is
that more often than not, when Peter or Paul preached the gospel, they
emphasized the humanity of Jesus when discussing His resurrection
and His ability to forgive sins and grant eternal life (See Acts 2:22,
13:38). The question that had been gnawing at my mind is this: Since
the Book of Acts records sermons that Peter and Paul preached where
the deity of Christ isn’t explicitly mentioned, and we know that some of
the people that heard their messages believed and were saved, how
important is it then for someone to believe in the deity of Christ to be
saved?

Dianne wasted no time in getting to the point. Here is a

summary of what Dianne said to me. On this Christmas day, I think we
all need to be reminded of these truths.

1. The Bible teaches that one of the primary points of deception,

especially in the last days will be on the subject of the identity of Jesus. Many
people will preach a different Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4, I John 4:1-3)

2. There are two traps that people tend to fall into when it comes to the
identity of Jesus. One error is to undermine His deity. The other error is to
undermine His humanity.

3. The sermons recorded in the Book of Acts are merely a synopsis of

what was said, not necessarily the sermons in their entirety.

4. Peter and Paul didn’t necessarily have to emphasize His deity in their
sermons. That Jesus claimed to be God was already a given. That was why
He was put to death. In Jewish law, there were only a few crimes punishable
by death, and one was blasphemy.

5. When Jesus claimed to be the “Son of God” the Jewish people of His
day understood Him to be saying, “I am God.” In the language of their
times, they didn’t distinguish between “God” and “Son of God.” (John 5:18,
10:33-36)

6. If Jesus isn’t God, then His blood doesn’t qualify to be the sacrifice for
the sins of the world.

As true as the first five points are, it was Dianne’s last point that
grabbed me in the gut. How easy it is to forget that essential truths of
the gospel are all connected! You can have a beautiful glass of water,
but if there is just one drop of arsenic, then the whole glass is
poisoned. So it is with essential doctrine. If the deity of Christ is in any
way undermined, then the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is
undermined as well—and down goes the house of cards. If Jesus isn’t
God, then He doesn’t qualify to be our Savior either. God says in His
Word, “I, even I, am the Lord, And besides me there is no Savior”
(Isaiah 43:11). This explains why the Apostle Paul used the terms
“Jesus”, “God”, and “Savior” interchangeably (especially in the Book of
Titus). You can’t have one without the other.

The central truth of the entire Bible is this: Only God can save.
As tempting as it might be to attribute our salvation to anything other
than God Almighty bearing the sins of the world in His own body on a
tree, we must resist! As my friend Dr. Eddie Hyatt pointed out in a
recent editorial, Jesus didn’t say that He would build His Church on the
foundation of His moral teachings (as important as His moral teachings
are). He told Peter that He would build His Church on the revelation of
Who He is (Matthew 16:18). Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I am
He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).

Although words like “doctrine” and “orthodoxy” are out of vogue

with our postmodern culture, I would like to encourage you to take
some time today and reflect on the claims that Jesus made about His
identity. The doctrine of the deity of Christ matters whether we like it
or not. It matters for the world and, according to Jesus, eternal
destinies are determined by whether people believe His claims or not.

Lastly, to my fellow believers out there, I would like to encourage

you to “Earnestly contend for the faith which was once and for all
delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) Don’t let culture shake you from your
faith in who Jesus is and what He came to do for you—no matter who is
doing the talking! And to everyone reading this, believer and non-
believer alike, I’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year!

With lots of love,

Aaron