We’re familiar with the account of the virgin Mary and the birth of Jesus Christ. But did you realize that all three persons of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are present in this one verse when the angel announced Jesus’ birth?
Who is this baby? Who is Jesus Christ? There’s only one right answer. Tragically, there are many wrong answers.
For example,
- Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is not God, but instead, before He lived on earth, He was Michael the archangel.
- Mormons believe Jesus was created by God the Father and Mary in heaven and is the “elder brother” of all men.
- Hinduism and Buddhism see Him as an enlightened teacher or guru.
Some wrong answers may sound good on the surface.
- In Islam, He’s called a prophet, a messenger of God.
- People caught up in new age beliefs and Eastern mysticism speak of Jesus as some mystic medium who might get us in touch with special wisdom and knowledge.
- Others say he was a great moral teacher.
- Perhaps the most common view is that Jesus was a great man. Noted historian H.G. Wells listed the ten greatest men of all history and put Jesus Christ as number one on that list.
Some want to view Jesus only as a great moral teacher and don’t accept His claim to be God. But C.S. Lewis has written:
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher…. Either this man was and is the Son of God or else a madman or something worse.
The Great I AM
Jesus Christ doesn’t belong on anybody’s Top Ten list. He’s absolutely unique. You may hear about Peter the Great, Alexander the Great, and Charlemagne the Great, but Jesus, God the Son, is the One and Only.
In Exodus 3:14, Jehovah reveals His name to Moses: “And God said to Moses, I AM that I AM”—the most sacred name for God. What does it mean? Not “I was.” Not “I will be.” Not “I had a beginning.” But “I AM the great I AM, the self-existent God,” the sacred name for deity. Before the stars were set is space, He already existed.
Jehovah God is just that—He is God. But Jesus Christ, Bethlehem’s child, was and is God. The Bible declares it.
Jesus Himself claimed to be God. In the New Testament, the Pharisees were trying to discredit Jesus, demanding His credentials. In a back-handed way they were saying, “We don’t even know who your Father is. Your mother wasn’t married when you were born.” (See John chapter 8)
Here’s how Jesus answered them (John 8: 56),
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.” Then said the Jews unto Him, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?” Jesus said unto them,” Verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Notice, Jesus did not say, “I got here before Abraham did.” He said, “There never was a time when I was not. I AM the great God of Exodus chapter 3. I am the ‘I AM.’”
That’s why they picked up stones to kill Him. They knew exactly what He was saying. To them it was blasphemy. Is there any backing in the Bible for His claim? There certainly is.
God the Son in the Old Testament
In Daniel 3:25, the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar exclaims, “I see four men…and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” In this appearance of Jesus before His incarnation as a baby, He comes alongside these three in the furnace.
In Psalm 2:6-7 God says, “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: [Jesus is speaking now] The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” God the Son speaks of God the Father: “The Lord has said unto Me, Thou art my Son….”
In Proverbs 30:44, the writer asks, “Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if thou canst tell?” I can tell. His name is Jesus. The Bible speaks of Him in the present tense. He already existed because He is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Eternal, Self-Existent Jehovah God.
Isaiah 9:6 is the classic Christmas verse:
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, The Everlasting Father…”
The Mighty God, literally translated, is “the God-Man.” Don’t let anyone tell you that the one spoken of in Isaiah 9:6 is any less than God Himself.
Even the place of His birth was a fulfillment of prophecy from centuries earlier. Matthew 2:3-6 quotes the prophet Micah in Micah 5:2
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.5 And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,6 ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”
The child born in Bethlehem is not just the “sweet little Jesus child” people are sentimental about at Christmas time. He is the Son of God and God the Son. That’s the reason God the Father said,
“Thou art My Son. This day have I begotten Thee. And again: I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son.” (Hebrews 1:5)
Only to Jesus did the Father say, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” (v.8) God the Father is pointing out that Jesus is also God.
On and on we could go throughout Scripture with confirmation that the child of Bethlehem is the Incarnation of God. The most thrilling answers to “Who Is Jesus?” are found in Hebrews chapter one. Read it for yourself this Christmas—it is God’s Christmas card to you!
