Theology Paper Final

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THEOLOGY PAPER Liberty University “” GLST 220-B11 by Justin Johnson Professor Kevin Phillips August 12, 2019 1

THEOLOGY PAPER Jesus as Deity The Gospel of John is all about one verse. John thesis is not to show Jesus as a king, like Matthew, or the son of man. Matthew traces Jesus' genealogy back to Abraham, Luke traces his genealogy back to Adam, but Johns gospel could not contain a genealogy because his thesis was that Jesus was God in the flesh. John wants to prove to his readers that Jesus is God incarnate. Subsequently, he spends 21 chapters to prove one verse; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” (John 1:1, KJV). In order to prove his thesis, he must ultimately depict Jesus doing things that only God can do. Johns mission was to prove that Jesus was God all mighty and he proves it, by depicting Jesus saying and doing things only a God could do. Köstenberger claims that, “the pronouncement of John’s gospel that, in Jesus, the Word (who was God) had become flesh (that is, a human being) was therefore diametrically opposed to the claims of Gnosticism. A full-fledged gnostic would have had nothing but scorn in response to John’s claim of Jesus’s incarnation. 1 The author also asserts that, “Others may not share evangelical presuppositions regarding the nature of Scripture, the deity of Christ, or the substitutionary atonement, but nonetheless consider John’s gospel to be a work of literature deserving of study,” 2 in which I would strongly agree. John precisely depicts signs that highlight the fact that Jesus was not just some ordinary man, or even a powerful prophet being assisted by God, but the he was in-fact God himself. 1 1 1. Andreas Köstenberger, Encountering John. (Grand Rapids MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2017), 70, Wordsearch Bible. 2. Ibid, xiv All scriptures are from the King James Version unless otherwise noted 2

THEOLOGY PAPER Köstenberger also claims that, “John’s explicitly stated purpose is quite clear: “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that the Christ, the Son of God, is Jesus, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31). 3 Although there are many scholars that would dispute the deity of Christ depicted by John and would have liked to see John focus more on Jesus’ human characteristics. Köstenberger argues that, “while the designation of Jesus as Son blends elements of his humanity and deity, other elements of John’s Christology focus more explicitly on Jesus’s divine nature.” 4 Elements of John’s Christology that focus on Jesus’ divinity is the language that this gospel records him using. Barolet mentions that, “It was C.S. Lewis who took it one step further stating that Jesus was either the Lord, a liar, or a lunatic. Why bother asking? Well, good men or sane men don’t go around claiming they are the truth (John14:6), “I am the way, the truth, and the life”), that they are God incarnate (John 1:14), “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son,” or “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” (John 14:9), that they will die and rise again (John 2:19), “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”), or that they are the Creator (John 1:3), “All things were made through him”). These are just a sampling of the claims Jesus uttered about Himself.” 5 2 2 3. Köstenberger, xiv 4. Ibid, 26 5. Greg Barolet, The Lordship of Christ. Ligonier Ministries . (September 2005), Para 1, https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/lordship-christ/ 3

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