For two weeks, we’ve seen the Bible makes it clear that Jesus is and was God. He’s the second member of the Trinity, God the Son, and he’s existed from eternity past. But why does it matter who we think Jesus is?

It matters because a false Jesus won’t save you. Jesus said unless you believe that “I am he” you will “die in your sins.” And, to be saved, we must confess Jesus as Lord. There’s no question more important than the one Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do you say I am?”

Starting with the Bible, Jesus was and is God, our perfect Savior, who died in our place that we might have forgiveness and eternal life.

As believers, we’re sons of God. But Jesus is the Son of God. We’re adopted sons, meaning every Christian man or woman has the rights of a son by adoption. But Jesus is a relational Son; he’s deity by nature. Jesus is the Son of God because he reveals God to us. In using this term, Jesus is declaring he has the rights and authority of God himself.

During his trial, the Jewish leaders said Jesus deserved death for the blasphemy of calling himself the Son of God.

But Jesus is the only man who ever walked this earth who can say he is the Son of God because he is God. And, as God, he deserves to be worshipped and obeyed.

Scripture is very clear that worship belongs to God alone. But the early church worshipped Jesus, and Jesus accepted this worship.

Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, exclaimed, “My Lord and my God.” He was worshipping Jesus, and Jesus made no attempt to direct his worship to God the Father. Yet Peter, Paul, and an angel all corrected others who tried to worship them, saying that worship belongs to God alone.

Thomas wasn’t wrong to worship Jesus because Jesus is God. That’s the testimony of Scripture from beginning to end. And someday those who trust Jesus for salvation will worship Jesus before the throne forever.

Who was Jesus? Was he just a man or merely a good teacher? No, the Bible teaches he is fully God. The early church of the New Testament knew this, and that’s why they prayed to Jesus.

In the Old Testament, people “called on” God. In the New Testament, Stephen called out to Jesus as he was being stoned, Paul says Christians are those who “call on the name of our Lord Jesus,” and Peter tells people to “call on” Jesus to be saved. Jesus even tells his disciples to pray to him.

Prayer is to be addressed to God and God alone. By praying to Jesus, the early church showed they believed he was and is the eternal God.

To claim to be God—when you’re not—is blasphemy. And it was punishable by death in ancient Israel.

Several times Jesus claimed to be God by forgiving sins, saying he was “I AM,” and calling God his Father. During his trial, Jesus said he was the Messiah and he would be sitting at God’s right hand. The high priest recognized this as a claim of divinity, tore his clothes, and ordered Jesus be put to death.

Many people will say Jesus never claimed to be God, but his fiercest opponents were furious because he did just that! But Jesus wasn’t guilt of blasphemy because what he said was true—he really was and is God.

Yesterday we learned that Jesus said he was God and the Jewish leaders tried to stone him for it. So, what did Jesus’ closest friends and followers say about him?

Peter wrote that he was “our God and Savior.” John said he was the “Alpha and Omega” and “the first and the last,” titles that apply only to God. Jesus’ half-brother James, who was an unbeliever at first, described Jesus as “the Lord of glory.” And the Apostle Thomas called Jesus “my Lord and my God.”

These men were willing to suffer and die for proclaiming Jesus as Lord. They believed he was and is God. Why? Because he proved he was by rising from the dead.

Who did Jesus say he was? During one of his encounters with the Pharisees, Jesus told them they would die in their sins unless they believed that “I am he.” So, they asked him, “Who are you?” Jesus responded, “truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

When Jesus said “I am,” he was saying, “I am Yahweh, I am the God of history, the God revealed to Abraham and Moses, the God of the Old Testament, the one true God.” This was such a bold declaration of divinity that the Jewish leaders grabbed stones to kill him for blasphemy.

Jesus said he was God because he was and is God. Do you believe he is “I am”?

Yesterday we learned that Jesus has always existed. But some people will argue that Jesus is a created being since Colossians says Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation.” But the Greek word for “firstborn” doesn’t refer to “first created.” There’s a perfectly good word for “first created,” but that’s not the word used in that passage.

Instead, the word designates authority. So, by saying Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation,” the Bible is saying Jesus is the “absolute ruler over all creation.”

And, in the next verse, we read “all things were made through Jesus.” Jesus isn’t a created being. He’s the Creator!

When did Jesus come into existence? Was it when he was born or was it “at the beginning of creation”? Well, what does the Bible say?

Scripture teaches Jesus has no beginning or end. He’s “pre-existent.” In the gospel of John, we read that Jesus existed “before the world began” and that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Paul writes that Jesus is our Creator and sustainer.

Jesus isn’t a created being, like you and me. He’s the eternal God who’s always been and always will be. But—praise the Lord—the eternal God stepped into history and saved us by his death and resurrection.

Who is Jesus? This is the most important question you’ll ever answer. And we’ll explore how the Bible answers it over the next two weeks.

The Bible teaches that there’s one true God and that he is triune. This means God exists eternally as three equal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Trinity are equally and fully God.

This teaching is seen in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, the Spirit is poured out, and Jesus appears to several people. The New Testament specifically reveals Jesus as divine and calls the Father, Son, and Spirit “God.” Our God is three-in-one.