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Is Jesus a divine being? Is He God or was He just a man? Is He both man and God? Did He exist before being born on earth? If He did exist before, how did He exist? Did He have to give up anything to come here? In this lesson we will study the divinity of Jesus and whether He existed before He was born on this earth and what He gave up to come here.

Q. What does Immanuel mean? Matthew 1:23

A. “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” This verse says that a child will be born of a virgin and He will be “God with us.”

Q. What does the following verse tell us about God's word? John 1:1

A. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Notice how the word “Word” is capitalized. This implies that this verse is not talking about an object. Notice how the verse says, “and the Word was God.” But it also says the the Word was with God and was in the beginning. This implies that the Word was a being and not an object.

Q. What happened with the Word, who was the Word and what is the Word's significance? John 1:14

A. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The first thing this verse tell us is the Word became flesh and lived on this earth. So, the Word became a human being. Next, we learn who the Word was, He was God's only Son. The Word's significance was, He was full of grace and truth. So, who was the only human that existed on this earth that this description fits? It can be none other than Jesus Christ (See Bible Lesson 3, The Prophecies of the Messiah).

Q. Did Jesus co-exist with God before the earth was created? John 17:5, 24

A. “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” Jesus Himself tells us that He existed with the Father (God), before the earth was created.

Q. What point does Jesus make about His preexistence? John 8:58

A. “Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”” Jesus is telling us that He was the self-existent One – the “I AM” that existed before Abraham.

Q. Who does the Old Testament tell us the “I AM” is? Exodus 3:14

A. “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” From the previous question, Jesus points out that He is the “I AM” that existed before Abraham. So if Jesus is the "I AM"; then it was also Jesus, as the “I AM”, that sent Moses to get Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage.

Q. Does Jesus have the power to forgive the sins of the people on earth? Luke 5:20-24

A. [Read the passages.] Only God has the power to forgive sins, but wait, remember Jesus is God in the flesh. The Pharisees accused Jesus of blasphemy for forgiving people of their sins, because they saw Jesus a just a mere man. They did not understand that He was God in the flesh.

Q. What did Thomas, a disciple of Jesus, say about Him? John 20:28

A. “And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”” Thomas testified that Jesus is both Lord and God.

Q. Beside His only begotten Son; who does God, the Father, say that Jesus is? Heb 1:5-9

A. [Read the passage.] God the Father says that Jesus is, His Son, and is also God. “But to the Son He says: “ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.”

Q. Is the existence of Jesus eternal? Isaiah 9:6

A. “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Yes the existence of Jesus is eternal. Jesus was the child born unto us, and the Son that was given to us and He is the Mighty God and the everlasting Father.

Q. How long has Jesus, the I AM, preexisted? Micah 5:2

A. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” Jesus has always existed, He existed before the earth was created, and He exists from everlasting.

Q. Does Jesus have immortality? 1 Timothy 6:15, 16

A. [Read the passages.] Jesus is “The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality.”

Q. Does Jesus hold the keys to immortality an have the power to make us immortal? Revelation 1:18

A. “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Yes, Jesus holds the keys to immortality and has the power to make us immortal. What does hades mean? Hades - (religion) the world of the dead (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Hades+) or the grave. So Jesus has the power to pull us from the grave and restore life back to us. One day, in the future, Jesus will restore life to all the righteous dead and give both the righteous dead and the righteous living, immortality. We will cover this in a future lesson titled “The Manner of Christ's Second Coming.”

Q. Did Jesus give up His divine privileges in heaven to become our Savior? Philippians 2:5-12

A. [Read the passages.] Yes, Jesus did give up the divine privileges He had before He came to be our Savior. How? Because He took on the form of a bond-servant and became like us and being found like us He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Jesus gave up all of His former glory that He had in heaven before coming to this earth and becoming our Savior. But the verses also say that Jesus was given a new glory, His name is to be exalted above everything that exists and He is to become our King. We will study how Jesus is to become our King in some future lessons.

Can you imagine all that Jesus gave up for us before He came to give us salvation? It is hard for our finite minds to fathom. We can not even begin to understand what Jesus gave up for us. Don't you think that we owe Him our allegiance?

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