Is Jesus God? Part 1: Who is God? A Biblical Definition

Thousands – evens tens of thousands – of books have been written to answer this question, but here I list the main attributes, I think, of God according to the Bible. There is infinitely more that could be said, but I think this provides a solid foundation for understanding who God is based on the Bible. This foundation is essential for the rest of this blog.

A.    God is Spirit. John 4:24

B.    God is Light. 1 John 1:5

C.    God is Love. 1 John 4:8, 16

D.    God is immortal (“immortal” means “cannot die”). 1 Timothy 6:16

E.    God is the Creator of the whole world. Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1

F.     God is every Christian’s, and Jesus’, inheritance (Romans 8:17). Psalm 16:5, Ephesians 1:11-14

G.    God is our Refuge. Psalm 46:1

H.    God is our Dwelling Place. Psalm 90:1

I.      God is our Rock. Psalm 18:2

K.    God is our Husband. Isaiah 54:5-8

L.    God is our Shepherd. Psalm 23

M.   God is our Protector. Psalm 91

N.    God is our Shelter. Psalm 91

O.    God is our Very Present Help. Psalm 46:1

P.     God does not show favoritism. Romans 2:11

Q.    God is the ultimate King of the world. Psalm 10:16

R.    God is our spring of living water. Jeremiah 2:13, Jeremiah 17:13, John 4:10, John 7:37-39 referring to the Holy Spirit 

S.     God is satisfying. Psalm 107:9, Matthew 5:6, Psalm 16, Psalm 34

U.    God is great. Psalm 95:3

V.    God is awesome. Deuteronomy 7:21

W.  God is Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End.  Revelation 1:8

X.    God is giver of salvation through His Son, Jesus. John 3:16

Y.    God is self-existing. John 5:26, Exodus 3:14

Z.    God is transcendent. Isaiah 55:8-9

AA.  God is self-sufficient. Acts 17:24-25, Revelation 4:11 

BB.  God is eternal. Psalm 90:2, 1 Timothy 1:17, Psalm 102:27

CC.   God is good. Psalm 100:5

DD.   God is just. Deuteronomy 32:4

EE.  God is the ultimate judge. Isaiah 33:22

FF. God is immutable. Malachi 3:6

GG. God has infinitude. Psalm 147:5

HH. God is omnipresent (present everywhere). Psalm 139:7-12

II.    God is wise. Romans 16:27

JJ.   God is holy. Isaiah 6:3

KK.  God is faithful and true. 1 Corinthians 1:9, Exodus 34:6-7, 1 John 1:9, Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2

LL. God is omniscient (all-knowing). 1 John 3:20

MM.  God is merciful. Psalm 103:8

NN.   God is gracious. Psalm 103:8, Lamentations 3:22-23

OO.   God is sovereign. Psalm 103:19

PP. God is Father. Matthew 6:9

QQ.   God is personal. Matthew 6:9

RR.  God is jealous. Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 6:15

SS. God is patient. Romans 2:4

TT. God is glorious. Psalm 19:1

UU.  God is peaceful. Philippians 4:7

VV.  God is wrathful over sin. Romans 1:18

YY.   God is invisible. 1 Timothy 1:17

ZZ.  God is limitless. Psalm 147:5

AAA.  God never changes. Malachi 3:6

BBB.  God is omnipotent (all-powerful, needing no power from anyone else). Jeremiah 32:17

CCC.  God is mysterious. Romans 11:33

DDD.  God rules over all. Psalm 47:2, Daniel 4:17

EEE.   God is forgiving. 1 John 1:9

FFF.    The Holy Spirit and God the Father are one. Deuteronomy 6:4-15, Acts 5:3-4

GGG. God is not a man or “son of man”. Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Hosea 11:9

Highlighted in green are all the characteristics of God that the Bible shows Jesus does not have or, in one case, did not always have, for a total of 9. How can Jesus be Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament? There are more characteristics than I highlighted that Jesus does not have, I just highlighted the ones that are clear without additional explanation needed. Moreover, these are characteristics Jesus did not have in his earthly life, and no Bible verse states this will change in eternity. There are no Bible verses that state Jesus is or ever will be Spirit (not flesh), our living water (John 7:37-39 names the living water the Holy Spirit), self-sufficient, omnipresent, omniscient (for example, Mark 13:32 shows he does not know when he is returning), invisible, not a man, or omnipotent (Jesus could do nothing on his own, John 5:30). The only characteristic of those 9 Jesus now shares with God is immortality, which Jesus, along with the rest of his Church, will share with God for eternity as Jesus defeated death.

Regarding immortality, Romans 6:9 says, “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.” Paul reveals here that Christ was mortal before, but now he is not. This verse indicates that death did have mastery over him before he died and was resurrected. In contrast, the immortal God has never been able to die, and death never had mastery over him.

Christian orthodoxy says Jesus died on the cross, fully God and fully man. Jesus' human nature died, but his divine nature did not as it is eternal and immortal. His 2 natures, one human and one divine, are united “without confusion, change, division, or separation” according to orthodoxy (Hypostasis definition, n.d.). The theological term for this, not found in the Bible, is the “hypostatic union”. But the Bible never says that Jesus’ divine nature did not die but his human nature did. The Bible never says that Jesus has two natures. The Bible simply says that Jesus died, gained immortality, and that one of God’s key attributes is immortality. There is no explicit (or, I would say, implicit) mention of Christ’s dual natures in the entire Bible. Why wouldn’t God be explicit in His Word on a doctrine that is essential for understanding who Christ is?

If Jesus was God, he would have always possessed immortality and would have been unable to die. That is the simplest, most straight forward understanding of God being immortal. Jesus was not always immortal because he died. God is immortal, and Jesus became immortal (Romans 6:9), so how can Jesus be God?

 In terms of the other 8 attributes, again, the Bible never says Jesus will have them for eternity. It says the opposite. Hebrews 13:8 that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Jesus, then, according to this verse, will be forever the “same” with a physical body, not being Spirit in essence like God is, forever needing God as his spring of living water (the Holy Spirit, John 7:37-39, which empowered him to do his works, Acts 2:22) like every Christian, forever needy of God (he could do nothing apart from the Father, John 5:19), forever fully present in one place, not omnipresent, forever not omniscient, forever visible, forever dependent on the Father for his power, and forever a man, who God is not (point GGG).

The Bible reveals Jesus is not God simply by looking at a list of God's attributes. How can Jesus be God if he does not, and the Bible gives no indication he ever will, share 8 of God’s key characteristics?

Of course, this topic is more complicated. There are passages that seem to indicate he is God, and those will be thoroughly examined. I start here, though, to show that simply looking at God’s attributes points to Jesus not being God as he did not share many of God’s attributes when he lived among us and there is no evidence in the Bible that he will in the future. Hebrews 13:8 is clear. Jesus stays the same. Who he is, the man the first Christians experienced and knew two thousand years ago, is who he will stay. These first Christians, as I will show in my “Scripture in Context” posts, did not believe Jesus was God, and neither did Jesus himself.