The Mystical Teachings Of Jesus: The apostle John wrote his gospel so that you would know and believe who Jesus is (John 20:31). So it should come as no surprise that this first chapter of John is all about the person of Jesus.
Let’s take a tour through John 1 and make a list of all the names, titles and phrases used to describe Jesus:
The Word (verse 1, 2, 14); God (1); the creator (3, 10); the life (4); the light (4, 6, 8, 9); the only Son (14); the only God (18); the Lamb of God (29, 36); the Son of God (34, 49); the Christ/Messiah (41); the King of Israel (49); the Son of Man (51).
Truly this is an amazing list! We could do an extensive study of each of these titles and spend much worthwhile time on every one, as Scripture has much to say about the person of Jesus.
The purpose of this article is to focus on John’s teaching that Jesus is God.
Note John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Now jump down to verse 14 and read “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”.
So we know from verse 1 that the Word is God. And who is the Word? According to verse 14, the Word is also a human being, because “the Word became flesh.” John is talking about Jesus in this entire passage. And this Jesus, who became a man, is also God.
This is one of the most critical teachings of Scripture and the belief of biblical Christianity for centuries: the man Jesus is also God. He is the one and only God-Man.
The deity of Jesus Christ is what separates biblical Christianity from all other religions. John 1:1 can be translated “the Word was fully God.” This is taught elsewhere in the New Testament in passages like Colossians 1:15-19, where Paul says “He is the image of the invisible God… For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”; and Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”
John 1:18 refers to Jesus as “the only God” or “the only One, who is God.” John used the simplest language possible to express the most profound truth possible: God became a Man, and his name is Jesus. This God-Man is the Creator of the universe (v.3), the source of life (v.4), and the light of mankind (v.4).
Please stop now and ask yourself this simple yet all-important question: “Do I believe that Jesus is God?” Perhaps you have known and believed that for many years. Maybe you were taught that as a child in Sunday school, or by your parents, and you have never questioned it.
But it is also possible that you haven’t yet accepted this teaching. Perhaps you are new to Christianity or have only heard bits and pieces of Christian doctrine during your lifetime.