Here’s a faithful study of God’s character as revealed in Scripture and Tradition, culminating in Jesus Christ.
The Nature of God
God is eternal, infinite, and unchanging. He alone exists by necessity; all else exists by His creative will. The Catechism describes God as “perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness” (CCC §213). God possesses all perfections without limitation:
- Omnipotence – unlimited power
- Omniscience – complete knowledge of all things, past, present, and future
- Omnibenevolence – infinite goodness and love
- Immutability – He does not change
- Eternity – He exists outside time
God’s character is disclosed most fully in His names. The Hebrew YHWH (“I AM”) reveals God as the one who simply is—self-existent and necessary. In Exodus 34:6-7, God reveals Himself to Moses:
“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”
God is simultaneously just and merciful, holy and loving, transcendent and intimate.
The Trinity: Three Persons, One God
God exists as a Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three distinct Persons in one divine nature. This is not contradiction but mystery, revealed progressively in Scripture:
Old Testament hints: Genesis 1:26 (“Let us make man in our image”); Isaiah 48:16 (the Spirit speaking of the Lord sending the Lord).
New Testament clarity:
- Matthew 28:19 – “baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
- 1 Corinthians 13:14 – “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”
- 1 John 5:7 – “There are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement”
Each Person is fully God. The Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there is only one God. This is the mystery of the Trinity.
Jesus Christ Is God: The Divine Identity
Jesus Christ is the Son of God in His divine nature and the Son of Mary in His human nature. He is true God and true man—one divine Person with two natures. This is the doctrine of the Incarnation.
Direct Claims to Divinity:
“I AM” – In John 8:58, Jesus says: “Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am!” He uses the divine name—the same phrase God used to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). The Jews understood this as a claim to divinity and sought to stone Him (John 8:59).
Receiving Worship – Only God receives worship. Yet Thomas, after the Resurrection, fell at Jesus’ feet and said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Jesus accepted this worship without correction. In Matthew 14:33, the disciples worship Jesus after He walks on water, and He does not rebuke them.
Forgiving Sins – When Jesus forgave the paralytic’s sins (Mark 2:5-7), the scribes asked: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” They recognized that forgiving sins is an exclusive divine prerogative. Yet Jesus claimed this power and exercised it.
Equality with the Father – In John 5:17-18, Jesus says, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” The Jews sought to kill Him because “He was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
In John 10:30, Jesus declares: “I and the Father are one.” The Greek word hen (one) is neuter, indicating unity of nature or essence—not merely agreement of will.
The Son’s Preexistence – John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing has been made that has been made.”
The Word (Logos) who existed before all creation, who is God, who is the agent of creation—this is Jesus Christ. He became flesh (John 1:14) but did not cease to be divine.
The Incarnation – Philippians 2:6-8 describes Christ as one who “being in very nature God… made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Jesus did not become less than God; He added human nature to His divine nature while remaining fully God.
The Implications of Jesus’ Divinity
Redemption – Only God could redeem humanity. Christ’s sacrifice has infinite value because offered by the infinite Person—the God-man. His death and Resurrection break the power of sin and death and open the path to eternal life.
The Sacraments – Christ is present in the Eucharist. “This is my body… this is my blood” (Matthew 26:26-28). The Incarnate Son is truly present under the sacramental signs.
Prayer and Adoration – We worship Christ as God. The liturgy addresses Jesus with titles reserved for God alone. The Church’s practice reflects apostolic faith: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Salvation – “There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus alone is Savior because Jesus alone is God made man.
Why This Matters
If Jesus is not God, His words are merely human opinion. His commands lack absolute authority. His sacrifice lacks redemptive power. His Resurrection is a remarkable event but not a cosmic victory over death.
But if Jesus is God—as the entire apostolic tradition affirms—then:
- His words are God’s words
- His love is God’s love
- His forgiveness is God’s forgiveness
- His promise of resurrection is God’s promise
- Following Him is not optional but the path to eternal life
The Incarnation is the hinge of history. God did not remain distant. In Christ, the infinite entered the finite, the eternal entered time, the divine embraced the human. This is the heart of the Christian faith.
Jesus Is God ✝️
Jesus Christ is God—the second Person of the Trinity, eternally begotten of the Father, who became incarnate in human flesh for our salvation.
The Divine Identity
Jesus claimed to be God explicitly and repeatedly. In John 8:58, He declared, “Before Abraham was born, I am”—using the divine name revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). The Jews understood this as blasphemy and attempted to stone Him.
In John 10:30, He stated: “I and the Father are one”—asserting unity of nature, not merely agreement. When Thomas encountered the risen Jesus, he fell at His feet and said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Jesus accepted this worship without correction.
God Alone Can Do What Jesus Did
Only God forgives sins. When Jesus forgave the paralytic’s sins (Mark 2:5-7), the scribes rightly objected: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Yet Jesus claimed and exercised this divine power.
Only God receives worship. Throughout the Gospels, disciples worship Jesus—and He accepts it. After walking on water, “those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:33). He never corrects them.
The Incarnation
John 1:1-3 and 1:14 reveal the mystery: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Jesus is fully God and fully human—one divine Person with two natures. He did not stop being God when He became man. He humbled Himself, took human flesh, suffered, died, and rose again—all as God incarnate.
Why It Matters
Only God can redeem humanity. Only God’s sacrifice has infinite value. Only God’s promise of resurrection carries ultimate authority. If Jesus is not God, Christianity collapses. If He is God—as all apostolic Tradition affirms—then He alone is Savior and Lord.
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