There is clear need for solid teaching on how the Bible actually conveys not only the humanity of Jesus Christ—most laypersons “get” that aspect at some level—but also his full divinity. Here are ten things to know about early divine Christology as found in Scripture.

Confessing Contradictions

According to a 2019 study, roughly 97% of evangelical Christians affirm the doctrine of the Trinity—one true God in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).¹ That’s great news. The bad news: the same survey found that nearly 80% of those surveyed also believe Jesus to be a created being, apparently without realizing the contradiction.

Moreover, in the church world I’ve observed that many Christians often can assent to key statements on Christ’s divinity like the Nicene Creed, but struggle defending such statements from Scripture (beyond, say, John 1:1–3). But in the academic world, the prevailing opinion is that the creeds cannot be defended fully from Scripture, because the idea of Christ’s divinity was, in some sense, “invented” later.

However you slice it, there is clear need for solid teaching on how the Bible actually conveys not only the humanity of Jesus Christ—most laypersons “get” that aspect at some level—but also his full divinity. Here are ten things to know about early divine Christology as found in Scripture.

1. The New Testament teaches the heavenly preexistence of Christ before taking flesh.

For any person to be fully divine, he must exist forever—God, by definition, cannot begin to exist or be created. In various ways, the New Testament affirms that Christ did, in fact, exist in the spiritual or heavenly realm before being born in the flesh. John’s Gospel teaches that Jesus “came from above” (or similar wording, John 3:31; 6:38, 51; 8:23) and had glory with the Father in heaven in eternity past (John 17:5). Paul also teaches that Jesus existed in heaven before being sent in the flesh (Col. 1:17; 1 Cor. 15:47; Eph. 4:9-10; Gal. 4:4; 1 Tim. 1:15; 3:16). Jesus, too, gives subtle signs that he has “come” from outside the earthly realm (e.g., Luke 12:49-51), which even demons recognize (Mark 1:24).

2. The Old Testament signals the preexistence of Christ.

If Christ existed prior to coming in the flesh, we should not be surprised to find telltale signs in the Old Testament. Paul describes the water-providing rock in the wilderness (Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:8–11) as “Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4); and when the Israelites rebelled, (Num. 21:5-6) they were actually putting “Christ to the test” (1 Cor. 10:9). Jude similarly describes how it was “Jesus who saved a people out of the land of Egypt” (Jude 5), apparently connecting Christ to the angel of the Lord who went before the Israelites (Ex. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34). John also states that the grand vision Isaiah had of the “glory” of the LORD in Isaiah 6 was actually a mysterious glimpse of Christ (John 12:41). This heavenly, pre-incarnate existence of Christ may also lie behind the human-like being seated on a heavenly throne in Ezekiel 1, as well as the “one like a son of man” in Daniel 7:13–14.

3. Jesus expresses a unique sense of divine sonship to the Father.

To disprove the deity of Jesus, skeptics often note that Jesus did not parade around claiming, “I am God!” While it is true that no such behavior is recorded, he did make exceptional claims about his unique position as Son in relation to the Father. He addresses him as “Abba” (Mark 14:36) and “my Father” (e.g., Matt 26:53; Luke 22:29; John 5:17), which was almost unheard of for Jews (who, if they addressed the Father as such, used “our”). He also distinctly refers to himself as “the Son” (Mark 13:32). The Father returns the favor, so to speak, by addressing Jesus in an intimate, paternal way at his baptism (Luke 3:22) and transfiguration (Mark 9:7). Finally, Jesus expresses the unique Father-Son relationship not only in the famous passages of John 10:15, 30, and 38, but even in the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 11:25–27; Luke 10:21–22). This evidence clarifies the full meaning of “Son of God” (Matt 14:33; Rom 1:3–4; etc.).

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