Lesson 7 - God the Son: His Deity and Eternity

Direct Statements of the Eternity and Deity of the Son of God

1. God the Son exists eternally (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1-2; 5:18; 8:58; 10:33; 17:5; 20:28; Phil. 2:5-7; Heb. 1:1-3, 8; 13:8).

Implications that the Son of God is Eternal

1. The works of creation are ascribed to Jesus (John 1:3; Col. 1:16). He must, therefore, exist before all creation.
2. Jesus is the Angel of Jehovah that appears in the Old Testament. “Though He appears at times as an angel or even as a man, He bears the unmistakable marks of deity. He appeared to Hagar (Gen. 16:7), to Abraham (Gen. 18:1; 22:11-12; 11-12; note John 8:58), to Jacob (Gen. 48:15-16; note also Gen. 31:11-13; 32:24-32), to Moses (Exod. 3:2, 14), to Joshua (Josh. 5:13-14), and to Manoah (Judg. 13:19-22). He it is who fights for, and defends, His own (2 Kings 19:35; 1 Chron. 21:15-16; Ps. 34:7; Zech. 14:1-4).”[1]
3. Jesus holds titles of deity. “The titles of the Lord Jesus Christ indicate His eternal being. He is precisely what His names imply. He is ‘The Son of God,’ ‘The Only Begotten Son,’ ‘The First and the Last,’ ‘The Alpha and Omega,’ ‘The Lord,’ ‘Lord of All,’ ‘Lord of Glory,’ ‘The Christ,’ ‘Wonderful,’ ‘Counsellor,’ ‘The Mighty God,’ ‘The Father of Eternity,’ ‘God,’ ‘God With Us,’ ‘Our Great God.’ These titles relate Him to the Old Testament revelation of Jehovah-God (cp. Matt. 1:23 with Isa. 7:14; Matt. 4:7 with Deut. 6:16; Mark 5:19 with Ps. 66:16; and Matt. 22:42-45; with Ps. 110:1).”[2]
4. Jesus possesses the attributes of God. “The preexistence and eternity of the Son of God are implied in the fact that He has the attributes of God— life (John 1:4), self-existence (John 5:26), immutability (Heb. 13:8), truth (John 14:6), love (1 John 3:16), holiness (Heb. 7:26), eternity (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:11), omnipresence (Matt. 28:20), omniscience (1 Cor. 4:5; Col. 2:3), and omnipotence (Matt. 28:18; Rev. 1:8).”[3]
5. Jesus is worshipped as God. “In like manner the preexistence and eternity of Christ are implied in the fact that He is worshiped as God (John 20:28; Acts 7:59-60; Heb. 1:6). It follows that since the Lord Jesus Christ is God, He is from everlasting to everlasting.”[4]

 

[1] Lewis Sperry Chafer; John F. Walvoord; Major Bible Themes (Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan Publishing, 2010), 54.

[2] Ibid., 54.

[3] Ibid., 54-55.

[4] Ibid., 55.