When I glance at my dog and cat, I can easily distinguish the difference.
How can I do this so easily? After all, they both have ears, mouths, tongues, eyes, tails, legs, feet, teeth, and fur. I suppose the obvious giveaway is that one meows while the other barks. But suppose I was deaf. Then how would I know? Somewhere in my past, my parents, grandparents, nursery workers, and other significant people taught me the difference. They either showed me a picture or the real thing and said “Dog” or “Cat.”
Even my oldest grandson knew the difference at fifteen months old. If I asked him where the kitty was, he looked at the cat and pointed. When he saw the dog, he said, “Dog.” How did he know? Because I did the same with him as others did with me. I showed him the real thing as well as pointed them out in books we read. I know…he knows…because someone told us so and because I saw others naming them the same thing.
A more important question is how we can know the historical Jesus was God. He claimed to be, but is his word enough? “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9 NLT)!
The debate is ancient. Arius, a popular pastor of the fourth century, said Jesus was half-god—a proclamation that divided the early church. Roman emperor Constantine finally called the bishops together in Nicea. They produced the Nicene Creed which stated emphatically that Jesus was God. But does the work of councils answer the question with certainty?
For 2,000 years, the church has testified that Jesus was God. If it has been wrong, surely evidence would have surfaced by now. Many witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. In addition to Jesus’ twelve apostles, more than five hundred others witnessed it as well (1 Corinthians 15:6). During his earthly ministry, Jesus manifested his ability to raise the dead, heal those with physical maladies, and perform a host of miracles. All testimonies testifying that he was more than human.
None of the above, however, proves Jesus was God if we don’t care to believe. Faith is the only answer. Like so many other spiritual matters, we must simply choose to believe even when there’s an absence of tangible proof. Have you?
Photo by Eliecer Gallegos on Unsplash
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