JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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Jesus' Unique Relationship to God Proves His Deity
● He is put side by side with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the baptismal
Formula (Mt 28:19).
● He is put side by side with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the Apostolic
Benediction (2 Co 13:14).
● He spoke of Himself and Paul spoke of Him as the greatest gift of infinite
mercy.
In His conversation with Nicodemus, Christ spoke of Himself in these terms:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).
Jesus here conveys the idea that the gift of the Son was the richest gift of divine love.
Imagine a mere man stepping forward and proclaiming Himself as the choicest gift of God's love
to humanity. What exaggeration and egotism! Yet Paul did not see it as such since He affirmed
without reserve:
"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Co 9:15).
● He demands the same trust that God demands:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me" (Jn 14:1).
Who but Jesus would dare to demand that we put the same faith in Him that we put in
God the Father. Who would dare claim that in such faith we will find a cure for all trouble and
anxiety of heart. Jesus was certainly cognizant of Jeremiah's warning:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man" (Jer 17:5).
Yet He had the boldness to demand absolute and unwavering trust in Himself. In
Scripture, such trust only belongs to God. On another occasion He similarly stated:
"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28).
Only a lunatic, an impostor, or God Almighty would make such a promise. No one can
give rest to all who are weary and burdened unless He is God, and yet Jesus makes that very
offer. It is notable that in the same breath in which He speaks of Himself in these august terms,
He says: "I am meek and lowly in heart." But where is His meekness and lowliness in making
such a claim, if He were simply a man like ourselves, though better?