It is true that today the figure of Jesus is recognized worldwide not only by Christian religions but by the entirety of the population; however, it is not equally true that people have a correct perception of Him. In fact, the majority of the global population does not acknowledge that He is the Messiah, God come to earth, but reduces Him to a teacher, a saint, or a simple example to follow. Unfortunately, even in theocentric religions such as Islam and Judaism, Jesus is reduced to a prophet, rejecting His divine nature and claiming that there is no evidence to prove it and that Jesus never claimed to be God. However, the reality is quite different: Jesus not only claimed to be God but also demonstrated it, and the Bible is full of such evidence.

John 1:1-2 — "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."

John 1:14 — "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

1 Timothy 3:16 — "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."

In these verses we find the greatest demonstration that Jesus was God descended to earth. We are told that the Word existed from the beginning, that the Word was with God, and that the Word was God. This implies that there is no distinction between the Word and God — both are God. In this sense, the Word can be regarded as a name of God. This is further confirmed in verse 2, highlighting that the Word was with God from the beginning. In verse 14 we see that the Word became flesh, that is, became a man (referring to Jesus), and dwelt among men.

In 1 Timothy 3:16 this finds further confirmation, where the author once again tells us that Jesus is God manifested in the flesh.

John 10:30 — "I and My Father are one."

John 14:9 — "Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say,"Show us the Father"? '"

In John 10:30 Jesus declares that He and the Father are one, that is, they share the same divine nature, while in John 14:9 Jesus states that whoever has seen Him has seen the Father. The words of Jesus are the words of the Father. The works of Jesus are the works of the Father. The words of Jesus alone are enough to understand that He is divine. But His words are further strengthened and proven true by the works He performs, which reveal the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:3 — "Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

From the first part we can deduce that Jesus is to God what the rays of the sun are to the sun itself. Jesus is the essence and projection of God. Furthermore, when it says He is "the express image of His person," this refers to what the imprint of a seal was: the imprint is nothing other than an image, not different from what it represents. Therefore Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

In Paul's letters, the divinity of Jesus is repeatedly emphasized. It must be remembered that Paul was no ordinary man — he was a man of God, baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17), with a special calling (Acts 9:15-16), endowed with a multitude of gifts, who had seen Jesus (Acts 9) and who had seen heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-7).

Philippians 2:5-6 — "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God."

In these verses Paul places God and Jesus on the same level, defining them as equal. For Paul, Jesus is God. This once again confirms the fact that Jesus and God share the same divine nature.

Colossians 2:8-9 — "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

In these verses Paul tells us that in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, making Him in every way equal to God. Jesus lacks nothing that God has: everything God has, Jesus has, and everything God can do, Jesus can do.

Acts 20:28 — "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."

Isaiah 53:5-6 — "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

1 Peter 2:24 — "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed."

In Acts 20:28 we are told that God purchased His church with His own blood. Yet it was not God the Father who died and paid for our sins — it was Jesus who died and paid for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 3:16,1 Peter 2:24).

Although in the Bible God is recognized and called by various names, He refers to Himself as "I AM" (Exodus 3:14-15: "And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. ' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel,"I AM has sent me to you."'"). This same designation is used by Jesus to refer to Himself on five separate occasions (in the Gospel of John alone):

• John 8:24 — "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

• John 8:28 — "Then Jesus said to them, 'When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. '"

• John 8:58 — "Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. '"

• John 13:19 — "Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He."

• John 18:5 — "They answered Him, 'Jesus of Nazareth. ' Jesus said to them, 'I am He. ' And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them."

As mentioned above, in the Old Testament God has various names by which people called Him, depending on a characteristic of His or a particular situation. Some examples:

• ELOHIM: God "Creator, Mighty and Strong"
  
  

  • Genesis 17:7 — "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you."

  • Jeremiah 31:33 — "'But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, ' says the Lord: 'I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. '"

• EL SHADDAI: "God Almighty," "The Mighty One of Jacob"
  
  

  • Genesis 49:24 — "But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)."

  • Psalm 132:2-5 — "How he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: 'Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob. '"

• ADONAI: "Lord"
  
  

  • Genesis 15:2 — "But Abram said, 'Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? '"

  • Judges 6:15 — "So he said to Him, 'O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. '"

• YAHWEH-JIREH: "The Lord Will Provide"
  
  

  • Genesis 22:14 — "And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, 'In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided. '"

• YAHWEH-RAPHA: "The Lord Who Heals"
  
  

  • Exodus 15:26 — "And said, 'If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you. '"

• YAHWEH-M'KADDESH: "The Lord Who Sanctifies"
  
  

  • Leviticus 20:8 — "And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them. I am the Lord who sanctifies you."

  • Ezekiel 37:28 — "The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."

• YAHWEH-SHALOM: "The Lord Is Our Peace"
  
  

  • Judges 6:24 — "So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites."

Similarly, Jesus also uses other self-revealing names that specify a characteristic of His, all derived from "I AM":

• John 6:48 — "I am the bread of life."

• John 8:12 — "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

• John 9:5 — "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

• John 10:7 — "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep."

• John 10:9 — "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."

• John 10:11 — "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."

• John 10:14 — "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own."

• John 11:25 — "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. '"

• John 14:6 — "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. '"

• John 15:1 — "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser."

• Revelation 1:8 — "'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, ' says the Lord, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. '"

• Revelation 1:17 — "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, 'Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. '"

• Revelation 1:18 — "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."

As one reads and studies the Bible, one notices that God has certain exclusivities — specific actions that only He can perform or of which only He is the worthy recipient. There are primarily four:

1. To be worshiped

Exodus 20:2-5 — "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God."

God is the Lord, our Creator. He created everything we see and gave us life and all that we have. He is the only One worthy of worship, the only One worthy of praise. God does not share worship and praise. God Himself declares that He is jealous and does not permit us to worship or serve anyone besides Him.

2. To forgive sins

Mark 2:7 — "'Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? '"

Only God has the power to forgive sins — not priests, pastors, bishops, or even angels. We cannot earn God's forgiveness through prayers, good deeds, fasting, or anything else, because that would be equivalent to forgiving ourselves.

3. To judge

Ecclesiastes 12:14 — "For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Romans 14:12-13 — "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore."

From these verses we can understand that only God has the right to judge people and their actions. Only God has such a high and broad perspective; only God knows the full truth; and only He is so holy and so perfect as to render a righteous judgment.

4. To know the hearts of men — that is, their thoughts, intentions, and feelings

1 Kings 8:39 — "Then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men)."

Psalm 139:4 — "For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether."

During the three years of His ministry, Jesus exercised each of these divine exclusivities (and in the case of worship, He was the recipient):

Jesus was worshiped

Matthew 2:1-11 — "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. ' [... ] And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

During the reign of King Herod, wise men, guided by God through a star (which implies that the Lord was approving what they were doing and what they were about to do), arrived in Jerusalem asking where the King of the Jews had been born, so that they might worship Him. The purpose of their journey was to worship Jesus, and as soon as they found Him, they fell down before Him and worshiped Him, offering the gifts they had brought.

Matthew 14:22-33 — "[... ] And those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Truly You are the Son of God. '"

In this account, after performing two miracles — walking on water and saving Peter from sinking — Jesus climbs into the boat and is worshiped by both the disciples and the entire crew. Jesus accepts the worship.

John 12:12-13 — "The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel! '"

Matthew 21:9 — "Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! '"

At His entry into Jerusalem, Jesus is worshiped by the entire crowd that had gathered specifically to see and receive Him. Again, Jesus accepts the worship.

Matthew 28:8-9 — "So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, 'Rejoice! ' So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him."

After Jesus' death and burial, the women who had followed and served Him went to His tomb. Having learned that Jesus had risen, they departed quickly, full of joy and fear, to bring the news to the disciples. When they saw Jesus, they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. Jesus accepts the worship.

Acts 10:25-26 — "As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, 'Stand up; I myself am also a man. '"

Acts 14:11-18 — "[... ] But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, 'Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you [... ]'"

Revelation 19:9-10 — "[... ] And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! [... ]'"

Unlike Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and the angel, Jesus never refused worship but always received it. This is because Jesus is God, and as such worship is rightly due to Him.

Hebrews 1:6 — "But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: 'Let all the angels of God worship Him. '"

In Hebrews 1:6, God declares that all the angels must praise and worship Jesus — yet the only One who can be praised and worshiped is God.

Jesus has authority to forgive sins

Mark 2:1-12 — "[... ] When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven you. ' [... ] 'But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'—He said to the paralytic, 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. ' Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God."

The most striking case of Jesus granting forgiveness is when, having entered a house to preach the Word, a paralyzed man is brought to Him. Jesus first tells him that his sins are forgiven and then, having known the thoughts of the Pharisees — who held this to be blasphemy — heals him as well, to demonstrate that He has the authority to forgive sins.

At the end of time, Jesus will judge the world

John 5:22 — "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son."

Matthew 25:31-33 — "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."

Revelation 22:12 — "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work."

From these verses it is clear that the Father has entrusted all authority of judgment to the Son — that is, to Jesus — who on the appointed day will exercise it and, as the Bible says, will separate the sheep from the goats, that is, the righteous from the wicked, and will repay each one according to his deeds.

Jesus knows the hearts of people

Matthew 12:25 — "But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. '"

Mark 2:8 — "But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, 'Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? '"

Matthew 17:25 — "He said, 'Yes. ' And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, 'What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers? '"

On multiple occasions, Jesus demonstrates that He knows the thoughts of people and what they intend to say or do before it happens. Neither angels nor demons possess such abilities — only God does.

From all of this, it can be concluded without any shadow of a doubt that Jesus is God descended to earth.