The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ

by Kenneth Copeland | Uncategorized

Question: Brother Copeland, some time ago I read an article in your magazine in which you said Jesus didn’t claim He was God, but rather claimed He walked with God and that God was in Him. I’m confused. Does that mean you question the deity of Jesus?

Answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT! The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is something that can never be questioned by any born-again believer. Our very salvation rests on the fact that Jesus Christ is divine, the second person of the Godhead, God the Son.

The Apostle John puts to rest any doubt about that in his account of the gospel: “In the beginning [before all time] was the Word [Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself” (John 1:1 AMP).

Anyone who doubts what that verse says could not possibly be born in the kingdom of God. For the deity of Jesus forms the very foundation of our faith in Him.

The phrasing of the statement you referred to is very important. I didn’t say Jesus wasn’t God, I said He didn’t claim to be God when He lived on the earth. Search the Gospels for yourself. You’ll find what I say is true.

Greater And Mightier
During His earthly ministry, Jesus acknowledged that He was the Son of God, the Messiah. He referred to God as His Father (which enraged the Pharisees), but He never said He was the most High God. In fact, He told His disciples that the Father God was greater and mightier than He (John 14:28).

Why didn’t Jesus openly proclaim Himself as God?

Because He hadn’t come to earth as God, He’d come as man. He’d set aside His divine power and taken on the form of a human being—with all its limitations. Since God was His Father, He was not born with the sin nature of Adam. But, in all other respects, He became a man and called Himself the Son of Man.

The Apostle Paul verifies that in Philippians 2:5-7:

Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus…. Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God…did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained; But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity] so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being (AMP).

The truth of this verse hasn’t dawned on most believers. They mistakenly think Jesus was able to work wonders, perform miracles and live above sin because He had divine powers that we don’t have. Thus, they’ve never really aspired to live like He lived.

“I could never live like Jesus did,” they say with great humility. “After all, He had an advantage. He’s God!”

They don’t realize that when Jesus came to earth, He voluntarily gave up that advantage, living His life here not as God but as a man. He had no innate supernatural powers. He had no ability to perform miracles until after He was anointed by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 3:22).

He worked wonders, not by His own power, but by the power of the Father saying, “…The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). Peter also commented concerning this (see Acts 10:38). Jesus, the Head of the Body, ministered the same way His Body does—by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is the Father’s works. He ministered as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit.

You can take Jesus’ personal witness in Luke 4:18-19:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captive, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And when He prayed, He prayed not as the divine One Who had authority as God, but as a man who walked obediently with God. And, as Hebrews 5:7 says, His prayers were heard not because of His deity, but “because of His reverence toward God” (AMP).

Jesus, the divine Son of God, set aside the privileges and powers of deity for a time and lived as a man on earth. Once you grasp that, it will absolutely thrill your soul!

You, as a reborn child of God, filled with the same Holy Spirit as Jesus was, have the opportunity to live as He lived on earth. And that is exactly what He intends. In John 17:18, He said to the Father, “Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them…” (AMP).

Access To The Same Power
Jesus has sent you into the world to live as He lived. Through the new birth, He’s enabled you to exchange the sinful nature of Adam for the sinless nature of God. He’s made available to you the anointing and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, thereby giving you access to the same power He relied on when He walked the earth.

He’s given you the ability (and the command) to live above sin, to live in fellowship with the Father, to preach the gospel, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cast out demons, and to make disciples!

He went before you, as a man, and opened the way.

Once you fully realize that, you’ll be able to throw off any doubt that has held you back. You’ll begin to live as Jesus meant for you to live—not as a sin-ridden son of fallen man—but as a reborn child of the most High God. Then, those around you will actually see Jesus…in you.

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries

For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.

They have seven ministry offices around the world: United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Ukraine and Latin America. Their God-given directive is to preach and teach the uncompromised WORD of God on every available voice, which is being accomplished through a variety of channels, including our Believer's Voice of Victory TV and radio broadcasts, podcast and magazine; Believers' Conventions, Victory Campaigns and Living Victory meetings; published books, website, and social media channels, to name a few.

With the expansion of technology, they have more work to do now than ever. They are determined to let the world know Jesus is LORD, and they are not slowing down anytime soon!

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