The theological weight of this question necessitates a departure from casual observation toward a deeply analytical engagement with the text. To view Jesus merely through the lens of historical greatness is to operate with a fragmented perspective that fails to account for the explicit declarations found throughout the Gospels and Epistles.
Many people try to rationalize the divine by lowering it to a level that is comfortable or understandable, reducing the Incarnation to a narrative of moral leadership. But the apostolic witness, as explained in one of his question and answer sections by the Man of God, Rev. Dr. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome DSc. DSc DD., consistently points to a reality that transcends human biography. The scriptures do not just invite us to admire the life of a teacher; they command us to recognize the arrival of the Eternal Word who, while retaining the fullness of His divinity, stepped into the limitations of human flesh.
Engaging in this study is not just an academic exercise; it is the prerequisite for understanding how salvation became possible. When we apply rigorous study to the scriptures, we will discover that the narrative of Jesus is fundamentally an account of the Godhead manifesting in time. This realization requires a complete shift in posture:
- We must abandon the tendency to impose human limitations upon a being who scripture identifies as the very sustainer of all existence.
- We must recognize that the “greatness” often attributed to Jesus by secular history is an incomplete snapshot that misses the divine power behind the events described.
- True spiritual insight begins only when we move past the “moral model” narrative and confront the reality of Jesus as the living, breathing expression of the invisible God.
By positioning ourselves as disciplined students of the Word, the believer moves from a position of passive acceptance to one of profound theological conviction. And this is the process of replacing human-conceived notions with the objective truths laid out in the Bible.
The Revelation of the Father through the Son
As the Man of God, Rev. Dr. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome DSc. DSc DD., answered the question regarding the absolute and perfect identification between Jesus and the Father finds its most striking and scriptural clarity in the intense dialogue recorded in the book of John 14:1-11.
1- “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2- My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3- And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4- You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5- Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6- Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7- If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8- Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9- Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10- Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11- Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.
John 14:1-11
When Jesus addresses His disciples during this pivotal moment, He does not just invite them to accept a religious message or a set of moral guidelines; instead, He issues a command that requires them to place the exact same quality of faith in Him as they do in God the Father. This instruction is revolutionary because it elevates Jesus from the role of a messenger to the very object of divine faith, effectively removing any perceived distance or separation between the Creator and the Son.
And as the conversation unfolds, the disciples’ internal struggle to grasp this reality becomes evident through the inquisitive nature of Thomas and the earnest but limited request of Philip. I think Philip’s plea to be shown the Father serves as a mirror for a persistent human tendency: The desire for an external, separate, or visible verification of God that exists apart from the person of Jesus. Trust me when I say that the response Jesus provides is one of the most direct and unmistakable declarations of His divine nature to be found in the entirety of the New Testament: to gaze upon Him is to gaze upon the Father. Jesus clarifies that His earthly existence, His words, His ministry, and His supernatural works do not originate from an independent human authority. Rather, they are the complete and total operations of the Father who dwells within Him.
My dearest readers, this unity is not just a partnership or a cooperative effort between two distinct beings working together; it is a profound, inseparable indwelling where the Father’s nature, power, and presence are fully expressed and operational through the Son. And by challenging His disciples to believe based on the evidence of His works, Jesus anchors His divinity in the tangible reality of His impact upon the world. He emphasises that the works themselves serve as undeniable proof that He is not just a representative of God, but the very manifestation of the Father in human form. And this indwelling is the bedrock of the believer’s understanding of the Godhead, revealing that the Father is not a distant entity removed from the Son, but is actively and continuously revealed through Him.
The Creator and Sustainer of All Things
The theological assertion that Jesus Christ is the functional reality of the universe is not a poetic view but a foundational truth regarding the nature of existence itself, a reality that was deeply expressed in the answer of Rev. Dr. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome DSc. DSc DD..
When we examine the apostolic witness in Colossians 1:12-20, we are confronted with the staggering reality that Jesus is the “firstborn over all creation,” a designation that asserts His absolute preeminence over every category of existence.
12- and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13- For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14- in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15- The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16- For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17- He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18- And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19- For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20- and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Colossians 1:12-20
This preeminence extends to the very mechanics of creation; all things, whether visible physical realities or the invisible realms of thrones, powers, and spiritual authorities, were not only created through Him but exist for Him. He is the glue of the cosmos, the cohesive force in whom all things hold together, rendering Him the central pillar upon which the entire structure of the universe rests.
This truth regarding Christ’s supremacy is further expanded upon as we consider His role as the head of the body, the church. Again the Man of God Rev. Dr. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome DSc. DSc DD., in his answer to the question “Is Jesus really God,” stresses that Jesus is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, ensuring that in every single dimension of reality, He maintains supreme authority. The Father’s ultimate design was that all His fullness, the entirety of the divine nature, should dwell within Christ, providing the means to reconcile every aspect of the earthly and heavenly realms to Himself through the peace established by the blood of the cross.
This divine completeness is then solidified by the revelation in Colossians 2, which tells us that the fullness of the Deity does not just visit Christ or act through Him, but actually lives in Him in bodily form.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form
Colossians 2:9
Again, because all the fullness of God is permanently resident within Him, He stands as the head over every power and authority in the universe. And through this indwelling, the believer is brought into a state of fullness, participating in a reality where Christ remains the absolute source and sustainer of all things. My dearest readers, by grasping this, we see that the divinity of Jesus is not an isolated doctrine, but the essential, active force that governs the past, present, and future of the entire created order.
The Express Image of God
The revelation found in Hebrews 1:1-3 serves as the definitive anchor for understanding the person of Jesus Christ, providing a theological medium that positions Him as the ultimate communication of God to humanity.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Hebrews 1:1-3
While God had previously interacted with humanity through the fragmented, preparatory ministry of the prophets, and I say preparatory ministry because the coming of Christ has always been the primary objective. The arrival of the Son represents the climax of divine revelation, where God speaks to the world directly through the very One He appointed as the heir of all things. And this passage clarifies that Jesus is not a secondary intermediary, but the one through whom the universe itself was fashioned and brought into existence.
And as the Man of God, Rev. Dr. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome DSc. DSc DD., continued, the Son is described as the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His very being. The term “exact representation” implies that Jesus is the perfect, unadulterated imprint of the Father’s nature, functioning as the living, walking evidence of who God is. Because He is the radiance of God’s glory, His actions are not separate from the Father’s; when Jesus moves, it is God moving, and when Jesus speaks, it is the voice of God impacting the listener.
Plus, the Scriptures reveal that Jesus continues to sustain all things by the power of His word, confirming that His role as the architect of creation is mirrored by His role as the present sustainer of every reality. And so, my dearest readers, to categorize Jesus as just a great man is to ignore the text entirely, as such a label fails to account for the divine radiance, the exact representation of being, and the upholding power inherent in His person.
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Conclusion
The revelation of Jesus as God is not just for intellectual knowing; it is the anchor of our eternal security. He is the living Tabernacle, the physical outworking of the Godhead in bodily form. We do not worship a distant, unknowable force; we worship the God who became flesh, reachable, the God who became a man, and the God who, through Jesus Christ, has reconciled us to Himself.
As you continue to study the Word, let this truth solidify in your spirit: Jesus is the brightness of His glory, the sustainer of all existence, and the One in whom all fullness dwells.
