…our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 1:1, NASB)
The one name or title of Jesus that eclipses all others is the transcendent monosyllable—GOD. Jesus is God. This is the crux of Christmas and Christianity. Undiminished deity was joined forever with unfallen humanity. As someone has profoundly said, “He who made man was made man.”
The New Testament from Matthew to Revelation leaves no doubt that Jesus is God. He is “God with us” in Matthew 1:23. John 1:1 says, “the Word was God.” Paul calls Him “our great God and Savior” in Titus 2:13. Hebrews 1:8 says, “But of the Son He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” In Revelation 5:13 Jesus is worshiped as co-equal with the Father.
One week after Jesus rose from the dead, Thomas made the climactic confession, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Thomas literally called Jesus “the” God, and Jesus accepted his worship. One writer said it well: “Let those who question Christ’s deity meet Thomas.”
One of the most famous stories recounted in English literature concerns the essayist Charles Lamb and a group of literary men who began to surmise what they would do if the noble and gifted men of the past were to enter into the room. Charles Lamb said, “If Shakespeare were to enter, we would rise to our feet in admiration; but if Jesus Christ were to enter, we would kneel and worship in adoration.” Charles Lamb was dead right. The only proper response to the person and presence of Jesus Christ—who is eternal God— is to fall on our knees or on our face in wonder and adoration. That’s what the wise men did. We don’t rise in admiration to shake His hand, we fall in adoration to kiss His feet. All of history is ultimately headed to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that is where we should live our lives now in humble worship.