In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:1-3). These verses show the divinity of Jesus and His majestic role in Heaven. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made 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 (verses 4,5,12-14). Power to become sons of God—how wonderful! Had people recognized the divinity of Jesus when He was here on Earth, it would have been a different story today. He had taken on the form of flesh; He came under subjection to everything that human beings are under subjection to. Looked upon as just a man, Jesus was God come down to dwell among men.

Can you separate the man called Jesus from the God/man, the human from the divine? Jesus talked like a man at times, at other times like God. His divinity confused people, and He knew it; but He had to teach them—those who wanted to learn—who He was.

Before the Crucifixion, before the Resurrection, He boldly presented Himself to the people as the divine One; and He told what would happen to Him. I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (John 10:17,18). Jesus let them know that when He was ready to come out of the tomb, He would come; for He had power over death.

He spoke as God, with the voice of divinity. This commandment have I received of my Father (John 10:18). The Father had already told Him that He would have power to take up His life after He laid it down; they had discussed what was going to happen and how.

All power is given me, Jesus said, all power—power over death, hell and the grave, over all sicknesses, all diseases. He was the all-conquering Christ. The devils feared the power He had over them. Dreading Him because they knew what He could do, they pleaded to not be cast into hell, to not be tormented before their time. Had people known Jesus the way Lucifer and his kingdom know Him, they would have feared Him and known that He was God.

Jesus was very God manifested in the flesh. My Father and I are one, Jesus said, one in power, one in love, one in greatness. There can be no separation between God and Jesus; it’s an impossibility. They stand in one love, and yet the Godhead consists of three different personalities, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Dead Raised to Life

Jesus said, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (John 11:25). Divinity was speaking. Jesus stood as God Himself when He raised the widow’s son from the dead. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak (Luke 7:14,15).

Jesus talked about death the way we talk about sleep. Jairus’ daughter had died, but Jesus said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth (Luke 8:52). That’s divinity talking: She sleepeth. In other words, “I will wake her up.” Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master, Jairus’ servant mourned. But Jesus said, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole (verses 49,50). Only believe. When Jesus could get people to believe in Him as very God, it was easy for Him to do divine work; but when they looked upon Him as just a man, they limited Him.

If you consciously or unconsciously act as though God has no more power than a man, you limit God. Many believe God can only do what man can do. If things are impossible for man, they must be impossible for God, too. But the Bible tells us, for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27).

In talking about His physical body, Jesus said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). Some of the Jews thought He was speaking of the temple in Jerusalem, but verse 21 tells us that he spake of the temple of his body. “I will raise it from the dead,” Jesus said, “for I am the Resurrection. No man can take my life. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again.”

Was Jesus an Imposter?

The chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again (Matthew 27:62,63). Although they called Jesus a deceiver, the chief priests and the Pharisees remembered some of the things He said. Jesus had wanted to convince the Jewish people that He was divine—and that was the part they objected to. Many of them didn’t care that He was a prophet, they didn’t mind His being just a good man; but when He declared, “I am Lord, I am the Christ,” they drew the line and cried, “Imposter! Fake!”

Was He? Had He not lived up to His claims, He would have been; but He proved His claims were true.

He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again (Luke 24:6,7). Had the Jews been sincere, they would have accepted Jesus. Had they really wanted the knowledge of God, they would have checked Jesus closely. “On the third day,” He told them, “I will raise up this body.” Why didn’t they wait outside the tomb if they were sincere? They knew what He had said; they even went to Pilate requesting that guards be stationed in front of the tomb. They thought Jesus was a deceiver. Why didn’t they give Him a chance? He had, after all, opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped deaf ears, performed all kinds of great and wonderful miracles. Why didn’t they give Him a chance? They simply didn’t want Jesus to be their Messiah.

And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it (Matthew 28:2). The angel rolled away the stone, but angels had nothing to do with the resurrection of Christ. They simply proclaimed the news: He is not here: for he is risen, as he said (verse 6). He has done exactly what He said He would do. He said that death had no power over Him, that if the temple were destroyed He would raise it up in three days time. The three days passed and He rose from the dead as He said. Divinity became related to the human race that He might set us free after the manner of redeemer kinsmen of the Old Testament who freed their relatives in bondage.

In the book of Ruth and other books of the Old Testament, study the responsibilities of a redeemer kinsman.

In the second chapter of Acts, verse 24, Peter refers to Jesus of Nazareth whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death. Why did he say God raised Jesus rather than Jesus raised Himself? Because there is no separation in the Godhead. Keep in mind that no one scripture is of any private interpretation (II Peter 1:20). In other words, scriptures must be taken as a whole to glean the meaning and not used apart from other scriptures on the same subject. Peter here is teaching the Jews that Jesus is the Son of God. Peter is saying to them, “Take a look at what your God did. Jesus made His claims and lived up to them. He did raise up the temple, He was victorious over death. Death had no dominion over Him.”

Only Christ Had Sinless Blood

When Christ as a man hung on Calvary, He was there also as divinity. Divine blood spilled from His veins. It was divine blood, for Jesus was not born by the will of the flesh. Jesus gave Himself into the hands of His murderers as a sacrifice for you and me—divinity, sinless blood brought life for all mankind. For the life of all flesh is the blood thereof (Leviticus 17:14). Jesus could not have had an Earth father because the father, not the mother, furnishes the blood of the child. An Earth-father would have furnished blood tainted by the sinful nature of Adam that afflicts the entire human race. The Holy Ghost, divinity, had to be the Father, bringing sinless blood from Heaven. Sinless blood flowed in Jesus’ veins; the life is in the blood. The Holy Ghost had overshadowed Mary, and that which was conceived within her was holy.

Just What Did Happen in That Tomb?

For many years people have not considered that Christ had the power of God. They thought He lay for three days in the tomb, doing nothing…dead…a death He could not wake from in His own power. This belief makes Him no stronger, no more powerful than we—but Jesus was very God, and He had the power of God.

While the physical body lay in the tomb, what happened to the divine part of Christ? For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison (I Peter 3:18,19). The human part of Jesus, His body, was left behind in the tomb while the divine part of Him penetrated into the prison where no human being could go. Jesus was the divine One, God manifested in the flesh. When the human came to the end of the journey, divinity took over. No longer did Jesus speak as a man, for the man had died. Divinity lived on; God cannot die. While the flesh remained in the cold, cold, tomb, divinity went into the prison and preached to bring the captives out of bondage. Then He re-entered His body and walked out of the tomb.

An angel, all shining with face aglow, rolled away the stone sealing the tomb. Never had the soldiers seen anything like the angel of God. God wanted them to know that human hands had not rolled away the stone. Petrified at the sight, the soldiers became like dead men—and yet they saw the angel perform his wonderful task; but the Bible does not say the soldiers saw Jesus walk out of the tomb. Jesus was able to walk out of the tomb whether the stone was rolled away or not.

Jesus conquered death not only for self but for all of us. He had to conquer death completely or death would not have been conquered. If death had held power over Him in the grave, how could He have been divinity?

Why have people been taught that Jesus was in the sepulcher waiting for the power of God to bring Him out? Because the power of Jesus has been overlooked, not taken into account. How can Jesus be separated from the Resurrection when He cannot be separated from God? Jesus included Himself in the Resurrection. I am the Resurrection, He said. He was the Resurrection because He was divine; He was God, the Word made flesh, that Bread of Life come down from Heaven. By giving His body into the hands of death three days and nights and then raising it up, He demonstrated that death had no power over Him. Jesus, the Resurrection, brought His body from the grave so that you will believe His divinity.

Many have not studied Christ enough to realize that He raised Himself from the dead. They think He had no more to do with His resurrection than we will have to do with ours. They fail to consider that He is divinity and we are not. Jesus, I say again, did not lie dead in the tomb until the Father brought Him to life. Jesus resurrected Himself. “I am life,” He said.

The Power in the Life of Jesus

In the Garden of Gethsemane, as soon then as he [Jesus] had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground (John 18:6). There was so much divine power in His voice at that time, His accusers couldn’t even remain standing. Christ on Earth used only limited power because man could stand before no more. The disciples at first failed to deal with the power in the life of Jesus. It took a Pentecost for them to really understand and use it; it took divinity coming down to live on the inside of them in the form of the Holy Ghost to teach them, to help them believe everything Jesus had ever said about Himself. Their weakness came through not accepting all that He had said. Had the disciples believed when He told them, “I will raise this body up,” they wouldn’t have worried. When He said, “No one can take my life; I lay it down and I will take it up again,” they wouldn’t have failed.

Thinking their world had come to an end at the crucifixion, the disciples scattered in all directions. Because they comprehended only part of what He said, they went into pits of despair. The disciples believed all He said when He talked as a man, but when He talked as God they could not accept it. Had the disciples believed what Jesus said at this time, they would have been waiting at the tomb on Resurrection Morn. They did not think He had power to get up and walk out of the grave—but He had.

Jesus didn’t need anyone to resurrect Him; He is a part of God. “I have come with life,” He said, “abundant life from Heaven, life that can never be destroyed.” To prove it He allowed Himself to be chained with that horrible monster death. “Go ahead and take my life, but on the third day I will raise it up. On the third day I will do it. I am the Resurrection. I am life.” Without Him there is no life, but through Him we have eternal life. Jesus had so much life in Him that He brought life for every man, woman, boy and girl. He that believeth in me will never die, He said. Understand His divinity, understand the God/man and then you can understand His Earth walk, His divine works.

Stop thinking that God had to go into the grave to bring Christ out. Jesus WAS very God, and death had no power over Him. He gave Himself into the hands of death; He let death chain Him, but He broke the bonds of death as easily as Samson the strongman broke his bonds years ago when he had God’s power. Tie me up, do what you want; to Samson it didn’t matter. When he chose to, Samson broke loose as if he had not been bound. That is the kind of strength God has, only on a much greater scale.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Jesus, the divine Son of God. Know who and what He was here on Earth. He was more than just a man. A live Christ, not a dead one, came forth from the grave. The divine Son of God was not really killed, just the body.

“Blessed Are They That Have Not Seen, and Yet Have Believed”

Although the Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t like what Jesus preached, the disciples did—they just couldn’t comprehend it all until after the Resurrection. The disciples sat at His feet, they saw miracles, heard His story and knew He did not lie. Never had they met anyone like Him. He walked the waters as though they were paved. He spoke to the winds, the waves of the sea, and received immediate obedience. After seeing all His miraculous works, after hearing Him say, “I am the Resurrection and on the third day I will rise again,” His followers still doubted. Why? Because they could not accept the divinity of Jesus completely. Sometimes they believed Him to be the very Christ. Sometimes they believed all that He declared about Himself, but it didn’t last. You can’t believe for just a moment and expect to see Him move in a miraculous way in your life. You must accept EVERYTHING that He said about Himself.

Thomas wouldn’t believe even after other disciples reported that Jesus had risen. He vowed he wouldn’t believe until he could see, feel. What did Jesus say to Thomas? Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing…blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (John 20:27,29). It’s time that everyone, so to speak, puts his finger into the nailprints of Jesus and thrusts his hand into His side. Believe He is all that He claims to be. No longer is He part man; Jesus came out of the grave as very God who conquered everything, our Lord and Master. He walked through unopened doors. He proved His words in such a way that the disciples thoroughly believed all He had taught. Many went on to give their lives to spread the Gospel of Christ, sealing testimonies of faith with their own blood. They finally knew who Jesus really was—very God with all power. He was everything He claimed, and He did all He said He would.

Listen again to what John is saying, one of His disciples: In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Faith in the divinity of Jesus came flowing through John—after the Resurrection, after all things had been completed, after Jesus had ascended back to Heaven.

Was Jesus man or was He God when He led them out as far as Bethany, lifted up His hands and blessed them? And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven (Luke 24:51). Very God had proven Himself to be everything He had claimed, and He had done everything He said He would do.

Totally Possessed by the Holy Spirit

Think about the miracles Jesus performed here on Earth, the devils He conquered. Had the disciples before the Resurrection just let Jesus have their minds continuously…but they couldn’t do it. The only way you can let the Lord have your mind all the time is for the Holy Spirit to live and dwell on the inside of you, for the Holy Spirit to possess you entirely. That’s the reason Jesus commanded the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they received power from On High. And, [Jesus] being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:4,5). Before the disciples started to carry on the work of Jesus, they had to be totally possessed by the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t that tell you something? None of us without the baptism in the Holy Spirit is qualified to do the work of God in all that He wants done. We must be totally possessed by Him.

Believe that Jesus really was the God/man; retrace His steps and discover everything you can about Him. He became very man, and yet He was very God. You can only understand that fact through the Spirit of God, through God Himself. If you have trouble believing the divinity of Jesus, you are on dangerous ground. Not believing Him to be very man and very God means you have tied His hands so He cannot move in your life.

Jesus will always be God; there is no changing that fact. He was God on Earth and He was God preaching to the spirits in prison. He was God in the grave, who wakened the physical body. And on that great Resurrection Morn, Jesus will prove His divinity once again when the saints of all ages rise from the graves.

Paul, possessed by the Holy Spirit, learned about the divinity of Jesus; he separated the man from the God in Jesus again and again with the understanding that came through the Holy Ghost. God dealt with Paul in earthquakes of power, shaking him until his five human senses became so helpless in the presence of Almighty God that the Lord was able to reason with his mind. Dynamic, Paul was educated by man, thoroughly schooled in the Law. Grace flooded into that mind and soul like mighty oceans—a real takeover by the Holy Spirit. Because he yielded to the Holy Spirit and to God, we have much poured out to us through the Pauline Epistles. Yes, Jesus was and is the Resurrection. He and the Resurrection cannot be separated.

Thank God for the divinity of Jesus! Thank God He boldly proclaimed who He was, where He had come from. He knew. He had no doubts. He talked to the Father. Through birth, Jesus had come under subjection to the human race, to all its weaknesses, to everything we are under subjection to. But He broke every fetter of Lucifer. He did it in the flesh—but with divinity inside.

You can have divine power working in you, the Third Person in the Trinity of the Godhead. You can be baptized in the Holy Ghost. God offers you that power for service.

Let Jesus Be Your Life

“It is finished!” Jesus cried on Calvary. The plan of redemption was finished for all mankind, for all time and eternity. The plan of salvation was finished then and there. Divinity had done it. When Jesus walked out of the sepulcher, it was the divine part of Him that brought life, the divine part of Him. Had death power over Him to keep Him in bondage, how could He have ever conquered death for all of us? But He did conquer death; He conquered it for every man, woman, boy and girl on the face of the earth.

Think about Jesus being your resurrection from the life of sin to the life of a new creation in Him. How can you doubt Him in your life if you are born again? After the Resurrection, the disciples believed Jesus and accepted everything about Him. You must do the same. Suddenly the disciples didn’t fear death; Jesus was the Master of death. They knew if they died they would live with Jesus.

He stayed with them forty days after the Resurrection, teaching them in all living reality about the divinity of Him. The Early Church was launched, rooted and grounded in the faith of the Godhead, in Heaven’s faith and love.

Delight in Him. He is Lord of all, He is very God, your Lord, your Master, your coming King. He is the Resurrection, He is your life, very God, divinity who conquered sickness, sins, disease, death for you. Trust in Him, believe Him, walk hand in hand with Him. I and my Father are one, Jesus said in John 10:30. Jesus, the great healing, saving Christ was and is very God.