"If you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24)
In the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the Messiah is proven to be God and Jesus is this Messiah. But the question is, do we believe the right Jesus? Most of us believe an angelic Jesus (quite similar to that of the Jehovah's Witnesses) and a human Christ (similar to the Jews and the Iglesia Ni Cristo of Manalo). There are lots of verses that testify of His Divinity:
We know that Jesus wasn't originally a Man before He came to earth. We should know that His birth was of the Holy Spirit with the so-called Virgin Birth in Isaiah 7:14. Also, we should know that no MAN (emphasis mine) ever same from heaven save the Son of Man who came down from heaven (John 3:13). Let me tackle from some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the arrival of the Messiah:
1. Genesis 3:15, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head while you lie in wait for His heel"
Here in this book, the LORD promised Someone who will be from the Seed of the Woman who will bruise the Serpent's head. In Romans 16:20, we read, "And may God, the Source of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet". Satan is the Serpent who will be crushed by this Messiah who will be the seed of the woman in Revelation 12:9. This is one of the Messianic prophecies that proved beyond doubt that the Lord Jesus is God because He will be the God of Peace who will crush Satan.
2. Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son, today, I have begotten You"
This is another Messianic prophecy. The Messiah will be called "The Son of God". The Father who is the ONE TRUE GOD in 2 Kings 19:19 acknowledged this Messiah as His Own Son. In the New Testament, Jesus is called 30 times as the Son of God. Biblically speaking, here's the difference between "Son of God" and "son of God":
"Son of God"= is God (John 1:18), is the Lord (Psalm 110:1), He is equal with God (John 5:18)
"son of God"= is by grace (John 1:12), by adoption (Ephesians 1:5)
Here, Jesus possesses the attributes of God. We have to understand this. All that Jesus has is the Father's and all the Father has is Jesus' (John 17:10)
3. Psalm 45:6-7, "Your throne O God is forever and ever! You rule over Your people with justice.You love what is good and hate what is evil. Therefore God, your God, has anointed You and has poured on You blessings than any of Your companions"
The Messiah, aside from being called, "SON OF GOD", will be called, "GOD". This is a verse borrowed by Hebrews 1:8 to prove that the Father declared Jesus as GOD as to how Jesus proclaimed the Father as the ONLY TRUE GOD in John 17:3. That is why He is worshiped (Matthew 14:33, 28:9-18) and forgave sins which only GOD can do (Mark 2:7-10).
4. Psalm 110:1,"The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet'"
Here, how many Lords are here? LORD God and LORD Christ? One! The Messiah here in this verse is also called "LORD". Before Jesus came in the womb of Mary, He was called Lord by Elizabeth in Luke 1:43, and many times in the New Testament was Jesus called Lord by His disciples and all who believed in Him.
5. Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: A Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and His Name will be called, 'Emmanuel'"
We should know that the Name, "Emmanuel" was not just any name, this will be the attribute of the Messiah Himself. He will be omnipresent, just as God is in Jeremiah 23:23. This was fulfilled by Jesus and is still fulfilling it in Matthew 28:20,"I will be with you always, even to the end of the age". So this Messiah is Divine and not just any human being.
6.Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and a government will be upon His shoulder. And His Name will be called, 'Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace'"
The Messiah will be called the Mighty God and the Eternal Father. When we say Eternal Father, we didn't mean the Messiah is the Father Himself because the Father does not change in Malachi 3:6, what we mean is that the Messiah will possess the attributes that the Father has. That is why in John 13:33, Jesus called His followers, "My children" as proof that He is fulfilling this verse. Also, He didn't correct Thomas when he called Him Lord and God in John 20:28 as proof that He is fulfilling the role of being Mighty God or (El-Gibbon in Hebrew). Jesus was called "Teacher" many times by the Pharisees, His Apostles and by people who liked to ask Him questions in the Synoptic Gospels as proof that He is fulfilling the role of being Wonderful Counselor or (Pele-Yowes in Hebrew).
7. Jeremiah 23:5-6, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
Here, Jeremiah is prophesying that the time is coming that the Righteous Branch will execute justice throughout the land of Israel and Judah. Aside from that, He will be called, "Yahweh-Tsidkenu" in Hebrew which means,"The LORD our Righteousness" which was fulfilled in Christ. Jesus becomes our Righteousness by His death on the Cross as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For God made Him who had no sin to be sin so that through Him, we might become the righteousness of God". Through Christ and His blood, we were made cleansed from the bondage of sin.
8. Daniel 7:13-14, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
Here, the Messiah will be called, "The Son of Man". The Son of Man here means given all authority, honor and dominion from the Father. When Jesus was called the Son of Man, He is claiming to be given all authority from the Father in Matthew 28:18. Also, in the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus doesn't speak in 1st person when He speaks of His death, but rather, "The Son of Man..." (Luke 9:44). Only when this was fulfilled did the Apostles understood that Jesus was pertaining to Himself when He said,"SON OF MAN". In John's Gospel,when the blind man who was cured asked who the Son of Man is, Jesus said, "You are seeing Him. He is the One talking with you" (John 9:36-37). We should know this truth.
9. Micah 5:2, "But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
Here, based on this passage, the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem and aside from that, His origins are from everlasting like God Himself in Psalm 90:2. This verse was fulfilled in John 1:1,"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God". Also in John 8:58, "Before Abraham was born, I AM". "I AM" refers not only to Jesus' state when He was not yet on earth, it also refers to the Name of God in Exodus 3:14-15 (ehyeh asher ehyeh) or I AM WHO I AM. That is why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus for this because He is claiming not only to be fulfillment of Micah 5:2, but also GOD Himself manifested in the flesh (John 8:59,10:33).
10. Zechariah 11:12, "I said to them. 'If you think it best, give me my pay, if not,keep them'. So they gave me thirty pieces of silver"
Here in this passage, Zechariah was playing the role of the LORD Himself. The LORD God here is exchanged by the people of Israel for 30 pieces of silver. In the New Testament, this was fulfilled when Judas betrayed the Lord to the Pharisees for that same amount in the Old Testament (Matthew 26:14-16)
11. Zechariah 12:10, "They will look at Me whom they pierced"
Here in this verse, you will see that it was God who was pierced. This is another Messianic prophecy that proves the Messiah,aside from dying a horrifying death in Psalm 22:16-17, will be pierced which was fulfilled in John 19:34, when a soldier pierced Jesus' side and blood and water poured out. I want to shed light here folks, who are reading this debate and Lory Manalo,I hope you get a picture of what I am trying to imply here. The Messiah who fulfilled all of these is none other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! The Old Testament does not contradict the New Testament, but points out to it.
"The Jews answered Him, 'For a good work, we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy and because Thou, being a Man, makest Thyself God!'" (John 10:33).
"For this reason, the Jews sought to kill Him, not only because He broke the Sabbath, but said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:18)
"Father, the hour has come! Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You!" (John 17:1)
"And now Father, glorify Me in your presence now! The glory I had with you before the world began" (John 17:5)
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