"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15, KJV).
Loved ones, many of you reading this post do not believe our stated subject. You do not believe the Bible evidence which proves over and over again that Jesus is Jehovah (God).
Why do Christians believe that Jesus is Jehovah? Must we simply accept what is said in the Bible by faith? as 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." Must we simply believe it because the Bible says it? Can Christians prove the correctness of what we believe by any logical or historical argument?
Of course, every Christian should believe what the Bible says, even if we cannot see why it is that way, and it is clear that there are many things we cannot prove by historical evidence. However, if we are talking to a person who is not convinced that the Bible is the Word of God, it is useless to tell him, "Just believe because the Bible says it."
The idea that our faith is to be simply "blind faith" because we cannot see evidence for some specific thing we believe is NOT correct. For example, there is no way to prove by scientific evidence that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
There is certainly no way to prove the evolutionary theory, either theistic evolution or any other. So we accept by faith what the Bible says about it. However, the unbeliever may need more evidence on the matter.
William Paley, who was born in 1743 and died in 1805, advanced and made popular an argument that had been around in principle for a long time. He said that if a person should find a watch, he would correctly conclude that it was designed by an intelligent force and could not have been produced by random accidental natural means. He correctly reasoned that if a simple thing like a watch proves that there was a watchmaker, the complexity of the universe demands that there be a Designer.
John Stuart Mill thought there was a weakness in this argument, for he says that watches only imply watchmakers because we know from previous experience that watches are made by watchmakers. So, he says the argument is invalid because we do not know by previous experience that God designed the universe.
Mill was wrong in his reasoning, for if we never saw a watch, everyone who can reason or know anything knows by previous experience that ANYTHING that shows complexity or design — even a simple thing like a table or chair was designed and/or produced by an intelligent force.
One need have no previous experience with a watch, but the most ignorant Gentile would know if he found a bow and arrow that it was not produced by a tornado blowing through the forest. Certainly, he could not know whether God or a specific man designed it or put it there, but he could know without question that neither a rabbit nor a tornado created lt.
So it is true that we cannot prove that Christ died and rose again by the kind of reasoning Paley was using. But we can show that our belief in Him and in the validity of the Christian system is not just a matter of blind faith, as some, even in the Lord's church, would have us believe.
Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come let us reason together.” The fact that we are saved by faith and walk by faith and not by sight does not negate the fact that God expects us to reason and have logical reason for our faith. We can have a belief that is based upon evidence and logical reasoning in two ways.
First, we may look at the Bible. It is a wonderful production. We may logically and properly raise the question, "From whence did it come?" In fact, we should do that, not merely accept it because Mama said so, or say, “I just believe because I have faith."
Just as we can logically prove that the universe was produced by a superior intellectual power, we can prove that only a Divine benevolent power could have produced the Bible. Thus, an honest, logical mind must conclude that such a Divine benevolent power could not have lied or misrepresented the facts recorded about Christ. This is not simply blind faith, but faith based upon evidence that cannot be successfully refuted.
Second, there is ample evidence outside the Bible that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected. One could not become a Christian just by an examination of those evidences, for those bare historical facts do not give meaning and purpose to what we might do.
For example, one can discover by extra-biblical, historical information that persons in the first century were immersed in water and met on the first day of the week to worship. But why they were baptized, and what it has to do with us cannot be discovered just by learning those facts. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, but it is NOT simply blind faith that must say, "I believe simply because I have faith."
When we hear the Word of God, we have ample evidence that it is indeed the Word of God and could not have been produced merely by the wisdom of man.
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
Our Christian life is a life of faith, and we believe things that we have not seen and could not see. Jesus said, “…blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
So let us, therefore, not deny the value of William Paley's argument about design because that argument by itself does not prove that we should be Christians. The argument is valid, not only because it is logical, but because it is based upon the universal experience of all mankind. That is, everyone in the world who is a thoughtful, responsible being knows that although a pile of rocks might have been produced by a high wind, a building with windows, doors, and a roof could not have been.
Now with that introduction behind us, let’s make plain some of the Bible evidence proving Jesus is Jehovah (God).
Today, someone's son is simply his male descendant or one he has adopted. However, Christ was called the "Son of God" for another reason. To be sure, He was God's Son by birth (Luke 1:34-35), but the title "Son of God" most often refers to Jesus being of the same nature as God. When Jesus called God His Father, the Jews understood that He was claiming to be God (John 5:17-24). They were right! Jesus is Jehovah!
Jesus Was In The Beginning
The apostle that Jesus loved, John, tells us Jesus was Jehovah come down to earth. “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). John says that the Word was with God at the beginning and was God.
That all things were made by Him is proof that He is Jehovah, since God was the Creator. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1; cf. Colossians 1:16-17). This Word that was God, John plainly shows to be Jesus, "And the Word became 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" (John 1:14).
Jesus Is The Shining Image Of Jehovah
The Hebrews writer thought of Jesus as Jehovah. "Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3).
Jesus was the shining forth of God's glory and the very image of His substance. In verse 8, the inspired writer who addressed the Hebrew brethren quotes Psalm 45:6-7. He states that God, the Father, is speaking to Jesus when He says, 8 “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness that is the scepter of Your Kingdom." In other words, God the Father is calling Christ the Son, Jehovah (God). There is only ONE true Divine nature – ONE God. In the Bible that ONE nature and authority is the same for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:18-20). No other “gods” are Divine (Eternal).
The God of Heaven and Earth is so good, and His love reaches all. Through the free gift of God’s grace by Jesus’ blood (Ephesians 2:8; Revelation 1:5) and your obedient faith (Romans 1:5; 10:17; 16:26), salvation is offered. If you have Bible questions or wish to comment on this post, please do so. Lord willing, a Bible answer will be provided for every Bible question.
The churches of Christ are neither Catholic, Protestant, nor Jew (Romans 16:16; Matthew 16:18-19). We are the loving suffering ONE body of Christ (Ephesians 1:20-23; 4:4-6) – CHRISTIANS: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16; cf. Acts 11:26; 26:28).
We love you with the love of the Lord (John 13:34-35). Samuel A. Matthews, preaching with the Liberty NW church of Christ, meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA – 21 April 2026.
