The Deity of Christ: Part 2

This week I would like to take a look at the deity of Jesus from an Old Testament perspective. In particular, as it pertains to the prophecies about the Messiah (or Christ). Most people think of the deity of the Messiah as a New Testament concept, but the Old Testament provides several instances where the Messiah is seen to be more than a man, in fact God. I will look at just three.

1. The Messiah is descendant of David, but He is also his Lord. In Psalm 110:1 David says “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The Messiah was indeed from the line of David, but David does something that goes against cultural norms for his time. He calls his descendant his Lord. In a patriarchal society it was the older that was always superior. This is the exact Psalm and line of reasoning that Jesus uses in Matthew 22:41-46 to stump the Pharisees. As Jesus says “⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” Jesus’s point is that the Messiah, although from the line of David, is the Son of God.

2. The Messiah’s origins were to be from “everlasting.” Micah 5:2 prophesies “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” Out of the tribe of Judah and the town of Bethlehem would come the One who would rule Israel. This prophecy says that the Messiah would be from “everlasting.” If a Messiah is coming and He is from “everlasting”, what does that say about Him? It says that He is eternal.

3. The Messiah is the Mighty God. Maybe one of the most famous Messianic prophecies is Isaiah 9:6.  “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” There is a lot said in this verse about who the Messiah was to be, but the one thing I would like to key in on is that it says that the Messiah is to be “Mighty God!” That says it all. If you want to put a finer point on it, you could ask, “How is the Messiah Mighty God to come?” Not only does this verse prophesy that the Messiah will be Mighty God, but also that He will come as a “Child,” a “Son”.  You have both God and the incarnation in one verse!

These are just three verses from the Old Testament about the Messiah. The Old Testament says that the Messiah is to be a descendant of David but superior to David. It says that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, but be from “Everlasting.”  It tells us a Child would be born to us, a Son, who is indeed “Mighty God.” The deity of Christ is not something that was made up in the New Testament, but prophesied over 900 years before Jesus came to Earth.