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Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Jesus is here referring to Himself, saying that not all who call Him Lord will enter heaven. That is pretty clear, and again Jesus mentions His Father saying all need to do the Father’s will to enter heaven.

In (Matthew 8:28-32) Jesus meets up with two very violent men that according to the text, “no one can pass”. Notice also that Jesus is able to walk right up to these two men. The two men were demon possessed, and the demons knew exactly who Jesus was, they referred to Him as “the Son of God”. The demons then ask if Jesus has come to torture them before the appointed time…this is a very important statement. Exactly what appointed time are the demons referring to, and what does this have to do with Jesus? The appointed time is the end of all things when the entire world and everything in it will be judged. The demons already know where they are going…to hell! They are also aware of the fact that Jesus is God, (James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder) and Jesus is going to be the Judge! Next the demons beg Jesus to allow them…allow them to go into a herd of pigs. Jesus has total control over the demonic realm, not even Satan himself prevailed against Jesus although he tried.

John 8:58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Again, reading this in context, we see in the following verse that the Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus, why? The Jews of Jesus day understood what Jesus had just said to be a claim to Himself being God, so they were determined to kill Jesus for committing blasphemy! If as some claim, “Jesus is only a man”, then why were the Pharisees so intent on killing Him? Why would anyone kill a simple man, what threat would he be anyway? Jesus was the only one who when speaking to the Pharisees could ask questions the Pharisees had no answers for.

Mark 6:7 Jesus sends out the twelve disciples and gives them power over evil spirits. Jesus gave them the power, who but God could confer this power on anyone? No mere man could give another man power over the demons…and no mere man would ever be a match for a demon without the power of the Holy Spirit backing him!

In Acts 4:10-12 the Apostle Peter tells us that salvation is found in no other name under heaven but that of Jesus Christ. If salvation is found in Jesus, then He is God.

Consider this verse; John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That the Father is God is not normally a point of contention, but for some reason Jesus place at God the Father’s side as God Himself; now that is contentious. If The Father is God, and the only way to Him is through Jesus, then simple logic reveals to us that Christ is God. In the beginning of the Gospel of John, (John 14:1) Jesus says to trust in the Father, but his next words are, “trust also in me”…in this statement Jesus is very clearly claiming to be God.

Lets examine for a moment Philippians 2:1-11, this small collection of verses is so theologically rich it is astounding. Written by the Apostle Paul this passage speaks of the qualities of Jesus and how He behaved on this earth. Jesus though by His very “nature” was God, made Himself nothing…a servant. He did not come in all the power of God, but as a man. Christ never gave up His deity, but He did give up His prerogatives as God to humbly serve man and show the way to salvation. Furthermore, Jesus came here to die, to die a very degrading and intensely painful death on the cross to pay the price exacted by God for our sins…death. God in effect said if you sin you must die for doing so. Then God, whom made this edict, came here in the flesh Himself and allowed the penalty He Himself instituted to be fulfilled in His own body. In the last two verses of this beautiful collection, Paul says, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”, and “and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Why would all bow to Jesus and confess Him as Lord to the glory of the Father if Jesus is not God???

Colossians 1:16-17 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Jesus created all things, and all things were created for Him. Not just physical things; all things, notice the text even refers to powers, rulers, and authorities. This for sure refers to angels at the least; and Christ created them. Notice in verse seventeen it states that Jesus is before all things. Before all things means that He was here long before He became a man on earth.

Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Christ is the head of the church, and the Father is the head of Christ. Jesus is the beginning, the beginning of the new creation. Only after Jesus were we able to be created anew. Jesus was the first to be resurrected, others who were resurrected died again…Jesus is alive forever more! Jesus is first in all things; if we do not believe this we are lost in our sins forever more with no hope of rescue. God the Father is not the One to rescue us, not directly anyway…Jesus is. God as a whole (the Triune God) was the architect of our salvation, Jesus was the One to come here and pay the physical price for it.