Jesus Identity

Jesus Identity

Who is Jesus Christ of Nazareth? 

According to Scripture he is not just a teacher, not just a prophet, not just a human, but is God. The 2nd person of the triune Godhead. 

Colossians 2:9:

“For in him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Looking at this truth God revealed to us:

The fullness of deity

Paul [by the Holy Spirit] is revealing the absolute deity of Christ. “In Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form” means that everything that makes God who He is—His attributes, essence, and nature—resides fully in Jesus Christ.

Bodily

The word “bodily” points to the incarnation: God’s fullness was not temporarily present or symbolically expressed, but permanently and completely embodied in Christ’s human nature. [Two in one].

Paul wrote this verse to refute false philosophies and teachings in Colossae that tried to diminish Christ by exalting angels, mystical intermediaries, or human wisdom. Believers need nothing beyond Christ, because He is fully God.

Connection to the Trinity

This verse supports the doctrine of the Trinity by showing that the Son possesses the same fullness of deity as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Christ is not a part of God or a lesser being, but fully and truly God, coequal within the Godhead.

Christ uniquely bearing the fullness of deity, underscores the unity of Christ’s two natures (divine and human) in one person, without mixture, dilution, or confusion. That is called the “hypostatic union”. Christ is fully God (without division or partition), this truth of the Trinity points to the shared essence (ousia) among the Persons - while distinguishing the Persons in relation.