Christ’s Godhead. In virtue of the hypostatic union Christ is a divine person. It does not mean that he was merely a messenger from God, or that he was a man of outstanding virtue with a mission to redeem his fellow man. It means that Christ is truly God, the Son of God by nature.
Jn. 1:1– In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jn. 1:14-15 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 15 (John bore witness to him, and cried, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me”.)
Jn. 8:19 – They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also”.
Jn. 8:58-59 – Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am”. 59 So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.”.
Jn. 10:30-33 – I and the Father are one”. 31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God”.
(see Ex. 3:14, 20:7; Lev. 19:12, 24:14-16)
Jn 10:37-38 – If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father”.
Jn. 12:45 – And he who sees me sees him who sent me.
Jn. 14:8-11 – Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied”. 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.
Jn. 20:28 – Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Col. 2:9-10 – For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fulness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Acts 20:28 – Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son.
Eph. 1:7 – In him we have redemption through his blood…
1 Jn. 1:7 – but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Tit. 2:13 – awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
St. Ignatius of Antioch [AD 107] ” Ignatius, also called Theophorus (God bearer), to the Church at Ephesus in Asia, which is worthy of all felicitation, blessed as it is with greatness by the fullness of God the Father, predestined from eternity for a glory that is lasting and unchanging, united and chosen through true suffering by the will of the Father in Jesus Christ our God: abundant greeting in Jesus Christ and in blameless joy” (Letter to the Ephesians, Address).
“For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary in accord with God’s plan: of the true seed of David, it is true, but also of the Holy Spirit” (Ibid. 16,1).
Aristides [AD 140] “[Christians] are they who, above every people of the earth, have found the truth, for they acknowledge God, the creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit” (Apology 16)
Tatian [AD 170] “We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor do we talk nonsense, when we report that God was born in the form of a man” (Address to the Greeks 21).
Anonymous [AD 125-200] “It was truly the almighty, all-creating, and invisible God Himself who established among men the Truth from heaven and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and set Him firmly in their hearts. Nor did he do this contrary to what one might suppose, by sending to men some minister, or an angel or a ruler, or one of those in charge of earthly things, or one of those entrusted with the administration of heavenly things. No He sent the very Designer and Creator of the universe Himself, through whom He had made the heavens, and by whom He had enclosed the sea within its own bounds; whose mysteries all the elements of nature faithfully guard; from whom the sun received the schedule of its daily flight; whose command the moon obeys in lighting up the night; to whom the stars give heed in following the path of the moon; by whom all things were ordered and bounded and placed in subjection; the heavens and the things in the heavens, the earth and all the things on the earth, the sea and the things in the sea; fire, air, and the abyss; the things in the heights, the things in the depths, the things between – yes, He it was that He sent to men.
But He did send Him, as one might suppose, in despotism and fear and terror? Not so. Rather, in gentleness and meekness He sent Him, as a king sending a Son. He sent Him as King, He sent Him as God, He sent Him to men. He sent Him for saving and persuading, but not compelling. Compulsion, you see, is not an attribute of God” (Letter to Diognetus 7, 2-3).
St. Hippolytus of Rome [AD 222] “Only God’s Word is from himself and is therefore also God, becoming the substance of God” (Philosophoumena 10,33).
St. Clement of Alexandria [AD 200] “The Word, then, the Christ, is the cause of both are ancient beginning, for he was in God, and our wellbeing. And now this same Word has appeared as man. He alone is both God and man, and the source of all our good things” (Exhortation to the Greeks 1, 7, 1).
Origen {AD 220-230] “Although he was God, he took flesh; and having been made man, he remained what he was, God” (The Fundamental Doctrines 1, Preface 4).
St. Cyprian of Carthage [AD 255] “While we have been sketching the proof of the divinity of Jesus, we have made use of the prophetic statements concerning him, and have at the same time demonstrated that the writings which prophesied about him are divinely inspired” (Letter to Jubaianus 73,12).