by Giuseppe Monno
UNIVERSAL AUTHORITY
Jesus Christ receives and exercises an authority that properly belongs to God:
Matthew 28:18
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
John 16:15
“Everything the Father has is mine.”
Acts 10:36
Jesus Christ is “the Lord of all.”
Jude 4
“our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Theological note: Christ’s authority is received from the Father within the economy of salvation, without denying his eternal divine communion with him.
THE DIVINE NATURE OF THE SON
The New Testament attributes to Jesus a full participation in divinity:
John 10:30
“The Father and I are one.”
John 20:28
“My Lord and my God!”
Colossians 2:9
“For in him the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form.”
Titus 2:13
“our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Theological note: Jesus is not the Father, but he is consubstantial with the Father (of the same divine nature), according to Trinitarian faith.
PRE-EXISTENCE AND ETERNITY
Colossians 1:17
“He exists before all things and in him all things hold together.”
Christ is not a creature: he exists before everything that has been created.
CREATOR AND MEDIATOR OF CREATION
Isaiah 44:24
“I, the Lord, am the maker of all things.”
John 1:3
“Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him.”
Colossians 1:16
“All things were created through him and for him.”
Theological synthesis: The Father creates through the Son in the Holy Spirit. There are not three creators, but one God acting in three Persons.
OMNIPOTENCE AND ETERNAL LORDSHIP
Revelation 1:8
Revelation 22:13
Christ is identified with divine titles such as “the Alpha and the Omega,” “the First and the Last.”
These titles indicate Jesus’ participation in eternal divine sovereignty.
OMNISCIENCE AND DIVINE PRESENCE
John 1:47–48
John 21:17
Matthew 18:20
John 14:23
Jesus manifests profound knowledge and real presence among believers.
Theological note: In his humanity, Jesus can experience limitations, but in his divine nature he shares in the prerogatives proper to God.
WORSHIP DUE TO CHRIST
Matthew 2:11
Luke 24:52
Hebrews 1:6
Philippians 2:10
Revelation 5:13–14
Jesus receives worship, which in the Bible is due to God alone.
This is one of the strongest signs of his divinity.
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRIST
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son:
Acts 16:6–7
“the Spirit of Jesus”
Romans 8:9
“the Spirit of God” / “the Spirit of Christ”
Galatians 4:6
“the Spirit of his Son”
1 Peter 1:11
“the Spirit of Christ”
Fundamental theological note:
The Holy Spirit is a distinct Person from the Father and the Son. He is called the “Spirit of Christ” because he makes Christ present in believers, communicates Christ’s divine life, and proceeds from the Father (and, in Western theology, also from the Son).
THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSION
Jesus Christ is true God and true man. He fully shares the divine nature, exercises prerogatives proper to God, and is distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit, yet is one God with them in the Trinity.
Christian faith does not affirm that Jesus is “the Father,” but that he is the eternal Son, consubstantial with the Father, in the communion of the Holy Spirit.