Occasionally you will hear objection to the statement that Jesus acted as God while on earth. Some interpret 2Corinthians 5:19 by inserting commas, “God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself” which takes the punch out of the phrase “God was in Christ”. People also try to water down the idea that God was in Christ by saying something like, "Well, when we say of a boy, “you can see his father in him”, we don't literally mean that his father is actually in him. We simply mean that he takes after his Father." The scriptures however do not permit of such an interpretation, and we are about to seey why...
First we will notice three actions of Jesus on earth that show he was God in the flesh and acting as God. Then we will finish the lesson by looking at some things John says about Jesus.
There are certain things in which Jesus would have acted presumptuously if he were not God in this world.
He accepted worship. A leper “worshipped” Jesus (Mtt 8:2-3). After Christ rose from the the eleven disciples “worshipped” him (Mtt 28:16-17). There are several other similar examples of people worshipping Jesus. The Greek word is proskuneo (Strong 4352) which means to do homage. When Cornelius did this to Peter, Peter protested (Acts 10:24-26). When John did it to an angel, the angel protested (Rev 22:6-9). But when people did this to Jesus, he did not protest.
He forgave sins. Only God has the authority to forgive sins, yet Jesus claimed this authority on earth showing himself to be God on earth (Lke 5:18-26).
He changed God's law. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus made changes to God's law. For instance, Jesus acknowledged that, in the Mosaic age, God permitted a man to divorce his wife and marry another. Jesus then gainsaid that law, and declared that divorce either causes adultery or is caused by it (Mtt 5:31-32). As another example, Jesus gainsaid the law of "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth"(Mtt 5:38).
In the above three ways we see Jesus acting as God in this world. Who has the right to act as God unless they are God? Prophets and angels have represented God, but they never acted as though they were God. Jesus, by acting as God, showed himself to be God.
The Testimony of John
If our conclusion needs added support, we can hear the testimony of John, both in his gospel and in his first letter.
John describes Jesus as “The Word” who “was God”(Jhn 1:1) and then says, “The Word became flesh”(Jhn 1:14). Between those two statements, John says, “He was in the world and the world was made through him”(Jhn 1:10). Now if the Word was God, and the Word became flesh, then surely God became flesh, and that's who Jesus was -- God in the flesh, God in the world, God on earth.
Finally, John concludes his first letter by writing these words about Jesus the Son of God: “This is the true God and eternal life”(1Jn 5:20).