Looking at the Holy Scriptures we see there are certain characteristics that only God has, and that those attributes will never be attained by any other being. True Christianity declares the deity of Christ. Does Christ have the attributes of God?

The Holy Bible is very clear there is only one God. As we read the Holy Bible, especially the New Testament, we see many indications that Jesus Christ was God veiled in flesh. This truth is verified when we look at the exclusive attributes of God, then further read that those attributes are also attributed to Christ.

The Exclusive Attributes Of God

The Holy Bible is a treasure chest of knowledge about God and the precious salvation He has provided for mankind. As we read it, we learn God is holy, truth, love, merciful, gracious, longsuffering, forgiving, full of goodness, deals with iniquity, punishes the guilty and much more. We also see that He expects His children to partake of these attributes. "Thereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust," 2 Peter 1:4.

However, there are five attributes that God has, that no creature has, has had, or will acquire.

Only God is eternal, omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere), omniscient (all knowing), and immutable (is unchanging, cannot not be altered or destroyed). Does Christ have these attributes and, if so, what about His human limitations before His resurrection along with His submission to the Father?

The Holy Scriptures, of course, have the answers to these questions. In this article we will focus upon the exclusive attributes and briefly touch upon the other questions which will be dealt more fully, God willing, in a future article. 

The Eternal Christ

For the purposes of these articles, let us consider the term "infinite" as describing something that had, has, or will have a beginning, but has no ending. Holy Scripture shows all things created are either finite or infinite. Humans are infinite having a beginning (Genesis 1:26-27) but no ending (Daniel 12:2). Unless otherwise described, let us think of eternal as that which has always existed, having no beginning or ending. 

The term “eternal” occurs in the Holy Bible as well as a similar term, “everlasting.” According to James Strong{1}, a Hebrew word used for “eternal” is (transliterated) qedmah (pronounce as kayd'- maw). Its counterpart in the Greek for the New Testament is aionios (ahee-o'-nee-os) which means ...

For “everlasting” the Hebrew word is Mlwe `owlam o-lawm' or Mle `olam o-lawm', and means...

Here are some Holy Scriptures that speak of God as eternal or everlasting:

Genesis 21:33 - And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the YHVH, the Everlasting God.

Deuteronomy 33:27 - The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before you, and shall say, “Destroy them.”

Psalm 90:2 - Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

1 Timothy 1:17 - Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Romans 16:26 - but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

Can we find Holy Scripture that indicates that Christ is eternal or everlasting? We sure can!

Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

John 1:2 -  The same was in the beginning with God.

John 1:15 - John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, “This was He of whom I spoke, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.”

In John 1:30, John the Baptist, who was born before Jesus, says, “This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for He was before me.”

John 8:58 - Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’”

John 17:5 -  And now, O Father, glorify Me with Your own self with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

John 17:24 -  Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
    
Micah 5:2 -  But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Some cults will say that most of the above Holy Scriptures could mean that Christ was some type of created being, like Michael the angel, and thus existed with God before the world began. However, we read in Hebrews 1:13, “But to which of the angels said he at any time, ‘Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?’” This verse asks a rhetorical question about a quote from  Psalm 110:1 which, in part, speaks of the Lordship of Christ. Given the context of Hebrews 1, especially verse 6, the answer to the rhetorical question is “He said that to none of the angels.” While angels are referred to as sons of God (Job 1:6), so are people who have surrendered their lives to Him (1 John 1:3). Furthermore, Job 4:18 indicates God found fault with His angels (“His angels He charged with folly.). Redemption of mankind required a perfect life, and could only happen through God veiling our flesh upon Himself through Christ.

The Omnipotent Christ

Before presenting the Holy Scriptures that God is omnipotent, as well as Christ (making them the same Being, for there is only one God), it needs to be said that the omnipotence of God is defined by the whole counsel of the written Word of God as God is all powerful in accordance with His nature. For example, one thing that God cannot do is lie (Titus 1:2, KJ21), “...God, who cannot lie,...”.

We see that God is omnipotent from the following passages:

Genesis 17:1 - And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, YHVH appeared to Abram and said unto him, "I am the Almighty God. Walk before Me, and be perfect."

Jeremiah 32:17 -  Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heaven and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm; and there is nothing too hard for You.

Matthew 19:25-26,  When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Omnipotence is ascribed to Christ in the following Holy Scriptures:

Matthew 28:18 - And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, "All power is given unto Me in Heaven and on earth.” (Note: While the Greek word here for “power” predominately means authority, it also means physical strength.)

Colossians 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Note that in this verse we also see that Christ is eternal.)

Hebrews 1:3 - Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Revelation 1:8 - I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:11-13 shows that it was Christ speaking in verse 8.)

The Omnipresent Christ

Again, first we will look at some verses that show God is everywhere, omnipresent. There are some cults that state this is not true. These Holy Scriptures show otherwise.

1 Kings 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built?

Psalm 139:7-8 Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

Jeremiah 23:24  “Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him?" says YHVH. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" says YHVH.

Matthew 28:20 - Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen.

Matthew 18:20 - For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.

John 3:13 - And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man who is in Heaven.

Ephesians 1:23 - Which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all.

Christ The Omniscient

It is apparent throughout Holy Scripture (the Holy Bible) that God knows everything. Some might take exception to that thought because Genesis 2:19 states that God wanted to see what Adam would call each animal. Concerning that verse, and a very few others similar to it, is what I call “conversational language" in God’s revelation of Himself to us. What He is revealing about Himself in passages like these is that He desires to have fellowship with us. He knows what we are going to say, but He encourages us to say it. This touches upon prayer where prayer is more than just asking God for something, it includes simply talking to Him.

Here are some verses that show God knows all things:

Job 37:16 - Do you thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?

Psalm 147:5 - Great is our Lord, and of great power; His understanding is infinite.

1 John 3:20 - For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

First, for the omniscience of Christ I will present three passages from the Gospel of John, but later in this section, after I mention some other points of the nature of Christ while He was in our flesh, I will present the fourth, to which no adequate objection can be raised.

John 16:30 - Now are we sure that You know all things and need not that any man should ask You.
    
John 21:17 - He said unto him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said unto Him, "Lord, Thou know all things. You know that I love You." Jesus said unto him, "Feed My sheep."

John 2:24-25    But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men,  and needed not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
    
Some feel, as I do, that according to Philippians 2:5-8 that though Christ was definitely God in the flesh while ministering on earth He chose not to exercise His prerogatives of deity but, in order for us to be truly saved, operating as we should, that is, obeying the Father by the direction of the Holy Spirit. That would be one reason why He stated, while in our flesh and ministering on earth, that He did not know when He would return (Mark 13:32).

So, one could say based upon that, that what was said of Him in the verses above from the Gospel John was on the basis of the Holy Spirit revealing such things to Him. On the other hand, no where in those verses or similar ones is it stated that such things were revealed to Him. Instead, “ginosko” is used for “know,” “knew,” etc., and while definition of it is somewhat broad it does contain the element of having a personal, intimate knowledge of something or someone.

Mark 13:32 is an excellent reflection of what we see in Philippians 2:5-8. One situation that arises from this verse and anything else like is the premise that Christ still does not know. This premise is incorrect because after His ascension the glory He had with the Father before the world began (John 17:5) was restored unto Him. Therefore it is written in Colossians 2:2-3, “that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may acknowledge the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." So, Colossians 2:3 shows that Christ is omniscient.

There is one more exception that I have just thought of in regard to verses that record others saying that Christ knows all things--they said so, but Christ did not. However, we must keep in mind that when they said to Him “you know all things,” He did not deny it.

Christ Is Immutable

Simply put, when it comes to the immutability of God William Evans{2} writes, “...God’s nature is absolutely unchangeable. It is not possible that He should possess one attribute at one time that He does not possess at another. Nor can there be any change in the Deity for better or for worse. God remains forever the same. He is without beginning and without end; the self-existent “I am”; He remains forever the same, and unchangeable.”

Malachi 3:6 - For I am YHVH, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.
    
James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

We also see that Jesus Christ is immutable:

Hebrews 1:10-12 (the context, of which, indicates the Son is being addressed), And, You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Your hands: 11 They shall perish; but You remain; and they all shall grow old as does a garment; 12 And as a vesture shall You fold them up, and they shall be changed: but You are the same, and Your years shall not fail.

Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.

Some might say that Christ was not immutable because He was born, grew, then later beaten, whipped, crucified, and then died. In response I would say all of those occurrences did not affect His essential nature and all else that immutability would involve as described by Evans.

Conclusion

We see that Christ is God because He has the exclusive attributes of God according to the Holy Bible. This is one of many ways whereby the Holy Scriptures show the deity of Christ. Other ways include, but are not limited to, the fact that the Holy Scriptures themselves declare Him to be God, they show He is YHVH (association), and that He was worshiped. As God allows, these points will be addressed in later articles.

Notes: 

{1} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout the article whenever the ancient language is referred to and no other authority is cited.

{2} Evans, William: The Great Doctrines Of The Bible (Moody Press: Chicago, IL - 1970)p35

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