I believe Jesus is fully man and fully God. He is distinct from the Father (thus can pray to Him, relate to Him, submit to His will), yet is still divine and deserving of worship. Why I believe this: 1) What is attributed to Yahweh God in the Old Testament is attributed to Jesus in the New. e.g CREATION Is 44:24 "I am Yahweh, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself". Col 1:16 "by him [Jesus] all things were created" Other examples: Compare Is 45:23 and Phil 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:10-12 and Ps 102:25-27. 2) Direct statements e.g Heb 1:3; John 1:1; Col 1:19 3) It is the only way Jesus can make atonement fully and fairly. i.e sin is a problem between humans and God. If Jesus were not God, punishing Him in our place would be punishing an innocent third party. But by being God, the problem between the two parties is solved within. Also, being man and God makes Him the perfect and only substitute. (He is man so can take the human's place in bearing the punishment we deserve for rebelling against God; He is God so can substitute Himself for all humankind)

To put it simple, and perhaps this is complete as well, I beleive that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh because I believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired Word of the living God and without error, and the Holy Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. He is both God and man. The evidence? 1. The Bible. Here are some verses in the Holy Bible(The King James Bible) about the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ: John 1:1-14, 10:30, 14:9, 20:28-29, Acts 20:28, I Timothy 3:16, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:8-12, I John 5:7, and Revelation 1:11-18. 2. The fact that I know Him because I have received Him by grace through faith as my Lord and Saviour and His Holy Spirit convicts me of the truth. Thank you and may God bless you. :) -In Jesus Christ's Name.

Please note this is not an answer to the main question. These are my comments on the two answers supplied so far. The comments are presented here because they will not fit into the comment boxes. I said I would study the evidence provided to support the belief that Jesus is God and give my reaction. When evidence is presented it has to be examined objectively, with reason, if one is to be fair. The use of reason is supported by the Lord Himself when He said, according to Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together". It is also supported by the HQ which criticises people for believing in their religion just because their fathers believed in them, instead of questioning their beliefs “They say: "Nay! we shall follow the ways of our fathers." What! even if their fathers did not understand anything (correctly) and lacked guidance?” HQ 2:170. If anything in my response here is not based on sound reasoning then please comment on it in the interest of a fruitful discussion. God has ultimate authority and power. He ‘crowns’ Himself God because there isn’t a higher authority that can ‘crown’ Him as such. He is not shy or afraid of ‘crowning’ Himself ie declaring Himself God. So He does that quite boldly and clearly several times in the OT and the HQ ”And God said unto him, I AM GOD Almighty” Genesis 35:11 “ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I AM GOD” Isaiah 43:12 “Look unto me, and BE YE SAVED, all the ends of the earth: for I AM GOD, and there is NONE ELSE.” Isaiah 45:22 “The LORD our God is ONE LORD” Deut 6:4 “God is NOT A MAN, … NEITHER THE SON OF MAN,” Numbers 23:19 Remember that Jesus repeatedly called himself “SON OF MAN” ”I, am the LORD; and BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR.” Isaiah 43:11 "Verily, I AM GOD. there is NO GOD BUT I: So serve thou Me (only), and establish regular prayer for celebrating My praise." HQ 20:14 “verily, I AM GOD, the exalted in might, the wise!” HQ 27:9 “Verily I AM GOD, the Lord of the Worlds” HQ 28:30. Of all the evidence presented only Is 44:24 and Is 45:23 are clear unambiguous claims to divinity in the first person, and they both refer to God. All the other references provided fail to match the above. Not a single one is by Jesus clearly stating in the first person either using one of the patterns of statements above, or the many other similar ones in the OT, or even in a totally different pattern of statement, that he is God. Reason further tells us that if Jesus was God he needed to declare himself as such more frequently than the declarations in the OT, because in appearance he was just like a man and very easily mistaken for one. Unless he was out to deceive, and that would be inconceivable for God to do. Far from wanting to deceive Jesus appears to be going out of his way to declare that he IS NOT God. For Numbers 23:19 tells us that God is not "THE SON OF MAN” and Jesus deliberately and repeatedly calls himself "THE SON OF MAN”. I say he goes 'out of his way' because if we believe he had no father then he cannot be a son of man, yet despite that his favourite way of referring to himself was as "THE SON OF MAN”.

First off, I am a bit confused as to what you mean when you are citing something from HQ. Secondly, most of what I was going to say is summed up in this article, and I would rather post the link then say the same thing twice, but I encourage you to read it and let me know what you think: http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/son-of-man.html For me the strongest evidence for God is his creation, as it says in Romans 1:20- since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities... have been clearly seen I see this day-to-day is I continue to marvel at what his hands have made and as I study the science behind it. I have read many books that have also clearly shown in my opinion that it is impossible for the world and the universe to have happened by chance and that some form of Intelligent Designer had to have at least created it. I believe that Designer is Christ Jesus, as his word, The Bible, states when speaking of the 7 days of creation (6 days of creation and rest on the 7th) I hope this has helped, and please let me know of any questions you might have :)

o yea, thats what i ment lol, my bad

I have developed 3 groups of evidence, each with a selection of verses from the Bible used for support. With these groups I am simply using a starting reference, and there are many more equally strong claims in each group. To do each group justice I will post them separately. This post contains my first group; the claims made by Jesus himself about his own deity. A.) Jesus talking about himself in John 5:25-27, "I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man." - Jesus gives himself two titles here, 'Son of God' and 'Son of Man'. It should be noted that the title 'Son of Man' refers to Daniel 7:13-14 which describes the eternal Kingdom of God of which Jesus will reign as King. The significance that Jesus held for this title is made clear by his statement in Luke 21:27-28, “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” B.) Jesus talking about himself in Revelation 22:12-16, "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who lives and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." - This is clearly and unequivocally a claim of being God. C.) Jesus again talking about himself in Matthew 12:6-8, "I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." - Jesus here claims that his redemptive work that would take place on the cross would supplant the role of the sacrifices made in the temple. Also, he claims to be the Lord of the Sabbath, which is a holy day of rest that is to be used to honor God, so he is claiming that the honor and respect that is to be given to God is due him. D.)Jesus in a discussion with the Jews in John 8:56-59, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.' ‘You are not yet fifty years old, the Jews said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’ 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!' At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds." - Here Jesus claims to be eternally existent, or at least to have preceded Abraham who was a few millenniums before him. Also, based on the reaction of the Jews in trying to stone Jesus, it is believed that Jesus even referred to himself as YHWH with the statement before Abraham was born 'I AM'. The NT was written in Greek so this is not known, but the reaction of the Jews makes it clear that at the least it is a claim of being God (as this was the resulting punishment for such a claim).

romans 12:21...leviticus 20:13...different sides of the spectrum...

I have developed 3 groups of evidence, each with a selection of verses from the Bible used for support. With these groups I am simply using a starting reference, and there are many more equally strong claims in each group. To do each group justice I will post them separately. This post contains my second group of evidence; the claims made by his disciples. The validity of their claims cannot be overlooked because these are the people that traveled with him on a daily basis and were taught directly by him, so their claims would be based on direct knowledge of the teachings of Jesus himself. A.) John 20:28-29, “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’. Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” - Thomas claims Jesus is God. The weight of this claim is further bolstered by the fact that Jesus actually confirms the claim. B.) The introduction to the Gospel of John, John 1:1-14 (because of the length of this section I will only quote segments of it). Verses 1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Verse 14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” - John claims Jesus was an integral part of the creation, in fact that he was the Word by which the Trinity spoke everything into existence. C.) In defense of his belief the disciple Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:16-18, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” - Peter here is referring to the Transfiguration which occurs in Matthew 17:1-13. In this event Peter, James and John go with Jesus up the Mountain when a cloud envelopes them and Elijah and Moses appear beside Jesus. Peter tries to build an altar to equivocate Jesus with the other two prophets, but God himself chastises Peter, and tells him that Jesus is set apart as special and is God’s own Son. In the passage quoted above, Peter is calling on this event along with all of his experience to show that when he claims Jesus as God, he has substantial support for the claim.

I have developed 3 groups of evidence, each with a selection of verses from the Bible used for support. With these groups I am simply using a starting reference, and there are many more equally strong claims in each group. To do each group justice I will post them separately. This post contains my third group; the claims made by other followers contemporary to the lifetime of Jesus. A.) Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” - Paul, in his letter to Titus, the pastor of the Church in Crete, makes the bold and unavoidable claim of the deity of Jesus saying he is both God and Savior. Paul tells us in Galatians 1:11-12 that he was directly taught by Jesus and his writings are confirmed by Peter as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:15-16. B.) Hebrews 2:8-11 in reference to Jesus states, “In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.” - The author of Hebrews gives a great summary of the Christian belief about Jesus and the effect of his sacrifice. In verse 11 we are told that since he was God in human form he is of the same essence of both God and man, so he was able to bridge the gap that sin created. So our forgiveness is at the hands of God, and not our own merits (no amount of good deeds can remove one sin, it is our sin that separates us from God, not the lack of good deeds). So then, as God, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father with all of creation placed in submission to him. C.) Philippians 2:5-11, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - This is a hymn of the early church quoted by Paul which demonstrates the overall opinion of the deity of Christ held by all of his followers, even those who knew him personally during his life (remembering that Jesus’ own disciple affirmed Paul’s writings as Scripture). Here Jesus is claimed to be in very nature God, but then also volitionally limiting himself and taking the form of man later so that he could be the atoning sacrifice that bridges the gap. Now that his work is done on earth, he is exalted again to his previous place of power. D.) Colossians 1:15-20, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning and the firstborn among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” - There are a few issues in this passage that need explanation, which is why it is not higher on the list. First it says that he is the firstborn over all creation, some take this to say he is not God, but was the first created being who then created everything else, in other words he is claimed to be created creator. This is not the case, however, as the term firstborn is a reference to the birth rites and symbolizes the relationship, and not a chronology, in other words Jesus is claimed to have an intimate relationship with the Father, one that sets him above all of creation. This then moves on to show that Jesus created everything for his own purposes as God. Second, Jesus is referred to as firstborn among the dead. This simply means that through the sacrifice of his death and resurrection, we are all given life. The passage, it should be noted, ends with the statement that all of the fullness of Deity resides in the man Christ Jesus. The three groups of evidence that I have posted are just a starting point for discussion purposes. There are many more passages in each of these sections that are equally strong, as well as other evidences (such as fulfillment of OT prophecy, his miracles, and the believers own personal experience) all of which carry a great deal of weight in and of themselves.

When Jesus uses the term, "Son of Man, it does not primarily refer to his humanity, but is a direct allusion to Daniel 7:13-14: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. This makes t"Son of Man" a title of great exaltation, not of mere humanity. Wiiliam Craig states: "Son of Man is often thought to indicate the humanity of Jesus, just as the reflex expression "Son of God" indicates his divinity. In fact, just the opposite is true. The Son of Man was a divine figure in the OT book of Daniel who would come at the end of the world to judge mankind and rule forever. Thus, the claim to be the Son of Man would be in effect a claim to divinity". from his book The Sun Rises: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus.

When, in the NT he says "Before Abraham was, I am." Jesus was playing off the OT title for Yahweh. You can tell what he meant as the Jews immediatly pick up stones to throw (offending Abraham was not punishable by stoning, but claiming to be God would have been). Then, during Jesus' trial, when he is aked' "Are you the Son of God?" he replies "You are right in saying I am." He responds the same way when asked if he is the king of the Jews. There are more, but I'll leave it here for now. As a Jew, Jesus would have known the Torah quite well, and he would have been aware about the prophecies surrounding Messiah. He would not have claimed the above on accident. He knew perfectly well what he spoke and how it would be received. So we find that Jesus can not simply be a "ggod teacher", a good rabbi. He was either deluded into believing he was the Christ, or he was an intentional liar, or he was what he claimed.