Among the religious leaders who have gained a large following throughout history, Jesus Christ is unique in the fact that he alone claimed to be God in human form. A common mistake is to think that some or many religious leaders in the world make similar claims, but that is simply not the case.

Buddha did not claim to be God; Moses never said he was Yahweh; Muhammad did not identify himself with Allah and nowhere will you find Zoroaster claiming to be Ahuramnazda. But Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, said that whoever had seen him (Jesus) had seen the Father (John 14:9).

Christ’s claims are many and varied. He said that he existed before Abraham (John 8:58) and that he was equal to the Father (John 5:17-18). Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7), something the Bible says only God can do (Isaiah 43:25).

The New Testament equates Jesus with the Creator of the universe (John 1:3) and the One who sustains everything (Col. 1:17). The apostle Paul says that God was revealed in flesh (1 Tim. 3:16), and the evangelist John says, “The Word was God” (John 1:1). The common testimony of Jesus and the New Testament writers is that he was more than human; he was God.

Not only did his friends recognize that he claimed to be God, but so did his enemies. There may be doubts today among skeptics who refuse to examine the evidence, but there were none on the part of the Jewish authorities.

When Jesus asked why they wanted to stone him, they replied, “We do not stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy; for you are only a man and become God” (John 10:33). This fact distinguishes Jesus from other religious figures. In the great religions of the world, the most important thing is the teaching, not the teacher.

Confucianism is a collection of teachings; Confucius is not important. Islam is a revelation of Allah with Muhammad as prophet, and Buddhism emphasizes the principles of the Buddha and not the Buddha himself, but this is especially true of Hinduism, which has no historical founder.

The center of Christianity, however, is the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus not only claimed to teach people the truth, but claimed to be the truth (John 14:6).

The most important aspect of Christianity is not what Jesus taught, but who Jesus was. Was he the son of God? Is he the only way for a person to reach God? That is what he claimed about himself.

Imagine if the President of the United States appeared on every screen tonight and announced, “I am God Almighty. I have the power to forgive sins. I have the authority to rise from the dead.”

He would quickly and quietly be removed, taken away and replaced by the vice president. Anyone who dared to make such a claim would be either crazy or a liar, unless he was God. The same was true of Jesus. He clearly affirmed all this and more. If he is God, as he says, we should believe him, and if he is not, then we should have nothing to do with him. Jesus is Lord of all or he is not Lord at all.

Yes, Jesus claimed to be God, why would anyone believe that? After all, simply claiming something does not make it true. Where is the proof that Jesus is God?

The Bible offers several reasons, including miracles and fulfilled prophecies, to convince us that Jesus is who he claims to be (John 20:30-31). The most important reason or sign that Jesus himself said would show that he was the Son of God was his resurrection from the dead.

When the religious leaders asked him for a sign, Jesus replied, “For as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the bowels of the earth three days and three nights. ” (Matthew 12:40). ).

Elsewhere, when asked about a sign, he said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…” (Matthew 12:40). But he meant the temple of his body” (John 2:19-21). The power to rise from the dead was the mark that distinguished him not only from all other religious leaders, but also from all who ever lived.

Anyone who wants to refute Christianity must explain the resurrection story. Therefore, according to the Bible, Jesus proves that he is the Son of God by returning from the dead (Romans 1:4). There is overwhelming evidence that Jesus rose from the grave, and this fact is what proves that Jesus is God.