That the man from Nazareth is the God of Israel—the claim everything else rests on, argued from the Old Testament forward.
A thread that runs from a seminary Christology course through twenty years of preaching. The papers work the Old Testament appearances and the Colossian hymn; the messages take Jesus at his own word in John; the posts pick up the disputed texts and the people who dispute them. The reviews are what I was reading while working it out.
Christ in the Old Testament 3
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Christophanies in the Old Testament
Paper · 2004
The problem of an invisible God who nonetheless appears, walks, and speaks—and the case that the Messenger of Yahweh is the pre-incarnate Son.
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Subject Study · 2004
The companion study: every appearance of the Messenger of Yahweh, and why he is both distinguished from Yahweh and called Yahweh.
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Jesus Is Yahweh, the Covenant God of Israel—and the World
Post · November 2025
Read the Old Testament again: the Yahweh who appears, speaks, and saves Israel is the one who became flesh.
The Claims of Jesus 3
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Message · 2019
The seven metaphorical and seven absolute “I am” sayings, set against Exodus 3 and Isaiah—and what Jesus was claiming when he said “before Abraham was, I am.”
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The Good News of Our Good Shepherd: A Good Friday Meditation (John 10:1–30)
Message · 2021
John 10 on Good Friday: the Good Shepherd is the Yahweh of Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34, and “I and the Father are one” means what it sounds like.
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5 Ways You Shouldn’t Try to Be Like Jesus
Post · February 2021
Imitating Christ is thoroughly biblical—but five things he did are his alone, and copying them is a category mistake.
Christ in the Epistles 3
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The Christology of Colossians: Christ Is All
Paper · 2004
Colossians on the greatness of Christ—his divine relationship, divine descriptions, and divine activities—and why that makes him sufficient.
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Who Is Jesus Christ? (Colossians 1:14–20)
Sermon · 2001
Colossians 1:14–20 preached as the answer to one question: who is Jesus Christ?
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Post · February 2008
Six occurrences of σωτήρ in a forty-six-verse letter, alternating between God and Christ—including “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Defending the Doctrine 3
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A Rebuttal to the Watchtower Publication Should You Believe in the Trinity?
Paper · 2008
A reply to the Watchtower tract, working through ἁρπαγμός in Philippians 2:6 and the eight translations the grammar allows.
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What Is the Most Convincing Proof of the Deity of Christ?
Post · April 2011
Warfield’s answer to the question, and mine—the evidence for Christ’s deity that is hardest to argue with.
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Did the Incarnation Improve God?
Post · August 2011
Hebrews says the Son was made perfect and learned sympathy. Did the incarnation improve God? A functional answer, not an essential one.
Book Reviews 6
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Jesus, Divine Messiah by Robert L. Reymond
Review · 2008
Reymond’s Old and New Testament witness to Christ’s deity, finally gathered in one volume.
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Christology and Criticism by B. B. Warfield
Review · 2008
Warfield against the higher critics—not for the casual reader, and worth the work.
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Christ in the Old Testament by James A. Borland
Review · 2008
The first systematic conservative treatment of the Old Testament appearances of Christ in human form.
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The Teaching of Jesus concerning Himself by James Stalker
Review
Stalker on what Jesus claimed about himself, gathered from his own words.
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The Glory of Christ by R. C. Sproul
Review · 2008
Sproul on the moments in Jesus’ life when the glory showed through.
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Jesus Christ Our Lord by John F. Walvoord
Review · 2008
Walvoord’s systematic Christology—the bulk of it on the person of Christ.