I am confused on this issue. I grew up catholic and never knew this. For the past few years I have been very confused. I “have” read the scripture and dont see any proof. Am I missing something? What makes you believe?
In Exodus we see God refer to His name: “I AM WHO I AM”, (“I AM HE WHO IS”, or “I AM”-Ex 3:14). God is reality, God is Being, that is His nature and essence.
What does Jesus say about Himself:
“The Father and I are One.”
“The Father is greater than I.”
“Before Abraham was, I AM.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 18:[5] They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I AM.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
[6] When he said to them, “I AM,” they drew back and fell to the ground. (NAB).
What does Paul say about Jesus?:
Col 1:[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation;
[16]
for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities –
all things were created through him and for him.
[17] **He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. **
Logically speaking you must remove from your mind the idea of progression, i.e. how we are born into the world from our parents. Progression does not happen in eternity where all times and places are present.
With the Trinity it has to do not with progression but with Relationships. God the Father is Father in relation to His eternally begotten Son-His eternal Word(Jesus).
Jesus is eternally the Son in relation to the eternal Father.
The Father eternally generates the Son and the Son is eternally begotten. The Father pours forth His very essence in an act of total life-giving love-which is Being itself-to the Son. And the Son returns to the Father all that He receives from the Father. This exchange of life-giving love is identified by Jesus as the third Person of the Trinity-The Holy Spirit.
Hence we say that the Holy Spirit “procedes from the Father and the Son.”
(I know that this is still a point of contention between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Church. I beg the patience of my brothers and sisters from the East, I was merely explaining the Catholic teaching to another “Catholic”. I do not wish to take the thread off subject.)
If you still don’t think Jesus was God, even though the data says that He testified that He was. I ask you, who was He?
Two possibilities: either He was a bad man (a liar or a lunitic), or He was a good man.
If He was a liar, that would mean that He was not a good person.
Yet why would a good person do the things He did, such as cure people. And usually someone who is a liar lies for selfish gain. He wound up getting crucified for His lie. Doesn’t really make sense, does it?
If He was a lunitic, He sure didn’t have the traits of lunacy. In fact He mentions several times of His upcoming death. He displays clearheadedness in His confrontations with the Jewish authorities and the Roman authorities as well.
Peter Kreeft:
Jesus has in abundance precisely those three qualities that liars and lunatics most conspicuously lack: (1) his practical wisdom, his ability to read human hearts, to understand people and the real, unspoken question behind their words, his ability to heal people’s spirits as well as their bodies; (2) his deep and winning love, his passionate compassion, his ability to attract people and make them feel at home and forgiven, his authority, “not as the scribes”; and above all (3) his ability to astonish, his unpredictability, his creativity. Liars and lunatics are all so dull and predictable! No one who knows both the Gospels and human beings can seriously entertain the possibility that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic, a bad man.
Well if you eliminate the assumption that He was a bad man and in fact a very good man, a prophet, a sage, etc. Then you must then logically take as true what He said about Himself: He is Lord.
I have given you reasons to believe. The rest must come from the Lord, and it is you who must ask Him. The sure knowledge that Jesus is Lord is a gift of supernatural grace and can only be received if you are willing to receive it. I must leave the rest between you and Him. I will pray for you. God Bless!
Mithrandir