Mark 1:1 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark 1:2-3 – “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. ‘ ”
Isaiah 40:3 – The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
In the Old Testament the title Lord always refers to God (because Jesus wasn’t around yet) whereas in the New Testament the title Lord could refer to either Jesus or God. In Mark 1:1, the author is letting us know his gospel is about Jesus Christ. Mark 1:2-3, is a restatement of Isaiah 40:3, which means John the Baptist is the forerunner of God himself who will physically walk the earth. In the above verse the prophet Isaiah states that the Messiah will be God. Mark is indirectly letting us know in Mark 1:2-3, that Jesus is both Messiah and God by referencing the Old Testament scripture of Isaiah 40:3, to call Jesus Lord. Many places in the Bible acknowledge Jesus as God as an accepted fact the same way the Bible assumes we all know the author of the Bible is God.
When you read the word Jesus in the Bible automatically say to yourself, “Jesus is God.” For the life of me I can’t understand people who say they believe in God but they don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God or that Jesus is God. The Bible says clearly that Jesus is God. There’s only one God but the triune Godhead exists in three persons, God the Father, God the Son who is Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, who is sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost. I know it’s confusing but that’s what proves to me it’s the truth. Anyone making up a fake religion would have come up with something much easier for the the weak-minded to understand.
Malachi 3:1 – Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says the Lord of Hosts.
The above verse verifies God is coming to earth himself and will be identified by John the Baptist. The verse says God will physically enter his temple and usher in the new blood covenant which we know Jesus did both of those things. While God doesn’t shout from the pages of the Bible, “Jesus is God!” nether does he try to hide it. For those who have eyes let them read and understand. For those who have ears let them hear and understand.
Exodus 23:20-21 – Behold. I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
Jesus sometimes appeared in the Old Testament as an Angel and the capitalization in the above verse means the angel is Jesus. The phrase, “to keep you in the way.” means to save you and, “bring you into the place I have prepared,” means taking you to heaven. Beware means to watch for his coming and, “obey His voice,” means to repent of your sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. By his use of the phrase, “He will not pardon your transgressions,” God is making it abundantly clear that he’ll not be the one forgiving sins but Jesus only. Most importantly, the last phrase in the above verses tells us Jesus is the coming Messiah who will save his people and his other name is God. God saying “My name is in Him,” is simply another way of God saying, “I am Jesus.”
Even in the wilderness God was telling the Israelites that he would one day come to earth in the flesh and save them unto eternal life, although God was referring to the second coming of Christ. The first coming of Christ was primarily to save the Gentiles and set up the kingdom of God on earth. If anyone tells you Jesus is not God please refer them to the Old Testament scriptures of Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1, and Exodus 23:20-21, for their knowledge and understanding. Do it gently so as to not offend. There are dozens of scriptures in the Bible that refer to Jesus as God so it’s not exactly a secret. The problem is most people don’t take the time to actually study the Bible as they should. For those who have eyes let them see and understand. For those who have ears let them hear and understand.
John 10:30 – I and My Father are one.
Matthew 1:22-23 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.