The most common titles ascribed to
Jesus by the Apostles in their preaching of the gospel are 'Jesus The Christ'
and 'Jesus The Son of God'.
John the man who supposedly emphasised the
divinity (ie. Godhood) of Christ more than any other Bible writer in fact
wrote:
John
20:31
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life through his name.)
Both these titles describe first
and foremost his relationship to God.
In the first case he is the one Anointed (Commissioned and empowered) by God.
In the second he is the one whose
father is God.
Neither of these titles have any
associations with the Son actually being God
Almighty.
For a Biblical definition of the
meaning of the title Son of God we have the following:
The angel Gabriel is sent to Mary,
the mother of Jesus with the startling announcement that:
Luke 1:31
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy
womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Mary, being a virgin asks the most
natural question:
Luke 1:34
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall
this be, seeing I know not a man?
Gabriel's reply answers both Mary's
question and ours:
Luke 1:35
'How can this be?'
And the angel answered and said
unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
'What' is meant by 'Son of God'
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.
After so much convoluted
theological debate the Angel's answer is stunning in its simplicity.
Because God is Jesus' literal Father
therefore he is to be called the Son of God
In other words- if God's his
Father, then he's God's Son!
Therefore to confess Jesus as the
Son of God is to imply the following:
The
virgin birth- in fulfilment of Isaiah 7.14.
Jesus'
heavenly origin on his 'Father's side'
Jesus' unique status as God's only begotten Son
Note- The Angels and Adam are also referred to
as sons of God by virtue of his direct involvement in their creation- they are
not, however begotten.
Neither are born-again believers who are God's sons by adoption through Christ.
It was an angel, not Jesus Christ that Nebuchadnezzar saw in the fiery furnace
(Daniel 3.25).
The title ‘Son of God’ is also
connected with the promise God made to David:
1 Chronicles 17:11
And it shall come to pass, when thy days
be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that
I will raise up thy seed after thee,
which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build me an
house, and I will stablish his throne
for ever.
13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son:
and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was
before thee:
14 But I will settle him in
mine house and in my kingdom for ever:
and his throne shall be established for evermore.
It was twofold. Firstly the Son of
David (That is to say his descendant) would reign on David's throne forever,
secondly he would be God's own Son as well as David's.
That is why Nathanael declared:
John 1:49
Nathanael answered and saith unto him,
Rabbi,
thou art the Son of God;
thou art the King of Israel.
In his Jewish mindset, the two were
synonymous.
If he was the Son of God then he was also the Son of David, hence the King of
Israel by default.
Jesus was both Son of David (And
Son of Man) on Mary his mother's side, and Son of God on his Father's side.
However
To make Jesus into God Almighty
with statements such as
'Jesus is both Mary's son and Mary's God'
is to lead to the inevitable and blasphemous conclusion that Mary is 'the
mother of God'
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1. Introduction |
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10. Seen! |
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17. Jesus- a Godsend |
18. 1 Creator |
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20. The firstborn |
21. The name of God |
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