Jesus: The Son of God (Part 2)
From the divine side: Jesus as the Son of God due to His unique eternal relationship to the Father.
That Jesus is called the Son of God from the human side due to His miraculous birth is not a very controversial concept among people who believe in an omnipotent God. Even my Muslim friend at work, when I explained the first reason Christians call Jesus the Son of God, had no theological objection (though he was still uncomfortable with the phrase "Son of God" due to his religious training).
A second reason that Christians call Jesus the Son of God is much more controversial: it is harder to explain, and it is impossible to fully understand.
From eternity, Jesus (called, before He took on human nature, the Word) existed as a Person who is with God the Father and is yet identical to God. This is the teaching of John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." That "Word" in this verse refers to Jesus before His birth is clear from John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The Father created the world by the Son (Heb 1:2) sent the Son into the world (John 6:38) and puts all things in subjection to the Son (1 Cor 15:27). And so Jesus exists in a unique eternal relationship to God the Father, by virtue of which Jesus is rightly called the Son of God.
In teaching these things, Christians confess belief in only one God- as the Bible says, "the LORD your God, the LORD is one" (Deut 6:4). When we speak of God the Father and Jesus His Son (and the Holy Spirit), we are not speaking of multiple gods, but of one God, known as three Persons. This goes beyond human understanding in some ways, but we believe that God is greater than our understanding and that we are bound to believe what He tells us about Himself in the Scriptures.
That Jesus is called the Son of God from the human side due to His miraculous birth is not a very controversial concept among people who believe in an omnipotent God. Even my Muslim friend at work, when I explained the first reason Christians call Jesus the Son of God, had no theological objection (though he was still uncomfortable with the phrase "Son of God" due to his religious training).
A second reason that Christians call Jesus the Son of God is much more controversial: it is harder to explain, and it is impossible to fully understand.
From eternity, Jesus (called, before He took on human nature, the Word) existed as a Person who is with God the Father and is yet identical to God. This is the teaching of John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." That "Word" in this verse refers to Jesus before His birth is clear from John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The Father created the world by the Son (Heb 1:2) sent the Son into the world (John 6:38) and puts all things in subjection to the Son (1 Cor 15:27). And so Jesus exists in a unique eternal relationship to God the Father, by virtue of which Jesus is rightly called the Son of God.
In teaching these things, Christians confess belief in only one God- as the Bible says, "the LORD your God, the LORD is one" (Deut 6:4). When we speak of God the Father and Jesus His Son (and the Holy Spirit), we are not speaking of multiple gods, but of one God, known as three Persons. This goes beyond human understanding in some ways, but we believe that God is greater than our understanding and that we are bound to believe what He tells us about Himself in the Scriptures.
Labels: apologetics
posted by Andrew Lindsey | 8:50 AM
1 Comments:
Greetings ajlin
On the subject of "one God, known as three Persons;"
I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus
Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you in your quest for truth.
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
Post a Comment
<< Home