Monday: Son of God
Son of Man
and Son of God
are two names used in the Gospels to describe who Jesus is. The first indicates God incarnate; the second points to His divinity as the second Person of the Godhead. Together, the two phrases invite us to ponder the miracle of Jesus Christ: God who is both divine and human.
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
It’s a hard concept to grasp, but that difficulty does not in any way take away from this amazing truth and the great hope that it offers us.
Read Luke 1:31-32, Luke 1:35; 2:11. What do these verses tell us about who Jesus really is?
In Luke 1:31-32, the angel links the name Jesus
with the Son of the Highest
to whom the Lord God will give
the throne of David (NKJV). Jesus is the Son of God. He is also the Christ, the Messiah, who shall restore David’s throne, not as an earthly deliverer but in the eschatological sense in that He will ultimately defeat Satan’s attempt to usurp the throne of God Himself. To the shepherds the angel announced that the babe in the manger is the Savior, who is Christ the Lord
(Luke 2:11, NKJV).
At the same time, the title Son of God
not only affirms Christ’s position in the Godhead, but also reveals the close and intimate relationship that Jesus had with God the Father while Jesus was on earth.
Yet, the relationship between the Father and the Son is not the same as the relationship that we have with God. While our relationship is a result of the work of Christ both as Creator and Redeemer, His relationship to the Father as the Son is as of one of three equal, eternal partners. Through His divinity Jesus maintained the closest possible ties to the Father.
Jesus says,
-Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 442.My Father which is in heaven,
as reminding His disciples that while by His humanity He is linked with them, a sharer in their trials, and sympathizing with them in their sufferings, by His divinity He is connected with the throne of the Infinite.
What does it mean to us that Jesus was, in the fullest sense, God? Though this truth is filled with many implications, one of the most amazing is that, though God, Jesus condescended to not only take upon Himself our humanity but to offer Himself as a sacrifice in that humanity for us. We are talking about God here! What wonderful hope does this truth have for us because of what it tells us about what God is really like?
(24)
We take great pride in our genealogy, and we take pride in our family name. Many of us see ourselves as superior to other races because of our attainments and history. We take pride in our religion and our education. We take pride in our nations and our military. We take pride in our gender and skin color. To the point that we don't want to identify ourselves with another race, nation, or family. But what condescendence did the Only Son of God took. What humility what selfless decision- To identify Himself with the lowest, degraded, sin-filled race of humanity. To be called the Son of Man.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 (KJV)
Thank You Jesus.
A bit confusing. If Jesus is God, why do we ask in Jesus' name instead of addressing God directly? Also what does "I am who i am" mean? What about those who believe in the trinity, are they completely lost or it really does exist?
From what I understand it is a Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the one who stayed in heaven to take care of business and run the universe. God the Son is Jesus who came to earth so that he could save us after sin, he's the intercessor, the one who mediates with God the Father for us because we're too full of sin to just go to the Father. The Son has been on the sinful earth with us. He had to become human to do it but He did and lived a sinless life, which is why it was no problem for Him to go back to the Father; God cannot abide with sin. He's man and God and He took on the responsibility of being our go-between. To bridge the gap. And as far as I know "I Am" is actually a Jewish title or name given Him. But they translated it to English and it came out as I Am. Because He just is and always was.
One thing about Jesus Christ and the incarnation we must always remember is that it shall always be a mystery to us. E G White says even unto the angels it was an incomprehensible event. Jesus is the Son of God who came and died in the stead of man that man may once more be connected to God and not perish under the requirement of the law through sin. He is our mediator; He pleads on our behalf in the presence of the Father because we access heaven in prayer through His merits. We ask in His name for this reason (Acts 4:12)...yet it is essential not to forget that when we say God we have particularly said (Father;Son & Holy Ghost) in one word. The trinity is very much in existence....
The I AM ...Ellen White explained it far much better than anything else on The Desire of Ages 24.3. One of the prized mysteries that will baffle our minds for a little while longer.
I can see where the confusion lies, but as Seventh Day Adventists we must refer to the 28 Fundamental Beliefs which does include the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity being God, the summation of three equal entities; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We ask in Jesus' name because of the association He has to us as humans and God's created beings. If we can agree that Jesus is a part of the God Head, and is therefore God, then Humans have The God of Creation as a brother, friend and Saviour. He suffered with us and for us, which means we not only have ties with Jesus but we can also relate to Him. In my estimation this makes it easier for us to call on our Creator in the context of this lesson.
Furthermore making reference to the texts given the sequence of events is astounding. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, immaculate conception, Son of God. Jesus was now made Human, Son of Man, but not just any son of man. He was born of David's lineage which further fulfilled the prophecies of old.
So in answering the question of the lesson. How amazing is it to know Jesus is God? I would say it is truly awesome to even think that my God would become like me and to bear my sins unto death. Jesus, my brother in humanity, the Son Of God. It gives me hope that my God is a god of love and the only one with a plan. It proves that God is not just about retribution but about salvation.
http://www.adventist.org/fileadmin/adventist.org/files/articles/official-statements/28Beliefs-Web.pdf
here is a link to the Fundamental Beliefs
Michael, how wonderfully stated... Thanks!!
Just had to share this illuminating and blessed quote:
"By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God. As the Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey. It was Christ who from the bush on Mount Horeb spoke to Moses saying, “I AM THAT I AM.... Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:14. This was the pledge of Israel’s deliverance. So when He came “in the likeness of men,” He declared Himself the I AM. The Child of Bethlehem, the meek and lowly Saviour, is God “manifest in the flesh.” 1 Timothy 3:16. And to us He says: “I AM the Good Shepherd.” “I AM the living Bread.” “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” John 10:11; 6:51; 14:6; Matthew 28:18. I AM the assurance of every promise. I AM; be not afraid. “God with us” is the surety of our deliverance from sin, the assurance of our power to obey the law of heaven." {DA 24.3}
Jesus is the bridge that connects us to God. We can't approach God without Jesus. He paid the price for us. The term "I am that I am" shows that God is eternal. There is no beginning and no end. We have a beginning because we were created. The angels have a beginning because they were created. God has no beginning and no end. The trinity comprises God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. They have different duties but they are God. That is why Jesus told Satan "thou shalt not tempt the Lord your God." Hope this is helpful.
I acknowledge that we will never fully comprehend this subject. But I have a question.
Was Jesus always considered Son, or is this part of His condescension for the purpose of salvation?
Norma, Will this verse from Proverbs shed some light?
Proverbs 30:4 ISV
4 Who has ascended to heaven, and then descended?
Who has collected the wind in his hands?
Who has wrapped up waters in a garment?
Who has established all the farthest points of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son's name?
Surely you know!
These words of Agur in the Proverbs recognizes that God had a Son back then before the incarnation of Christ.
The words from revelation help me to understand that the Son was to be a sacrifice from the "foundation of the world."
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8 KJV)
To me there are some things we need to understand when we are discussing God. The first and I think most important is that we know painfully little about what we are talking about.
I often think about what it must be like to be an ape. Apes don't appreciate music or art. To them it is just another kind of noise and patterns among all the others around them. They can look into a mirror and see themselves but they don't understand that the ape they see is them, there is a total disconnect involved. They have no real consciousness about themselves and don't ask philosophical questions about who they are and why they exist. They can do some limited planning for the immediate future but don't analyze what they need to do in the long run in order for something to happen in the far future. They don't build houses, never designed complex tools to use and have no concept of an intangible God who they can't see. So how do they relate to us?
If we give them food that is the relationship they learn to have and if we punish them for doing what they shouldn't they learn that also but that is about as far as it goes. They can form friendships and bonds but it isn't anything like what we have.
In a very limited sense I can visualize being an ape and God being a human and understand to some degree the conceptual inadequacies such a difference in perception between the two would produce and yet that in itself doesn't even come close to understanding the difference between man and God. In reality we have about as much understanding of God as a germ has about us and even that is an understatement.
God has graciously given us some relational terms so that we can at least gain some understanding about Himself. The father-son and groom-bride are two that we can relate to but both are woefully inadequate in explaining God. We talk of sacrifice and the cross yet have a lot of trouble in understanding it consideringt that God planned all of that before He began creating anything perhaps billions, if not trillions or quadrillions . . . of years ago. There is far more to this "plan of salvation" than we can get our little minds wrapped around and often when we do think about it, it is usually related to self without any reference to the rest of the universe who are just as deeply involved in this mess as we are. We are severely cramped by tunnel vision who can only see as far as the end of our nose. That is why God called Himself the I AM because He is far more than we can conceptualize.
To me God is one, by doing that Father, Son Holy spirit. It was for us to understand , because we fallen we couldn't see the things as they where, our understanding became limited, our thinking and so on.
imagine he simplified so that we can understand, but still it's difficult for human being to comprehend unless there is intervation of the Holy sprint.
Would someone help us understand this issue. Was JESUS the literal "son of God?" One of the sons of God? Or is this a title of identity for our understanding? After all isn't He God ? Help.
I tend to look at this in a simpler way! In this project of salvation initiated by the Godhead, God the father directs the implementation of the project! God the son undertakes the implementation while God the holy spirit sustains the outcomes of the project! Their roles augment one another hence as far as salvation is concerned are equal! However, in heaven this may be quite different