At the center of everything we believe is Jesus Christ, the son of Man and son of God who is from eternity, who lived on Earth to become our savior, and who ever lives now in Heaven to render assistance to the redeemed. It is important that we know Jesus, not just by recognizing and wearing his name, but by acknowledging his history and his character.
Jesus is called the son of God occasionally in the New Testament, most notably at his baptism and transfiguration before the apostles, but that term did not originate with him. Before Christ, it was used to refer to the first man, Adam, who had no earthly father either (see Luke 3:38), as well as to the entire Hebrew nation that fled from Egypt (see Exodus 4:22). In addition, the kings of Israel, as representatives of that chosen nation were called sons of God (see 2 Samuel 7:14, Psalm 2:7), and at the onset of his ministry, we learn that all men can hope to become sons and daughters of God (John 1:10-12).
There is, however, a special sense in which the term “son of God” attaches to Jesus Christ, for he is called God’s only begotten son (see John 3:16). His birth announcement contained a reference to his nonsexual conception and connection with Heaven (Luke 1:35-37). At his baptism, the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove and a voice from Heaven said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). That special relationship is overheard in his prayer (Matthew 11:25-27). Time and again in his teaching, Christ identifies himself with God in a special way and sees that affection returned from Heaven (Matthew 17:1-8). For those who wanted a brash general and not a meek carpenter for their Messiah, this claim was tantamount to blasphemy because they rightly understood that he was claiming equal eternity with their God even as they wrongly assumed he was lying (John 5:16-24, 10:31-39).
The phrase “son of God” and Christ’s claims of an eternal relationship with his heavenly father underscore his role in being the “I AM” that created the universe and spoke to Moses long before even Joseph and Mary were born themselves.
Jesus often called himself the “son of Man,” another phrase rooted in the Old Testament. Psalm 80 records a plea that God would let his hand be upon the man of his right hand, “Upon the son of man whom you made strong for yourself” (17). Ninety times in the book of Ezekiel, the prophet himself is called “the son of Man,” often by God, and the prophet Daniel seems to point to the coming of the Messiah by utilizing those words (Daniel 7:13-14).
Jesus repeatedly calls himself “son of Man,” when referring to his work, even his death, resurrection and return, yet seemingly stressing his humanity over his deity. In fact, Jesus uses the term as much to identify himself with the prophets and make the connection with their Messianic predictions (Matthew 24:30). The echoes of Daniel are unmistakable, but the union of the son of Man and son of God is even clearer when Jesus questions his disciples about it (Matthew 16:13-17). Moreover, in the son of Man, we find that deity took on human flesh and became personally acquainted with its challenges and temptations (Hebrews 4:14-16).
When we deduce that the son of man is also the only begotten son of God, we are left with the understanding that Jesus is divine (Philippians 2:5-11). There is no sense in which Jehovah is deity and his son is not (Colossians 2:8-9). That Godhood–that essence of deity–exists in father, son and Holy Spirit equally.
Why then do we not see or hear from the son before his nativity in Bethlehem 2000 years ago?
There are indications of a triune Godhead when the creator says, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” in Genesis 1:26. His participation from the very beginning is what causes Jesus to call himself the “beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14). His role in creation cannot be underestimated (Colossians 1:15-18). In fact, from the foundation of the world, it was known to God that his son would make this mission to Earth (see 1 Peter 1:20).
His appearance on Earth revealed something special about him (Matthew 1:18-25). Later, John would comment about him that he was not merely a man born in a manger, but was a miracle of momentous proportions (John 1:1-14). Jesus Christ answered Isaiah’s prophecies about a virgin birth when that body was prepared for him (Isaiah 7:14, Hebrews 10:4). He became God manifested in the flesh (see 1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus had a special mission, not to feed the hungry or exorcise demons or cure illnesses and deaths, although he did those–“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Jesus lived and taught and made both disciples and enemies, “For the son of man has come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). All the while, he was destined to be murdered, for although he was a political threat to the Pharisees and Herodians, to God he was a perfect sacrificial lamb (see 1 John 2:2, 4:10). Beyond that, it was his mission to defeat the devil and break the power of sin and hopelessness by introducing eternal grace to mankind; “For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
The son of God perished on the cross as Isaiah and he prophesied (see Isaiah 53, Matthew 16:21-28). Between two criminals, Jesus spoke and breathed his last, only to be raised from the dead as proof that God could resurrect man from the tomb that he might live forever (Romans 1:1-4). Sin found its cure and grace and hope found a home in man’s heart (1 Corinthians 15:55-58). Our simple, trusting, obedient faith becomes power to overcome (see 1 John 5:4).
Forty days later, Jesus ascended back to Heaven to sit at God’s right hand and reign over his kingdom church as the Lord of lords and King of kings (see 1 Timothy 6:15). From there, he continues to serve as the mediator between man and his father (1 John 2:1-2). He is our high priest who understands what we go through, because he also hungered and wept and yearned while on Earth with us (Hebrews 7:25). As the Ethiopian eunuch confessed that Jesus is the son of God, so even now that proclamation causes God to abide in him and the believer in God that faith might not be in vain. The image of Jesus that should linger goes beyond a manger or a cross (Revelation 1:12-18).
This is our savior, the son of Man and of God. While you cannot share his deity, you can partake of the divine nature by choosing to abide him as a faithful, trusting child of God.
