OceanSide church of Christ

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JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD

Victor M. Eskew

 

            For a person to become a Christian, he must believe in his heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  Too, he must confess with his mouth that Jesus is the Son of God.  “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10).

            If someone were to ask you:  “What do you mean when you say Jesus Christ is the Son of God?” could you give them the proper answer?  Some will say:  “Well, it means that He was God’s Son.”  Others will say:  “Well, it means that He is my Savior.”  Still others will say:  “Well, it means…Well, I am not really sure what it means.

            The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying when He acknowledged to them that He is the Son of God.  His words infuriated them.  Hearing Him say He was the Son of God caused them to want to put Him to death.  In John 5, Jesus carries on a conversation with the Jews wherein He notes that God is His Father in passing.  The Jews picked up on His words.  “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17).  Notice that Jesus called God, “my Father.”  When the Jews heard these words they wanted to kill Jesus.  “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father…” (John 5:18).  Why would this enrage the Jews so much?  Why would His admission to being the Son of God cause them to want to put Him to death?  The answer lies in the last part of John 5:18.  “…but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” 

            If Jesus were truly the Son of God, He had the same attributes, power, and authority of God the Father.  In essence, He was saying that He is God.  The Jews could not believe what they were hearing.  Here is a man claiming to be God who grew up in Nazareth in the home of his father Joseph and his mother Mary.  He is a carpenter who is affirming that He is equal with God.  To them, His statements were blasphemy.  Our point is that they understood the meaning of His words.

            Dear readers, when you and I claim that Jesus is the Son of God, we are claiming that He is God.  He is deity.  He is the second member of the Godhead.  He has the same glory and holiness and wisdom of God the Father.  As Jesus said:  “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).  Yes, if you have seen the Christ, you have seen the Father (John 14:9).  Jesus is truly “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Heb. 1:3). 

            In the United States, this confession is accepted by many.  However, in the rest of the world, most do not believe that Jesus is divine.  They do not believe that He is God.  Believing this and confessing it puts us at odds with the majority of the world’s population.  We cannot and must not back down from this belief.  Jesus tells us why in John 8:24.  “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins:  for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”