950. Jesus’ Identification as the Son of God

I believe in the inspiration of the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, the creation of man by the direct act of God, the incarnation and virgin birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His identification as the Son of God, His vicarious atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood on the cross, the resurrection of His body from the tomb, His power to save men from sin, the new birth through the regeneration by the Holy Spirit, the gift of eternal life by the grace of God. The fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith are centered around these things.

That's why we have a creed. On Jesus's identification as the Son of God. It's the question that Zacchaeus the publican had that led him to climb a tree in Luke chapter 19. Jesus had entered and passed through Jericho and behold there was a man named Zacchaeus who was chief among the publicans and he was rich and he sought to see who Jesus was. A man named Nicodemus came by night to figure it out in John chapter 3.

He said, Rabbi to Jesus, we know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. And Peter, in fact Jesus actually asked Peter and his disciples this question in Matthew chapter 16. Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, well some say that you're John the Baptist. Other people say you're Elijah. Others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Well Jesus said, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And people continue to ask even today who is Jesus. I was once on a transatlantic flight and was put in the last row of the plane. And let me forewarn you, if you ever realize before boarding that you're in the last row, the seats do not fully recline.

And while that's not necessarily a terrible thing on a short flight, when you're traveling six plus hours you might like to at least lean back a little bit. Well instead my neighbor and I laughed a bit and then struck up a conversation. And we talked for several hours on different matters and then the conversation turned to religion. And then this person asked me about Jesus, who he is, who I actually thought Jesus is. And their impression was that he was simply a good man, a prophet. And there are people from all walks of life that while they believe Jesus is an important historic figure, they don't accept him as the second person of the triune God. For example, Mormonism says that Christ was begotten by an immortal father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers. Our Jehovah's Witnesses say that Jesus is the first created being, that Jesus never claimed equality with God and therefore is not part of a trinity. In Judaism, in Jesus' day, John 10 says the Jews answered, for a good work we stone you not, but for blasphemy, because you being a man are making yourself God. And then liberal theologians, those that don't hold to this doctrine that the creed actually entails, believe that Jesus was an inspired human teacher of morality, a great moral teacher. And of course, Islam would see Jesus as a prophet.

But the question this morning is, what do you think? Do you believe that Jesus is God? What do the scriptures teach regarding the claims of Jesus? Well, if you would open a Bible textbook or look at notes from a Bible, maybe a study Bible notes, you would get a list of verses that demonstrate or even give direct statements regarding Jesus' deity.

In fact, I'm going to give you several of those right now, and you might want to write down these references, because I'm going to give you the reference, and these are actually direct statements. And that could be helpful if you're ever talking with somebody about Jesus' deity. For example, John 1, verse 1, the word which became flesh, speaking of Jesus' incarnation in verse 14 of John 1, was God. Or John 1, 18, Jesus is the one and only son who is in himself God and is at the Father's side.

He's in this closest relationship to the Father as possible. Or John chapter 20, where you have this man Thomas, who exclaimed after seeing the nail prints in Jesus' hands and the place in his side where he was pierced, he looked at him and he said, my Lord and my God. Or Paul in Romans 9, 5, as he goes through that discussion in those chapters, he states that Christ is God over all blessed forever. Later on, Paul in Titus 2, 13, states that as believers, we're waiting a blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter, Peter himself says, he's a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And then in 1 John 5, 20, John calls Jesus the true God and eternal life.

And there are many others that I could have actually touched on. In fact, there's an entire book in our New Testament that express, that the express theme and content is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. And you've turned there to John chapter 20, and let's look at verses 30 and 31. It reads, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. So John is setting this up.

He's saying, this entire letter I wrote, this entire book I wrote, here's my thesis statement. I want you to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and if you do that, you will have life, life through his name. And what John does actually throughout this entire gospel is he gives us signs, he gives us these miracles.

There are seven of them, beginning in chapter 2, and then chapter 4, 5, 6, 9, and 11. And I'd like to kind of just walk you through these miracles. In John chapter 2, Jesus turns water to wine, simply by willing it into existence.

150 gallons of wine at this wedding feast. And this is the beginning of miracles that Jesus did in Cana, of Galilee, as he manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed. In chapter 4, you have the healing of the nobleman's son. Jesus is in Cana, and the son who is sick in another town is there, and he's not even in front of Jesus, and Jesus from a great distance, being in Cana, and the son is in Capernaum, he heals him. And he says, go your way, your son is restored. In John chapter 5, you have this man that for 38 years has been crippled.

You can imagine what his muscles would have been like, the atrophy that would have taken place, the dysfunction that was there. And Jesus with a word said, rise, get up, take up your mat, and walk. And this man got up, and those tissues and everything was perfectly restored, and he had the ability and strength to just get up and go. And in chapter 6, you see Jesus with 5,000 people, hungry men and women and children, and five loaves and two fishes multiplied until everyone is completely full, and then there's actually leftovers as well. And then later on in that chapter, the disciples were in a boat out in the middle of the water.

They're not near the land, and Jesus comes and he was walking on the water, and he gets into the boat, and as soon as he gets in the boat, the boat's at the shore. And in John chapter 9, you have this man who has a congenital illness. He is blind from birth, and Jesus gives this man sight. And then the pinnacle of these signs in John's gospel is when you come to John 11, where Jesus demonstrates his power over death itself. And he raises Lazarus from the grave after being dead a few days, and Jesus did so with a command.

He said, Lazarus, come forth. And then John writes in chapter 20, I've written these signs that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you would have life in his name. But if you were talking to my new friend aboard our flight, they would have been aghast that you might call Jesus God's Son, because my seatmate was a Muslim. And many times when Muslims hear that you believe Jesus is God's Son, they might understand that you believe that somehow deity had relations with Mary in a grotesque way, and that of course is completely blasphemous. And when I lived in India, I met Hindus who believed that Jesus is a Son of God, but then so are all people sons of God. So there's really nothing unique about Jesus being a Son of God. So this leads us to the question, if the scripture writers and Jesus' disciples are clear that Jesus is God, what did others think about Jesus' identity as Son? Our BJU Creed states that we believe in Jesus' identification as the Son of God.

Well, let's begin first by asking this question. How did Jesus' very enemies understand the term Son of God? Well, you're still in the book of John, and I want to have you turn to John 5. Go back to John 5. There are 18 references to Jesus and the Son in John's Gospel.

And all but the first five are actually self-references. Perhaps the most significant cluster is found in this chapter, John 5, where there are eight occurrences to Jesus as God's Son. And just prior to these statements, you have the healing of a lame man, and let's look at verse 5. I'm going to begin reading at verse 5. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. And when Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto them, Wilt thou be made whole? And the impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool while I am coming, another stepeth down before me. And Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and he took up his bed and walked, and on the same day was the Sabbath. Now the Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day, it's not lawful for you to carry your bed. And he answered them, He said, Well he that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up your bed and walk. Well they asked him, What man is it that which said unto you, Take up thy bed and walk?

And he that was healed whist not, or he didn't know who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself away, and a multitude being in that place. And afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple and saith unto him, Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more, lest the worst thing come unto thee. Well the man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and they sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day, but Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Now notice verse 18, Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because not only had he broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath, and this was anathema to the religious leaders of that day. In fact the Jews not only wanted to persecute him, verse 16, they state that Jews sought to slay Jesus because he had done this. Then Jesus answered in verse 17, Is that my Father still working, and I am still working.

And this made the Jews really really mad. They sought to kill Jesus all the more, because as in verse 18 it describes, Jesus is not only breaking the Sabbath, he's calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. So John 5 18, making himself equal with God, demonstrates that Jesus' enemies understood that Jesus' reference of himself as God's son in this context was a clear reference to Jesus' deity, which Jesus himself does not deny through the rest of the chapter. Actually, Jesus continues to draw on his special relationship to the Father. And this happens repeatedly throughout the Gospels, where Jesus' enemies are wanting to kill him, because his enemies understand that he is actually claiming deity, such as at Jesus' trials. In Matthew chapter 27, verse 43, it says, He trusted in God.

Let God deliver him. For he said, I am the Son of God. Or John chapter 19, verse 7, it says, The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. Well, if Jesus' enemies thought that Jesus' identity as the Son of God was a reference to Jesus' own deity, the question is, what does God the Father actually think about this? What's God the Father's perspective regarding his son, Jesus? I'd like you to turn over to the book of Hebrews, chapter 1.

The book of Hebrews, and in chapter 1, because throughout the chapters of Hebrews, the author is arguing that Jesus is superior to angels, he's superior to priests, Old Testament leaders, or any religion. In fact, the authors explain in Hebrews 1-3 that Jesus, the Son, is the brightness or the radiance of God's glory, the express image of his person. Perhaps you have a modern translation in front of you which reads the exact expression of God's nature or substance. So Jesus is of the same nature as God the Father. He's God, yet distinct from God the Father, as the Son.

So what does the Father think about this? Is this really the opinion of Almighty God? Well, look down in Hebrews 1 to verse 8. But unto the Son, God saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.

A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. And what God is doing, he's not only honoring Jesus, the Son above all creation. God the Father claims Jesus, the Son, as God. The one who is the exact expression of God's nature, yet distinct from the Father, the Son of God. So if we can understand that Jesus is God by being called the Son of God, why does the scripture refer to and Jesus identify as the Son of God? In other words, why not just say Jesus is God? What is behind the phrase Jesus as Son of God?

Or what else does the phrase mean in regards to man? Well, if you go back to Genesis and the Pentateuch and you would go to chapter 5 of Genesis, verses 1 through 3, Moses indicates that Adam's relationship to God was very intimate. God's creating Adam in his image is parallel to Adam's begetting a son, Seth. So Seth was made in the image and likeness of Adam, even as Adam was made in the image and likeness of God. And Luke suggests this more explicitly in the genealogies that run in reverse all the way through Adam to God. The end of this genealogy in Luke 3.38 reads this, The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Being made in the image of God was inherently connected to the rites of sonship. But in the fall of mankind, however, the image of God and man was marred.

How would this image be restored? Well, the answer is Jesus the Messiah. The second person of the triune God, the eternal son of God, who would become a man in the incarnation and the second or last Adam. And so Jesus is the God-man.

He's 100% God, 100% man. And only Jesus, the eternal son of God and human son, could restore humanity through perfect obedience. And obedience, as Paul describes in Philippians 2, that actually led to the cross. And there at the cross, God's wrath fell on him.

But listen to the words in Romans chapter 1. Paul writes, Concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. He was human, but he's Jesus Christ our Lord. He is God. He's God's son. And he's declared to be the son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. So Jesus Christ is the firstborn, and we come into sonship by being united with him. And so today, if you are a child of God through Jesus Christ, you are one of the many sons Christ is bringing to glory as the founder of our salvation, as it says in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10. So Jesus as the son of God, number one, is deity.

He's the second person of the Trinity. And Jesus as the son of God is our only hope of complete restoration of the image of God and the promise of our inheritance as children of God. Jesus is the perfect son who brings many sons to glory. So who do you believe Jesus Christ is?

That is perhaps the most important question that you could ever answer for yourself. And for those who know Jesus, the son of God, everything that we have is found in Jesus, in the son. He's our hope of inheritance. He's our hope of salvation.

He's our hope of restoration. Years ago, there was a very wealthy widowed man who had a devoted young son who shared his love and passion for collecting paintings, art. So together they traveled around the world adding only the finest art treasures to their collection. And as time went by, a young man left to serve his country during a time of war and after a few short weeks the father received a telegram. His beloved son had died.

And he had done so while rushing a fellow soldier to a medic. Well distraught and very lonely now, this old man faced the upcoming Christmas holidays with great sadness. And on Christmas morning though, there was this knock at the door. He was startled. He was awakened.

He went and opened the door. And a soldier with a package in his hand stood before him. I was a friend of your son.

I was the one he was rescuing when he died. And as the two began to talk, the soldier told how the man's son had often mentioned his father's love of fine art. And the soldier said, I'm an artist and I want to give you this. And as the old man unwrapped the package, the paper gave way to reveal a portrait of his son.

And though the world would never consider it a work of genius, the painting featured the young man's face in striking detail. And that painting of his son soon became his most prized possession. Even more than all the millions of dollars worth of art that he owned.

Well the following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. And the art world was in anticipation. With no air, the paintings were sold at an auction in one day. And that day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world's most spectacular paintings. And the auction began with a painting that was not on any of the museum's list.

It was that painting of his son. And the auctioneer asked for an opening bid. But the room was silent. Okay, well who will bid a hundred dollars?

No one spoke. And then somebody from the back cried out, well, why are you showing us this painting? We don't care about that painting. It's just a picture of his son.

Let's forget it and then get on to the good stuff. No, we have to sell this one first, replied the auctioneer. Now who will take the son? And finally, a friend of the old man spoke up and he says, well, will you take ten dollars for the painting? That's all I have.

I knew the boy, so I'd like to have it. And when the gavel fell, cheers filled the room as someone shouted, now we can get on with it and now we can bid on those treasures. Well, the auctioneer looked at the audience and announced that the auction itself was over. Stunned disbelief quieted the room and someone spoke up and asked, what do you mean it's over?

Well, the auctioneer replied, it's very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son gets it all. And today, you can know a lot about God. And you can know a lot about the Bible. And perhaps you've grown up in a Christian home and you've been catechized concerning many religious questions. But who do you believe in your own heart right now is Jesus, God's son? Not what is the right answer, but have you taken Christ as your priceless and only hope of inheritance, your only hope of salvation, your only hope of restoration? It is God's will and promise to give you all the blessings there are in Christ if you will confess and believe, as John desired for his readers, that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. Let's bow for prayer. Perhaps there's someone here in this room right now. You've given the right answers to all these type of questions.

These are fundamental questions and you've given the right answer. But in your own heart, the Lord has opened up your heart and mind today to see that you believe this, maybe even for the very first time in your heart. I can see the Scripture's true. Jesus is the Christ, the son of God.

And I confess that. And I want life through his name. Father, we pray that you would work among us. May you solidify that in our own hearts today. And may we exalt Jesus Christ and be more like him. And in his name we pray. Amen. The Daily Platform.com I'm Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University, and I invite you to join us at our beautiful campus in Greenville, South Carolina to see how you can be prepared academically and spiritually to serve the Lord through one of our more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. For more information about Bob Jones University, visit www.bju.edu or call 800-252-6363. Join us again next week as we continue this series summarizing the doctrines of our Christian faith here on The Daily Platform.