Ancient Words —
New Year Miracles: Son of God, Son of Man, part 2
The expression “Son of God” is used about 35 times in the New Testament while the expression “Son of Man” is about 85 times. Jesus only once referred to himself as the Son of God, yet many times used the description “Son of Man”. It was Peter who brought the two descriptions of Jesus together: Mat 16:13-18 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Peter, thru the Spirit of God, recognized that Jesus, the son of Man was also the Son of God. Our Lord then proceeded to tell Peter and the disciples that upon this eternal truth, this absolute fact, this rock that Christ Jesus was indeed both son of Man and Son of God—-that the Church of the Living God would be built.
If Jesus had been only the Son of God, the world would have needed his continuing display of power to overcome hardship, despair and sickness. His mighty display of authority over nature and man’s lameness drew thousands to seek him and the divine attention he alone could give.
From the cradle to the age of 30, Jesus was probably a normal boy, teen and young adult, drawing not much attention; but from 30 to 33 the power of his Father came upon him in the Jordan River at baptism and his role as Son of God became first known at the wedding in Cana.
This mysterious power made know by the Nazarene Carpenter shook up his own family yet drew unmanageable crowds over 3 years to the point where he longed for solitude. As the time drew nigh for Jesus, he seemed to lay aside his divine power as Son of God and focus exclusively on his humble appointment as son of Man. Jesus in his own words could have called on 10,000 angels to rescue him from his assigned baptism of suffering.
The cup of pain and agony and death could have easily been set aside with divine intervention by the Son of God himself, yet this suffering Savior, the son of Man, chose to drink this cup for you, me and all of mankind from Adam until the last person is born on earth.
Mercy is achieved only thru suffering—the Law came Moses, but grace and truth and mercy came from Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Isaiah best describes what the son of Man had to do for all us to gain mercy—withholding from us what we all deserve: Isa 53:1-12 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
(Scott Johnson is pastor at East Faulkner Church of Christ and author of the BRG Bible).
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Sparks From The Gospel Anvil
1 John 3 (The Entire Chapter)
Not one who watches much television, I have heard of a program titled, “Who Do You Think You Are?” with celebrities, statesmen and the like, in which historians delve into one’s past to discover their ancestry lineage. Some of the information that is found out can be somewhat shocking and otherwise mundane, yet as with most television programs, it is to promote a dramatic theme. Going into my own ancestral lineage one can gather that my own family history houses ministers, military men and moonshiners; English Romany, Scottish and Black Forest Germans.
Yet, this is just personal family history, but not my full spiritual legacy. I would have to say that the Apostle John got it right in this chapter as he is writing to believers in his day and time. One could say that believers were having an identity crisis; in that believers were not aware of Who God is and what He is all about and how we can approach Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many in our world that have identity problems and will not listen to the Truth, but listen to the lies concerning themselves. It is found in this world sin, hatred, slander, backbiting, murder and there are those that instigate this as well, that say they are witnesses of The Way; that they are the friends of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet they live by sight and not by faith.
I have a friend post something on their Facebook social media page that stated, “ If you don’t like people of different countries or ethnicities here on earth, then you definitely won’t like Heaven.” And I had to challenge my friend and his thinking about what heaven will be like.
By sharing with him what the Holy Bible states to us; even in our own day and time. I told him, “ Your right, because “all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”-2 Corinthians 1:20. Our body “is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body,” 1 Corinthians 15:44a; 49, 50, tells us, “and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” We will be changed. 2 Corinthians 3:17, ” but we all, with open face be holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” And we know this because we walk by faith and not by sight. Yet, many believers do follow their spiritual life walking by sight and not by faith. I am more related to my heroes of the faith because they did walk by faith.
I too, try to walk more by faith than I do by sight. Why? Because this is what the Father expects us to do. We have certain birthmarks as believers; just as our own flesh and blood shows how we are related to someone physically; our spiritual legacy; or hallmarks of holiness or our birthmarks of being believers; show how we are a “heir of the Father and a joint heir of Jesus Christ” (Ref. Romans 8:17). One of those birthmarks is found in 1 John 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death”. This life is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, He stated that He came to give life and life more abundantly; (John 10:10) and it is “In Him (Christ) we LIVE, and MOVE, and have our being,” (Acts 17:28); and Jesus says in another place, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing”. (Ref. John 15:5) and it is through Christ that we find that love, Divine love, that brings us deliverance from the darkness and death and into His marvelous light. Think about it; we are not taught by our parents to lie, take things that don’t belong to us, yell and throw a fit. No, it is sin, that depravity of our nature that causes to act this way. Yet, God’s prevenient Grace was always there to draw us to Himself, isn’t this what John the Baptist was talking about when he said of Christ, “Behold! The Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world”; Sin is something so dreadful that it took the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to wash us and cleanse us from our sins.
Yet, it is still our choice, Jesus is the perfect gentleman. He does not Lord over us and tell us to take His salvation; but He has done everything already. All we have to do is repent and forsake our sins and follow Christ; being a Witness of the Way.
Have you passed from death unto life? Have you ever seen a sign on the door of an establishment that says, “Under New Management”? Well, that is what Christ wants to do for those that don’t have Him in their life.
He wants us to be a part of Him. To be His child, childlike not childish. He wants us to know that we can come to Him and find rest. He wants us to know that if we call on Him, “He will show us great and mighty things that we do not understand” (Ref. Jeremiah 33:3). He wants us to follow Him all the days of our life; to fall in love with Him.
Do you know who you are in Christ? He desires to show you in His Word.
Are you willing to stop what you are doing at this moment and look through His Word, the Holy Bible and see what He has to say to you?
Pray and seek His face and follow Him throughout this New Year!
(Lieutenant Charles Smith is commanding officer of the Salvation Army of El Dorado).