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Revisiting Ancient Stones: The Son

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As we revisit memorials meant to remind us of who God is, we will find some about Jesus. One such reminder is found in the claims that He made while on this earth. Two of these claims specifically, seem to be contradictory. On the one hand, He claimed to be the Son of Man—like us in every way. On the other hand, He claimed to be the Son of God—like the Father in every way.

Again, some may wonder if this really matters. It sure does! These are claims made by Jesus, and everyone who comes in contact with Jesus is faced with the validity of these claims. He is either a big liar, or He is telling the truth. If He is telling the truth, then both have to be true. So what is the truth? Can Jesus be both God and Man? Let’s see what the Bible says.

First, we’ll look at what God’s word says about Christ’s divinity. According to John 1:1–4, 14, John says that Jesus is the Word, the One who was in the beginning with God, and was God. All things were created through Him. We read a similar passage in Hebrews 1:1–3, 8, 9—which not only calls Jesus God, but says He is “the exact imprint of his nature.” In Titus 2:13 Paul says, “We wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” And again in Romans 9:5, Paul says that Christ is “God over all.”

The Bible says that Jesus was there from the beginning, He created the universe, and He would be worshipped. He would be called Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6). Every characteristic of God is given to Jesus. He did many miracles. He cast out demons. He healed the sick. He forgave sins, something only God could do. Because He is the Son of God. The centurion knew it when Jesus died on the cross (Matt 27:54). The demons knew it when Christ arrived to cast them out (Mark 5:7). Satan knew it when he tempted Him in the wilderness (Matt 4:3, 6). John the Baptist knew it when the Lamb of God came to be baptized (John 1:34). God announced it to the world when His Beloved came up out of the water, by saying, “This is my son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). Yes, the Bible is plain: Jesus is the Son of God. He is God.

What about Christ’s Humanity? He’s God, but is He also man? Back in our first text, John 1:14, it says that the Word (Jesus, God) became flesh. In order to become flesh He would have had to be born. Entering this world as an infant. And the prophet Isaiah told us that He would be called Immanuel or God with us (Isaiah 7:14). The Son of God with us. Galatians 4:4 says that “when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law…” And Luke 2:52 tells us that he grew in wisdom and in stature.

According to Paul in Galatians, He was also born under the same rules as we are. He didn’t get a break for being “the Son.” He was under the same Laws of God and the same laws of nature. He had the same fears and hopes and the same ups and downs that we do. He felt hunger pains (Matt. 4:2) and the grief of a friend’s death (John 11:35). He was tempted with power and greed and doubt (Matt 4:1–11)—without falling. Jesus became thirsty (John 19:28). He became sleepy (Matt 8:24). He laughed and cried. He also suffered and was bruised when He was hit. He bled when His skin was pierced. He died when He was murdered—on the cross. Because He is the Son of Man. In Hebrews it says that He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. It was important to Him to become like us in every way (Hebrews 2:14–18). And while the Bible may not list every temptation that Jesus endured, it does say that He was temped in every way that we are (Hebrews 4:15). That is what makes Him sympathetic to us. He knows because He lived it. Again the Bible is clear: Jesus is the Son of Man. He is man.

The Bible teaches Jesus as both the Son of God and the Son of Man, and it is the perfect combination of these two that gives us hope. We must not forget this because our salvation is counting on both of these to be true.

Jesus has to be God. Humanity in itself cannot save itself from sin. We are filthy with sin, and like the leopard we cannot change our spots—our reward is death. Neither could the angels come to save us because they too are created. It had to be the Creator. The One who loves His creation so much that He’d give up His own life for them—even if they hated Him. Furthermore, there’s only One who could conquer death: the Author of Life. The Great I AM. Any other sacrifice is worthless, because it needed to be the Son of God on that tree. Jesus has to be God, and He Is.

God’s plan required Jesus to be more than God though. The creator had to become one with His created—one of His created. In order to save us from our sins, He had to live what we should have lived and die what we should have died. He shared in our suffering so we would be able to share in His joy. He had to sweat, to cry, to laugh, to walk, to feel, to hurt, to bruise, and to bleed. For it is by His stripes that we are healed. It is His blood that covers our sins. It is His death that redeems us. He had to take our place, because it needed to be the Son of Man on that tree. Jesus has to be man, and He Is.

The Son of Man’s hands were nailed to the cross, the Son of God’s love held Him there.

The Son of Man’s body was broken by the cross, the Son of God’s heart was broken by our sin.

The Son of Man’s blood was spilled for your sins, the Son of God’s blood was spilled for your redemption.

He is the Son of Man to understand you, He is the Son of God to save you.

Yes, Jesus is both God and Man. This is why He loves us like He does. This is why He would die for us while we are still sinners. This is why the Gospel can proclaim: “For God so love the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Praise God, Jesus is the Son—of God and of Man!

How Three Can Be One

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Anytime a person commits to studying the Scriptures, there will be a few concepts that will pop-up that can make a mind spin. These seemingly impossible concepts are often used as a reason to not believe in the scriptures. Since our minds have a difficult time wrapping around the idea, we may feel that it can’t be true.

Some of these mind-frying notions are simply due to the limit of our human comprehension: the idea that God has always been (never had a beginning) is a good example. I think one could actually see smoke coming from my ears when I spend too much time trying to understand that one! Other ideas are difficult because of a limited amount of evidence: a great example of this is how the Sadducees didn’t believe in Angels or miracles because they felt these could easily be explained away and the Bible (only the first five books of Moses for them) did not specifically prove their existence.

It has been suggested by some that the doctrine of the Trinity belongs in such a group of impossibilities. It seems confusing because our minds have a difficult time allowing for one God to actually be three separate Gods.

One major argument against the concept of a three-in-one God is that the word “trinity” is not in the Bible. This is true. It is a man-made word introduced about 100-200 years after the Apostles. Yet, although the specific word does not appear in scriptures, the concept does. The word was simply created in an attempt to better describe the concept they found.

I have heard others attempt at getting around this difficulty by teaching that God is one but has appeared in three forms. Thus, the God of the Old Testament is the Father, who becomes Jesus in the New Testament, who then becomes the Holy Spirit after the resurrection. I’m not sure their explanation is any easier to understand though. It begins to sound like a Superman/ Clark Kent problem: neither is in the same place at the same time—they must be the same person.

However, there are several passages in scripture that disproves such teachings. A careful, honest, study of scriptures reveals that the idea of the Trinity has plenty of evidence.

One of the greatest evidences is found at Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:21, 22): the description reveals all three at the same place at the same time—the Son being baptized, the Father speaking from Heaven, and the Spirit landing of Jesus in the form of a dove. This scene wasn’t a private one either, many people saw it, and John the Baptist testified about it (John 1:32–34).

Another passage that supports the idea of the trinity is when Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 17). He mentions three distinct persons of the Godhead: He, Jesus, will ask the Father who will send the Holy Spirit. God cannot be the one person in three different forms for this statement to be true. Either there are three different beings in the Godhead or Jesus is lying.

There’s also Jesus’ Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19. Jesus instructs the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Once again, He specifies three distinct beings.

Of course, that’s the New Testament though, what about the Old Testament?

At the very beginning, during the creation story, we are already introduced to the trinity. When making mankind, God said a very powerful, and revealing, statement: “Let us make man in our image.” God spoke in the plural. He could not have been talking to the angels, for we were not made in an angel’s image, but in God’s image. To whom else could He have been speaking? Genesis 1:1 say that God was at creation (He created everything) and it also mentions that His Spirit moved over the waters. This places the Father and the Spirit at creation. Then in John 1:1–5, we are told that in the beginning the Word, or Jesus (vs 14), was with God and was God. It also says that everything that was made at creation was made through Him. It makes sense, then, why God would speak in the plural, because the Bible places all three—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—at creation.

Interestingly, throughout the Old Testament, God is always referred to in the plural. In English, we do not easily catch this though. The Hebrew word that is always translated as “God,” is Elohim. This word, however, is not singular, it is the plural form of the word. The singular form, El, is always translated with a lower-case “g” as in “god.” Thus, throughout the Old Testament, God was always known as, and referred to as, an entity containing more than one being.

But how can three be one?

Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” It may be easy to argue that this proves that He is one person. However, the word for “one” used here is the same as what is used in Genesis 2:24 when talking about Adam and Eve—“the two shall become one flesh.” No one would argue that Adam and Eve melted into one being. No, they remained two separate individuals, yet became unified. This word has the meaning of multiple equal things becoming one.

Jesus also said, “I and the Father are one.” He did not say that they were the same person. He said they were one. It was said in the context of unity. Further evidence that Jesus’ statement was about unity is found a few chapters later in John 17:11 when Jesus is praying that his disciples “may be one, even as we are one.” They weren’t meant to become one great big glob of merged humanity. Jesus desired His followers to have unity—the same unity He had with the Father. They were unified in purpose: Jesus was about His Father’s business of salvation and the Holy Spirit would come and help the disciple’s finish the work Jesus started.

This is just a few passages that provide evidence of a Three-in-One Godhead. All three mentioned in the Godhead are united, much like a husband and wife are united in marriage (at least in a healthy marriage there will be unity and equality). Although they remain separate individuals—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—they are united in purpose: the salvation of mankind!