The gospel of Mark, the second ‘book’ in the New Testament, opens with the simple declaration: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Jesus was not just another man, nor was he simply a good man. Jesus was God in the flesh, and he is the Son of God.
When we say Jesus Christ we are not speaking of a ‘first name’ and ‘last name’, but we are speaking of Jesus who is the Christ. The word Christ designated that Jesus was God’s chosen one. Jesus came to earth for a specific purpose: to give himself on the cross so that you and I can have the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 20:28; 26:28).
Jesus is the ‘only begotten’ Son of God (John 3:16). There was no son before, nor is there a son after. Jesus is unique, and he is the only one. We can all have ‘sonship’ by ‘adoption’ through Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:4-6). But our sonship is only made possible by the only begotten Son of God, Jesus.
Jesus became the Son of God when he was born of the virgin Mary, but this was not the beginning of his existence. At this time the one we now call the Son of God, was fully divine but gave up the equality with God and came to earth as a man (Philippians 2:5-7). This is revealed by John as well. John referred to Jesus, who came in the flesh, as ‘the word’ (John 1:14). The Word, Jesus, was in the beginning with God and was God (John 1:1). John also declared that nothing was made without the Word (John 1:2, 3).
Jesus is deity, fully divine. He gave up his place in ‘heaven’ to come live as a man and redeem humanity through his own sacrifice on the cross. He was Immanuel, “God with us”, as he gave his life on the cross. He was the Lamb of God who was the sacrifice for our horrible sins.
Jesus is the Son of God, and through him we can also be called sons of God. Read Peter’s declaration of Jesus and then read his answer to the question others asked, “What shall we do?” These words are all found in Acts 2:22-47. Obey the words of the Lord spoken through Peter and become a child of God.
Greg Weston 