- The essence of the Gospel message lies in the phrase, “Christ the Son of God”, because it is through Christ that man is delivered from darkness to light. Christ fulfilled the promise of given several years in advance – the promise of salvation from sin.
- Jesus Christ boldly spoke about himself as the Son of God, as spoken in the words of Luke 10:22a – “All things have been committed to me by my Father.” In addition, several scriptures in the Bible state repeatedly that Jesus is the only son of God.
What lies behind the title, Christ the Son of God?
- God chose to use the term ‘Son of God’- a human term – so that we could understand him better. Behind this title lies a spiritual truth that is expressed in human terms – something that we all relate to. Jesus came to show us what God is like (John 1:18 – No one has seen God, but God’s only son.)
- In the Old Testament, God took on the form of a burning bush to speak to Moses. In the New Testament, he took the form of a man so that he would reveal himself to mankind!
Below are five points to help you understand the phrase “Christ the Son of God.”
- Christ was not born of a human couple, but through God’s manifestation of the Word in the bowels of the Virgin Mary. In other words, Christ, a supernatural power, took on the image of a human being, but remained without sin, because he did not take on the sinful nature of Adam and Eve.
- Christ was a product of a spiritual birth. As the Son of God, he existed with the Father before time and was not subject to a place or time. Just as Arabs are referred to as sons of the desert, Christians refer to Jesus as God’s only son in a spiritual sense.
- Christ’s birth was an eternal birth because he is divinely indivisible from the Father. As such, he is the beginning and the end, and cannot be divided from eternity to eternity.
- Christ was sent to earth at the appointed time to achieve God’s plan of salvation for man. At the point of incarnation, Christ defines himself as the Son of God, and later, as the Son of Man. These two terms indicate a physical declaration of sonship and combination of divine and human nature. Christ lived his humanity in the flesh without losing his divinity.
- Christ is and will always be the Son of God. Though his status as Son was manifested by the incarnation, it remains forever because he is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The term “Christ the Son of God” is both continuous and eternal.
For Jesus to redeem humanity, he needed to have a human nature. As Christ the Son of God, he was sent by the Father, a sinless person empowered by the Holy Spirit, to bring salvation to the world.