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Yes! Please Subscribe MeIn Part 1 of this article we examined Jesus' identity as Christ. In Part 2 we address the rest of Peter's statement of Matthew 16:15-16, namely that Christ, the Messiah, was "...the Son of the living God."
The first man, Adam, was referred to as a "son of God" (Luke 3:38), and angels were called the "sons of God" (Job 38:7). Converted Christians, begotten by the Holy Spirit, are also called "sons of God" (Romans 8:14-16), but Jesus claimed He was God's "only begotten Son" (John 3:16).
Jesus' identity as the only begotten Son of God was unique, because God the Father was directly His Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is true of no other person who has ever lived and is why the angel announced to Christ's mother, Mary, "...that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
At no point was Jesus ever converted to God's way of righteousness. Though He grew in spiritual wisdom (Luke 2:40-52) He was, from conception, the perfect Son of God. Jesus' claim of being the Son of God and that “God was His Father” was not understood by many when He was on earth. They accused Him of blasphemy and of “making Himself equal with God" (John 5:18).
The Bible also reveals Jesus existed before His human conception. Referring to an event that occurred before the creation of mankind, Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18), and when he was challenged over His claim of knowing and interacting with Abraham Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:56-59).
Not only was Jesus claiming preexistence by this statement, He was also claiming to be God! The Expositor's Bible Commentary explains: "'I am' implies continuous existence, including existence when Abraham appeared. Jesus was, therefore, asserting that at the time of Abraham's birth, he existed. Furthermore, I AM was recognized by the Jews as a title of deity. When God commissioned Moses to demand from Pharaoh the release of the Israelites, he said, 'This is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I AM has sent me to you"' (Exodus 3:14).” (1981, Vol. 9, p. 99).
This amazing truth is revealed elsewhere in the New Testament as well. The Apostle John began his Gospel with the explanation: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory..." (John 1:1-3, 14).
Paul also confirmed God "created all things through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus, then, was God, with the Father being preeminent. Jesus explained, "My Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). He serves as the Father's spokesman explaining: "...I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me..." (John 8:28). He functions as the "Word" of God—speaking and carrying out what the Father instructed Him, even commanding the universe into existence (Psalms 33:6).
The Apostle Paul explained the "Rock" of Israel in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalms 18:2) was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4) and was the "Lord" who interacted with people throughout the entire Old Testament. God, the Father, was generally unknown to mankind before Christ came in the flesh. In fact, one of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; 17:25-26).
Jesus told the Jews they had "neither heard His [the Father's] voice at any time, nor seen His form" (John 5:37). It was Jesus Christ who interacted with man as God on the Father's behalf, even giving the Ten Commandments to Israel. No wonder Jesus was to be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), "...which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matthew 1:23). Jesus constantly referred to Himself as the Son of Man. He experienced temptation during His life in the flesh, including Satan's spiritual broadcast of wrong moods and attitudes (Ephesians 2:2), but Jesus never gave in and sinned (1 Peter 2:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
As the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29; Revelation 5:6), He laid down His life to pay the death penalty for the sins of all mankind and, before His death prayed to the Father, "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:5). Thus, three days and nights after His burial, Jesus was resurrected to divine spirit life and restored to His former glorified state (Colossians 2:9; Romans 1:4).
The Good News Magazine