The Great Doctrines of the Bible by Rev. William Evans (best books to read for self improvement TXT) 📖

b) He is Called the Son of God.

The references containing this title are numerous. Among others see Matt. 16:16, 17; 8:29; 14:33; Mark 1:1; 14:61; Luke 1:35; 4:41. While it may be true that in the synoptic Gospels Jesus may not be said to have claimed this title for Himself, yet He unhesitatingly accepted it when used of Him and addressed to Him by others. Further, it seems clear from the charges made against Him that He did claim such an honor for Himself. Matt. 27:40, 43—“For he said, I am the Son of God.” Mark 14:61, 62 —“Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed” (Luke 22:70—“Art thou then the Son of God? And Jesus said, I am.” In John’s Gospel, however, Jesus plainly calls Himself “the Son of God” (5:25; 10:36 11:4). Indeed, John’s Gospel begins with Christ as God: “The Word was God,” and ends with the same thought: “My Lord and my God” (20:28). (Chapter 21 is an epilogue.)

Dr. James Orr says, in speaking of the title Son of God as ascribed to Christ: “This title is one to which there can be no finite comparison or analogy. The oneness with God which it designates is not such reflex influence of the divine thought and character such as man and angels may attain, but identity of essence constituting him not Godlike alone, but God. Others may be children of God in a moral sense; but by this right of elemental nature, none but He; He is herein, the only Son; so little separate, so close to the inner divine life which He expresses, that He is in the bosom of the Father. This language denotes two natures homogeneous, entirely one, and both so essential to the Godhead that neither can be omitted from any truth you speak of it.”

If when He called Himself “the Son of God” He did not mean more than that He was a son of God, why then did the high priest accuse Him of blasphemy when He claimed this title (Matt. 26: 61-63)? Does not Mark 12:6—“Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son,” indicate a special sonship? The sonship of Christ is human and historical, it is true; but it is more: it is transcendent, unique, solitary. That something unique and solitary lay in this title seems clear from John 5:18—“The Jews sought the more to kill Him….because he….said….also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”

The use of the word “only begotten” also indicates the uniqueness of this sonship. For use of the word see Luke 7:12—“The only son of his mother.” 9:38—“For he is mine only child.” This word is used of Christ by John in 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9, and distinguishes between Christ as the only Son, and the “many….children of God” (John 1:12, 13). In one sense Christ has no brethren: He stands absolutely alone. This contrast is clearly emphasized in John 1:14, 18—“only begotten Son,” and 1:12 (R. V.)—“many….children.” He is the Son from eternity: they “become” sons in time. He is one; they are many. He is Son by nature; they are sons by adoption and grace. He is Son of the same essence with the Father; they are of different substance from the Father.

c) He is Called The Lord.

Acte 4:33; 16:31; Luke 2:11; Acts 9:17; Matt. 22:43-45. It is true that this term is used of men, e.g., Acts 16:30—“Sirs (Lords), what must I do to be saved?” John 12:21—“Sir (Lord), we would see Jesus.” It is not used, however, in this unique sense, as the connection will clearly show. In our Lord’s day, the title “Lord” as used of Christ was applicable only to the Deity, to God. “The Ptolemies and the Roman Emperors would allow the name to be applied to them only when they permitted themselves to be deified. The archaeological discoveries at Oxyrhyncus put this fact beyond a doubt. So when the New Testament writers speak of Jesus as Lord, there can be no question as to what they mean.” —_Wood._

d) Other Divine Names are Ascribed to Him:

“The first and the last” (Rev. 1:17). This title used of Jehovah in Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12. “The Alpha and Omega” (Rev. 22:13, 16); cf. 1:8 where it is used of God.

2. DIVINE WORSHIP IS ASCRIBED TO JESUS CHRIST.

The Scriptures recognize worship as being due to God, to Deity alone: Matt. 4:10—“Worship the Lord thy God, and him only.” Rev. 22:8, 9—“I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel…Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not:…. worship God.” John was not allowed even to worship God at the feet of the angel. Acts 14:14, 15; 10:25, 26—Cornelius fell down at the feet of Peter, and worshipped him. “But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.” See what an awful fate was meted out to Herod because he dared to accept worship that belonged to God only (Acts 12:20-25). Yet Jesus Christ unhesitatingly accepted such worsnip, indeed, called for it (John 4:10). See John 20:28; Matt. 14:33; Luke 24:52; 5:8.

The homage given to Christ in these scriptures would be nothing short of sacrilegious idolatry if Christ were not God. There seemed to be not the slightest reluctance on the part of Christ in the acceptance of such worship. Therefore either Christ was God or He was an imposter. But His whole life refutes the idea of imposture. It was He who said, “Worship God only”; and He had no right to take the place of God if He were not God.

God himself commands all men to render worship to the Son, even as they do to Him. John 5:23, 24—“That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” Even the angels are commanded to render worship to the Son. Heb. 1:6—“And let all the angels of God worship him.” Phil. 2:10—“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.”

It was the practice of the apostles and the early church to render worship to Christ: 2 Cor. 12:8-10—“I besought the Lord.” Acts 7:59—“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 1 Cor. 1:2—“Them that…call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Christians of all ages have not been satisfied with admiring Christ, they have adored and worshipped Him. They have approached His person in the attitude of self-sacrifice and worship as in the presence of and to a God.

Robert Browning quoted, in a letter to a lady in her last illness, the words of Charles Lamb, when in a gay fancy with some friends as to how he and they would feel if the greatest of the dead were to appear suddenly in flesh and blood once more—on the first suggestion, and “if Christ entered this room?” changed his tone at once, and stuttered out as his manner was when moved: “You see —if Shakespeare entered, we should all rise; if Christ appeared, we must kneel.”

3. HE POSSESSES THE QUALITIES AND PROPERTIES OF DEITY.

a) Pre-Existence.

John 1:1—“In the beginning”; cf. Gen 1:1 John 8:58—“Before Abraham was, I am.” That is to say: “Abraham’s existence presupposes mine, not mine his. He was dependent upon me, not I upon him for existence. Abraham came into being at a certain point of time, but I am.” Here is simple being without beginning or end. See also John 17:5; Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:16, 17.

b) Self-Existence and Life-Giving Power:

John 5:21, 26—“For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” “For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” 1:4—“In him was life.” See also 14:6; Heb. 7:16; John 17:3-5; 10:17, 18. These scriptures teach that all life—physical, moral, spiritual, eternal—has its source in Christ.

c) Immutability:

Heb. 13:8—“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” See also 1:12. All nature, which like a garment He throws around Him is subject to change and decay; Jesus Christ is the same always, He never changes. Human teachers, such as are spoken of in the context, may change, but He, the Christ, never.

d) All the Fulness of the Godhead Dwelt in Him:

Col. 2:9—Not merely the divine perfections and attributes of Deity, but (theotes) the very essence and nature of the Godhead. He was not merely Godlike; He was God.

4. DIVINE OFFICES ABE ASCRIBED TO HIM.

a) He is the Creator:

John 1:3—“All things were made by Him.” In the creation He was the acting power and personal instrument. Creation is the revelation of His mind and might. Heb. 1:10 shows the dignity of the Creator as contrasted with the creature. Col. 1:16 contradicts the Gnostic theory of emanations, and shows Christ to be the creator of all created things and beings. Rev. 3:14—“The beginning of the creation of God,” means “beginning” in the active sense, the origin, that by which a thing begins to be. Col. 1:15—“first-born,” not made; compare with Col. 1:17, where the “for” of v. 16 shows Him to be not included in the “created things,” but the origin of and superior to them all. He is the Creator of the universe (v. 16), just as He is the Head of the church (v. 18).

b) He is the Upholder of All Things:

Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3. The universe is neither self-sustaining nor is it forsaken by God (Deism). Christ’s power causes all things to hold together. The pulses of universal life are regulated and controlled by the throbbings of the mighty heart of Christ.

c) He Has the Right to Forgive Sins.

Mark 2:5-10. Luke 7:48—“And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.” Certain it is that the Pharisees recognized that Christ was here assuming a divine prerogative. No mere man had any right to forgive sins. God alone could do that. Hence the Pharisees’ charge of blasphemy. This is no declaration of forgiveness, based upon the knowledge of the man’s penitence. Christ does not merely declare sins forgiven. He actually forgives them. Further, Jesus, in the parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7), declares that sins were committed against Himself (cf. Psa. 51:4—“Against thee, thee only, have I sinned”).

d) The Raising of the Bodies of Men is Ascribed to Him:

John 6:39, 40, 54; 11:25. Five times it is here declared by Jesus that it is His prerogative to raise the dead. It is true that others raised the dead, but under what different conditions? They worked by a delegated power (Acts 9:34); but Christ, by His own power (John 10:17, 18). Note the agony of Elisha and others, as compared with the calmness of Christ. None of these claimed to raise the dead by his own power, nor to have any such power in the general resurrection of all men. Christ did make such claims.

e) He is to be the Judge of All Men;

John 5:22—“For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” 2 Tim. 4:1; Acts 17:31; Matt. 25:31-46. The Man of the Cross is to be the Man of the throne. The issues of the judgment are all in His hand.

5. DIVINE ATTRIBUTES ARE POSSESSED BY HIM.

a) Omnipotence.

Matt 28:18—“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Rev. 1:8; John 17:2; Eph. I:20-22. Here is power over three realms: First, all power on earth: over disease (Luke 4:38-41); death (John 11); nature, water into wine (John 2); tempest (Matt. 8). Second, all power in hell: over demons (Luke 4:35, 36, 41); evil angels (Eph. 6). Third, all power in heaven: (Eph. 1:20-22).