BIBLE TOPICS

The Son of God.

This brings us to consider the one who is the greatest manifestation of God. Often in scripture we find passages that appear to refer to Jesus as 'God'. However in these cases it is not implying that Jesus is God. What it is demonstrating, is that as we have seen, the name of God can be applied to beings through whom God chooses to 'manifest' or reveal Himself. Thus we see in scripture angels as well as Jesus can carry God's Name. This fundamental principle once understood begins to enlighten our understanding of so much of the purpose of God. We can draw examples though in a limited way from our lives today. For example the government of the UK speaks on behalf of the ‘crown’ or a High Court judge makes pronouncements in law on behalf of the ‘crown’. An employee is empowered to act on behalf of the company in certain circumstances, maybe to purchase goods or agree a selling price for goods. A child may have similar characteristics to parents, having similar mannerisms and behaviour and sharing the same name, but parent and child are still separate people. To a far greater degree than all these examples Jesus is like his Father and represents his Father. This manifestation is to such a degree that Jesus could say "He who has seen me has seen the Father." This is not literally as being God, but as Paul writes, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being..." Hebrews 1:3

Thus Jesus is the highest manifestation of God, for he is the Son of God and the one whom God has made higher than the angels: "So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs." Hebrews 1:4

It is valuable in our study of God manifestation to consider also the following passages:

" For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?" Hebrews 1:5

"And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."" Hebrews 1:6

"To which of the angels did God ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?" Hebrews 1:13

"You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honour" Hebrews 2:7

All the way through the New Testament we see that it is God who exalts Jesus to the highest position of honour. Jesus never took any honour upon himself, indeed it was just the opposite, Jesus said:

"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does........ By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." John 5:19 & 30

Jesus relied totally upon God and was obedient in all things. Thus it is unsurprising that Jesus being the only begotten Son of God and being the supreme manifestation of God to men, should also carry or bear the name of God. So Jesus says "I am come in my Father's Name" John 5:43. Jesus though tempted just like we are, though of our nature did not sin, thus because of his obedience God gave "Him a Name which is above every name" Phil 2:9, that is the name of God Himself.

Jesus is the pinnacle of the creation of God, the central pivot of God’s purpose thus it is unsurprising that much of what is written in Old Testament scripture speaks of Jesus in various ways. God’s purpose will come to pass no matter what happens or what man does, thus often in scripture we read of an event as if it has already happened. We read for example:

"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel. Yea, ye shall flee, Like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee." (Zech 14.35).

The day of battle refers to when Joshua overcame in battle all the nations in the land God had promised to Israel. At this time we read:

"Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so." Joshua 5:13-15

So again we see an angel representing God as commander of God’s army [Israel] and Joshua speaks to him as ‘Lord’. Now we need to remember that Joshua was a ‘type’ of Jesus to come. Thus Zechariah speaking of that greater battle to come when Jesus defeats his enemies says: "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives" Jesus the ‘Great King’ as commander of the armies of God [in this case the resurrected and immortalised righteous] will fight against the nations who come against Jerusalem. Jesus the one who bears the name of God, thus is described as "the Lord my God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee." Remembering that rulers and judges in Israel were termed as ‘gods’ it is unsurprising that Jesus should be referred to in this way.

A similar expression is found in Isaiah 9:6, where concerning Jesus we are told "His Name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father..". First we note his name ‘shall be’ in other words the name God would give him. Secondly it is a prophecy that Jesus would carry all the names of God, in other words he would be the total manifestation or revelation of God to us. It was in this sense that he was called 'Emmanuel', meaning 'God is with us'. But always we see God as supreme for Isaiah continues v7 "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

So the throne of Jesus is associated with the throne of David [just as God promised David] and most importantly it is God Himself who will accomplish it. We also must remember that despite all the greatness God has given to Jesus, at the end all will be made subject to God, Paul writes:

"he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet...... Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." 1Corinthians 15:25-27.

So then to summarise, Jesus is the highest manifestation of God. Jesus though man, is the highest order of creation, man as he was intended to be from the beginning. Adam was the highest order of his creation, but failed to progress. Jesus succeeded where Adam failed and is the highest order of God’s new creation. Thus through Jesus a new hierarchy of creation came into being: God the Creator, then Jesus exalted by God to the highest position, then man who is totally reliant upon the saving name of Jesus. Therefore Jesus can be truly termed ‘everlasting father’ of the immortalised faithful, those who through faith in Jesus have been found worthy of life. So again Jesus is styled in scripture as ‘the firstfruits of those who sleep’:

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep......... But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him". 1 Corinthians 15:20 & 23