I am the Son of God
Note #2
The stupendous claim by Jesus of Nazareth to be one with God the Father, and thus the “Son of God”, was considered by the Jews to be blasphemous and thus worthy of death. The Jews were not expecting their Messiah to be divine, but to be a political king (2 Samuel 7), and maybe a prophetic one (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). The idea of God becoming a man was radical for ancient Jews, as it is for contemporary people. Undoubtedly, this is the pivotal claim and teaching of Jesus
Christ. This teaching is also exhibited in Jesus' oft-mentioned authoritative words “Truly I tell you” (NIV). It should also be said that there is sound historical evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lord (i.e. the Son of God), rather than a liar, lunatic, or legend.
Other New Testament Scriptures To See: Mark 2:1-12 / Luke 10:21-24 / John 5:16-27 / Romans 1:1-4 / 2 Corinthians 1:19 / 2 Peter 1:16-18 / 1 John 1:1-4.
Questions:
Is “the virgin birth” of Jesus Christ a mandatory or optional doctrine of the Christian faith? (see Matthew 1:18-25 / Luke 1:26-38)
(a) According to John 5:31-40, what evidence testifies that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, and (b) explain the New Testament term/concept “the Son of God”, that is, how can Jesus Christ be both the “Son” of God and “God” in the flesh?
What aspects of the incarnation (i.e. God becoming a man) interest and/or fascinate you?
Liberal/skeptical theologians maintain the early (1st century) Christian church took the human “Jesus of history” and transposed or changed him into the divine “Christ of faith”.
What do you think of this idea that the Jesus of the New Testament is essentially a man-made legend?
What do you think of the paragraph C.S. Lewis wrote that is copied at the very end (i.e. the Appendix) of this studybook?
Appendix
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about
Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
(C.S. Lewis in his book “Mere Christianity”