Posted by Illuminati on 6/14/2009, 8:22 pm, in reply to "Re: Jesus' Divinity 1"
75.173.17.91
As you have demonstrated, the term "son of God" is not meant to represent a literal birthing relationship. It describes a spiritual relationship. That being said, Jesus did claim that His relationship to the Father is unique.
Matt 21:33-40
33 "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard . He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.
38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
NIV
One more verse describing Jesus' special relationship to the Father should suffice.
Luke 4:40-41
40 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God !" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
NIV
From this verse, we can conclude that Jesus' contemporaries believed that the Messiah (the Christ)is God's son in a special sense. Since He wasn't prepared to publicly announce His sonship yet, Jesus told the devils to be quiet about who He was.
Amir said:
The verses don’t mean that God cannot become a man,however the verses are still very clear, that God is not LIKE a man to repent or change his mind,God is not LIKE a man to be weak and have no power,God is not LIKE a man to become a servant.That is the main message that God is sending, he not like a man, so we cannot try and compare him with us, and he is not like a man to change his mind,such as his laws and his teachings.However so, if Jesus is indeed God, then God has indeed taken a drastic U-turn and has changed, not because he became a man, or the son of man, but because his attributes and essence have completely CHANGED.And if the verses above do not mean that God cannot become a man, they do say God does not change, this means he does not change his essence,his attributes,his purpose and his decrees.
I don't know anyone who believes that in Jesus, God changed His essence. As I have already demonstrated, God has always had the ability to appear in human form. This does not in any way change His essence.
There is a potential pitfall which we must all avoid. As you have pointed out, throughout recorded histroy human rulers have assummed the role of Gods. Also, you are correct that during His lifetime, while living as a man, Jesus did not broadcast who He was or demand worship. This is only proper. Daniel 7 is clear that it is at the judgment that Jesus receives His kingdom. Since Jesus' one big sign was His death, burial, and recurrection, it was impossible for his contemporaries to know exactly who He was while He was alive. It was only after His resurrection that they finally understood the nature of His kingdom. In other words, the being Christians worship is not a mortal walking among us, but the risen Lord, the spirit who now resides in His immortal splendor in Heaven.
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