E-mail Questions Answered by Ken Smith:
2/22/07   Son of Man - Son of God:
Letter to the Editor: by Abbot +John <>< www.Trinity-Aloha.org
In response to St. Luke’s Magazine, Feb. Vol.27, #2, Page 7, “Jesus certainly knew who He was.”

It seems in this article that our Lord’s nature as the son of man and the son of God is rather confused. As the Son of Man Jesus came and grew in grace and was tested, tempted and died for our sins as the lamb of God. As the Son of God, The Christ, He came to reveal the express image of God in His Love, Holiness and Power. As God can not grow or be tested, tempted or die we see a wonderful mystery here that will take us on a wonderful journey as our Lord said to His Disciples, “Whom say ye that I Am?” Matt.16:13.

In Hebrews 2:7-14, the writer makes this anointed statement: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels.. that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man... For it became Him (Christ), for whom are all things, and by who are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain (Jesus) of their salvation perfect through sufferings..... Forasmuch then as the children are partakes of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil... For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels: but He took on Him the seed of Abraham...For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.

So if Jesus grew in grace, Luke 2:40 as we are supposed to grow in grace: 2 Pet.3:18 then this could not be Christ growing as God is forever the same. Jesus also said clearly that the end was not known to Him, Matt.24.36. He also said that who is to sit on his right and left hand was up to the Father, Matt.20:23. So our Lord Jesus only knew that which was given Him to know at the time and was not omnipotent prior to His resurrection. And as God (Christ) can not sin we are back to the old question, could Jesus have sinned? Did Jesus have a free will as the second Adam? In the Garden could He have said no to the death on the cross. Of course Jesus could. When He died on the cross and said, “Father why has thou forsaken me?” was that Jesus or Christ. As God can not die and God can not leave God then it must have been that the Christ, Isa.9:6 truly honored Jesus as the Lamb of God so that Jesus could die for our sins. The Son of Man died as a lamb and was resurrected as Jesus the Christ to forever be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords as He was found worthy. Christ was always worthy but Jesus become worthy in time. Some scripture is given from the dimension of eternity and some is given from the dimension of time. It is good to know if your are reading concerning foreknowledge and predestination or free will in time. Both positions are effective at all times.

So the question is when did Jesus, the Son of Man and Christ, the Son of God truly merge into one. This has been an age old question and also has been the cause of not a few Bishops becoming excommunicated. In foreknowledge - eternity our Lord Jesus has always been known by our Heavenly Father to win the victory. But in time it was a valid free will test and very real to our Lord Jesus. So again to the Book of Hebrews where it clearly states, He was PERFECTED through suffering. As God/Christ is perfect and The Word of God is perfect then this could only mean that at this point in time our Lord Jesus, as the second Adam gained a sinless victory and was forever perfected in and through his obedient death. Jesus is the first totally obedient Son of Man. Now it is our turn to learn how. Through John’s eyes we can now catch a glimpse of our Lord Jesus Christ in His glorious resurrection in the Revelation 1:11-18.

Back.