“The
Word was with God.”
If, within the Trinity, there was both equality and differentiation, how could it possibly be seen? The answer to that question is: by a
Father/Son relationship. In John
10:30-33 Jesus refers to His oneness as the Son with His Father. It is the kind of statement that would cause
the Jews to want to stone Him for blasphemy, making Himself to be God. Yet in that one statement He acknowledges
differentiation (Son and Father) and equality (oneness). C. S. Lewis used to argue that if Jesus were made by God then He would be different but not equal. Only as the begotten Son of God is Jesus both different (and thus “with God”) and yet equal (and thus God). The
Word is the “Only Begotten of God” (John 1:14).
At His birth He was “the Son of God” (Luke 1:32,35). God spoke from heaven, more than once,
referring to Jesus as His beloved Son
(Matt. 3:17; 17:5).
The basis of this Father/Son relationship is
established by decree. “I will declare
the decree: The LORD has said to Me,
‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You’” (Psa. 2:7). This declaration predates the birth of
Christ; He did not become God’s Son when He was born Son of Man. We have already seen that the Word was with
God at the time of the creation of all things; so this decree came before
creation as well. While some have
thought this decree was made at a time
in eternity past, most believe it is an eternal decree. This relationship within the Trinity has
forever been the nature of the Godhead.
Some falsely think Jesus was an angel who
became the Son of God. But angels are
called to worship Him (Heb. 1:5-14). In
the incarnation He was made a little lower than the angels so He might taste
death for mankind (Heb. 2:5-10).
In Gen. 22:2 God commanded Abraham to take his
“only son Isaac, whom you love” and offer him as a sacrifice on a mountain in
Moriah. Some wonder why God told Abraham
to do such a terrible thing. Of course,
Isaac didn’t die that day; he had a substitute (Gen. 22:13). As Abraham had told Isaac, God did provide a
lamb (22:8). Is that not why God told
Abraham to do this? It was His way of
telling Abraham, Isaac and their descendants how He would provide a Lamb who
would take away the sins of the world (22:14; cf. Jn. 1:29). God (Yahweh-Yireh) would provide His Lamb in
that “mount of the Lord”.
That is why many are drawn to an area north of
the old city of Jerusalem
called “Skull Hill.” This hill is an
outcropping connected to Mount
Moriah as one of its four
peaks. This “place of a skull” makes
sense to many as the place of the crucifixion of Christ, that the Savior would
die in a place connected with Mt.
Moriah and yet be outside
the city. Whether it is the place or not
it is a strong, visual reminder that God really did send His Son, His Only Son
whom He loved! And He really did, in a
real place at a definite time, die as our Substitute. The Son of God is the Lamb of God!
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