Essay Outline:The son of Man and God
- Introduction
Different groups appear to differ concerning whether Jesus is the son of man, son of God, or both. The belief by Christians is that Jesus was the begotten son of God and that he existed even before the earth was made. The titles ‘son of man’ and ‘son of God’ both refers to Jesus and their interpretation is similar.
- According to the Christian scriptures, Jesus was the third being of God’s trinity sent to the earth to save humankind from the devil’s kingdom.
- Jesus was God, and the crucifixion was a sign of father-son agreement towards a common goal that was to save humankind.
- The title ‘son of God’ was also used to represent kings and Jesus as explained by the scriptures was the king of Judah.
- In the New Testament, Jesus was also presented as the son of God on several occasions.
- The title was also to represent Jesus. For example, it used by Angel Gabriel when announcing the birth of Jesus: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the holy child shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35)”
- In the Old Testament of the scriptures, the phrase ‘Son of Man’ is used as a poetical substitute for man.
- Ezekiel the prophet was called the son of man by God saying, “Son of Man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you” (Ezekiel 2:1).
- However, he also highlights the fact that He was born from a woman and shared the qualities of a human
- Jesus used the titles ‘son of man’ and ‘son of God’ as a means of self-defense against the harsh religious criticism that was directed towards his ministry.
- As a man, Jesus could test death since he would do that like God. Because Jesus knew that His life, death, and resurrection were for the good of all humankind, He submitted to the will of God, his father.
- Jesus understood the term ‘Son of Man’ to stipulate His divinity as the Son of God.
- The titles ‘son of man’ and ‘son of God’ could be used interchangeably to refer to Jesus. However, the evidence that there are several sons of God, Jesus used the title ‘son of man’ to differentiate himself from the other sons of God and to make it clear that He was the begotten son of God. Also, the title ‘son of man’ could have gotten the title from the fact that he was the son of God who had agreed to come to the aid of humankind. Jesus clearly understood Himself to be the ‘Son of man’ who came to earth to bring peace by conquering the world of wickedness.