Jesus, the Son of God: Biblical meaning, Muslim Understanding ...

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St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 3 | August 2011!Another example is in 2 John 1:3 where John says, "Grace, mercyand peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father'sSon, will be with us in truth and love." Again, from the examinationof these terms in isolation (or even from just a casual reading ofthe text) it is clear that the title "Christ" is distinct in meaning from"the Father's Son". These are two different ways of referring toJesus, of emphasizing different aspects of who He is. And certainlyJohn did not say or mean "...from Jesus Christ, the Christ".In 1 Cor 1:9, Paul teaches that God has called us "into fellowshipwith His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Notice the focus on relationshipwith God's Son; that truth should be maintained in a translation.In fact, all three titles ("Son, Christ, Lord") used for Jesus inthis passage are distinct and should be preserved in a translation. 46Notice also that the last two roles ("Christ" and "our Lord") weremade possible because Jesus is God's Son, not vice versa.In 1 John 2:22, God says, "Who is the liar? It is the man whodenies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—hedenies the Father and the Son." In this passage, the phrase "the Fatherand the Son" does not define "the Christ" (the phrases are distinct,not synonyms 47 ), rather it shows who is behind "the Christ",that is, who made it possible for the "the Christ" to be a reality. Inother words, this verse means that if anyone denies that Jesus is theChrist, he is also doing something else (something much worse!),since in the process he is also denying the Father and the Son who!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!46 “The Son of Man” is another important, distinct title for Jesus, so it should bemaintained as distinct from "Son" and "the Son of God" in a translation. Althoughthis point may seem obvious, it is mentioned here because the MIT movement supportsan erroneous view that Jesus used "the Son" only as a "shortened form of 'theSon of Man' title" and that "when Jesus [uses] 'Son of God', the usage seems indistinguishablefrom 'Son of Man'." [Brown, in Abernathy, "Jesus is the Son of God,Part Two," 4, 19, 27], even though "the Son of Man" has its own unique meaningand function and "Son" is normally used in the same context with "Father" (referringto Jesus and God His Father).47 If we follow the reasoning (as reported in the CT article) used to claim thatChrist is a synonym and an accurate substitute for "the Son of God" in passagessuch as Mat 16:15–20 and Luke 4:41 (see discussion below), we would wronglyconclude here that the two phrases "the Christ" and "the Father and the Son" aresynonyms.St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision!"+!
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 3 | August 2011!together made "the Christ" a reality. This is part of the Biblicaltheme that salvation was made possible for mankind as a result ofGod the Father's love for His Son, and His Son's love for Him, aswell as their joint love for mankind, so that God sent His Son, andHis Son obeyed Him even unto death to provide salvation for theworld. 48In spite of the evidence from word studies and the wider Biblecontext that "the Christ" and "the Son of the living God" have distinctmeanings, certain alleged proof texts have been used by theMIT movement to try to convince translators and other Christiansthat these terms are merely synonyms. Three of those texts (citedin CT) are discussed below:1. Luke 4:41: "Moreover demons came out of many people,shouting, 'You are the Son of God!' But He rebuked them andwould not allow them to speak, because they knew He was theChrist."An important observation regarding this verse is that the demonsclearly knew who Jesus was in His very nature: the Son ofGod. They also knew His mission as the Christ, the Savior of theworld. The reason given for Jesus silencing the demons reflects acommon theme 49 throughout the synoptic Gospels that before Hisdeath and resurrection, Jesus did not normally want it widelyspread around among the Jews 50 that He was the Christ, the longawaitedSavior-King, probably because that title would be misunderstoodand could prevent or deviate Him from doing His work,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!48 For example, see John 3:16, 14:31, 15:9–10; 16:27–28; 17:23–24; Romans 5:8–10,1 John 4:7–16. In fact, the truth that God is love (1 John 4:8) implies that He hasalways been love, which implies the eternal Father-Son relationship of mutual love.49 Examples of other verses with the same theme: Mat 8:4, 12:16, 16:20; Mark 1:34,44; 3:12, 8:30; Luke 5:14, 8:56, 9:21. As the news about Jesus spread (Luke 5:15–16), the crowds following Him became so large (some in the thousands) that Hehad to stay away from the populated areas because He would attract too much attention(Mark 1:45).50 Notice that when Jesus was in a Gentile region (where "Messiah" would not havethe wrong meaning), He did not give any such prohibition (Mat 5:6ff). Instead, Heinstructed the man He had healed of demons to tell his family and friends (vs 19).St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision!"*!
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