Christ, the Son of the Living God

GOLDEN TEXT: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” —John 14:6

MATTHEW 16:13-17; JOHN 14:8-14

WHEN Peter said to his Master, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” he identified Jesus as the One whom the Heavenly Father had sent to fulfill all the messianic promises recorded in the Old Testament. The word Christ is more than a name. It is a title, the title of the One through whom God will bless all the families of the earth in keeping with one of the first messianic promises, the promise that was made to Abraham.—Gen. 12:3

God’s Messiah was not to be a member of the fallen and dying human race; but his own beloved and only begotten Son, “whose goings forth have been from of old:” (Micah 5:2) John refers to him as the “Logos,” meaning mouthpiece, or representative. The Logos, or “Word,” he explains, was “made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”*—John 2:14

*NOTE: See the booklet, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Millions have called Jesus “Christ,” but only those to whom the Heavenly Father reveals the truth as he did to Peter, see in him the One who will actually do for mankind all the wonderful things which God has promised. Only these know and believe that he will establish a world-wide government of peace and righteousness; that through the agencies of this kingdom he will heal the sick and raise the dead, and give to all an opportunity to live on the earth forever as human beings restored to the perfection that was, through sin,; lost in the Garden of Eden.

Jesus’ words to Philip, recorded in John 14:8-14, are sometimes erroneously used in an attempt to prove that the Father and the Son are one in person. Philip asked, “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth.” To this Jesus replied, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Adding to this, Jesus said, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?” Later the same evening, in praying for his disciples, Jesus said, “As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, [I pray] that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”—John 17:21

Since Jesus asked that his followers be “in” the Father in the sense as he was, it is evident that being “in” the Father could not mean that the Father and the Son are one person. Jesus explained the manner in which he was in the Father and the Father in him. He said, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself [not by my own authority]: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”—vs. 10

Jesus continued, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” (vs. 11) Then he pointed out the importance of such a belief, saying, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Jesus was “in” the Father and the “Father” was “in” him because he was doing the work of the Father. He prayed that his followers might ultimately be “in” him and together with him be “in” the Father. With this prayer answered, as Jesus explains, these believers will do the same works as he was doing, the Father’s works—and even “greater works, … because I go unto my Father.”

Paul wrote, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, … and hath committed unto us [margin ‘put in us’] the word of reconciliation.” (II Cor. 5:19) This ministry of reconciliation is made possible through the redemptive work of Christ. When complete, it will see the willing and obedient of the entire human race in harmony with God, and restored to health and life.

Jesus healed a few of the sick, and awakened a few from death as illustrations of his Father’s ultimate purpose of being “in” him, and working through him. Because he returned to the Father to present the merit of his shed blood on the antitypical mercy seat, to make possible our own reconciliation, we may share in the Father’s work—now by ministering the “word of reconciliation,” and later in participating in the work of restoring all mankind to life, and enabling the obedient to live forever: Jesus will lead in this work, and it will be greater than what he did while here in the flesh—and made possible because he returned to the Father.

In our Golden Text we are reminded that Jesus is the “way,” the “truth,” and the “life.” It is through him that we are reconciled to God. He is the living Word of truth, who, by revealing the meaning of the written Word, shows us the “way.” It is through him that we also receive life. He is the propitiation for death-dealing sin—not for ours only, but also for the sin of the whole world.—I John 2:2

QUESTIONS

What is implied by the title “Christ”?

Does Jesus’ statement, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father,” mean that the Father and the Son are the same person?

How was Jesus “in” the Father, and the Father “in” him? and does this also apply to his faithful followers?

Explain the meaning of the Golden Text.

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