In the New Testament, Jesus uses many descriptions of Himself which point to who He is. Of the many that Jesus used, what follows is merely a small sample of those He used of Himself.
SON OF GOD. Of all the terms Jesus used to refer to Himself, no other more clearly expresses His deity than the Son of God. In Revelation 2:18 we read, “And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God”. The phrase “son of” in the Bible sometimes carries the idea of the “nature” of someone. Jesus using the description Son of God regarding Himself is making a claim of deity. Jesus is not a Son, but the Son of God, that is, the Son of God in a sense that no one else is. The Jewish leaders in John 5:17-18 understood Jesus’ claim that He is the Son of God and therefore equal with God. Before Jesus was born, the angel told Mary “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest’ and “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” Luke 1:32, 35.
SON OF MAN. This description Jesus used more than any other of Himself. If when Jesus used the term Son of God it indicated Jesus’ deity, then when Jesus used the term Son of man he would be indicating His humanity. This would be referring to His incarnation in which He added to His divine nature, human nature. See Philippians 2:6-8. As the Son of Man, Jesus became hungry (Matthew 4:2), weary (John 4:6), thirsty (John 19:28), He sorrowed (Matthew 26:38), He wept (John 11:35), He had a troubled soul (John 12:27), He was moved with compassion (Matthew 9:36), He loved (John 11:3),and He could die (Matthew 27:50).
THE CHRIST. During the conversation with the Woman of Samaria in John chapter 4, the woman said “I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.” Messiah is the Hebrew work for the Greek word Christ. Messiah/Christ means “Anointed One”. Jesus of Nazareth was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies pertaining to the coming “Messiah”. In the Old Testament, anointing with oil was used ceremonially to set apart special roles, especially that of prophets (1 Kings 19:16), priests, (Exodus 28:41), and Kings, (1 Samuel 9:16). Only Jesus was all three in one person as Prophet (Acts 3:22), Priest (Hebrews 3:1) and King (Acts 2:30-36). As Prophet, Christ is the spokesman for God, John 1:18, as priest, he offered his blood for mankind, Hebrews 9:12, as King, he reigns at the right hand of God, 1 Peter 3:22.
THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. Jesus makes this statement in John 14:6. Jesus is the way to the Father. This is a truly encouraging statement; for man’s greatest goal is to one day be in heaven with the Father and all the redeemed forever and ever. He is “the” way meaning there is not a multiplicity of ways that a person can choose and go to the Father. No one comes to the Father except through Christ. That is an absolute statement. There is no other way. He is the Truth. Truth is a large word, embracing the mind, nature, and promises of God. Christ, the Truth, expresses fully and completely the divine knowledge of God directing us to “the way”. Christ, the truth, is the revelation of divine light leaving us in the fellowship of God in “the way” 1 John 1:6-7. Jesus called himself the Life. The ultimate of life is eternal life in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, 1 John 5:11-12. Jesus is the source of eternal life, Jesus has said ““I am the resurrection and the life” John 11:25. As brother Wendell Winkler said in the January 1987 issue of The Spiritual Sword, “Since Jesus is “the way,” without him we are lost; since Jesus is “the truth,” without him we are in error; and since Jesus is “the life,” without him we are (spiritually) dead.”
-Jerry D. Sturgill
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