Think of how many stories in the Bible are about fathers and sons. Not just the long lists of genealogy in the Old Testament, but substantial relationships: Adam with Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, David and Absalom. All of the stories have tensions, but also reveal a special kind of bond.
That is appropriate background to consider the father/son relationship between God and Jesus—but their relationship is more than just shared blood; it is shared being. In the mystery of the Trinity, the two are both one and distinct. Or, as John the gospel writer describes Jesus as the Word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
In his distinct nature as the son, Jesus does three important things for us:
1. He reveals God.
2. He is our savior.
3. He is our lord.
Luke says, “No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
At one level this doesn’t make sense. People knew about God long before the arrival of Jesus. And, at least in the Christian interpretation of much Old Testament prophecy, people knew or should have known who the son is.
But for Luke, and for Christianity, Jesus reveals so much about God that no one can truly be said to know God without knowing Jesus.
Often people’s journey to faith starts with a non-specific belief in a higher power they identify as “God.” That’s a great place to start—many of us began our own faith journeys in a similar place. But it’s not sufficient. Jesus adds so much to our understanding of God that we, too, can fully understand and know God through the words and person of Jesus Christ.
Second, Jesus is our savior—at least if we allow him to be. In the words of Romans 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Third, Jesus is our lord. We sometimes glibly use the phrase “lord and savior” as though the two words mean the same thing, but they don’t. In fact, their meanings are so far apart that only God himself could unite them into one person.
A lord is someone who has power over us; someone who can issue commands that we have to obey. We owe sacrifices to a lord, to do as we are told.
As savior, though, Jesus sacrifices for us—a sacrifice beyond comprehension. And it is recognition of that sacrifice that we owe him our lives and obedience.
– Rev. Mark Fleming
This is part of a sermon/reading series in July-August, 2024, looking at some core Christian beliefs, along with distinctive emphases of the Methodist branch of Christianity.
The daily readings are my own, but they are loosely based on the topics covered in the Catechism of the Global Methodist Church. The column at the right contains the questions from the catechism and the sources it lists.
You can find the full catechism and other information about the Global Methodist Church at globalmethodist.org.
I invite you to join us for worship and other church gatherings at China Methodist Church and Forest Park Methodist Church.
Respectful conversation is welcome. Use the comment section at the end of this post.
From the Catechism of the Global Methodist Church:
7. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
Yes. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.
Mark 9:7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!
Matthew 3:17 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
1 Corinthians 8:6 …yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
Philippians 2:11 …and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jude 1:4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
8. Is the Son God?
Yes. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Luke 10:22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
Philippians 2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage…
Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…
Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form…
Hebrews 1:1-5 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?