Who is He?

THE SON OF GOD

WHO IS HE?

THE question. The question of all questions. Christianity with all its hopes, ideals and beliefs hangs in the balance. On the answer depends the solidity or frailty of the Christian's faith. By the answer we shall know whether we are building for eternity or merely wasting the precious hours through vain indulgence in idle hopes. By it we shall know whether our Faith is fact or fiction; a reality or a dream; a substance or a shadow. We have at least four methods of eliciting an answer to our question, four means by which to arrive at an estimate of the Person concerning whom we make the inquiry. These are:

(A) HIS CLAIMS...... What He said. (B) HIS WORKS....... What He did. (C) His REPUTATION.. What was said of Him. (D) His INFLUENCE... What was done for Him.

(A) HIS CLAIMS Of the many claims which were put forth by Him, we select two which stand forth prominently from amongst them. The first of these may be found in Matthew 27:43,
"I AM THE SON OF GOD."the other is in Matthew 16:13,

"I, THE SON OF MAN." We must readily acknowledge that such an one is at least unique in His claims. Furthermore, we must bow before the atmosphere of conscious truthfulness which pervades and leaves its seal upon the untrembling declaration before us. The claim has carried a conviction inherent in itself to the hearts and souls of millions, and if not true must be reckoned as the most audacious falsehood of the ages, or if true, must be bowed to as the crowning gem of the self-revelation of God. There is an obvious lack of temerity about these statements. The words bear no trace of having been uttered with the tell-tale blush, or spoken in the faltering tones allied to self-deception. The statements are dogmatic in form, and are conveyed to us not as suggestions but as emphatic assertions of ultimate and absolute facts. The claimant says not, "I think I am the Son of God;" neither does He say "I believe I am the Son of Man." I AM, He declares, with equal positiveness of both these facts, as certain that He was God as that He was Man. I AM, He cries, and challenges Earth and Hell to gainsay the fact. Think, if you can, of a little raindrop's threats to wash the Rock of Gibraltar from its base; laugh, if you will, at such presumptuous vanity, and then think of the efforts of Modern Scholarship (!) to undermine this grand foundation of the Faith. Over and above the murmur of modern denials; over the inflated bombast of German Rationalism, and the mechanical echo of English and American culture; above the confused and confusing dins raised by a thousand contending theories, we may still hear the quiet, dignified words of Him who said: I am the Son of God; I am the Son of Man. Oh, that every knee would bow to such a Master! But what does the title "the Son of Man" imply? What does it mean? As God originally gave His Word to man, every particle of it had a distinct meaning of its own. There was not a word without its own peculiar mission, and the revelation itself did not contain a word too many nor a word too few. To entertain a lower theory of Inspiration is to fail to recognize that the Book in every respect was worthy of its Author. The divine inspiration extended not merely to the religious parts of the Book, as some think; nor only to the germinal idea, as others think; but extends all the way through from the greatest to the least, including even its minute "jots and tittles" as testified by Christ the Lord (Matt.5:18). Any view of the Word which is a whit lower than that of the Son of God is too ignoble and base to be entertained by any of God's dear children. The use of the definite article in connection with the title "Son of Man" has a distinctive value. It denotes preeminence. It separates. In Scripture we read of many who are spoken of as "sons of men." "Son of man, stand upon thy feet" is said to Ezekiel (Ezek.2:1). "Understand, O Son of man" is spoken to Daniel (Dan.8:17). But only one is said to be THE Son of Man. He is the Man of men; the Flower of humanity; the Ideal of the race. He is THE MAN. And that title has a history connected with it which finds its origin in the opening periods of human existence. The great promise to Eve concerning redemption, was bound up as to its fulfillment with One who should be the seed of woman. And when we read of Eve bringing in her firstborn into the world we learn of her joyous, though premature utterance, "I have gotten the man, Jehovah." Eve was mistaken. Cain was not the man; but now Christ comes upon the scene and utters these potent words: "I am THE MAN." Moses of old, gifted with prophetic vision, looking down the course of the ages, announced to Israel, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken" (Deut.18:15). Christ said, "I am THE MAN." Isaiah the prophet foretells a coming time when "a man shall be an hiding place" (Isa.32:2). Christ lays claim to our faith in saying "I am THE MAN." And what a strange utterance is that of Zechariah (13:7) when God speaks of one thus: "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow." How can we understand this, a MAN and yet God's fellow? Christ shows Himself and gives us the solution when He says "I am THE MAN." Thus does He claim to be the Personal Fulfillment of the prophetic word, and the substantiation of the ancient promises of God. And beloved, He is indeed all this or nothing. He is the appointed Hiding Place; the Prophet like unto Moses; the Seed of the Woman; the man that is God's Fellow; or else the greatest fraud that was ever perpetrated upon humanity. If He was not every particle of what He claimed to be, then the lowest slave of sin must be higher than He, for the slave of sin is at least open and perceptible in his vileness, while He was dishonest and fraudulent in His piety. But death tests all such claims. Approaching dissolution applies an acid-test to all vain pretensions. And so, when we hear Him saying, in full view of Calvary's terrors and pains, "For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth," our doubts and fears vanish to the four winds of heaven. We have found the glorious truth—Christ is THE MAN. But to be the One of prophecy necessitated His being much more than man. The Man of prophecy was not only human but superhuman. In the very first promise concerning His coming He is prophesied as being the seed, not of man as in ordinary generation, but of woman, intimating a generation extraordinary. And to this marvelous promise Christ adds words that must have mystified His hearers. His mother's remonstrance contained the sentence: "Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." The Son takes up the words and corrects her gently in His reply: "I must be about my Father's business." His Father was not of Earth. What wonderful glories radiate around the "I am's" of Him who made these unique claims! "Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him" (John 8:57-59). Full well did they understand Him as claiming to be the Jehovah who was Israel's hope and Israel's glory, and counting it the supreme blasphemy possible to man, would gladly have stoned Him to death on the spot. But Faith prostrates itself, and remembering the promise to Abraham, "Jehovah will provide Himself a lamb," gladly sets its seal to the fact that in very truth Jehovah has provided HIMSELF.

Alan Burns