Jesus, the foundation of our faith

In Romans 6:23, the Bible tells us: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life  through Jesus Christ our Lord."

We only have eternal life through Jesus Christ. That means our eternal life is not dependent  on  us belonging to a certain denomination or any kind of membership. Our eternal life depends only on Jesus Christ our Lord.

In John 17:3, Jesus is praying to His Father, and says: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

So, eternal life is: 1) knowing the Father, the only true God, and 2) knowing Jesus His son.

So, who is Jesus? We will take a look at the bible  because our eternal life depends on knowing who He is.

In John 10:36, Jesus says to the Pharisees: "Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?"

So from Christ's own words we know He is the Son of God.

John  5:18 tells us: "'Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God."

In this verse Christ is making himself equal with His Father based on his Sonship.

Now, if  Jesus claims Sonship from the Father, are there other son's of God?

Luke 3:38 tells us that Adam was called the son of God by creation (Genesis 5): "Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God."

1 John 3: 1 tells us that we become son's of God by redemption or adoption: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should called the sons of God:  therefore the world knoweth us now, because it knew him not.

But John 3:16 tells us that Christ is the only begotten of the Father: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Who is He begotten of? John 1:14 gives us the answer: "And the Word 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."

Did Christ come out from God? Jesus himself tell us in John 16:27: "For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God."

If Christ was begotten, when was He begotten? Micah 5: 2 refers about Christ in prophecy and tell us: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out  of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;  whose goings forth have  been from of old, from everlasting."

Proverbs 8:22-30 clarifies this text: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth;
While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth.
When he established the clouds above:  when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundations of the earth;
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.'

Proverbs 8 is talking about wisdom. Who is the wisdom of God?  In 1 Corinthians 1:24 the Bible tells us: "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

So, Christ is the wisdom of God, in other words it is He who is speaking in Proverbs 8.

What about Proverbs 30:4.  In Proverbs 30:4 the Bible tells us: "Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?'

Solomon identifies the relationship between a Father and a Son at the creation.

So, Christ here has confirmed that by the time creation took place, He was already a Son, He was already begotten of His Father.

Now, one of the many things that Christ inherited was His Father's name. Hebrews 1:4 says: "Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

Christ inherited the character and authority of His Father.

In John 5:26 Christ tells us there: "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself."

So, the same eternal life the Father has, He has given to His Son because He is the only begotten of His Father and therefore Christ is equal in divine nature with the Father.

Colossians 2:9 says, speaking of Christ: "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

In Christ dwells all the divinity and equality of His Father based on His Sonship. That makes Him the only Being in the whole universe who is fully equal to His Father in nature.

Now, we have a testimony from the Father himself in Matthew 3:17 at the baptism of Christ: "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

And a second testimony from the Father himself In Matthew 17:5 this time on the  Mount of Transfiguration: "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them;  and behold a voice out of  the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;  hear ye him."

And what was the Father revelation? That Jesus is His beloved Son. Why was important to repeat it? Because only through His Son there is eternal life.

Now, do you think satan would stay idle with the truth that the Father said twice regarding His Son? Of course not.

In Matthew 4:3 says: "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."

In Matthew 4:6 he says the same thing again: "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at  any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.'

Here the tempter is trying to persuade Jesus to unbelief (doubt) by questioning His Sonship. He contradicts twice what the Father said about His Son. So, the devil's theology is to deny the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.

In the book This Day with God, p. 128 we read: "Angels were expelled from heaven because they would not work in harmony with God.   They fell from their high estate because they wanted to be exalted. They had come to exalt themselves and they forgot that their beauty of person and of character came from the Lord Jesus. This fact the [fallen] angels would obscure, that Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and they came to consider that they were not to consult Christ.'

Satan has always tried to obscure and hide the fact that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.

So, what does the Koran say about the Son of God? Let's take a look:

“1  Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; 2 Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3    He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
4    And there is none like unto Him.”  Sura 112

Those who follow the Koran don't believe the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.

What about the New Age theology? The book "The new age movement and the biblical worldview" p. 60 states: "The worldview of new agers compels them to say that Jesus is no more God than anyone else."

In other words, Jesus is not the real Son of God. He is God in the same way that you are god. Just as the serpent told Eve in the garden: "you shall be as gods", that same lie keep resonating to this day. So, new age philosophy is the antagonist of Islam regarding the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.

What about closer to home? In the book 'Understanding the Trinity' p. 97 we find the following statement: “The Father–Son relationship in the Godhead should be understood in a metaphorical sense, not in a literal sense”. 

This quote is basically saying: God does not have a real Son. Jesus, the only begotten of the Father, is just a metaphor. The Father-Son relationship is not real.

Satan is definitely busy trying to obscure and hide God's truth for this day!

What about a quote from the Adventist Review of Seventh day Adventist church, October 31,1996 p.12.  It says the following: "A plan of salvation was encompassed in the covenant made by the Three Persons of the Godhead, who possessed the attributes of Deity equally. In order to eradicate sin and  rebellion from the universe and to restore harmony and peace, one of the divine Beings accepted, and entered into the role of the Father, another the role of the Son. The remaining divine Being, the Holy Spirit, was also to participate in effecting the plan of salvation."

Jesus taking the role of a Son?  What about the bible saying that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God? Was He lying when He said that? Was Jesus only pretending to be a Son? Is satan trying to hide the truth that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God by clever and sophisticated ways? Certainly!

Now, take this next bible verse into your heart because sadly prophecy is being fulfilled right now just like Paul said to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils."

What a worse scenario than to think that we are in the faith, when in reality we have departed from it when we accept the doctrines of devils. In other words we are deceiving ourselves.

And this is from the SOP in Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895 part 3 : "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son," not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father's person”

Does this quote sound like bible truth  or role playing? Also, in Adventist Review, Jan. 6, 1994 we find the following statement: "Adventist beliefs have changed over the years under the impact of ‘present truth’. Most startling is the teaching regarding Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord...... Likewise, the Trinitarian understanding of God, now part of our fundamental beliefs, was not generally  held by the early Adventists."

Have we departed from the faith? Indeed, we have!

Ministry magazine, October 1993 says: “Most of the founders of Seventh-day Adventism would not be able to join the church today if they had to subscribe to the denomination's fundamental beliefs.”

In other words, the SDA's pioneers would be denied membership if they were alive today!

But, what about independent ministries? We quote from Vance Ferrell's book entitle "Defending the Godhead" p. 17: “Christ has always been the Son of God; and there never was a time when He emerged from the Father. That statement appears to solve all the problems about Christ’s Sonship.”

Is this statement biblical? Certainly not as we already saw it plainly in the bible. If Christ is not a begotten Son, then how can He be a Son?

 We conclude with the words of Christ in Matthew 16:15-18. Please, pay close attention to the words and meditate on them:  "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

Was Peter referring to Jesus being the Son of God metaphorically or literally? Literally, because we confirmed it in John 16 when Jesus said: "They have  believed that I came out from Thee (His Father)."

So, as we can see, satan will pervert and attack the foundation of our faith which is Jesus Christ to take away from us His life. But if we stand on the promise of Jesus, "the gates of hell shall not prevail agains it".

What decision are we going to make today? Are we going to believe what He said in His word or are we going to mock Him like the leaders of Israel when He was hanging on the cross (Matthew 27:40)? Are we going to speak the same language of satan himself when he was tempting Christ in the wilderness: "If you are the Son of God…."?

May God help us to share this evidence with others so Christ can come soon and finish the misery in this world.  Luis