Son of God

theidolbabbler

I want to talk about the mistake of assuming that your listening audience, when evangelizing, understands that Jesus is God.

I became a Christian when I was 33. I had listened to my brother-in-law talk about Jesus for 13 years, without it meaning that much to me. Then, one night, sick and tired of hearing another diatribe about Jesus, I questioned him about what makes Jesus qualified to do what my brother-in-law claims that Jesus had accomplished on the cross.

He replied, “Well, Jesus is the Son of God”.

That phrase really didn’t mean anything to me. I was like:

“So, what does that mean? Many people throughout history claim to be sons of God. What makes Jesus so special? What makes Him qualified to be ‘the savior’? Seriously, if Jesus was perfect, as you always describe Him to be, then why doesn’t He just be perfect for me?”

My brother-in-law looked at me in a perplexed manner. He then stated what he assumed to be a universally known fact, in an almost condescending tone:

“Well, Jesus is qualified, because Jesus is God.”

Wait, what?

“Jesus is considered to be God?” I said to myself. I asked him to repeat what he said.

My brother-in-law said again, “Jesus is God,” realizing that I actually had no clue about that fact.

That was the moment that Christianity suddenly made sense to me. Prior to not having that important tidbit of information, Christianity didn’t really impact my thought life. But, to hear that Jesus is God was the biggest “Aha” moment of my life. It made sense that one would bow the knee to a God such this. It meant that God doesn’t delegate. It meant that He doesn’t just assign someone else to do the dirty job. It meant that He does it Himself and takes on His own wrath on behalf of those who repent or recognize that they cannot fulfill His standard, and who then trust in Him to fulfill that standard for them. That’s a God I could respect.

I jumped up and gave my brother-in-law a hug.

Even though I didn’t yet trust in Christ at that moment, something about this news gave me joy enough to cause me to jump up and embrace my shocked brother-in-law. He then gave me a Bible soon after that, and I read through the Gospels for the next six months. That is when I had finally put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior (the God, who is the Son of God, who does not delegate), because I believed that He satisfied God’s wrath on the cross regarding my sins.

May we (Christians), always be sensitive to the fact that the hearers of our evangelism may not realize what is so obvious to us… that Jesus is God.

Revelation 21:6-7
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”

Godspeed, to the brethren!

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Published by theidolbabbler