Was Jesus Really God’s Son?

The identity of Jesus Christ is of paramount importance. If he was not who he claimed to be, then Christianity was founded on a lie and is a false religion. On the other hand, if Jesus was the Son of God, then Christianity is the one true faith which leads to eternal life.

Is there sufficient evidence to enable us to know the truth? In my judgment, the evidence is overwhelming. In the Gospel of John Jesus offered compelling evidence of his Sonship (John 5:31-39).

Jesus acknowledged that he was God’s Son. But, He knew that his testimony alone was not sufficient (John 5:31). Even the law required two or more witnesses to establish a matter (Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus, therefore, offered additional testimony.

John the Baptist proclaimed him the Son of God (John 5:33). John told his disciples concerning Jesus, “I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).

Even more convincing than the testimony of John, was the ministry of Christ. What he did in healing the sick, stilling the tempest, raising the dead and a myriad of other things gave proof to his claim of Sonship (John 5:36). Nicodemus knew the value of Christ’s miracles. They offered positive proof that Jesus came from God (John 3:2).

The Father also bore witness to Jesus’ divinity. At the baptism and again at the transfiguration the voice of God from heaven was heard to say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).

Finally, Jesus urged, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). The Old Testament was fulfilled in Christ. His coming was no accident. At last the promised Messiah had arrived.

No other individual has impacted life and society in the manner in which Christ changed the world. The historian Lecky, an unbeliever in revealed religion, wrote:

“The character of Jesus has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, but the strongest incentive to its practice, and has exerted so deep an influence, that it may be truly said, that the simple record of three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and to soften mankind, than all the disquisitions of philosophers and than all the exhortations of moralists” (W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals, ii (1869), p. 88).

How do we explain the phenomenal appeal and power of Christ? We say with the Centurion at the foot of the cross, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54).