BY GREG CRUM
“The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?” John 12:34
Throughout the Gospels it is recorded that Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of man.” For some it is a curious moniker, and I can see their pause, especially for those that lived during his ministry on this planet. Having end knowledge of the true identity of that mystery man from Nazareth, we now realize that he was, and is, and is to come the King of all kings, the Savior of the world, the very Son of God Himself! Yet, it’s undeniable that he was and is, at the same time, the Son of man. So, what does that mean? What’s the spiritual significance to the title that Jesus bore while he was among us? That’s what we’ve endeavored to address these last couple of weeks, and our discoveries have uncovered once again how wonderful our Jesus is to us!
Last week we considered specifically why Jesus would identify himself as the Son of man. What did he mean? Was he saying that he was not the Son of God as some modern sceptics argue? Of course not! In emphasizing that he was the Son of man, Jesus was not denying his Divinity. Rather, he was helping the people who lived in his day, and those of us that would come later, to understand the depths of his sacrifice for us, and the heights of his victory for all of humanity.
In calling himself the “Son of man,” Jesus was declaring that God became flesh and dwelt among us so that we could become the sons and daughters of God! What an amazing act of mercy and grace, but there’s more to it than just that! He also became a man so he could identify with us, rightly qualify for our sacrifice, and exemplify what humans could be and should have been all along.
Again, last week we touched on the fact that Jesus’ humanity allowed him personal insight into our human condition. He walked that “mile in our shoes,” was tempted in the same areas we are tempted in, yet without sin. He can be a merciful high priest for us because he knows what we go through. We also noted that Jesus had to become a man so he could qualify for our sacrifice. I mean, think about it. You can’t nail God, in all His otherworldly majesty, to a cross. You’re not putting nails through his hands and feet, and a whip isn’t making a mark on his body. Jesus became man to both enable him to die for us and to rightly qualify as a proper land-cleansing blood sacrifice for the sins of man.
Can you now see the importance of Jesus becoming a Son of man? It was vital to our eternal salvation! Without that sacrifice before his ultimate sacrifice on the cross, the cross would never have been possible. With that said, there was still at least one more reason Jesus embraced the role of the Son of man. It was to demonstrate for us what we could be, and what we always should have been.
When God created Adam and said he was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). It was the truth: Adam wasn’t a defective unit. God created Adam to be a righteous manager over this planet and equipped him as such. Mankind was the pinnacle of His Creation, more awesome at our inception than what we realize due to our chronic de-evolution over time. Man was “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), engineered to have dominion over God’s Creation. Sadly, we used our freedom and authority to sin instead of serve. And we degraded into the carnal (sense-led and senseless at the same time) beings many humans have become.
There was a need for a “do-over” to prove the wisdom of God’s original design for us. Enter the Second Adam, the “Son of man.” A read-through of I Corinthians 15:20-22, Romans 5:6-17, and Romans 8:1-3 reveals that Jesus lived a sin-free life and in doing so proved what could be done in the flesh. His righteous walk on this Earth condemned sin forever and proved that God’s original design was a masterpiece. He did in the flesh what Adam failed to do, and in doing so opened the door for us to become much more than just a man or woman. Now we can become sons and daughters of God. Jesus, the Son of man. The ultimate man. What we should have been, and now, the door to what we can and will become!
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.