R.A. Torrey in his book "The Bible Answer Book," gives four reasons as proof Jesus is the Son of God.
" First, I would prove that He rose from the dead. Of this there is abundant proof. I have given it elsewhere and will not repeat it here. The fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead proves beyond a question that He is the Son of God.
When he was on earth, he repeatedly declared that he was the Son of God - the Son in a unique sense, the son of God in a sense in which no other man is the Son of God. In Mark 12:1-6, Jesus thought that while the prophets, even the greatest of them, were servants, He was a Son, an only Son. In John 5:22-23, He taught that all men should honor Him even as they honor the Father. In John 14:9, he went so far as to say, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Men hated Him for making this claim to be the Son of God; they put Him to death for making this claim (Matthew 26:63-66). However, before they put Him to death, He told them that God would set His seal on the claim by raising Him from the dead. (See John 2:19.) It was a stupendous claim to make; it was an apparently absurd claim, but God did set His seal on it by raising Jesus from the dead. By doing this, God Himself has spoken more clearly than if He spoke from the open heavens today, "This Man is what He claims to be. He is My Son. All men should honor Him even as they honor the father."
To summarize the first point, Jesus Christ proved Himself to be the Son of God by the claim he made to be the Son of God and by the way in which He substantiated that claim by His resurrection from the dead.
Second, He substantiated His claim by His character, by its beauty and strength and nobility. The character of Jesus Christ is nearly universally acknowledged. Even the most notorious infidels have admitted it. Robert Green Ingersoll once said, "I wish to say once and for all, to that great and serene Man I gladly pay the homage of my admiration and my tears." But here is this Man, whom all admit to be a good man, a man of honor and truth and nobility, claiming to be the Son of God. Certainly a Man of such character was what He claimed to be.
Third, He substantiated His claim by the miracles that He performed. Herculean efforts have been put forth to discredit the gospel accounts of Christ's miracles, but these efforts have all resulted in utter failure. He substantiated His claim by His influence on the history of the world. No argument is needed to prove that Christ's influence on the history of the world has done immeasurably more good than any other man who ever lived. It would be foolish to compare His influence on individual life, domestic life, social life, industrial life, and political life with that of any other man, or that of all men put together. Now, if Jesus Christ was not divine, as He claimed to be, He was a blasphemer and an imposter or else a lunatic. It is easy to see that His influence on history is not that of a lunatic or a blasphemer and an imposter. Then, certainly, he must have been the Son of God, as he claimed.
Fourth, I would prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God by pointing to the fact that he possesses divine power today. It is not necessary to go back to the miracles that Christ performed when He was on earth to prove that He has divine power. He exercises that power today, as anyone can test it. There are two major ways in which His power is demonstrated today:
In the first place He has the power to forgive sins. Thousands can testify that they came to Christ burdened with a terrible sense of guilt and that he has actually given their guilty consciences peace, absolute peace.
Moreover, he has power today to set Satan's victims free. He sets one chained by drink free from the power of drink, the one chained by drugs free from the power of drugs. You may say that various medical treatments also do this, but the cases are not parallel. These various treatments use drugs; Christ uses a mere word. Christ sets people free not only from vices but also from other sin. He makes the impure man pure. He makes the selfish man unselfish. He makes the devilish man Christ-like. He re-creates men and women. The divine influence that Jesus Christ is exerting today over the lives of countless men and women proves beyond a doubt that He is the Son of God. I know that Jesus Christ is divine because of the divine work that he, and he alone, has worked in my own life. "
By George Konig
1/20/2008
www.georgekonig.org
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