The Son of God
Scripture Reading — Luke 1:26-38
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
When Muhammad rejected the idolatry of the Arabian tribes of his day, he also rejected the idea that Jesus was the Son of God. The Qur’an says, “He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He has no consort?” The Qu’ran also says, “God forbid that He should have a son! He is all that the heavens and the earth contain.”
Muhammad’s concern that God not be like the gods of mythology is praiseworthy. But he misunderstood the birth of Jesus. According to the Bible, Mary was not a girlfriend of God.
The overshadowing of Mary by the Holy Spirit was not a sexual relationship. It was like the Spirit hovering over the waters in Genesis 1 to bring life where there was none. It was like the Holy Spirit being poured out on the disciples on the day of Pentecost to give them power to be his witnesses.
The Son of God, the infinite personal God who took on human flesh, was foretold in the Old Testament. To refuse God that option leaves people with a god who might be called compassionate and all-sufficient but would be distant and hard to know.
Do you have a personal relationship with the true, amazing God?
Thank you, almighty and merciful God, for becoming our Savior. Your plan of salvation never ceases to amaze and surprise us. In Christ’s name, Amen.
About the author — George Young
George Young, a native New Yorker, worked as a taxi driver in New York City before studying to become a pastor. Then he, his wife Ruth, and their children were missionaries for many years in northeastern Japan. They worked with ministers and believers from the Reformed Church in Japan to spread the good news of salvation in Christ and establish new churches. Now George and Ruth are retired and live in the northeastern United States, nearer to their children and grandchildren.
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