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Bible Question: What
is the meaning of the phrase “Son of Man” and how is it
different from “Son of God”?
Bible Answer: When
the phrases “Son of man” and “Son of God” are
used for Jesus Christ, they refer to the fact that Jesus was both
man and God while He lived on this earth. Now He sits at the right
hand of God the Father in heaven.
Son of Man. The meaning of the phrase
“son of man” can be found by looking at the 195 times it
occurs in the Bible – both in the Old and New Testaments. We
will not look at all of them – only a few. Our first clue as
to the meaning of “son of man” comes in Numbers 23:19.
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God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that
He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has
He spoken, and will He not make it good? (NASB) Num. 23:19 |
Here
it refers to human beings – men or women. The verse simply says
that God is not like us since He is not a man. Men and women lie and
God does not lie. “Son of man” also refers to the offspring
or descendants of mankind (Jer 49:18; Jer 51:43; Ezek. 2:1, 3, 6,
8). The phrase usually just refers to a human being.
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Then He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet that
I may speak with you!" (NASB) Ezek. 2:1 |
In the book of Daniel the phrase is used for Jesus Christ when it
talks about the second coming or the return of Jesus Christ in the
future.
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I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds
of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to
the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. (NASB) Daniel
7:13. |
Even though Jesus will look like a man, even
He will not look exactly like a man when He comes according to Rev.
1:7-15. When we come to the New Testament, the phrase is always used
for Jesus Christ. Here is one example from the gospel of Luke.
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But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority
on earth to forgive sins . . . (NASB) Luke 5:24 |
Son
of God. The
phrase “son of God” only occurs (88 times) in the New Testament
and it always refers to Jesus. It means that Jesus is God and that
He was born from God. A previous question and answer has answered
the question. “What is the meaning
of the phrase “Son of God”? The answer is found in John
10:31-35. For years I used to wonder what the phrase really meant.
Only later did I discover the Bible had the answer for me. It is wonderful
to know that the Bible has already answered some of the major questions
like this one.
Conclusion:In
summary, “son of man” emphasizes the fact that a person
is human and “son of God” emphasizes the fact that the person
is God. Only for Jesus Christ are both phrases used. Romans 1:2-4
is a unique passage in the Bible since it tells us that Jesus
Christ is both a man and God.
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He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,
concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according
to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by
the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness,
Jesus Christ our Lord . . . (NASB) Rom. 1:2-4 |
“Son of man” reminds us that Jesus became a man so that
He could die. “Son of God” reminds us that Jesus is God
so that He could live a sinless life or be the perfect Lamb of God.
Only as the God-man could He die a sinless, holy sacrifice for our
sins. All that is left for us to do is to believe that He is the only
way. He is the only Savior of our sins, if
we will believe that.
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. . . that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures . . . (NASB) 1 Cor. 15:3-4 |
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