Jesus Is the Son of God

People generally acknowledge that Jesus was a great teacher, but how can you say he was God's son?

To begin with, I should define what I mean when I say that Jesus is God's Son. We are all children of our Heavenly Father. Every human being born on this earth came from God. Jesus is unique, however, among all people born into this world, in that He had a mortal mother and an immortal, glorified Father. His DNA is a mixture of mortal and deified genes. Therefore, Jesus is literally the Son of God. How, exactly, the union occurred to produce the Son of God is not my concern. I nevertheless believe it happened, however God chose to make it happen, and Jesus is the result, fully human and yet fully God.

I believe Jesus is the Son of God for the following reasons:

1. Jesus's birth, life, death, and resurrection fulfilled more than 300 biblical prophecies. The Jewish scriptures are filled with bold and specific predictions of the Messiah's virgin birth, sinless life, miraculous actions, suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. Jesus fulfilled every prophecy.

2. Jesus performed miracles as a sign of His heritage and authority that even His bitterest enemies could not deny. The Jewish rulers--the Pharisees and Sadducees--accused Jesus of being a sinner, a blasphemer, and a servant of the devil. Still, they could not deny that men previously blind received their sight, deaf men regained their hearing, lepers were healed, the lame were made to walk, and the dead were brought back to life. Jesus demonstrated supernatural powers that could come only from God.

3. Jesus openly claimed to be the promised Messiah and the Son of God. When the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well spoke of the prophesied Messiah, Jesus said, "I that speak unto thee am he" (John 4:26). When the Pharisees in the temple questioned Jesus about His claims of divine sonship, He spoke of Abraham longing to see His mission on earth and proclaimed, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), echoing God's pronouncement to Moses, "I Am that I Am" (Exodus 3:14).

4. God the Father Himself testified that Jesus was His Son. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the River Jordan at the beginning of His ministry, the people at the river heard a voice from heaven say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).

5. Jesus died and then rose from the grave and ascended to heaven. Though He had brought others back to life, those people remained mortal, lived out their lives on earth, and then died again. Jesus rose from the dead as an immortal being and returned to His Father in Heaven, never to die again. 

The reasons I have cited above for believing Jesus is the Son of God are not proofs of  His divine claim. They rely on the Bible, which many non-Christians do not hold as a trustworthy source. Beyond the Bible, however, I have other sources. 

6. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ is a second book of holy scripture that verifies Jesus's claim of His divine nature. The Book of Mormon records an account of the resurrected Jesus appearing to people in the Western Hemisphere. As Jesus Christ descended from heaven, the people heard the voice of God proclaim, "Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him" (3 Nephi 11:7).

7. The resurrected Christ has appeared to people in the modern era and proclaimed His divinity. The Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820. The Father introduced Jesus with these words, "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith - History 1:17). Again, in April 1836, Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, saying, "I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father" (Doctrine and Covenants 110:4).

Thus, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God because ancient prophets predicted He would come; when He came, He fulfilled those prophecies perfectly; He demonstrated His divine power over and over again; He rose from the dead; and in His resurrected form, He appeared to other reliable witnesses both anciently and in modern times. Still, I cannot present scientific proof of Christ's existence as the Son of God. I cannot produce fingerprints or DNA samples. I can display no photographs or other tangible artifacts. All I have on which to base my belief is the testimonies of others. 

But that's not entirely true. I have one additional, personal witness. The Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, whose role it is to testify of the Father and the Son, has revealed to my mind and heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and my Redeemer and Savior. If all the other sources of my faith were to disappear, I have the undeniable witness from God Himself to my soul that Jesus is His Son.