Christ is Called the Son of Man

Introduction to the Series and Context

0:04 Particularly for the benefit of those who are visitors amongst us, I shall take the first few moments in our study of the Word of God this morning to try to give you a little capsule statement of what it is that we are concerned with in our Sunday morning studies and have been for several months and will be for some months to come. And then we shall move to the area of concern in the study of the Word of God this morning. The title of this series is Here We Stand, taking a clue from the statement of Martin Luther when he was asked to defend or to recant, to deny that he believed what was embodied in his books and pamphlets. He confessed that his conscience was held captive to the Word of God and what he had written was an expression of his understanding of that Word and that that understanding was not a mere intellectual matter with him. His conscience, not just his mind, his intellect, but his conscience was bound by the Word of God. That is, his life, even unto death, was to be regulated by what he understood the Scriptures to teach. And it is in that spirit of Martin Luther that this series of messages was born and I trust continues to come before us.

1:27 Here we stand as a congregation of God's people, confessing, acknowledging what we understand to be the teaching of the Word of God concerning the great issues of sin and grace and salvation. So much then for the significance of the title. The substance of this series, it is meant to be a broad overview of the main centers of Christian truth. It is not meant to be an exhaustive treatment of the whole gamut of biblical revelation, but a broad overview of the main centers, the main centers of Christian truth.

2:04 The purpose, it's to confirm those who have been in the way for some time by a fresh treatment of old material. It is to initiate those who are new amongst us, many who are new in the faith, who have not had the privilege of Christian nurture and the great centers of biblical truth are almost totally unknown by many. And our purpose then is that you might be initiated into the great centers, around which all of the other truths of the Word of God are found clustered. And then it is to inform those who look in on us, wondering what in the world we're up to and what do we believe.

2:44 Well, we're not embarrassed to say what we believe. Therefore, this series has in it the very nature of a confession concerning the substance of our beliefs. We first of all considered the book, We Believe and Obey. And if you're here as a visitor, you've already come to one conclusion.

3:02 The Bible's pretty important to these people. We've had no choirs in beautiful robes this morning. We've had no priests going through impressive rituals. But there's been an awful lot of Bible brought to impinge upon your mind already.

3:17 Well, you see, that's not accidental. It's because we believe that all of life and our worship itself must be regulated by the Word of God. Then we considered in the second place, the God whom we worship and confess. And now we are considering...

3:32 Thirdly, the salvation we receive and proclaim. Having looked at the objects of this salvation from the Scriptures, we are now focusing upon the central figure in this salvation, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And as we work through this subdivision of the salvation we receive and proclaim, we shall eventually, God willing, consider the mystery of Christ's person, the majesty of Christ's...

4:02 offices, and the efficacy of Christ's work. I stated last week that nothing, nothing is of greater importance in the concerns of an individual's salvation than his understanding of and faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ as set before us in the Scriptures. Therefore, this area is to receive more detailed treatment than any other in the series. Who is Jesus Christ, the great central figure of the salvation of God?

Review: Christ's Deity Established

4:40 We have suggested that the Church has confessed through the centuries the substance of its faith concerning Christ in three separate but indispensably joined categories, or inseparably joined categories. He is truly God. He is truly man. He is one person in two natures forever.

5:03 Now, why has the Church confessed that? And that's what we're doing up to this point. We are now examining the biblical basis for the doctrine that Christ is truly God, truly man, yet one person in the two natures forever. We've been establishing just the first of those inseparable elements of the true doctrine of Christ.

5:27 How do we know that He is truly God? And we marshaled the first group of witnesses and brought them in and we let them speak. The witnesses being the passages in which He is called God in such a way and in such a context as to ascribe to Him nothing less than true, full, essential deity. So that whatever can rightly be said of God as God can be said of Jesus Christ.

5:55 Then we brought in the second group of witnesses. The passages in which Jesus Christ is seen either possessing, or exercising those characteristics that only God possesses and exercises. Eternity of existence. Omniscience.

6:12 Knowing all. Omnipresence. Being present in all places, in all times, and in all circumstances. Then we brought in the third group of witnesses.

6:23 The passages in which Jesus Christ exercises prerogatives and does works which only God can do. Creation. Providence. Judgment.

The Title Son of Man — A Negative Statement

6:35 Resurrection. And now we're considering the fourth group of witnesses to the true deity of Christ. That group in which Christ is given names and titles which are names and titles of deity. And I'm only going to give you three.

6:52 You got the first one last week. Son of God. And we saw in our study that the names of God are revelatory of the very being and character of God. To us, a name is just a convenient verbal symbol to identify us and discriminate us from someone else.

7:10 But in Scripture, the name is revelatory of the person. And God's names are so many commentaries upon His being. And the name Son of God means nothing less than God the Son. Now we're done with our review.

7:27 We move now to the second in this fourth group of witnesses. Christ is God because He is given names and titles of God. And the title we consider this morning is that of Son of Man. The deity of Christ proclaimed by the title Son of Man.

7:50 Ah, but you say, Pastor Martin, I thought that Son of Man was a title of His humanity. I was always told Son of God refers to Him as to His divine nature. Son of Man focuses upon Him as to His human nature. And in the title Son of God and Son of Man, you have a wonderful synopsis of the doctrine of the two natures in the one person.

8:12 Well, that's a convenient way to set Son of God, Son of Man against one another. There's only one problem with it. It's not a scriptural concept. So gird up the loins of your mind and think with me this morning as we seek to ascertain what God meant when He allowed His Son, when He directed His Son to take to Himself the title Son of Man.

8:36 Let me first of all then say just a word about the frequency of its usage. Then we shall address ourselves to its precise meaning. And having done that, we shall then consider some of the practical implications of this blessed title of our wonderful Lord. The frequency of the usage of this title Son of Man, it is found no fewer than 87 times in the New Testament.

9:01 Directly and unquestionably referring to our Lord Jesus Christ. The title is found in the Old Testament many times referring to Ezekiel. This was a favorite title by which Ezekiel is addressed. Son of Man, do this.

9:16 Son of Man, do that. But in the New Testament, every use of the title Son of Man is a title referring to the Lord Jesus. And approximately 80 of the 87 times the title is found not on the lips of some man, not on one speaking about Christ, but on the lips of Christ himself. In other words, it is our Lord's favorite designation of himself.

9:45 Now something so fundamental as to be found almost 100 times in the New Testament and almost 80 times upon the lips of our Lord must have profound significance in general, but profound significance in particular to the Lord himself. And so we move, having just stated briefly something concerning the frequency of its usage in an attempt to understand its precise meaning. Now let me set out to do that first of all with a negative statement and then a positive unfolding. A negative statement.

10:24 This title Son of Man is not a title which contradicts or is in great contrast to the title Son of God. As I've already alluded, it is often said Son of God refers to deity, Son of Man to humanity. There's an element of truth in that. But some have gone so far as to say, well, Son of God is the term his followers gave to him when they elevated him to godhood, but Christ was more humble.

10:54 All he took to himself was the title Son of Man. He never claimed to be anything other than a man. It was deluded followers, you see, who ultimately, elevated their hero figure to the status of godhood. Well, that's absolute rubbish.

11:10 And any careful study of the word of God will show that the title Son of Man and Son of God are not primarily contrasting, let alone contradicting titles, but they are complementary titles. And this is shown by several contexts in which they are used almost as synonyms. I'll give you just two as examples. In John chapter 1, and all I'm seeking to establish in this negative statement is that as we get on the trail of seeking to ascertain what Son of Man means, if we find ourselves coming up with anything in great contrast to Son of God, we're off the beaten track. And that's all I'm attempting to do at this point in our study. John chapter 1, you'll remember the incident. We used it.

Past: Heavenly Pre-existence

12:03 When setting forth the characteristic of omniscience in our Lord, our Lord is drawing Nathanael to himself. And we read in verse 47 of John 1, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathanael said to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

12:32 Nathanael answered, Behold him, rabbi. Thou art the Son of God. Thou art King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee underneath the fig tree, believest thou?

12:47 Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Truly, truly, I say unto you, ye shall see the heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Here our Lord has managed, manifested characteristics that are truly divine. Drawing from the heart and lips of Nathanael this confession, Thou art the King of Israel.

13:14 Thou art the Son of God. And with that confession, still as it were reverberating in his ears, Jesus says, Ye shall see the Son of Man. Almost used as a synonym. No contradiction.

13:30 No jangling in the ear of Nathanael. And certainly not in his own mind. Then of course you have essentially the same thing in Matthew chapter 16. In that well-known passage in which our Lord addresses the disciples and says in Matthew 16 and verse 13, Who do men say that the Son of Man is?

13:55 And the confession of Peter on behalf of the other apostles is, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And right after that confession that he was Son of God, then the Lord goes on to tell them from that time on that the Son of Man must suffer and be rejected at Jerusalem. So you see the terms are used almost interchangeably so that there was no great contrast or contradiction in the minds of those who used it, but rather it is a companion and complementary term.

14:34 Now having given the negative statement, let me seek positively to unfold the meaning. And I believe we can best grasp the real significance of this title if we think in terms of past, present, future, or if we look backward, or see our Lord looking backwards, look downward to the present, and look forward or outward to the future. The significance of the title Son of Man, when found upon the lips of our Lord, has these three different dimensions or directions. Past, present, future.

15:14 And when we put them all together, we see a beautiful description of what Son of Man truly means. Looking backward or to the past, the title Son of Man points to a heavenly pre-existence. The language of the Bible, the language of such passages as Luke 19.10 hints at this.

15:41 What did Jesus say in Luke 19.10? Or did Luke say? We're not sure whether our Lord is saying it or Luke is inserting it.

15:49 For the Son of Man came. And he uses an aorist, a point action. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost. Now he didn't say, the Son of Man became, or the Son of Man was born, but the Son of Man came.

16:11 Inferring that he had an existence before he came. If you say, Mr. So-and-so came to my house, the strong inference is he had a being and an existence before he showed up on your doorstep. But what is inferred in a passage such as Luke 19.10 is explicitly stated in two passages in the Gospel of John. Son of Man, as a title, is used in a setting which points to the concept of a heavenly pre-existence of which our Lord was conscious when he used the term. Therefore to our Lord, Son of Man, never meant just true humanity. It meant a true humanity that was assumed by one who was essentially divine, who had an eternal pre-existence with the Father.

17:05 Look at those two passages with me if you will, please. John chapter 3, and then we shall turn to John chapter 6. John chapter 3. Our Lord is discoursing with Nicodemus.

17:24 Nicodemus is baffled by this talk of a new birth, of entrance into the kingdom by this spiritual cleansing and renewal. And our Lord says in verse 12, If I told you earthly things can ye believe not? How shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things? Now whence does our Lord have this access to heavenly things?

17:48 Well, he's going to tell us. Verse 13. No one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.

18:14 Now you see, the point of concern to us now is this. Jesus says that the Son of Man who is to be lifted up is not the Son of Man who simply will go back to heaven after he is lifted up upon the cross and raised from the dead, but the one lifted up is the one who came from heaven, into heaven itself. No one has ascended into heaven, but the Son of Man has come out of heaven. And he says, this Son of Man who is even as he talks to you, Nicodemus, as to his divine nature, is yet in heaven.

18:52 Here is our Lord saying, the Son of Man is a divine title because it refers to one who while he is yet on earth is still in heaven. Therefore anyone who states that the title Son of Man is a pure description of true humanity shows either ignorance or denial of the words of Christ in this particular passage. And then in chapter 6, verses 60 to 62, what does Son of Man mean? Well, it points backward.

Present: Temporary Humiliation

19:31 It points to the past. It points to a heavenly preexistence. The Son of Man comes out of heaven. And while out of heaven, he is yet in heaven as to his divine nature.

19:44 Now John chapter 6. In the previous discourse, our Lord is asserting that he is the true bread come down from heaven upon which if men feed, they shall possess eternal life. And as he opens up this truth, particularly when he says they must feed upon him as crucified, and he veils his crucifixion in language that is almost carnivorous, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood. They are offended at this.

20:13 And then our Lord says in verse 60, or John says, many therefore his disciples when they heard this said, this is a hard saying. Who can bear it? Or who can hear it? But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, saith unto them, does this cause you to stumble?

20:31 Does it cause you to stumble that I say I am bread come down from heaven and I am bread not come down just in my person alone but in my work, in dying for the sins of men? Does this cause you to stumble? Verse 62, what then if you should behold not the Son of God, but the Son of Man ascending where he was before. Son of Man ascending where he was before.

21:03 In the lips of our Lord here we have another clear setting forth of the fact that the title Son of Man in our Lord's consciousness always points back to a heavenly pre-existence. But now it always points downward to a present existence and that is an existence of temporary humiliation. This one who is the pre-existent one who has come out of heaven who shall ascend back to heaven. He uses the term Son of Man very frequently in setting forth a present humiliation.

21:47 You remember the words in Luke chapter 9 and verses 57 and 58. There is an enthusiastic young man who wants to make a decision. We say in current terminology. He wants to make a profession or quote, he wants to make a commitment.

22:01 And he is all enthusiastic. Lord, I am ready to go. Wherever you go, I will go. The Lord says, now simmer down a minute.

22:07 Do you really know what you are saying? The foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. When he is talking of the humiliation, the self-imposed poverty of his own person, he uses that title Son of Man. And it is the title that he uses again and again in all of his specific predictions concerning his crucifixion.

22:37 Turn, for example, to Luke chapter 18. This is the title of humiliation. Luke chapter 18. Beginning with verse 29.

22:52 Luke chapter 18. I am sorry, verse 31. And he took unto him the twelve and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written through the prophets shall be accomplished unto He doesn't say just unto me. They would have understood that.

23:12 But he uses this title of himself. Unto the Son of Man. For he shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles and shall be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon and they shall scourge and kill him and the third day he shall rise again. He is careful to introduce the title.

Future: State of Glory and Power

23:30 It is the Son of Man who must go through this period of humiliation. And further on as we have the record in Matthew when he repeats and intensifies that teaching he uses the title again Matthew 26 and verse 2. Ye know that after two days the Passover cometh and the Son of Man is delivered up to be crucified. Verse 45 of the same chapter.

23:56 Then cometh I am sorry. I thought it was verse 45. I have the wrong text. But nonetheless the issue stands on these texts.

24:06 Here is temporary humiliation not imposed from without against His will but voluntarily embraced in pursuit of a mission of mercy to sinners. It is the Son of Man who seeks and saves that which is lost. Luke 19.10 Matthew 20.28 It is the Son of Man who will give His life a ransom for many. Now can you put that category of truth with the first one. What does the title Son of Man point to? When our Lord uses it there is a self-consciousness on the part of our Lord that Son of Man points backward to a pre-existent and heavenly state.

24:53 But secondly it points downward in the present to a temporary state of humiliation in pursuit of a mission of mercy. But then thank God the title Son of Man always points forward into the future. And when it points forward into the future it points toward a state of glory a state of power a state of majesty a state in which what He really is will be known to every rational and moral creature. Look then at a couple of passages in Matthew 24.29-30 Matthew 24.29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened in the morning and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and with great glory and He shall send forth His angels with the great sound of a trumpet and shall gather together His elect the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Here the emphasis is upon the Son of Man

26:19 coming in clouds of glory and power to do what? To call His elect to Himself that is to confer upon them the consummate blessings of the salvation purchased in His own blood. But Matthew 25.31 says the Son of Man will have another role and another work to perform when He comes in glory.

26:42 Verse 31 But when that is an adverb of time at the same time that the Son of Man comes in His glory to summon all His elect to be with Him forever then at that time shall He sit on the throne of His glory and before Him shall be gathered all the nations and then we have the picture of the Son of Man in the role of judge and almost it's accurate to say the majority of the references to the Son of Man from the lips of our Lord those in which He gives the most definitive teaching point forward to this third aspect of that title it's the title of one who shall be manifested in power and majesty as the savior of His people and the judge of the world. Now can you bring all three aspects together? This title brings within its orbit these three aspects as words Warfield has so accurately stated this title Son of Man intimates on every occasion of its employment our Lord's consciousness of being I'm going to use a big word because Warfield used it and then I'll explain it a supra mundane supra means above or beyond mundane means of the earth and earthy so it reflects in the lips of our Lord a consciousness that He

28:10 is a supra above and beyond the mundane that is the earthly a consciousness that He is more than a man who has entered into a sphere of earthly life on a high mission in the accomplishment of which He is to return to His heavenly sphere whence He shall in due time come back to earth now however in His proper majesty to gather up the fruits of His work and to consummate all things this title Son of Man still quoting from Warfield is a designation which implies at once a heavenly pre-existence a present humiliation and a future glory so now you see where I got my outline from and I'm unembarrassed to tell you as I went through every reference to Son of Man in the New Testament and outlined all of the different usages how do I sort it all out I read in Warfield and I said thank you Lord there it is sort it out beautifully it reflects these three things self-consciously in our Lord heavenly pre-existence present humiliation and future glory have you got it now where in the world did our Lord ever get the notion of so identifying Himself

The Old Testament Background in Daniel 7

29:39 with the Son of Man in that broad sense that our Lord's mind steeped in the Old Testament scriptures and instructed infallibly by the Spirit that rested upon Him without measure the roots of that whole title are to be found in Daniel chapter 7 will you turn please as we look at that usage in the prophecy of Daniel now I know you've had to think hard this morning but if you love your Lord and you know that His titles stay on the track with us until you feel you have in hand something of the glory of Christ bound up and revealed in His title Son of Man Daniel chapter 7 as Daniel is receiving visions of the rising and then the waning of the kingdoms of the earth in the midst of these visions of kingdoms of men that will rise and fall verse 13 I saw in the night visions and behold there came in the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man something is seen in the clouds of heaven that has the form of a man but he says I know it's not man he doesn't say there appeared a man but he says there appeared one like unto a son of man that's the best way he could describe it here is this vision this vision of a glorious personage

31:09 and there is the form of a man he is appearing in clouds and to the Jew those clouds are always the symbol of the divine presence this one is as it were coming in the chariot of the Shekinah glory only God comes in that chariot and yet this God is like a man I beheld in the night visions one like unto a son of man and he came even to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed our Lord takes the title son of man to himself because he is that one like unto a son of man seen in the vision of Daniel and now turn and some of you perhaps wondered why I omitted it I omitted it because I was saving it until now Mark chapter fourteen so that you may know that we are not reading in more than ought to be extracted from the use of this title we have the record in Mark chapter fourteen

32:37 that is our Lord stands before those who would accuse him and seek to put him to death he is asked this question the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus saying answerest thou nothing what is it which these witness against thee but he held his peace and answered nothing again the high priest asked him and said art thou the Christ the son of the blessed and Jesus said I am and ye shall see the son of man of power and coming with the clouds of heaven you see what he is saying I am the Christ I am the son of the living God called here the blessed furthermore I am the son of man of Daniel's vision I am the man of God's right hand I am the one who shares in the essential glory of Jehovah because I share in the essence of Jehovah the high priest rightly interprets our Lord's claim and we read in verse 63 and the high priest rent his clothes and said what further need have we of witnesses ye have heard the what the blasphemy the blasphemy not the madness

34:05 the blasphemy what is blasphemy blasphemy is that which is a direct affront upon the Godhood of God and he claims that our Lord blasphemes because this one who stands before them in apparent weakness and helplessness claims to be the son of man of Daniel's vision for you see the great problem with the Jew was this here was his great problem not that Messiah would be son of God here even this unconverted priest says art thou the Christ the son of the blessed in the mind of the Jew Messiah was to be son of God the presence of God the angel of Jehovah coming now in true human nature to deliver his people and that son of man should have a glory and kingdom and power and judge the world they understood son of man eternal pre-existence son of man future glory what the disciples and these Jews did not understand that the son of man also means temporary voluntary humiliation in pursuit of a mission of mercy and that was the great

35:33 stumbling block that was the great stumbling block the great offense of the cross we see that offense right here in this passage now then you'll not be surprised when you understand the title of this passage it says that the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins he says in mark two the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins why they're upset this person whom they regard as nothing but the bastard child or the illegitimate child and they say why this is blasphemy who can give sins but god only and he says that you may know that the son of man is that god i'll prove it to you he causes the lame man to walk he doesn't say the son of god is lord of the sabbath in that same gospel he says in mark chapter two the son of man is the son of man and so when we read that it's the son

37:03 of man who seeks the lost and then an amazing statement in mark thirteen twenty seven it says the son of man shall gather his elect i thought the elect were god's elect he says they're my despicable way that great prerogative of divine selectivity in eternity or he himself is that god who has an elect people oh do you see dear people when we take a turn and slap upon it our own meaning rather than going into the scriptures we not only pervert the teaching of the word which is the word but we also interpret the word as the people of god i hope this has helped you to understand something of the precise meaning of the title now let me hurry just to say a word about its relationship to the term son of god this hand is the hand over which is written son of god this one son of man now how

Mark 14: Christ's Climactic Self-Identification

38:31 should we view these two titles well i hope you're convinced we do not view them as titles which are like this this one referring to his deity this to his humanity no the title son of god son of man occupy common ground they're occupying the same ground and what is the same ground that they occupy both are titles of deity now the difference is this and this is the wonder of these divinely selected titles on this title son of god occupying the same ground as this title son of god son of man one an arrow going up one an arrow going down and written on the arrow going up from the title son of god a title of divinity a full and essential deity is this the mystery of the trinity the title son of god points to the mystery of the trinity that is that there is in the one being the one who subsists and exists as father and the one who subsists and exists as son

39:59 and the one who exists and subsists as spirit and the term son of god which is an ascription of deity fully understood by our lord and his contemporaries points primarily upward saying there is the mystery of the interpenetration of the very essence of the godhead and the son in the father and now we look at the title son of man occupying the same ground and there is an arrow pointing downward and what does it say it says that the one who is god has entered into the second great mystery the mystery of the incarnation he has taken up into himself a true and a real humanity so that the emphasis of the title son of god is not his humanity the emphasis is he who is god is true man son of god says he who is god is god in a relationship of son to the father the mystery of the trinity son of man he who is god is true man the mystery of the incarnation and there the wonderful doctrine of the two natures in the one set before us in the fusion of the glorious title son of god

41:28 and son of man well what does this say to all of us oh dear people of god i trust it will do something for you in your reading of the scriptures no longer when you read the gospel records and you read the son of man must suffer the son of man must be killed the son of man who has nowhere to lay his head no longer will you read that as a simple ascription of humanity listen this is the pre-existent lord of glory who has nowhere to lay his head why this temporary and voluntary humiliation because he has come upon a mission of mercy the son of man who is accomplished apart from that humiliation that goes from poverty to the shame and ignominy and abandonment of calvary and oh when we read the title son of man may our hearts burn within us that he who was beheld in the night visions of daniel in the midst of the shekinah glory as a sharer in that very glory of the divine essence of the virgin's womb

42:57 it is god in a virgin's womb it is god upon a cross it is god in a tomb it is god upon a throne son of man god having taken to himself a true humanity and we ought to suck sweetness from every sin until our blessed lord until as john beholding the glory of the son of man revelation one says he fell at his feet as one dead now you see we say in our theology that the son and the spirit along with the father are to be worshipped in the temple of the son of man and we ought to take to himself a true humanity on a mission of mercy dear child of god the title son of man ought not only to humble us with its

44:26 glory but encourage us with its humility with its son of man and though there was preexistence existence and glory there was temporary humiliation which as we shall see when we come to study his humanity involved his subjecting himself to all that was common to humanity sin the only person pleading our cause is not an angel who seeks to penetrate the mystery of human frailty by observation it is the son of man who passed through agonies and the struggles of humanity in a life in a world cursed by sin he knew weakness weariness disappointment and fear and he was frustrated as to his human spirit in the presence of unbelief angered in the presence of obdurate

45:55 impenitence grieved in the presence of willful blindness weeping in the presence of the coming of the final age from this time to who thought seat with you to listen to me for these three minutes listen to me listen to me the son of man is going to be manifested in his glory the title son of man not only involves pre existence and temporary humiliation but it involves a manifestation of glory to be seen by every single eye. For our Lord says, when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, Matthew 24 and verse 30, this will be the result. Listen as I read Matthew 24 and verse 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and with great glory.

47:15 There's a sense in which, though our Lord has been exalted to a place of power in the language of Ephesians 1, all principalities and powers and might and dominion are under His feet, and He reigns now. No one believes or loves that truth more than I. But listen, as far as the unconverted sinner is concerned, Christ is still in a state of humiliation. That's the only reason you treat Him the way you do.

47:41 If you believed Christ was on a throne, that He is God, and that the judgment and destiny of your soul was in His hands right now, you couldn't sit there impenitent. You couldn't sit there adamant in your unbelief and refusal to bend and to bow to His sovereignty. You'd fall before Him in your spirit and say, Lord Jesus, have mercy upon so big a fool as I.

48:13 My friends, and listen, if you're determined to go on treating Him as though He were still in the state of His humiliation, still to spit upon Him with your unbelief, still to trample over Him in your impenitence, mark my word, those very eyes that look at this preacher are going to see Him. Because the Scripture says, Behold, He cometh, and every eye shall see Him. Those eyes that see Me will see Him. And how will you see Him?

48:44 Not in lowliness, so that you join the taunts and the mockery of those who said, This cannot be the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. Here's humiliation. Here's poverty. Here is nothing but humanity.

Other Uses of Son of Man in the Gospels

48:58 It says He'll come with power and with glory, and every eye shall see Him. And it says the tribes of the earth shall mourn for Him. And that's not the mourning of repentance. When He comes, repentance is done.

49:13 Mercy is over. When He comes, He sets the throne of His judgment.

49:22 The mourning is the mourning of unbelief and impenitence and self-regret and self-recrimination. What a fool was I! The judge is upon the throne. He's calling me to the throne.

49:36 I'm unprepared to meet Him. Oh, dear sinner friend, man, woman, boy, girl, don't rifle, with your soul. You're dealing with the Son of Man. He is God.

49:52 He is the judge.

49:55 And surely, as this day has dawned, His day shall dawn.

Relationship Between Son of God and Son of Man

50:04 May God grant that sensing something of the terror of meeting Him in a state of impenitence, this day may find you crying to God for mercy, pleading that God, for Christ's sake, would pardon your sins and accept, and accept you in the Beloved. Why? Why does not the Lord return?

50:30 The answer is relatively simple. It's given in Scripture. Account that the long-suffering of God is salvation.

50:41 He does not return because He purposes yet to show mercy. Oh, my friend, you can't find a verse, a phrase, a word in Scripture that says He does not purpose mercy for you. And there are a thousand encouragements for you to come. Not one discouragement and a thousand encouragements.

51:05 He's received the vilest of sinners. He invites sinners without discrimination. Oh, come to Him. Children, boys, girls, men, women.

51:15 Isn't it time you stopped trifling with your soul and say, Oh, Son of Man, who came to seek and to save the lost. And say the old lost, the young lost, the rich, just the lost. Come to Him and say, Lord Jesus, I'm one of those lost sheep. Seek and save me and magnify Your grace by making me a sheep that is found.

51:41 Let us pray.

Application to Believers

51:56 Oh, our Lord, we worship You as the Son of Man. We thank You for the glory that surrounds Your head. The glory that will one day be visibly seen by every creature.

52:13 And on the one hand, Oh, Lord, Jesus, we cry with John, even so come. For we long to see You in Your glory. And yet, oh, Lord, there is another part of us that says, delay Your coming. For we do not delight in the thought that impenitent sinners shall wail and mourn and cry for rocks and hills to fall upon them and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb.

52:43 Oh, Lord Jesus, be merciful to boys, girls, men and women in this place today. Help us as Your people to have a new appreciation of all that You are as Son of God and Son of Man. Oh, we worship You for all that is revealed of Yourself in the blessed titles by which You've been made known to us in the Scriptures. Seal to our hearts the word preached this day and grant that our lives may manifestly our subjection to and our love to the Lord Jesus Christ.

53:26 Hear our prayers, oh God, and may the benediction of Your presence rest upon us and abide with us.

53:34 Amen.