Pastor John,
On page 12 of the Chapter 5 you sent us, I read this prophecy from the Old Testament: “The LORD [F] called me from the womb; from my mother’s belly“
If the Son of God was always there in heaven with the Father, how could he come from his “mother belly”? He was talking about Mary’s son, but Mary’s son was not the Messiah, was he?
Margaret
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Hi Margaret.
Thank you for the question. It is an important one.
Often, after God changes a man, from that point on, the new man is referred to as if he has always been who he is after the change. For example, Paul spoke of “Abraham” doing things which he did only when he was still “Abram”, long before God made him “Abraham”. “Abraham” became his name for his whole life, as far as Paul and God were concerned. In another Old Testament prophecy, Micah spoke of the Son coming from Bethlehem, but that is only because the Son of God and the Son of Mary became one person. It would not, then, be that unexpected a thing for God to speak of His Son coming from Bethlehem, because from the moment they became one person, that new person is referred to as if he had always existed just like he was then. Whew. I hope I explained that well enough.
As for Mary’s son being the Messiah. The angel of the Lord called him “Christ” (Greek word for “Messiah”) on the night Jesus was born, in Luke’s gospel. But that is because Jesus was chosen to be the Messiah. Jesus had no power to act Messiah until the Son of God came upon Jesus at John’s baptism. It sounds odd when we analyze it, but it is the same way we talk about things. I will demonstrate it for you:
Where did you meet Arnold, your husband? You will probably reply by telling me about the place you first saw Arnold. But Arnold wasn’t your husband then; so, that was not the place you met Arnold your husband. That is only the place you first saw Arnold the man. The angel who called Jesus “Messiah” the night he was born in Bethlehem was right, just as you are right (in a way) when you say you met your husband at such-and-such a place. But in reality, you first met Arnold your husband only when Arnold became your husband at a later time and place. Likewise, Jesus was not “Jesus Christ” until after the Christ came from heaven and dwelt within that temple, but God and all who believe, can rightly say Christ was born of Mary, even though the truth is, Christ was really never born at all. He was the Son “by whom God made the worlds”.
Pastor John