Dear Sally - A Critical Difference (7 of 7)

 Continued from the previous post, "Man With the Sketchy Plan."


Dear Sally:
    I see a critical difference - in Mormonism, a man was exalted to become a god. Supposedly, that god had a son called Jesus, who became our savior. But Christian faith has always taught that God humbled Himself to become a man. We know that Man as Jesus Christ, and that’s whom we trust as our Savior and follow as our Lord.

    The Jesus of the Bible is God Himself, in human form. He was conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit in a miracle known in Christian tradition as the Incarnation.  None of us comprehend it, but all of us marvel at the thought that a holy God would humble Himself to become one of us and thereby qualify to become our Redeemer. The Bible calls Him Immanuel - “God with us:”

From Matthew 1:
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
 
The prophet referred to by Matthew’s Gospel is the prophet Isaiah, whose book is found in the Old Testament:

14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Is. 7:14)

So Jesus is the Son of God, fully God and truly human. He is God’s “only begotten Son,” meaning unique in essence. There will never be another son like God the Son because....drum roll please.... THE SON IS GOD!

     Why is that an important distinction? Because the Son of God was, unlike the rest of us, the only One who ever pre-existed with and as God - if Joseph Smith had actually had a visitation from God as he claims, he would have seen ONE person, not two. The Jesus of the Bible was completely without sin, and therefore uniquely qualified to offer His life on the Cross for our sins.  That is why John the Baptist said of Him, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  It was the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the Cross that atones for our sins, something which anyone may appropriate by genuine repentance and faith. I realize that Mormons believe in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, but he cannot be the same Jesus that Christians follow, if he was “begotten” of an exalted man! A savior who came from a man who claims to be God is not the biblical Savior.