The AMC's doctrinal statement* on God the Son reads as follows:
Part 2: God the Son - We believe that God the Son became flesh in the person of Yeshua of Nazareth, the promised Messiah of Israel, who was conceived of the Spirit of God and born of the Jewish virgin, Miriam (Mary). We believe in His full deity and full humanity, His sinless life, and His miracles. We believe that Messiah Yeshua arose from the dead bodily, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for believers. He will come again in glory establishing His literal Millennial kingdom on earth. (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6,7; Jeremiah 23:5,6; Micah 5:2; Luke 1:26-79; John 1:1,2,14-18) *Full AMC Statement
Let's look to the Scriptures to substantiate each claim contained therein. As much as possible, we'll draw our proofs from the Tanach, the Hebrew Scriptures:
Does the Tanach declare a God the Son? Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Would the great prophet Isaiah dare declare that a humanly born son would be called Mighty God and Everlasting Father (or Father of eternity) were it not so? Obviously not. It is clear, then, that Scripture declares a human God the Son. It is also clear from the son's titles and that the government shall be upon his shoulder, that this God the Son is also Messiah.
Became implies that God the Son pre-existed His human birth. Does Scripture support this?
6. "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." 7. "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8. 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 9. 'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'"
~ Psalm 2:6-9 ~
This passage is also clearly Messianic and is called by the Son a decree. The decree contains the declaration by the LORD, You are My Son. By this declaration, God the Father addresses the Messianic God the Son of Isaiah 9:6 as My son. So we see that the Messianic God the Son is also the Messianic Son of God. This decree of God is from eternity past, and it is from eternity past that God the Father conversed with God the Son. It is plain, then, that the Messianic God the Son pre-existed His human birth.
Indeed, Yeshua implied His pre-existence in this declaration He made to Nicodemus.
John 3:13: And no one has ascended up to Heaven except He who came down from Heaven, the Son of Man who is in Heaven.
If He came down from Heaven, then He pre-existed His human birth.
"We believe that God the Son became flesh in the person of Yeshua of Nazareth,
the promised Messiah of Israel, who was conceived of the Spirit of God
and born of the Jewish virgin, Miriam (Mary)."
"The four main claims in this section that are as yet unaddressed are that the Son became flesh . . .
"In the Person of Yeshua of Nazareth"
"The Promised Messiah of Israel"
"Who Was Conceived of the Spirit of God"
"And Born of the Jewish virgin, Miriam (Mary)."
I'll begin with the second claim in order to lay a foundation for the others.
"The Promised Messiah of Israel"
This most amazing and detailed prophecy of Isaiah was written 700 years before the birth of Yeshua: Isaiah 53:1-11.1.
Who has believed our report? 2. For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him. 3. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people He was stricken. 9. And He put His grave with the wicked and with a rich one in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth 10. Yet it pleased the LORD to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. 11. He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many; and He shall bear their iniquities.
Let's look at it once again, but with a little exegesis: Isaiah 53:1-11:
1. Who has believed our report? Truly, until this day, many Jews do not believe their report - but not for biblical reasons.
2. For He [Messiah] comes up before Him [God His Father] as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground - that is, as a little shoot proceeding from a tree stump. Yeshua was of David's royal line; but He was from a poor family in a nation oppressed by the Roman Empire; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him.
3. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not. His own Jewish people, incited by their leaders, rejected Him to the uttermost.
4. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.
The New Testament declares Yeshua's scourging and bruising: And when (Pilate) had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified (Matthew 27:26).
It also declares a substitutionary suffering and death for sin, as does this Isaiah passage. 2 Corinthians 5:21: For he [God] hath made him sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.
When the Roman Governor, Pilate, interrogated Jesus, he said to Him, Do you not hear how many things they witness against you? And He did not answer him a word, so that the governor greatly marveled (Matthew 27:13-14).
8. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation [or, who could tell His fate]? For He was cut off out of the land of the living [killed]: for the transgression of My people He was stricken.
9. And He put His grave with the wicked and with a rich one in His death. Keil and Delitzsch say that this phrase would be better translated, And they assigned Him His grave with sinners - and with a rich one in His death. Matthew 15:43-46 declares that a wealthy disciple of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, buried Jesus in his own tomb - although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. (2 Corinthians 5:21: He . . . knew no sin.)
10 a. Yet it pleased the LORD to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering.
This is the fulfillment of Leviticus 17:11: For the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.
10 b. He [Messiah] shall see His seed [His spiritual descendants], He shall prolong His days [live a prolonged life], and the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11. He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many. How can Messiah be killed and buried, and then see His future disciples, live a prolonged life, and prosper the LORD's work? There's only one possible answer: resurrection. - and He shall bear their iniquities.
Now, to address the first, third and fourth claims
"We Believe that God the Son Became Flesh"
"In the Person of Yeshua of Nazareth"
"Who Was Conceived of the Spirit of God"
"And Born of the Jewish virgin, Miriam (Mary)."
I'll present a series of scriptures that together substantiate these claims: Luke 1:30-35.
30 And the angel said to her, Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold! You shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Yeshua. 32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I do not know a man? 35 And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One which will be born of you shall be called Son of God.
Verse 31 affirms that "God the Son Became Flesh (was born)" "In the Person of Yeshua;" verse 35, that He "Was Conceived of the Spirit of God;" and verses 30-31, that He would be "Born of... Miriam (Mary)". That Mary was "Jewish" is brought out in verse 32 by the phrase of His father [Mary's ancestor] David. Verses 32 and 33 also make it plain that this Son was Messiah.
We still need to substantiate the Statement claims that Miriam was a virgin and that Yeshua was of Nazareth.
Though Miriam was not named in the Tanach, a virgin birth is certainly prophesied there: Isaiah 7:14: So, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.
An issue regarding the meaning of the Hebrew word almah must be addressed here. Many rabbis protest that almah should be translated young woman, not virgin. It is true that almah may be translated young woman, but it can also be translated virgin. So which is the proper translation here?
Consider these points:
1. Immediately prior to the prophesied birth by an almah, the passage says, the Lord Himself shall
give you a sign. A sign is a Bible-sized miracle, not "miracle" as is often used contemporarily of
something marvelous, as of a beautiful rainbow. But how can the birth of a child to an ordinary young woman be a Bible-sized miracle? Such births happen every day all over the world. The only
sensible translation of almah here is virgin.
2. According to Dr. Fruchtenbaum,* the eleventh century scholar Rashi translated almah in 7:14 as young woman - yet, in Song of Solomon 1:3 and 6:8, he translated almah as virgin! Furthermore, Rashi admitted that many of his contemporary Jewish scholars believed that almah in 7:14 should be translated virgin. (*Jesus was a Jew, by Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum. Available at Ariel Ministries.)
3. Behold, the virgin will conceive and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel. Immanuel means God with Us, evidence that the son to
be born may possess a dual divine and human nature, possible only if his mother was a virgin.
To review, many Jewish scholars have held that the proper translation of almah in the passage is virgin. Furthermore, the birth of a son to an ordinary young woman is no Bible-sized miracle; but the birth of a son to virgin certainly is! And only a virgin can possibly bear a son with a dual divine and human nature.
The only reasonable translation of almah in Isaiah 7:14 is virgin.
"Of Nazareth."
Matthew 2:23. And he came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."
The verse speaks of Miriam's husband, Joseph, bringing Yeshua to Nazareth. He shall be called a Nazarene will not be found in the Tanach, but it summarizes an aspect of Yeshua's life that was prophesied in the Tanach that was, indeed, fulfilled in His life. (This method of summarizing portions of the Tanach, called "summation," is found elsewhere in the New Testament, as well.) In Yeshua's day, residents of Nazareth were looked down upon by other Jews, and so it was with Yeshua. He was looked down upon because He was of Nazareth but, more significantly, He was rejected by His own people who also delivered Him to pagans to be crucified. As Isaiah declared, He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not (53:3). Indeed, Yeshua was a two-fold Nazarene: firstly, because He was raised in Nazareth, and secondly, because He was despised and rejected of men because of His Messianic claims.
That Messiah would be simultaneously divine and human was intimated in Isaiah 7:14, which prophesied His virgin birth, and was made as plain as day in Luke 1:31, where the angel tells Miriam, You shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Yeshua.
And in verse 34:
Then Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One which will be born of you shall be called Son of God."
The human virgin-born Yeshua was called that Holy One and Son of God.
Yeshua declared the same. As He was standing bodily on earth speaking with Nicodemus, He declared, And no one has ascended up to Heaven except He who came down from Heaven, the Son of Man who is in Heaven. (John 3:13) . . . the Son of Man who IS in Heaven. The Son of Man was simultaneously on earth and in heaven: fully human and fully divine.
The sinlessness of the prophesied Messiah's life is implicit in the Tanach. As we have seen, Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the future virgin bearing a Son named Immanuel, God with Us; and Isaiah 9:6 declares that the Son will be given names that declare His deity: Mighty God and Everlasting Father (or Father of Eternity).
That God is sinless hardly needs to be proven; but what about the man Yeshua? Let's look at Luke 1:35 again: And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One which will be born of you shall be called Son of God.
It is the flesh and blood baby of Miriam that is called that Holy One, meaning absolutely sinless in His very nature. Yeshua was not born with a sin nature, but with an absolutely holy nature, and this was accomplished by the overshadowing of God the Holy Spirit upon Miriam. And as to the actual outworking of this holy overshadowing in His life, Yeshua said to the scribes and Pharisees who had been dogging Him all of His ministry, Which of you convicts Me of sin? (John 8:46)
John 3:1: And there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 He came to Yeshua by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles which you do unless God is with him."
That Yeshua did miracles was a fulfillment of Messianic prophecies in the Tanach:
Say to those of a hasty heart, "Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the full dealing of God. He will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing."
~ Isaiah 35:4 ~
1 Corinthians 15:3: . . . Messiah died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures . . .
Among the scriptures referred to here is the prophecy of Psalm 16:10: For You will not leave My soul in hell; You will not allow Your Holy One to see bodily decay.
The Psalmist David would never refer to himself as Your Holy One, and his body has certainly undergone decay by now, three thousand years after his burial. Therefore, David could certainly not be prophesying of himself, but of the Son of David, the Messiah. He said, in essence, "The body of the Messiah, Your Holy One, would not suffer bodily decay because God would not leave My soul in hell (Sheol, the temporary abode of the dead)." In other words, "God will resurrect Me."
Act 1:9: And saying these things, as they watched, He was taken up. And a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Romans 8:34: It is Messiah that died, but rather also was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
That Messiah is at the right hand of God is a fulfillment of prophecy. Psalm 110:1: the LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies as Your footstool."
David the Psalmist declared that the LORD, God the Father, said to David's Lord, Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies as Your footstool. Who might David's Lord be? God prophetically bids this Lord of David to ascend to His right hand of power, and also promises to place all His enemies under His feet. Who else could God be speaking to other than Messiah?
That Messiah would return to earth after His ascension is not foreign to the Tanach, either.
Hosea 5:15: I will go; I will return to My place until they confess their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me diligently.
It is obvious from the context that a divine Person is speaking as it is to Him that confession of guilt will be made, and it is His face whom they, Israel, will seek. This divine Person will return to His place, that is, Heaven, and then come again. Revelation 19:11-16 tells us that He will come again . . .
Rev 19:11-16.
11. And I saw Heaven opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12. And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew except Himself. 13. And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14. And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations. And He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of Almighty God. 16. And He has on His garment, and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
That the personage in this passage is Messiah Yeshua is evident from verse 13, in which He is called The Word of God. Let's look at John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.
The Word of verse 1 became flesh, and dwelt among us. In other words, The Word, who had a divine pre-existence, was born a human. We've already seen Who that was: The Messianic Word of God of John 1 and Revelation 19:13: Yeshua.
The kingdom will last a millennium, a thousand years: Revelation 20:4: And they lived and reigned with Messiah a thousand
years.
These blessings were prophesied in the Tanach.
1. The Spirit of the Lord the LORD is on Me; because the LORD has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2. to preach the acceptable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God; to
comfort all who mourn; 3. to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness; so that they
might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.
~ Isaiah 61:1-3 ~
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