- 26 - Who was Christ, and what did he himself profess to be? – ‘I am Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Such is his testimony of himself, and it is substantiated by the words of God: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Christ was therefore the Son of God, and he claimed to be nothing more. • He was not God! Not once did he say: ‘I am God’. Not once did he claim to be God’s equal in any respect. He does not weary of repeating emphatically that he can do nothing by his own power, that his words are not his own, that he cannot perform miracles on his own. It is the Father who has sent him, from whom he has obtained the whole truth, from whom he has received the power to heal the sick and to raise the dead. Whatever he does is as the Father wills, and at the hour appointed by the Father. Just as a deputy may act only in the name and on behalf of the sovereign by whom he was appointed, and only within the limits of authority delegated to him, so is it with Christ. Even if a ruler confers his full powers upon his deputy, the latter cannot call these powers his own, for he is not the ruler but is dependent upon him in all things. He can be relieved of his post at any moment. Thus, Joseph was Pharaoh's deputy. He was given unrestricted power to save the country. As symbols of his royal power, Pharaoh had given Joseph his signet ring and dressed him in kingly clothes. With this signet ring Joseph was to mark all his documents as royal documents. In his attire Joseph was like the Pharaoh. Nevertheless, it was not Joseph, but the Pharaoh, who had been, and continued to be, the sovereign head of the state. Joseph was merely his deputy, even though he was invested with full regal powers. He did not hold these by virtue of his own right, but by voluntary bestowal on the part of the king, who could restrict or withdraw them at his pleasure, or confer them upon someone else. This is the simplest and clearest way of illustrating the relationship of Christ to God. God is Lord and Creator of all things, including His Son. God is in and of himself eternal, omnipotent, omniscient. Not so His Son. The Father conferred upon the Son the regency over Creation and, foremost of all, the task of Redemption. But the Son has nothing in and of himself, not his existence, or his regency, or his power. Everything was given him by the Father. • Although in heaven the Son may be clothed like his Father and act with Divine authority, nevertheless he is not God, any more than Joseph was the Pharaoh. This fact is so clearly brought out in the Holy Scriptures that it is surprising to find that people could ever have made Christ into ‘God’, in the face of the solemn declaration by the Father and Lord of all Creation: ‘I alone am God. There is no other.’ Not even those Christian denominations that revere Christ as God and make him the equal of his Father in all things dare assert that he ever said ‘I am God’. They base their contention first upon the fact the he called himself the Son of God. They argue as did the high priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees, of whom the Bible says:
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