Bible Truth or Tradition: Is Jesus God the Son and God in the flesh according to the Bible?

This is part of a prayer from a recent Sunday morning church service:

"...What an amazing truth. The sovereign creator of the universe is also our lowly friend and savior Jesus Christ....That the creator of all things would come to earth and take on flesh to become God the Son, the sinless savior of the world.... Father we know that the miracles Jesus performed were meant to verify and prove and support the teaching that he is who he said he is. That he is God in the flesh."

Was this pastor praying and teaching amazing truth or traditions of men? "God the Son" is not in the Bible. "God in the flesh" is not in the Bible. According to the Bible, God the Father, alone, by himself created the heavens and the earth. See Isaiah 44:24, Isaiah 45:12,18, Nehemiah 9:6 and Malachi 2:10.

Consider the following prayer from Acts chapter 4: "And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

This prayer comes after the death, resurrection, ascension and exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God. Twice is call God's "holy servant Jesus." He is distinguished from and was anointed by the Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth.

Listen to the apostle Paul preaching in Athens in Acts 17: "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Here we see God, the creator distinguished from Jesus, the man he appointed.

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-". Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬

"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him....And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead." Acts‬ ‭10‬:‭38‬-‭42‬

"but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did." John‬ ‭8‬:‭40‬ ‭ESV‬‬

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John‬ ‭20‬:‭30‬-‭31‬

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," 1 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬

"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David..." 2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬

"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." ‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John‬ ‭17‬:‭3‬

God does not have a beginning or a genealogy. According to Jesus, the Father is the only true God. According to the Bible, Jesus is a man, the Christ (Messiah), the Son of Man, the Son of God. He has all of the power and authority given to him by God, but he is still a man. He is never called "God the Son" or "God in the flesh" in the Bible. Why make him into something that is unbiblical, unintelligible and incomprehensible?

"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬, ‭17‬, ‭19‬

Mark Rohde can be reached at marklrohde@icloud.com.