Most of us know that the distinctive difference between Christians and Jews is that Christians believe in the deity of Christ whereas Jews do not, some contending that the deity of Christ, God the Son and the trinity were doctrines not revealed till the New Testament. This program begins a series of episodes explicating common questions surrounding these doctrines, highlighting the pertinent Old Testament Scriptures that point to the fuller revelation of the godhead in the Christian faith. This episode begins with Psalm 2, noting that the Messiah is called "my Son," and is "begotten" in time, "today I have begotten you." If Christ is the ETERNAL son of God, how can He be begotten "today?" This episode demonstrates from several Scriptures that God the Father "begat" God the Son upon Christ's accession as king. Luke cites the resurrection as the fulfillment of Psalm 2: "God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it also written in the second Psalm, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you.'" (Acts 13:33) While the average Jew living prior to Christ probably did not consider God's future Messiah as "God the Son," much less one of the three persons comprising the Trinity, he nevertheless hoped in the future absolute rule of God's Messiah, as Christ's final entry into Jerusalem suggests. Together with the distinctive elements of Judaism introduced in the last 2 lessons (justifying faith in God's provision and God's dealing with man through a perfect representative), hope in God's Messiah, make up the core of Old Testament Judaism, which naturally carried over into New Testament Christianity.
