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The truth that he was fully man is conveyed by the term [Son of Man] itself, for the words “son of man” in Aramaic or Hebrew idiom simply mean “man” or “a human being.”  For example, if an Aramaic- or Hebrew-speaking person wanted to refer to a person as a sinner, it would be natural for him to speak of that one as a “son of sin.”  Or similarly, if he wanted to call a person wealthy, he might have referred to him as a “son of wealth.”  When our Lord referred to himself as a “Son of Man,” he was merely calling himself a man, so far as the literal meaning of the term goes.  That alone is significant, for it reveals the delight the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, had in identifying with us.  He could have used terms that stressed his deity, but instead he stressed his humanity.  It is as if he were saying, “I am one of you, and I am happy with that identification.”

– James M. Boice, Daniel, 84.

have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

The First Epistle of John, more than any other book in the Bible, seems to be designed to help us in this practical, daily battle.  Consider 1 John 5:13: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” This book is written, he says, to help believers have the full assurance that they have been born again—that is, that they have new, spiritual life in them that will never die. John wants us—God wants us—to experience something through this letter that makes us profoundly confident that we have passed from death to life.

1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed out of death into life.” Jesus says in John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” So John and Jesus are jealous for us believers to know that judgment and death are behind us because our judgment happened when Jesus was judged in our place, and our death happened when Jesus died in our place. And therefore,new life is in us, and this life cannot perish and cannot be taken away. It’s eternal. That’s the assurance John and Jesus want for us. “I write these things to you…that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

– John Piper, Finally Alive, 143-144.

This is Ryan Ferguson from Sovereign Grace Ministries, recorded at the WorshipGod06 conference (Aug. 9-12, 2006).

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, hut now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The LORD has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But GOD, who called me here below,
Will be for ever mine.

John Newton, Olney Hymns, Hymn 41.

When you read about the widow’s oil and flour [from 1 Kings 17:7-16], keep in mind the nature of miracles in the Bible.  Miracles are God’s way of testifying to the truth of his word; miracles accredit God’s messengers (Heb. 1:1; 2:4).  They are not willy-nilly magical displays, arbitrarily invoked to titillate the curious.

Miracles are also redemptive.  They redeem and restore; they overcome the results of sin in our world and anticipate the re-creation of a universe that will be free from sin and its effects.  As redemptive events, they point toward and anticipate the renewal of the heavens and the earth at the end of time.  Is it any surprise, then, that Israel’s prophets often depicted future blessing in terms of agricultural bounty (e.g., Amos 9:13-15; Joel 3:18; Ezek. 47:12; Zech. 3:10)?  There was no want or lack in the garden that God provided for Adam and Eve, and in the New Jerusalem there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain (Rev. 21:4-5; 22:1-5).  The widow of Zarephath and her son received only a foretaste of what is yet to be.

– Raymond B. Dillard, Faith in the Face of Apostasy: The Gospel According to Elijah and Elisha, 25-26.