Who Does Jesus Say He Is?

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all people, nations and men of every language worshiped him.” [Dan. 7:13–14]

Son of man as a title for Jesus Christ occurs about 80 times in the New Testament, almost without exception in the words of Jesus. It was his favorite self-designation. Most Christians naturally think Son of man refers to the humanity of our Lord, while Son of God refers to his deity. While this appears an obvious parallel, the Bible shows something else.
The key passage to understanding the term is in Daniel 7. Daniel sees a figure coming on the clouds of heaven. This is a reference to the glory cloud of God himself, the cloud that appears so often when God appears. The attributes describing him unmistakably refer to God. Who else in the universe is sovereign or may legitimately receive worship? Who else dwells in glory and light inaccessible? Clearly this approaching person is divine.
This Son of man is the Father’s agent to rule and judge the world.
The principal role of the Son of man is judge. The Ancient of Days calls on the Son of man to bring judgment. He comes to earth from the Father, evaluates the situation, reports back to the Father, and participates with the Father in judgment. Throughout his earthly ministry Jesus spoke of the “crisis” or judgment of the world. By saying that he was the Son of man, Jesus was saying to the Jews, “I didn’t come from Bethlehem. I came from heaven. I have come to judge.” This judgment was not to be a discerning between nations or a settling of earthly disputes. The fearful revelation of Christ’s ministry was that all people, individually considered, would be called into account for their sin and rebellion. It was time for all to make up their minds whom to serve.
In Acts 7 we read of the stoning of Stephen. As he died, Stephen saw heaven opened and the Son of man standing next to the Father. He saw that the One who is judge of all was also standing as his advocate and defense attorney. The good news of the gospel is that the Christian can embrace the Son of man as judge, because we know that he has taken upon himself the penalty for our sins.

Coram Deo

There is a coming day of judgment. If a believer, you have been rescued from wrath. Set this day apart and celebrate your deliverance from sin’s power and dominion.
Sproul, R.C., Before the Face of God: A Daily Guide for Living from the Book of Romans, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books) 1992.