Jesus Claims to Be Divine
One of the oddest arguments that I have seen recently is that the title Son of God means that Jesus was an exalted man, a messiah, and so he is not God. I wasn't aware that the title, "Son of God," entailed Jesus's divinity (as if this alone was the argument!)? I am not sure anyone argues for Jesus's divinity on the basis of this title alone (although the title Son of God contributes to a fuller picture of how the Son relates to the Father). The reason why someone might deny the divinity of Jesus on this basis is baffling. And yet an entire movement (a so-called restorationist group) argues that this is nonetheless true (or at least this is one leg of the argument). The major problem here is that the New Testament affirms Jesus' divinity with clarity apart from the title Son of God.
John's Gospel
For example, consider the following verses from the Gospel of John that present Jesus as divine:
John 8:58: Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
John 10:30: I and the Father are one.
John 14:9: Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?" John 17:5: And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
According to the Bible, Jesus is included in the life of God the Father. Jesus claims to be "I am," a title for YHWH in the Old Testament (Exod 3:14). He claims oneness with the Father. He claims that seeing himself is the same thing as seeing the Father. And he claims that he pre-existed in glory with the Father. Simply put, there is no way to read the Bible and to deny Jesus' divinity.
Who Is Jesus?
He is not adopted into divinity. And he is not merely an exalted man. Nor Is he merely the Son of God as in a human messiah. Certainly, he is an exalted man; and certainly, he is the Son of God as the Messiah. But he is also divinity united to humanity. He is the Word, and he is the Word become flesh. "I am" visited his people at the fulness of time. And "I am" was and is and will forever be, "Jesus."
