This does not mean that all the Jews and the Christians said that, rather some of them, the evidence of this is what the believing man from the family of Pharaoh said as the Holy Quran mentions:

 يَا قَوْمِ لَكُمُ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ظَاهِرِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ

(O my people, sovereignty is yours today, [your being] dominant in the land.) (Ghafer: 29)

It is well known that it is not possible for sovereignty to be for all people, but for some people, so some Jews and Christians said:

(… نَحْنُ أَبْنَاءُ اللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّاؤُهُ …) (…“We are the children of Allah and His beloved.…): Allah (swt) replied to their claim:

(… بَلْ أَنتُم بَشَرٌ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ …) (…Rather, you are human beings from among those He has created. …): The humans are subjected to either forgiveness or to punishment and no one whoever can flee from the destiny that Allah (swt) wills.

(  وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۖ وَإِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ … ) (… And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and to Him is the [final] destination ): Here, the verse indicates the illimitation of His (swt) will, because as long as He (swt) possesses what is between the heavens and the earth and He (swt) owns the destiny, then He (swt) has the complete dominion and free will to torture or forgive all human beings without exception, so we cannot say: We are Allah’s beloved (swt) and we are such and such, as the Jews said and made themselves the distinguished nation among the rest of the peoples. All human beings are subject to His will (swt) and are subject to torment and forgiveness from Him, The Owner and Controller of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, and to Him is the destiny and fate.