In the Bible, God’s people are often called
“sons of God”. Adam is called “the son of God” (Luke 3:38). God called Israel
“my son” (Exodus 4:22-23; Hosea 11:1). He referred to Solomon as “my son” (2
Samuel 7:11-14; 1 Kings 6:1). People who accept Jesus and believe in Him are
given the right to “become children of God” (John 1:12). Paul said, “Those who
are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). John wrote, “How
great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called
children of God!” (1 John 3:1).
This is symbolic language. Virtually all
language about God is symbolic. God uses earthly relationships to stir our
imaginations in an effort to convey heavenly relationships to human minds. God
did not actually sire Adam, Israel, Solomon, and the angels, but He loved them
as a good earthly father loves his sons. God does not father us physically, but
He adopts us into His spiritual family. Adam, angels, Israel, Solomon,
followers of Jesus, and all Spirit-filled people are “sons of God” by adoption
(Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5). According to the Bible, it is
not irreverent and blasphemous to call ourselves “children of God”.
Was Jesus Any
Different?
Was Jesus “the Son of God” in the same sense we
are? Or did He have a Father/Son relationship with God that nobody else has?
The Bible is clear that Jesus was the Son of
God in a unique sense. The angel Gabriel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would
come upon her, and that the Holy One born to her would be called “the Son of
God” (Luke 1:35).
The term “Son of God” is found forty-seven
times in the New Testament, usually with reference to Jesus. What does this
term mean when used with regard to Jesus? Does it mean that God had physical
relations with Mary in order to have a child by her? No. A thousand times no.
To say that God is a sexual being who cohabits with women would be blasphemous.
Nowhere does the Bible say that God ever had physical relations with a woman to
sire a son.
What, then, does the term “Son of God” mean? To
answer this question, let us turn to the New Testament and listen to the words
of Jesus.
Jesus Calls God “My
Father”
Jesus taught that there is only one God. When a
teacher of the law asked Jesus to identify the greatest commandment, Jesus
replied, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with
all your strength” (Mark 12:29b-30). Jesus upheld monotheism in His teachings.
Yet, Jesus refers to God as “my Father”. He
said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my
Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before
my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).
Here, Jesus claims a special Father/Son
relationship with God and promises to put in a good word for those who
acknowledge Him.
Jesus Claims to Be
“the Son of God”
One Sabbath day, at the Pool of Bethesda in
Jerusalem, Jesus healed a lame man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight
years. When the Jews criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, he said to
them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am
working” (John 5:17).
When the Jews heard this, they tried to kill Him.
They accused Jesus of blasphemy because He was “calling God his own Father,
making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).
When Muslims say that it is blasphemous to call
Jesus the Son of God, they are making the same mistake the Jews made.
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, the Son
can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the
Son. . . . For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so
the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father
judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor
the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not
honor the Father who sent him. . . . I tell you the truth, a time is coming and
has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God , and those
who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted
the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:19-23, 25-26).
Nine times in nine sentences, Jesus refers to Himself
as “the Son”. Eight times, He refers to God as “the Father”. In verse 25, Jesus
refers to Himself as “the Son of God”.
Jesus said to them, “I judge only as I hear,
and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me”
(John 5:30). Jesus was an obedient Son. Time and again, He declared that He had
come not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him (John
4:34; 5:23, 30, 36-38; 6:38-40; 12:44). Jesus submitted to the authority of the
Father and thus honored God.
Jesus Was God’s Unique
Son
In His dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send
his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”
(John 3:16-17). Notice that God sent His Son into the world. That means that
the Son existed with the Father before He became human.
John continues, “Whoever believes in him [the
Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
Jesus is the unique Son of God. At least nineteen times in the Greek New
testament, Jesus is identified as “the Son of the God” (Luke 22:70; John 1:34,
39; 3:18; 5:25; 11:4; 20:31; Acts 9:20; Ephesians 4:13; Hebrews 4:14; 6:6; 7:3;
10:29; 1 John 3:8; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 12, 13, 20).
Jesus’ Farewell
Address
In Jesus’ farewell address to his apostles on
the night before His crucifixion, He told them that He was going to prepare a
place for them in His Father’s house (John 14:1-4).
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that
will be enough for us” (John 14:8).
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip,
even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has
seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that
I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (John 14:9-10). God has
revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus. When we look at Jesus, we see
what God is like.
Jesus On Trial
When Jesus was arrested and put on trial, the
high priest asked Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” (Mark
14:61). Jesus replied, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62).
Here, again, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.
“The Word” and “the
Son” Are the Same Person
In the Gospel of John, the titles “the Word”
and “the Son” refer to the same Person. John wrote, “The Word was with God, and
the Word was God” (John 1:1). The literal translation reads, “The Word was with
the God, and the Word was God”. That is to say, the Word was with God Almighty,
and the Word was divine. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing
was made that has been made” (John 1:3). The Word was the agent through whom
God created all things, and the Word became flesh when Jesus was born.
The apostle Paul said, “For by him [Jesus, in
his pre-earthly state] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible. . . all things were created by him and for him. He is
before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).
In the beginning, God created all things through His eternal Word/Son.
John said, “God, the One and Only, who is at
the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18). Jesus, the divine Word/Son,
is now at the Father’s side. He has made God known to humanity.
Peter’s Testimony
At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His apostles,
“Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15). Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
Jesus did not rebuke Peter for making that
statement. Instead, He praised him. He said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of
Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven”
(Matthew 16:17). God, Himself, had revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Son of
God.
Martha’s Testimony
Jesus said to Martha (the sister of Lazarus
whom Jesus raised from death), “I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes
in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
Martha replied, “Yes Lord. I believe that you
are the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:27).
John’s Testimony
The apostle John wrote, “We know also that the
Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who
is true. And we are in him who is true–even in his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John
5:20). We know God when we are in His Son, Jesus Christ.
God’s Testimony
At Jesus’ baptism, God spoke from heaven
saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew
3:17).
When Jesus was with Peter, James, and John on a
high mountain, a bright cloud appeared and enveloped them. A voice came from
the cloud saying, “This is my Son whom I love; with him I am well pleased.
Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5).
John says, “We accept man’s testimony, but
God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has
given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony
in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar,
because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this
is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have
life” (1 John 5:9-12).
Six times in four verses, John declares that
God Himself has testified that Jesus is His Son.
Conclusion
You have heard the testimony of Jesus about Himself.
You have heard the testimony of others, and the testimony of God. What is your
response?
Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice: I
know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never
perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to
me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and
the Father are one” (John 10:27-30). Do you hear His voice as you read these
words?
The Son and the Father are one in essence,
purpose, and character. Jesus came to show us the glory of the Father and to
draw us into a loving relationship with Him. Once we are united with Jesus,
nothing can separate us from the love of God or snatch us out of the Father’s
hand.
