JESUS - THE SON OF GOD



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.