It is (Re)-Written: Doctrine of God ep.3/7
- Dec 4, 2023
- 8 min read
THE SON
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. - Matthew 3:17
Is Jesus really the son of God? Some Christians would think twice before saying yes. This unfortunate confusion is brought about by the Trinitarian idea that Jesus' sonship is metaphorical and a role play. In the above verse, God Himself affirms that Jesus is the Son of God. Were God to speak this to us today in the same manner would we believe it? Or would we think it is a metaphor? Well our heavenly Father has spoken through His word.
(Matthew 17:5 KJV) While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, spoke those words twice from heaven. Shouldn't we at least believe Him? Of interest as well is that the disciples knew that Jesus is the son of God;
(Matthew 16:15 KJV) He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
(Matthew 16:16 KJV) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
(Matthew 16:17 KJV) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Paul’s first sermon after his conversion was on the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. The sonship of Jesus was at the heart of the gospel.
(Acts 9:19 KJV) And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.
(Acts 9:20 KJV) And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
(Matthew 26:63 KJV) But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
(Matthew 26:64 KJV) Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
(Matthew 26:65 KJV) Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
From the above verses we have to wonder why would confessing to being the son of God be considered blasphemy? John records two other instances when the Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy because He had claimed to be the Son of God. Would it be blasphemy if Jesus' sonship was merely metaphorical?
(John 5:18 KJV) Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
(John 19:7 KJV) The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
According to the Bible, Christ’s equality with His Father is based on His Sonship. This is a key point. If Jesus is any less than a literal son then He cannot be equal with God. All this is because there are many other kinds of sons of God. In what sense then is Jesus the Son of God? The Bible reveals three categories. In the first, Adam is called a Son of God, and so are the angels; however Adam, the angels and the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds are sons by creation:
(Luke 3:38 KJV) Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
(Job 38:7 KJV) When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
(Job 1:6 KJV) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
The second category of sons of God is the forgiven born-again sinner who is a son by re-creation/redemption
(1John 3:1 KJV) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
But the Bible reveals a final category which has only one member. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. Only born. And because He is the only begotten of God, He alone shares the nature of His Father and is hereby equal to God.
(1John 4:9 KJV) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
(John 3:16 KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
There is more with regard to this begetting of Jesus. Micah speaks of when Christ, the only begotten son of God was begotten. he says:
(Micah 5:2 DRB) And thou Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda, out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.
Without a doubt we know that Christ was born in Bethlehem but only as the Son of man. The verse however tells us that His going forth as the Son of God was in the days of eternity. The word for eternity is 'olam' which means 'beyond visual range'. In other words, it is so far back beyond a time we can comprehend, we better just call it eternity. Neither was Micah the only one to speak of the begetting of Christ in eternity past. Solomon wrote about it too and even Jesus referred to His own divine birth:
(Proverbs 8:22 CEV) From the beginning, I was with the LORD. I was there before he began
(Proverbs 8:23 CEV) to create the earth. At the very first, the LORD gave life to me.
(Proverbs 8:24 KJV) When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
(Proverbs 8:25 KJV) Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
(Proverbs 8:26 KJV) While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
(Proverbs 8:27 KJV) When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
(Proverbs 8:28 KJV) When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
(Proverbs 8:29 KJV) When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
(Proverbs 8:30 CEV) I was right beside the LORD, helping him plan and build. I made him happy each day, and I was happy at his side.
(Proverbs 30:4 KJV) Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
(John 8:42 KJV) Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
(John 16:27 KJV) For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
(John 16:28 KJV) I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
(John 3:36 KJV) He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
(John 20:31 KJV) But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. His equality with the Father is based on the fact that He is the only begotten Son and His begetting occurred ‘in the days of eternity’ past, in a time we cannot penetrate to in our minds. He is God because He is the son of God. Not God the son but as plain scripture says, the only begotten son of God. That is His personality, as Ellen White wrote, "The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is truly God in infinity, but not in personality" (Ellen White, Upward Look, pg 367)
1. Since Christ’s divinity and therefore equality with God rests on His being the begotten (literal) Son, turning His sonship into a metaphor actually denies His divinity.
2. Read the following quotations and deduce relevant lessons to our lesson
“Christ’s divinity is to be steadfastly maintained. When the Savior asked the disciples the question, ‘Whom say ye that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Said Christ, ‘Upon this rock,’ not on Peter, but on the Son of God, ‘I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’” - [Ellen White, Review and Herald, March 2, 1905]
“Satan was well acquainted with the position of honor Christ had held in heaven as the Son of God, the beloved of the Father.” - [Ellen White, Review and Herald, March 3, 1874]
“A complete offering has been made; for "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,"-- not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father's person, and in all the brightness of his majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” - [Ellen White, Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895, par. 3]
“The Scriptures declare that Christ is "the only begotten son of God." He is begotten, not created. As to when He was begotten, it is not for us to inquire, nor could our minds grasp it if we were told. The prophet Micah tells us all that we can know about it in these words, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity." Micah 5:2. There was a time when Christ proceeded forth and came from God, from the bosom of the Father (John 8:42; 1:18), but that time was so far back in the days of eternity that to finite comprehension it is practically without beginning.” - [Ellet J Waggonner, Christ and His Righteousness (compiled from 1888 sermon notes) pg 21, par. 2]
“And since He is the only-begotten son of God, He is of the very substance and nature of God and possesses by birth all the attributes of God, for the Father was pleased that His Son should be the express image of His Person, the brightness of His glory, and filled with all the fullness of the Godhead.” - [Ellet J Waggonner, Christ and His Righteousness (compiled from 1888 sermon notes) pg 22, par. 1]
“The only being who was one with God lived the law in humanity, descended to the lowly life of a common laborer, and toiled at the carpenter's bench with his earthly parent.” - [Ellen White, Signs of the Times, October 14, 1897, par. 3]
NEXT: THE EQUALITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON
Comments