Jesus, the Son of God

1
Jesus, the Son of God

• Much needless controversy has revolved around
  Jesus being the Son of God. Some have sought to
  dilute the meaning of "Son of God" to the point
  to where only one with distinction is
  identified.  Cult members of all flavor
  acknowledge Jesus being the Son of God, but they
  are only conceding Jesus' "above average
  position."  The phrase "Son of God" certainly
  connotes one "above average" but in the case of
  Jesus, "Son of God" articulates so much more. 
  Perhaps no other descriptive phrase applied to
  Jesus is as revealing as to the nature, Being,
  and mission of Jesus Christ as, "Son of God."

2
Jesus, the Son of God
The angel spoke thus "35 And the angel
answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest
shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God" (Luke 1). It is evident from the
context surrounding the angel's statement that
"Son of God" is not used in some ordinary way.
3
Jesus, the Son of God

• The more ordinary use of "Son of God."  Based on
  the reading of the King James, it was said of the
  contemporary Jews, "But as many as received him,
  to them gave he power to become the sons of God."
  (John 1 12).  The original, however, is
  "children of God" (tekna theou).  However, Paul
  in Romans 8 14 speaks of Christians as being
  "sons of God" (huioi theou). While it is readily
  granted that "son(s) of God" is used in various
  ways and applied to different people, I contend
  that "the Son of God" is used uniquely pertaining
  to Jesus.

4
Jesus, the Son of God

• Jesus accepted the phrase, "Son of God."  Perhaps
  one of the most famous questions that Jesus ever
  asked of man is the question found in the below
  reading
• "13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea
  Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do
  men say that I the Son of man am?.... 16 And
  Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the
  Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus
  answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,
  Simon Bar-jona for flesh and blood hath not
  revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
  heaven" (Matt. 16).

5
Jesus, the Son of God

• Yes, Jesus was generally believed to be an
  extraordinary man, but he was more than just
  exceptional.  Peter said that Jesus is "the Son
  of God" (ho huios theou) and Jesus accepted,
  commended, and verified Peter's
  statement.Further, it is upon Peter's confession
  and the truth it contained, Jesus being the Son
  of God, the foundational rock, that Jesus then
  promised to build his church (Matt. 16 18, 19). 
  The church, then, rests on the Sonship of Jesus.

6
Jesus, the Son of God

• When Jesus was baptized to "fulfill all
  righteousness," the voice of the Father was thus
  heard   "And lo a voice from heaven, saying,
  This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
  pleased" (Matt. 3 17).  Notice how the devil
  addresses Jesus, "And when the tempter came to
  him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command
  that these stones be made bread" (Matt. 4 3, the
  Greek ei, "if," seems here to be used in the
  nuance of "since").

7
Jesus, the Son of God

• "The Son of God" is with great and singular
  meaning applied to Jesus. While "son"/"father"
  denotes relationship and is variously applied in
  the scriptures, when used of Jesus and His
  Father, there is unequalled meaning. Consider
  Jesus' statement
• "22 All things are delivered to me of my Father
  and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the
  Father and who the Father is, but the Son, and
  he to whom the Son will reveal him" (Luke 10).

8
Jesus, the Son of God

• Word meaning
• Involved in the different aspects and methods of
  ascertaining word meaning, one important way is
  to observe how contemporaries understood a word
  or phrase and then how the user responded to
  their understanding.  A text of pertinence is
  John 5 and John 10.  Consider what I mean
• "18 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" and,

9
Jesus, the Son of God

• Jesus Sonship was unique
• "32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I
  shewed you from my Father for which of those
  works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him,
  saying, For a good work we stone thee not but
  for blasphemy and because that thou, being a
  man, makest thyself God (John 5 18, 10 33).

10
Jesus, the Son of God

• In both of these cases, the Jews believed Jesus
  had been guilty of capital offense, worthy of
  death.  They based their charge on Jesus
  referring to himself as the Son.The Jews were
  conversant with the more common usages of "the
  Son of God," as evidenced in John 10 34f.  In
  the context of John 5 18, Jesus had performed an
  undeniable miracle. 

11
Jesus, the Son of God

• Special relationship with the Father
• To be the Son of God in this hugely elevated
  sense means that Jesus has this special
  relationship with His Father and that He and his
  Father are "one," that is, of the same nature and
  substance (cp. John 10 30). 

12
Jesus, the Son of God

• The "eternal Sonship" controversy. 
• The eternal Sonship of Jesus issue continues to
  this very day.  Some contend that Jesus' Sonship
  or being the Son of God was begun at the time of
  his physical birth (Luke 1 35).  Some say it
  started at his baptism (Mark 1 11).  Still
  others maintain "the Son of God" status commenced
  at the time of Jesus' resurrection from the dead
  (Acts 13 33, cp. Rom. 1 1-4). 

13
Jesus, the Son of God

• Some believe that Jesus' Sonship and his
  mediatorial reign are connected relative to time
  commencement.  Since they believe Jesus' reign is
  yet future, some of the Premillennial persuasion,
  they do not now view Him as the Son of God (cp.
  Ps. 2 6, 7).  I believe it is evident to the
  logician that many in the eternal Sonship
  controversy mix terms or fail to realize an
  important nuance.

14
Jesus, the Son of God

• A Quotation
• "In that culture, a dignitary's adult son was
  deemed equal in stature and privilege with his
  father. The same deference demanded by a king was
  afforded to his adult son. The son was, after
  all, of the very same essence as his father, heir
  to all the father's rights and privileges--and
  therefore equal in every significant regard. So
  when Jesus was called 'Son of God,' it was
  understood categorically by all as a title of
  deity, making Him equal with God and (more
  significantly) of the same essence as the Father.
  That is precisely why the Jewish leaders regarded
  the title 'Son of God' as highblasphemy" (John
  MacArthor).

15
Jesus, the Son of God

• Sonship in the sense of the same nature, in the
  case of Jesus and the Father meaning deity, Jesus
  has always been the "Son of God" (John 1 1-14).
  Again, this is how the Jews who often heard Jesus
  understood "Son of God" as applied to Jesus.  How
  do we, then, account for the other apparent time
  commencement references in scripture?  It is my
  understanding that "Son of God" as applied to the
  relationship between Jesus and His Father does
  have some special "incarnation references and
  associations." 

16
Jesus, the Son of God

• First, Jesus is so declared, as we have seen,
  pertaining to his physical birth (Luke 1 35),
  his baptism (Mark 1 11), and resurrection (Rom.
  1 1-4).  Such references do not mean, I am
  convinced, that the angel, the Father, and Paul
  meant to say that Jesus' Sonship in the sense of
  John 5 and 10 began at the referenced event.  If
  understood in this sense, these statements would
  be incongruous and incapable of harmony.  Such
  events merely demonstrated the fact of his
  already existent Sonship or deity. 

17
Jesus, the Son of God

• As a Son, though, in the incarnation
  circumstance, Jesus demonstrated acquiescence to
  His Father (John 8 28, 29).   "Son" as used in
  the incarnation circumstance began at Jesus'
  birth and shall continue until Jesus delivers the
  Kingdom to the Father.  At that time, the concept
  of "Son," again, in this special incarnation
  sense, will cease that, "God may be all in all"
  (I Cor. 15 24-28).

18
Jesus, the Son of God

• The consequences of believing in Sonship
• First, those who believe in the Father's Son have
  eternal life (John 3 16).  Those who do not
  believe in Jesus' Sonship have condemnation (John
  3 18).  The belief that Jesus is the Son of God
  was a test of salvation (cp. Acts 8 37, KJV). 
  Consider the teaching of John

19
Jesus, the Son of God

• "4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
  world and this is the victory that overcometh
  the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that
  overcometh the world, but he that believeth that
  Jesus is the Son of God?
• Moreover, to deny "the Son" is to not have the
  Father (I John 2 23).  The anti-christ denies
  the "Son" and the "Father" (I John 2 22). 

20
Jesus, the Son of God

• Johns record
• The "record for which John is famous is, "that
  God hath given to us eternal life, and this life
  is in his Son" (I John 5 11).  Those without
  "the Son" have no life (I John 5 12).  It is the
  Son to whom the Father has committed all final
  judgment (John 5 22).

21
Jesus, the Son of God

• The only begotten of God.  
• "Only begotten" is from the Greek monogenes.This
  word is used nine times in the Greek New
  Testament. The word is a compound word, mono,
  meaning only, and gennesis, meaning birth. "Only
  begotten" (monogenes) is used five times by John,
  three by Luke, and once by the writer of Hebrews.
  Luke used the word to describe the widow's son,
  "only son of his mother" (Luke. 7 12, see 8 42,
  9 38).

22
Jesus, the Son of God

• Monogenes is used of Jesus' Sonship. Jesus is the
  "only begotten Son" (I John 4 9). "Single of its
  kind," comments Thayer, "used of Christ, denotes
  the only Son of God or who in the sense in which
  he himself is the Son of God has no brethrenhe
  is of nature or essentially Son of God, and so in
  a very different sense from that in which men are
  made by him children of God" (Thayer's
  Greek-English Lexicon, pgs. 417, 418). Beloved,
  God's people are adopted "sons of God," Jesus is
  the only Son of God by nature (cp. Rom. 8
  14-16).

23
Jesus, the Son of God

• As God's monogenes, Jesus enjoyed unique glory
  (John 1 14). The only begotten declared God
  (John 1 18). Jesus being of the same essential
  nature as the Father could reveal God as no other
  could (John 14 8-11). The only begotten is the
  ultimate expression of God's love (John 3 16, I
  John 4 9). Moreover, we must believe in the only
  begotten Son of God (John 3 18, 16).

24
Jesus, the Son of God

• Paul preached the Son of God. 
• "19 And when he had received meat, he was
  strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the
  disciples which were at Damascus. 20 And
  straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues,
  that he is the Son of God" (Acts 9).

25
Jesus, the Son of God

• We should cringe when we hear a Mormon, Jehovahs
  Witness, or Muslim say that they believe Jesus is
  the Son of God.  They do not, not in the biblical
  sense.  It is totally dishonest for them and
  other cult members to mislead people.  Jesus was
  God as the Logos in the pre-incarnate state,
  while in the flesh, and when resurrected (John 1
  1-3 Col. 2 9 Rom. 1 1-4).  In fact, Jesus was
  declared with power to be the Son of God by his
  resurrection from the grave (Rom. 1 4).

26
Jesus, the Son of God

• It was shortly after Jesus' crucifixion and all
  the miraculous happenings that the Roman
  centurion and others said
• "54 Now when the centurion, and they that were
  with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and
  those things that were done, they feared greatly,
  saying, Truly this was the Son of God" (Matt.
  27).

27
Jesus, the Son of God

• Conclusion
• To believe Jesus is the Son of God should not be
  lip service.  As God in the flesh who physically
  died for all men (Jesus was both God and man,
  Heb. 1 8, I Tim. 2 5), we should eagerly
  acquiesce to His will in humble obedience (cp.
  Luke 6 46, Col. 2 9).