Son of God

Greg

But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31 NRSV).
 
What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God? Has an incorrect meaning been projected onto the term “son of God” by some who have sought to “prove” that Jesus is the second person of a Triune god?

There are many who have presented messages and written articles about the information here, so I am not presenting something new.  I am however lending my voice to the truth that the term “son of God” is a term that has been misunderstood and misused.

In the scriptures, the following are referred to as a son(s) of God:
 
Angels
Job 38:7 - when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy (RSV)?
                       
​                       while morning stars sang, and angels rejoiced (CEV)?

The Hebrew is literally “sons of God”, but the CEV is an example of a translation that inserted the word “angels”, which is a paraphrase rather than a translation, but it is understood that angels are the referent.   
 

The Davidic King
2 Samuel 7:14 - I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings (NRSV).

Here God was speaking to David about his descendant and the father/son relationship that God would have with him as the Davidic king.  We see this relationship in Psalm 2 as well.  

Psalm 2:7 - I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you (NRSV).

Here is the commentary on this passage from the NET translators:
You are my son.’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
 
Israel
Hosea 11:1 - When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son (RSV).
 
Exodus 4:22 - You must say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord has said, “Israel is my son, my firstborn (NET).

Another note from the NET translators:
Exodus 4:22 sn The metaphor uses the word “son” in its connotation of a political dependent, as it was used in ancient documents to describe what was intended to be a loyal relationship with well-known privileges and responsibilities, like that between a good father and son. The word can mean a literal son, a descendant, a chosen king (and so, the Messiah), a disciple (in Proverbs), and here, a nation subject to God. If the people of Israel were God’s “son,” then they should serve him and not Pharaoh. Malachi reminds people that the Law said “a son honors his father,” and so God asked, “If I am a father, where is my honor?” (Mal 1:6).
 
Adam
Luke 3:38 - the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (RSV)

One more note from the NET:
The reference to the son of God here is not to a divine being, but to one directly formed by the hand of God.
 
Christians
1 John 3:1-2 - 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. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is (KJV).

We become the sons of God by being united to Jesus, mankind’s Savior, and the Lord of all Christians.
 
Clearly, in each instance above, being a son of God distinguishes someone from being God.  It is evident that the term son of God does not denote an ontological sameness with God, so why do some people make the claim that Jesus being the Son of God makes him God? Kegan Chandler, in his book “The God of Jesus”, cited Larry Hurtado who wrote: “divine sonship did not function to connote divinity, but it certainly indicated a special status and relationship with God” (Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ, pg. 103; Cited on pg. 410, Kegan Chandler, The God of Jesus).  Chandler cites other authors in this section of his book and I encourage others to check it out.  The point is, those who seek to make the argument that Jesus being called the Son of God “proves his deity”, are misinformed. 

A son of God is one who has a special relationship with God.  Angels are spirits, directly created by God, and they are his messengers.  Israel, the chosen nation, was formed and given a special standing with God.  The Davidic kings, starting with David himself, have had a unique position on the earth as God’s representatives.  Adam had no human father – he was the first man, created directly by God, and this is why he is called the son of God.  Christians are sons and daughters of God because they too have entered into a father and child relationship with the Father. 

Then there is the Lord Jesus.  Compared to the angels he is the ultimate messenger of God.  He was commissioned to reveal God perfectly, and to redeem creation.  He is also the final and eternal Davidic king, the one whose rule will never end.  As the Davidic kings were the heads of Israel, so Christ is the head of the church, as he represents God to the people, and represents the people to God.  As Adam was directly created by God, so Jesus was brought into existence by the creative power of the Almighty (Luke 1:35). We become heirs of immortality, sons of God (Luke 20:36), by being united to Jesus, the first fruits of the new creation.  One might say (I heard someone else say this once) that Jesus is the ‘full-spectrum” Son of God.

So to be clear, those of us who seek to uphold the truth about Jesus are not “demoting” him in any way when we deny the fact that is he a two natured being who is part of a three person being (whatever that is). He is the highly exalted one! He is Lord of all.  He is one with God in fellowship and they have the same agenda.  We agree with Paul that God is not Christ, but that God is the head of Christ. We agree with Jesus that he is not ontologically equal to the Father, but that the Father is greater than Jesus.  We believe the scriptures, not the confusing creedal formulations of infallible men. Our view of Jesus is higher than ever.  He has accomplished magnificent things for God and mankind. He is a man, a unique and precious man, that has been given his Father’s authority over all things. He is our Master and is able and willing to help us, through his spirit, in our times of need.  Praise him one and all! We honor him as we do the Father.

But Jesus is not Yahweh. Yahweh, the one true God, has no god over him.  Jesus does.

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God (John 20:17 KJV).