The sonship of Jesus

 

 

 

Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of the living God.

The angel Gabriel said to Mary about Jesus, before He was conceived in the womb, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35 – NKJV).

In the days of His flesh, God spoke twice from heaven declaring that Jesus was His Son. The first time at the Jordan river, after Jesus was baptized by John, as it is written: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17). The second time on the holy mountain, when Jesus was transfigured before three of His disciples, as it is written: “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 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. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid” (Matthew 17:1-6).

Jesus Himself declared that He was the Son of God on many occasions. I will cite just two of them. One day Jesus asked a man, who was born blind to whom He gave sight, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God?’ He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.’ Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him (John 9:35-38). When Jesus was led before the Jewish Council, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, asked Him, ‘Are You then the Son of God?’ So He said to them, ‘You rightly say that I am’ (Luke 22:70).

The Jews condemned Jesus to be deserving of death because He declared that He was the Son of God. Here is what Mark wrote: “Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ Jesus said, ‘I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think? And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death” (Mark 14:61-64 – NKJV). And when they delivered Him to Pontius Pilate they said to him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7 – NKJV). The reason why according to the Jews Jesus was guilty of blasphemy, and thus He had to be put to death, was that by calling God His own Father He made Himself equal with God (John 5:18), that is to say, He made Himself God (John 10:33).

Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).

The apostles of the Lord believed and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 14:33; 16:16; Acts 9:20).

Demons know that Jesus is the Son of God, for in the days of His flesh demons came out of many, crying out and saying, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of God!’ (Luke 4:41).

To conclude this teaching on the sonship of Jesus, I want to point out that Jesus did not become the Son of God, either at His birth or sometime during His earthly life, for He existed prior to His conception. In other words, He existed in heaven with God the Father before He was conceived in the womb of Mary his mother. He Himself said that He came down from heaven (John 6:38), and that He came forth from the Father and came into the world (John 16:28). Was Jesus eternal in His preexistence or was He a created being? He was eternal, because He existed with God the Father from eternity. For Jesus said to the Jews, “Before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58 - NIV), and the apostle John states that Jesus was “that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us” (1 John 1:2 – NKJV). As you can see, these words confirm His everlasting pre-existence in heaven with God the Father. Therefore we proclaim that the Son of God is the First and the Last. He was and is the eternal Son, coexistent and coeternal with the Father.

 

 

 

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