What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God?
When Scripture calls Jesus the Son of God, it is not saying He is a created being or 'less than' God; it is declaring His full divinity and His perfect relationship with the Father. He is the eternal Son, of one nature with the Father.
This question arose from studying Who is Jesus?.
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What the Scripture says
1Hebrews 1:3 · WEB Hebrews 1:5 · WEB
'Son' speaks of nature, not of being made
In Scripture, sonship describes likeness of nature and relationship. The Son is 'the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance.' The word speaks of who He eternally is in relation to the Father, not of a point when He began to exist.
His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today have I become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?”
2John 5:17-18 · WEB John 10:33 · WEB
Everyone understood it as a claim to equality
When Jesus called God His own Father, 'the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.' They knew exactly what sonship meant: He was claiming to be God.
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.” For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
3John 5:19 · WEB John 5:21-23 · WEB
The Son does the Father's own works
As the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to whom He will. All judgment has been given to the Son, 'that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father.' These are not the works of a servant doing another's bidding; they are the works of God.
Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise.
For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
4John 10:30 · WEB John 10:33 · WEB
He is one with the Father
Jesus said plainly, 'I and the Father are one.' The crowd immediately understood: 'because you, being a man, make yourself God.' The Son is not one god among many; He and the Father are one in being, distinct in Person.
I and the Father are one.”
The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
51 John 5:11-12 · WEB Romans 8:32 · WEB
Why it matters for salvation
Our life is in the Son: 'He who has the Son has the life.' And because the Son is God, He is fully able to save. The Father's love is measured by this: He who 'didn't spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.' A lesser Christ could not bear a whole world's sin; the Son of God can.
The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.
He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
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Why did Jesus call himself the Son of Man?→“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”Where is Jesus now?→“When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.””Does Jesus sharing God's nature mean there are two Gods?→“I and the Father are one.””What happened between the cross and the resurrection?→“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.”Why is Jesus called both the Son of God and the Son of Man?→“But he stayed quiet, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.””Is the Son of Man title about judgment or mercy?→“For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,”What does it mean that the world hates Jesus?→“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”Why did God become a man?→“The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”Why did the disciples not recognize Him after He rose?→“But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of David?→“When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”Why did Jesus often tell people not to reveal who He was?→“The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!” He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.”How can one Person be fully God and fully man at once?→“The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”What does the creed mean by 'he descended into hell'?→“because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.”What is the final judgment, and who will be there?→“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”What did Jesus teach about the kingdom of God?→“From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.””How is the new covenant different from the old one?→“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”What was it like to see the risen Jesus?→“See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.””Why did Jesus appear only to certain people after His resurrection?→“God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”Who were 'the spirits in prison', and what did Christ preach to them?→“in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”What does it mean that God is one?→“Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.”What will believers be rewarded for, if salvation is by grace alone?→“each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.”What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?→“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”For whom did Christ die?→“I am the good shepherd.The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”What does the title 'Christ' mean?→“The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,”Does the Bible teach there are other gods?→“It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him.”Who are the 'gods' (elohim) of Psalm 82?→“God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.”If Jesus is the 'firstborn of all creation,' was He created?→“who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.”Do I need a priest to reach God?→“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”What does Scripture show us about Mary?→“Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,”Does it matter which Jesus I believe in?→“But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.”Which modern portraits of Jesus preach another Jesus?→“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?””How does Jesus becoming man show us the Father's love?→“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Lion of Judah?→“One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.” I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
I and the Father are one.”
His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
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