Reference: Son Of God
Easton
The plural, "sons of God," is used (Ge 6:2,4) to denote the pious descendants of Seth. In Job 1:6; 38:7 this name is applied to the angels. Hosea uses the phrase (Job 1:10) to designate the gracious relation in which men stand to God.
In the New Testament this phrase frequently denotes the relation into which we are brought to God by adoption (Ro 8:14,19; 2Co 6:18; Ga 4:5-6; Php 2:15; 1Jo 3:1-2). It occurs thirty-seven times in the New Testament as the distinctive title of our Saviour. He does not bear this title in consequence of his miraculous birth, nor of his incarnation, his resurrection, and exaltation to the Father's right hand. This is a title of nature and not of office. The sonship of Christ denotes his equality with the Father. To call Christ the Son of God is to assert his true and proper divinity. The second Person of the Trinity, because of his eternal relation to the first Person, is the Son of God. He is the Son of God as to his divine nature, while as to his human nature he is the Son of David (Ro 1:3-4. Comp. Ga 4:4; Joh 1:1-14; 5:18-25; 10:30-38, which prove that Christ was the Son of God before his incarnation, and that his claim to this title is a claim of equality with God).
When used with reference to creatures, whether men or angels, this word is always in the plural. In the singular it is always used of the second Person of the Trinity, with the single exception of Lu 3:38, where it is used of Adam.
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The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them.
There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.
Then Joshua got up early in the morning, and, moving on from Shittim, he and all the children of Israel came to Jordan and were there for the night before going over. And at the end of three days, the men in authority over the people went through the tents,
And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.
Have you yourself not put a wall round him and his house and all he has on every side, blessing the work of his hands, and increasing his cattle in the land?
When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?
From the first he was the Word, and the Word was in relation with God and was God. This Word was from the first in relation with God. read more. All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing was. What came into existence in him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light goes on shining in the dark; it is not overcome by the dark. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for witness, to give witness about the light, so that all men might have faith through him. He himself was not the light: he was sent to give witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to every man, was then coming into the world. He was in the world, the world which came into being through him, but the world had no knowledge of him. He came to the things which were his and his people did not take him to their hearts. To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of becoming children of God--that is, to those who had faith in his name: Whose birth was from God and not from blood, or from an impulse of the flesh and man's desire. And so the Word became flesh and took a place among us for a time; and we saw his glory--such glory as is given to an only son by his father--saw it to be true and full of grace.
For this cause the Jews had an even greater desire to put Jesus to death, because not only did he not keep the Sabbath but he said God was his Father, so making himself equal with God. So Jesus made answer and said, Truly I say to you, The Son is not able to do anything himself; he is able to do only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does the Son does it in the same way. read more. For the Father has love for the Son and lets him see everything which he does: and he will let him see greater works than these so that you may be full of wonder. In the same way, as the Father gives life to the dead, even so the Son gives life to those to whom he is pleased to give it. The Father is not the judge of men, but he has given all decisions into the hands of the Son; So that all men may give honour to the Son even as they give honour to the Father. He who gives no honour to the Son gives no honour to the Father who sent him. Truly I say to you, The man whose ears are open to my word and who has faith in him who sent me, has eternal life; he will not be judged, but has come from death into life. Truly I say to you, The time is coming, it has even now come, when the voice of the Son of God will come to the ears of the dead, and those hearing it will have life.
I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to send at him. read more. Jesus said to them in answer, I have let you see a number of good works from the Father; for which of those works are you stoning me? This was their answer: We are not stoning you for a good work but for evil words; because being a man you make yourself God. In answer, Jesus said, Is there not a saying in your law, I said, You are gods? If he said they were gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Writings may not be broken), Do you say of him whom the Father made holy and sent into the world, Your words are evil; because I said, I am God's Son? If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not have belief in me; But if I am doing them, then have belief in the works even if you have no belief in me; so that you may see clearly and be certain that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.
About his Son who, in the flesh, came from the family of David, But was marked out as Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through the coming to life again of the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord,
And all those who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For the strong desire of every living thing is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God.
But when the time had come, God sent out his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, That he might make them free who were under the law, and that we might be given the place of sons. read more. And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, saying, Abba, Father.
So that you may be holy and gentle, children of God without sin in a twisted and foolish generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,
Fausets
Applied in the plural to the godly Seth's descendants (not angels, who "neither marry nor are given in marriage," Lu 20:35-36), "the salt of the earth" heretofore, amidst its growing corruption by the Cainites.(See SETH.) When it lost its savour ("for that he also (even the godly seed) is become flesh" or fleshly) by contracting marriages with the beautiful but ungodly, God's Spirit ceased to strive with man, and judgment fell (Ge 6:2-4). In Job 1:6; 2:4, angels. In Ps 82:6 "gods ... sons of the Highest," i.e. His representatives, exercising, as judges and rulers, His delegated authority. A fortiori, the term applies in a higher sense to "Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world" (Joh 10:36). Israel the type was Son of God (Ex 4:22-23; Ho 11:1). Faith obeying from the motive of love constitutes men "sons of God" (Jer 3:4; Ho 1:10). Unbelief and disobedience exclude from sonship those who are sons only as to spiritual privileges (De 32:5; Hebrew).
It (the perverse and crooked generation) hath corrupted itself before Him (Isa 1:4), they are not His children but their blemish, i.e. "they cannot be called God's children but the disgrace of God's children" (Ro 9:8; Ga 3:26). The doctrine of regeneration or newborn sonship to God by the Spirit is fully developed in the New Testament (Joh 1:12-13; 3:3,5; 1Jo 3:1-3; Ro 8:15; Ga 4:5-6). The Son of God, Antitype to Israel, is co-equal, co-eternal, co-essential (consubstantial) with the Father; by eternal generation (Col 1:15), "begotten far before every creature" (Greek), therefore not a creature. So Pr 8:22 (Hebrew), "Jehovah begat (qananiy related to Greek gennaoo) Me in the beginning of His way (rather omit "in"; the Son Himself was "the Beginning of His way", "the Beginning of the creation of God", Re 3:14) from everlasting ... or ever the earth was ... I was by Him as One brought up with Him. I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him" (Pr 8:22-31; Joh 1:1-3).
The Son was the Archetype from everlasting of that creation which was in due time to be created by Him. His distinct Personality appears in His being "by God ... brought up with God," not a mere attribute; "nursed at His side"; "the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father"; to be "honoured as the Father" (Joh 1:18; 5:20). Raised infinitely above angels; "for to which of them saith God, Thou art My Son, this day (there is no yesterday or tomorrow with God, His "today" is eternity from and to everlasting) have I begotten Thee?" and "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever" (Hebrew 1; Ps 2:7; 45:6-7). His divine Sonship from everlasting was openly manifested by the Father's raising Him from the dead (Ac 13:33; Ro 1:4; Re 1:5). Nebuchadnezzar called Him "the Son of God," unconsciously expressing a truth the significance of which he imperfectly comprehended (Da 3:25).
The Jews might have known Messiah's Godhead from Ps 45:6-7, and Isa 9:6, "a Son ... the mighty God, the Everlasting Father"; (Isa 7:4) Immanuel "God with us"; (Mic 5:2) "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." The Scripture-asserted unity of God was their difficulty (De 6:4), and also the palpable woman-sprung humanity of Jesus. Their supposing John the Baptist to be Messiah (Lu 3:15) shows they did not expect Messiah or Christ to be more than man (Mt 22:42-45). To Jesus' question, "what think ye of Christ, whose Son is He?" the Pharisees answered not the Son of God, but "the Son of David," and could not solve the difficulty," how then doth David in the Spirit call Him Lord?" in Psalm 110, "Jehovah said unto my Lord" ('Adonay), etc., i.e. the Lord of David, not in his merely personal capacity, but as Israel's Representative, literal and spiritual. Jesus quotes it "Lord," not "my Lord," because Jehovah addresses Him as Israel's and the church's Lord, not merely David's.
Had the Pharisees believed in Messiah's Godhead they could have answered: As man Messiah was David's son, as God He was David's and the church's Lord. The Sanhedrin unanimously (Mr 14:64) condemned Him to death, not for His claim to Messiahship but to Godhead (Joh 19:7; Lu 22:70-71, "art Thou the Son of God?" etc., Lu 23:1; Mt 26:63-66). So contrary to man's thoughts was this truth that, Jesus says, not flesh and blood, but the Father revealed it to Peter (Mt 16:17). The Jews thrice took up stones to kill Him for blasphemy
(1) in unequivocally claiming God to be peculiarly "His own Father" (idion patera): Joh 5:18. Again,
(2) in claiming divine pre-existence, "before Abraham was created ("began to be", genesthai), I am" (eimi): Joh 8:58-59. And
(3) in saying, "I and the Father are one" (hen, one "essence", not person): Joh 10:30-31,33.
The apostles preached His divine Lordship as well as Messiahship (Ac 2:36). His acknowledged purity of character forbids the possibility of His claiming this, as He certainly did and as the Jews understood Him, if the claim were untrue; He never would have left them under the delusion that He claimed it if delusion it were. But the Jews from De 13:1-11 (some thought Jesus specially meant, "if the son of thy mother entice thee," for He had a human mother, He said, but not a human father) inferred that His miracles, which they could not deny, did not substantiate His claim, and that their duty was to kill with holy zeal One who sought to draw them to worship as divine another beside God. They knew not that He claimed not to be distinct God, but One with the Father, One God; they shut their eyes to De 18:15, etc., and so incurred the there foretold penalty of rejecting Him. His miracles they attributed to Satan's help (Mt 12:24,27; Mr 3:22; Lu 11:15; Joh 7:20; 8:48; Mt 10:25).
Men may commit awful sins in fanatical zeal for God, with the Scriptures in their hands, while following unenlightened conscience; conscience needs to be illuminated by the Spirit, and guided by prayerful search of Scripture. The Jews ought to have searched the Scriptures and then they would have known. Ignorance does not excuse, however it may palliate, blind zeal; they might have known if they would. Yet Jesus interceded for their ignorance (Lu 23:34; Ac 3:17; 13:27). Deniers of Jesus' Godhead on the plea of God's unity copy the Jews, who crucified Him because of His claim to be God. The Ebionites, Cerinthians, and other heretics who denied His Godhead, arose from the ranks of Judaism.
The arguments of the ancient Christian apologists, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, etc., against the Jews, afford admirable arguments against modern Socinians; the Jews sinned against the dimmer light of the Old Testament, Socinians against the broad light of both Old and New Testament The combination in One, the Son of God and the Son of man, was such as no human mind could have devised. The Jews could not ascend to the idea of Christ's divine Sonship, nor descend to the depth of Christ's sufferings as the Son of man; so they invented the figment of two Messiahs to reconcile the seemingly opposite prophecies, those of His transcendent glory and those of His exceeding sufferings. The gospel at once opposes the Jews' false monotheism by declaring Christ to be the coequal Son of God, and the pagan polytheism by declaring the unity of God.
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The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them. And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years. read more. There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.
And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons: And I said to you, Let my son go, so that he may give me worship; and you did not let him go: so now I will put the first of your sons to death.
Give ear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord:
If ever you have among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder takes place, and he says to you, Let us go after other gods, which are strange to you, and give them worship; read more. Then give no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God is testing you, to see if all the love of your heart and soul is given to him. But keep on in the ways of the Lord your God, fearing him and keeping his orders and hearing his voice, worshipping him and being true to him. And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams is to be put to death; for his words were said with the purpose of turning you away from the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; and of forcing you out of the way in which the Lord your God has given you orders to go. So you are to put away the evil from among you. If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your heart, or the friend who is as dear to you as your life, working on you secretly says to you, Let us go and give worship to other gods, strange to you and to your fathers; Gods of the peoples round about you, near or far, from one end of the earth to the other; Do not be guided by him or give attention to him; have no pity on him or mercy, and give him no cover; But put him to death without question; let your hand be the first stretched out against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Let him be stoned with stones till he is dead; because it was his purpose to make you false to the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house. And all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and no one will again do such evil as this among you.
The Lord your God will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to him;
They have become false, they are not his children, the mark of sin is on them; they are an evil and hard-hearted generation.
Then Joshua got up early in the morning, and, moving on from Shittim, he and all the children of Israel came to Jordan and were there for the night before going over. And at the end of three days, the men in authority over the people went through the tents, read more. Giving the people their orders, and saying, When you see the ark of the agreement of the Lord your God lifted up by the priests, the Levites, then get up from your places and go after it;
And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.
And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Skin for skin, all a man has he will give for his life.
I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being.
Your seat of power, O God, is for ever and ever; the rod of your kingdom is a rod of honour.
Your seat of power, O God, is for ever and ever; the rod of your kingdom is a rod of honour. You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil: and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head, lifting you high over all other kings.
You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil: and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head, lifting you high over all other kings.
The Lord made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past.
The Lord made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past. From eternal days I was given my place, from the birth of time, before the earth was. read more. When there was no deep I was given birth, when there were no fountains flowing with water. Before the mountains were put in their places, before the hills was my birth: When he had not made the earth or the fields or the dust of the world. When he made ready the heavens I was there: when he put an arch over the face of the deep: When he made strong the skies overhead: when the fountains of the deep were fixed: When he put a limit to the sea, so that the waters might not go against his word: when he put in position the bases of the earth: Then I was by his side, as a master workman: and I was his delight from day to day, playing before him at all times; Playing in his earth; and my delight was with the sons of men.
O nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their hearts are turned back from him.
And say to him, Take care and be quiet; have no fear, and do not let your heart be feeble, because of these two ends of smoking fire-wood, because of the bitter wrath of Rezin and Aram, and of the son of Remaliah.
For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace.
Will you not, from this time, make your prayer to me, crying, My father, you are the friend of my early years?
He made answer and said, Look! I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not damaged; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
But still the number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which may not be measured or numbered; and in place of its being said to them, You are not my people, it will be said to them, You are the sons of the living God
When Israel was a child he was dear to me; and I took my son out of Egypt.
And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, the least among the families of Judah, out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose going out has been purposed from time past, from the eternal days.
It is enough for the disciple that he may be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have given the name Beelzebub to the master of the house, how much more to those of his house!
But the Pharisees, hearing of it, said, This man only sends evil spirits out of men by Beelzebub, the ruler of evil spirits.
And if I by Beelzebub send evil spirits out of men, by whom do your sons send them out? So let them be your judges.
And Jesus made answer and said to him, A blessing on you, Simon Bar-jonah: because this knowledge has not come to you from flesh and blood, but from my Father in heaven.
What is your opinion of the Christ? whose son is he? They say to him, The Son of David. He says to them, How then does David in the Spirit give him the name of Lord, saying, read more. The Lord said to my Lord, Be seated at my right hand, till I put under your feet all those who are against you? If David then gives him the name of Lord, how is he his son?
But Jesus said not a word. And the high priest said to him, I put you on oath, by the living God, that you will say to us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus says to him, You say so: but I say to you, From now you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. read more. Then the high priest, violently parting his robes, said, He has said evil against God: what more need have we of witnesses? for now his words against God have come to your ears: What is your opinion? They made answer and said, It is right for him to be put to death.
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, said, He has Beelzebub, and, By the ruler of evil spirits he sends evil spirits out of men.
His words against God have come to your ears: what is your opinion? And they all said it was right for him to be put to death.
And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,
But some of them said, He sends out evil spirits by Beelzebul, the ruler of evil spirits.
But those to whom is given the reward of the world to come, and to come back from the dead, have no wives, and are not married; And death has no more power over them, for they are equal to the angels, and are sons of God, being of those who will come back from the dead.
And they all said, Are you then the Son of God? and he said, You say that I am. And they said, What more need have we of witness? we have the very words of his mouth.
And Jesus said, Father, let them have forgiveness, for they have no knowledge of what they are doing. And they made division of his clothing among them by the decision of chance.
From the first he was the Word, and the Word was in relation with God and was God. This Word was from the first in relation with God. read more. All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing was.
To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of becoming children of God--that is, to those who had faith in his name: Whose birth was from God and not from blood, or from an impulse of the flesh and man's desire.
No man has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is on the breast of the Father, he has made clear what God is.
Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you, Without a new birth no man is able to see the kingdom of God.
Jesus said in answer, Truly, I say to you, If a man's birth is not from water and from the Spirit, it is not possible for him to go into the kingdom of God.
For this cause the Jews had an even greater desire to put Jesus to death, because not only did he not keep the Sabbath but he said God was his Father, so making himself equal with God.
For the Father has love for the Son and lets him see everything which he does: and he will let him see greater works than these so that you may be full of wonder.
The people said in answer, You have an evil spirit: who has any desire to put you to death?
The Jews said to him in answer, Are we not right in saying that you are of Samaria and have an evil spirit?
Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, Before Abraham came into being, I am. So they took up stones to send at him: but Jesus got secretly out of their way and went out of the Temple.
I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to send at him.
This was their answer: We are not stoning you for a good work but for evil words; because being a man you make yourself God.
Do you say of him whom the Father made holy and sent into the world, Your words are evil; because I said, I am God's Son?
And the Jews made answer, We have a law, and by that law it is right for him to be put to death because he said he was the Son of God.
For this reason, let all Israel be certain that this Jesus, whom you put to death on the cross, God has made Lord and Christ.
And now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers, without knowledge.
For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him.
Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being.
But was marked out as Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through the coming to life again of the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord,
For you did not get the spirit of servants again to put you in fear, but the spirit of sons was given to you, by which we say, Abba, Father.
That is, it is not the children of the flesh, but the children of God's undertaking, who are named as the seed.
Because you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
That he might make them free who were under the law, and that we might be given the place of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, saying, Abba, Father.
Who is the image of the unseen God and existed before all living things;
And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea say: These things says the true and certain witness, the head of God's new order: