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 son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
In the beginning the Word existed; and the Word was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself. He is the One who was face to face with God in the beginning. read more. It was through Him that everything came into existence, and apart from Him not a single thing came into existence. It was by Him that life began to exist, and that life was the light of mankind. So the light continues to shine in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it. There appeared a man named John, sent from God. He came for the purpose of testifying, to testify to the light, so that everyone through him might come to believe. He was not the light; he came to testify to the light. The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world. He came into the world, and though the world through Him began to exist, it did not recognize Him. He came into His own world, but His own people did not welcome Him. But to all who did accept Him, and trust in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God, who were born of God and not of natural blood nor of physical or human impulse. So the Word became human and lived a little while among us, and we actually saw His glory, the glory of One who is an only Son from His Father, and He was full of spiritual blessing and truth.
It was on account of this that the Jews tried all the harder to put Him to death, because He not only persisted in breaking the Sabbath, but also kept on saying that God was His Father, and so was making Himself equal to God. So Jesus answered them: "I most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, except as He sees the Father doing it, for whatever the Father is in the habit of doing the Son also persists in doing. read more. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing, and He will show Him greater deeds than these, so that you will keep on wondering. For just as the Father raises the dead and makes them live on, so the Son too makes alive any whom He chooses to. For the Father passes sentence on no one, but He has committed all judgment to the Son, that all men may honor the Son as they do the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. "I most solemnly say to you, whoever listens to me and believes Him who has sent me possesses eternal life, and will never come under condemnation, but has already passed out of death into life. I most solemnly say to you, a time is coming -- indeed, it is already here -- when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen to it will live.
The Father and I are one." The Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. read more. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from my Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews retorted, "It is not for a good deed but for blasphemy we are going to stone you; namely, because you, although a mere man, claim to be God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'? If men to whom God's message came are called gods -- and the Scriptures cannot be made null and void -- do you now say to me whom my Father has set apart to it and sent into the world, 'You are a blasphemer,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the things that my Father is doing, do not believe me. But if I am doing so, even if you will not believe me, believe the deeds, that you may come to know and continue to know that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father."
about His Son, who on the physical side became a descendant of David, and on the holy, spiritual side proved to be God's Son in power by the resurrection from the dead -- I mean, Jesus Christ, our Lord,
For all who are guided by God's Spirit are God's sons.
For all nature is expectantly waiting for the unveiling of the sons of God.
but when the proper time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to law, to ransom those who were subject to law, so that we might be adopted as sons. read more. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba," that is, "Father."
so that you may prove to be blameless and spotless, faultless children of God in a crooked and perverted age, in which you shine as light-bearers in the world as you continue
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 pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and the slave should be satisfied to become like his master. If men have called the Head of the house Beelzebub, how much worse names will they heap upon the members of His family!
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man is not driving out demons except by the help of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."
And if I am driving out demons by the help of Beelzebub, by whose help are your sons driving them out? So they must be your judges.
Then Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for it is not man that made this known to you, but my Father in heaven.
"What is your opinion of the Christ? Whose son is He?" They answered Him, "He is David's son." He asked them, "How then does David, under the guidance of the Spirit, call Him Lord, when he says: read more. 'The Lord has said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, Until I put your enemies under your feet!' If David, then, calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?"
But Jesus kept silent. So the high priest said to Him, "I charge you, on your oath, in the name of the living God, tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus answered him, "Yes, I am. But I tell you, you will all soon see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, and coming on the clouds of the sky." read more. Then the high priest tore his clothes, and said, "He has uttered blasphemy, What more evidence do we need? You have just heard His blasphemy. What do you think now?" Then they answered, "He deserves to die."
And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept saying, "He is under the spell of Beelzebub and by the help of the prince of the demons He drives out the demons."
Did you hear His own blasphemy? What do you think now?" And they all condemned Him as deserving to die.
Now while the people were on tiptoe in their expectations, and they were all arguing in their hearts about John whether he was himself the Christ,
But some of them said, "It is with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that He is driving the demons out."
but those who are considered worthy to attain that other world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are married. For they cannot die again. They are like the angels, and since they are reborn in the resurrection, are children of God.
Then they all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?" And He answered, "Yes, I am." Then they said, "What more evidence do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth!"
They drew lots to divide His clothes among them.
In the beginning the Word existed; and the Word was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself. He is the One who was face to face with God in the beginning. read more. It was through Him that everything came into existence, and apart from Him not a single thing came into existence.
But to all who did accept Him, and trust in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God, who were born of God and not of natural blood nor of physical or human impulse.
No one has ever seen God; the only son, Deity Himself, who lies upon His Father's breast, has made him known.
Jesus answered him, "I most solemnly say to you, no one can ever see the kingdom of God, unless he is born from above."
Jesus answered, "I most solemnly say to you, no one can ever get into the kingdom of God, unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
It was on account of this that the Jews tried all the harder to put Him to death, because He not only persisted in breaking the Sabbath, but also kept on saying that God was His Father, and so was making Himself equal to God.
For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing, and He will show Him greater deeds than these, so that you will keep on wondering.
The crowd answered, "You are certainly under the power of a demon! Who is trying to kill you?"
Then the Jews answered Him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and are under the power of a demon?"
Then Jesus said to them, "I most solemnly say to you, I existed before Abraham was born." At this the Jews took up stones to stone Him, but Jesus made His way out of the temple unperceived.
The Father and I are one." The Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
The Jews retorted, "It is not for a good deed but for blasphemy we are going to stone you; namely, because you, although a mere man, claim to be God."
do you now say to me whom my Father has set apart to it and sent into the world, 'You are a blasphemer,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and in accordance with that law He deserves to die, for claiming to be God's Son."
"Therefore, let all the descendants of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."
"And yet, I know, brothers, that you did not realize what you were doing, any more than your leaders did.
For the people of Jerusalem and their leaders, because they were ignorant of Him, by condemning Him have actually fulfilled the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath,
that God has fulfilled it to us their children, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the Second Psalm, 'You are my Son, today I have become your Father.'
proved to be God's Son in power by the resurrection from the dead -- I mean, Jesus Christ, our Lord,
For you do not have a sense of servitude to fill you with dread again, but the consciousness of adopted sons by which we cry, "Abba," that is, "Father."
That is, it is not Abraham's natural descendants who are God's children, but those who are made children by the promise are counted his true descendants.
For all of you are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
to ransom those who were subject to law, so that we might be adopted as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba," that is, "Father."
Yes, He is the exact likeness of the unseen God, His first-born Son who existed before any created thing,
and from Jesus Christ the trustworthy witness, the First-born of the dead, and the Sovereign of the kings of the earth. To Him who ever loves us and once for all released us from our sins by His blood,
"To the messenger of the church in Laodicea write: 'The Amen, the true and faithful witness, the origin of God's creation, speaks as follows: