The title Son of God must not be reduced to the thought that Jesus is merely a favored human being. Scripture uses the title to reveal His unique relationship to the Father, His divine identity, His saving mission, and His right to receive the honor that belongs to God.
READ THE KEY PASSAGES
Begin with what
Scripture says.
John 20:31These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Matthew 16:16Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
John 5:23That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.
01
The Son is unique and eternal
John 1:18The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John calls Jesus the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. The Son’s relationship with the Father is not like the creaturely relationship of believers who become God’s children by grace. He is the eternal Son, sharing the divine identity while remaining personally distinct from the Father.
This is why the title does not lessen Christ. The Gospel begins before Bethlehem: the Word was with God and was God. His birth in history is the beginning of His incarnate life, not the beginning of His person.
The title does not mean Jesus became divine by birth or achievement. It identifies His eternal relation to the Father and His full deity.
02
The Son reveals the Father
John 10:30I and my Father are one.
Jesus says that the Son does what He sees the Father do and that the Father has committed judgment to Him so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. The Son is not one religious messenger among many. He perfectly reveals the Father because He shares the divine life and glory.
To receive the Son rightly is therefore to receive the Father’s revelation. A person cannot claim to honor God while setting aside the One whom God has sent and commanded people to honor.
At Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration, the Father’s voice openly identifies the Son. The title is rooted in God’s own testimony.
03
The Son has divine works and honor
Colossians 1:15–16Who is the image of the invisible God... For by him were all things created.
Scripture gives the Son works that belong to God: creation, judgment, giving life, forgiving sins, receiving worship, and ruling over all things. Colossians says all things were created by Him and for Him. These are not the claims of a merely exalted creature.
The worship given to Christ is especially important. Scripture never permits worship of a creature as though it were harmless devotion. The Son receives honor because He is truly God, not because He is a man who became worthy of divine treatment.
The Son perfectly reveals the Father while remaining distinct from Him. Christian faith does not confuse the persons or divide the divine nature.
04
The Son is the Savior given by the Father
1 John 5:12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
The title is inseparable from the gospel. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The Father did not send a created helper who could only point toward rescue; He sent the eternal Son who came in flesh to save sinners.
Faith has a definite object. It receives Jesus Christ as Scripture reveals Him: the Son of God, the promised Messiah, the Lord who died and rose again. Life is in the Son; religious admiration apart from Him cannot save.
To confess Jesus as the Son of God is to receive the One the Father sent. It cannot be reduced to admiration for a religious teacher.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Questions for further reading.
- 01
How is Christ’s sonship different from the believer’s adoption by grace?
- 02
Why does John 5 require the Son to receive the honor given to the Father?
- 03
What does it mean to believe in the Son as Scripture reveals Him?
Read patiently. Let God’s Word speak.
Jesus is called the Son of God because He is the unique, eternal Son who reveals the Father, shares divine honor and works, and came as the Savior God has given. The title calls every person to receive Him as He truly is.
