JESUS IS THE UNIQUE SON OF GOD
by Silas
INTRODUCTION
The term "Son of God" appears
many times in the Bible. It is related
to various people or peoples. However
when this term relates to Jesus Christ it has a unique meaning. This term is an analogy that describes who
Christ is uniquely, and, His relation to the Father.
Many Muslims assert that since there
are many people referred to as 'sons of God' in the Bible, then Jesus was only
speaking metaphorically when He called Himself the 'Son of God'. In other words, Jesus was the Son of God by
doing good works, glorifying God, being humble, etc. But Muslims and the teaching of Islam state that He was not the
One and Only Son of God in any special unique sense.
One Muslim polemicist commenting on
John 10 said that, "It is thus clear that even in the mouth of Jesus the
term 'son of god' was a metaphorical expression, and by taking it literally the
church has destroyed the very foundations of religion.” [Ali, "The Religion of Islam",
p40]
Before we examine a number of
biblical passages, it must be established that frequently the context of a word
determines its meaning. If I say, "Okay, it's time for me to hit the
road", what does that mean? Or if
I were in Egypt, and I said "I'm on a piece of iron", what would that
mean? If I were talking basketball and
I say Michael Jordan is "BAD", what would that imply? Therefore in many cases context influences
or determines the meaning of a word.
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PROOF
THAT JESUS WAS THE UNIQUE 'SON' OF GOD.
Do the New
Testament (N.T.) texts describe Jesus as a unique 'Son' of God or just another
“son” of God, amongst many, in a metaphorical sense?
Probably the most famous N.T.
scripture is John 3:16. Here, Jesus
refers to Himself as the Son of God:
"For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
The Greek word translated “one and
only” is "monogenes". It means "only born", or
"sole". Vine's Expository
Dictionary of N.T. Words adds that "the term is one of endearment as well
as singleness."
Strong's concordance says that it is
a combination of the word "monos" meaning “only”, and “ginomai” meaning to “to cause to be, generate,
become, or come into being”.
This word is also used in referring
to a boy in Luke 7:12- "As he
(Jesus) approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out - the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow."
The Greek word 'monogenes' is used
here and translated as 'only'.
It is used likewise in Luke
9:38- "A man in the crowd called
out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child."
"Monogenes" is applied to
Jesus in:
John
1:14- "The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us. We have
seen his glory, the glory of the "One and Only", who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth."
Take a minute to understand what
John is saying. Look at the glory and
majesty John attributes to Jesus. Adam
never had that praise, David was praised, but never at that level. Only Jesus received that recognition. Vine's further elaborates that the passage
in the Greek here illustrates that the glory attributed to Jesus was a glory
found only in a unique relationship with God.
John
1:18- "No one has ever seen God,
but God, the "One and Only", who is at the Father's side has made him
known."
Here, Jesus as the unique Son of God
is revealed to be at the Father's side.
No other person who is called "son of God" has ever been
revealed to be at the Father's side.
John 3:18,
and 1 John 4:9 are other verses where "monogenes" is used in
reference to Jesus.
The N.T. scriptures show that when
Jesus is referred to as the only "Son" of God it means Jesus is the
unique "Son" of God. With
respect to being a "Son of God", “monogenes” is only used for Jesus.
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2) Hebrews chapter 1 elaborates on who
Jesus really is. The whole chapter
shows clearly the Divinity of Christ.
Of note is vs. 3:
"The
Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.
After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty in heaven."
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3) When Jesus was brought before Pilate
the Jews said, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die,
because he claimed to be the Son of God."
[John 19:7]
If Jesus were only speaking
metaphorically the Jews would not have brought him to trial on such a charge as
blasphemy. [Death was the penalty for
blasphemy - ref. Lev. 24:16]. The Jews
knew and understood Psalms 82:6, and
they had no problem with a metaphorical statement. The Jews objected to Jesus claiming to be the unique, the
eternal, "Son" of God.
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4) Jesus again calls Himself the Son of
God and elaborates on His unique Sonship in Matt 11:27-
"All things have been committed
to me by my Father. No one knows the
Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to
whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
And in John 5:22 Christ again calls
Himself the Son of God, and elaborates:
"Moreover, the Father judges no
one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just
they honor the Father. He who does not
honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him."
5) Jesus' parable of the tenants in Matt
21:33-43 ends with the landowner sending his son to collect a vineyard's
fruit. The workers had attacked and
even killed some of the landowner's servants.
When the son came they killed him also.
The interpretation of the parable is that God has sent prophets to the
people of Israel to call them to produce the fruits of righteousness, but they
rejected and mistreated them. Last of
all God sent Christ and the Jews killed him also. This also predicts Christ's future crucifixion.
Note that in this parable, Jesus
distinguishes himself as the "Son" in contrast with the prophets who
had come as servants.
There are other N.T. scriptures
supporting Jesus as the unique Son of God:
these sample texts from the Bible are sufficient to prove that Jesus was
the unique Son of God.
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SOME
SPECIFIC CLAIMS AND SCRIPTURES MUSLIMS USE IN SUPPORT OF THEIR VIEW
Here are some of the general
arguments Muslims use, and some of the verses they claim as support. [The Muslim assertion/question is prefaced
by #Q, my response by #A.]
1Q) Jesus is called the "Son of
Man", assuming this means that Jesus is ONLY a man: Jesus referred to himself frequently as SON
OF MAN (e.g. Matt. 8:20).
1A) The term "Son of Man" is a term
used in reference to the Messiah found in Daniel 7:13. Even the Quran calls Jesus the Messiah
(3:45).
2Q) Jesus alluded to many people being the
'sons' of God:
John 10:34-36: Jesus said, "Is
it not written in your law, 'I have said you are gods'? (ref. Psalms
82:6). If he called them 'gods' to whom
the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, what about the one
whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy
because I said ‘I am God's Son?’"
2A) Here Jesus is noting that the OT Scriptures call
others gods and sons of God because they were God's spokespersons and representatives.
Some Muslims interpret this as Jesus including Himself as one of the many metaphorical 'sons'
of God. But, when Christ spoke of Himself, and His relation to the Father, it is evident
even from this passage that His "Sonship" is set apart from and superior to the metaphorical
"son of God" relationship.
3Q) Many people or peoples are called
firstborn of God. Couldn't Jesus fit
into this category?
3A) Being called 'firstborn' has many
implications. Being the 'firstborn'
under Jewish law entitles an heir to special inheritance rights - a double
portion of the family inheritance was the right of the firstborn. Also, the
'firstborn' acted as the family's priest in the event of the father's absence
or death. (This function ceased when
the priesthood was committed to Levi's tribe).
"Firstborn" is also used
metaphorically in the O.T.. The term
"firstborn of the poor" used in Isaiah 14:30, means one who is
supremely poor. And, "firstborn of
death", used in Job 18:13 refers to Job's disease. Again, the context of the passage helps
determine what is actually meant.
Christ is called the 'Firstborn over
all creation' (Col. 1:15). The entire
passage shows that Christ has priority, preeminence and sovereignty over all
creation, since all things were created by Him (vs. 16).
4Q) Ex 4:22
"Then say to Pharaoh,
"This is what the Lord says:
Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he
may worship me". But you refused
to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son."" Doesn't this also mean that Israel was a
firstborn of God?
4A) God, refers to Israel as His 'firstborn'
son because the Israelites were his chosen people. God made promises to Abraham concerning his descendants and God
performed many miracles in delivering the Israelites out of Egypt and in
establishing the Israelites as a new or 'firstborn' nation.
For further clarification, refer to
Hosea 11:1 "When Israel was a
child, I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son." Here, God calls the nation of Israelites his
son. There are other references similar
to these. The context is that God used a metaphorical figure of speech denoting
his relationship with Israel.
5Q) 2 Samuel 7:14
"I will be his father, and he
will be my son...." Here God says
He will be a Father. Couldn't Jesus
fall under this category – one of being a “son” by simply being under God’s
protection and providence?
5A) Look at the entire passage. Start with verse 11 or so, and read through
verse 17. God said He would be a
Father, but who precisely is the son?
The passage shows that the 'son' is going to be David's offspring for
generations to come. At this point in
time, Solomon was not even conceived. The context of the passage shows that not
only is Solomon going to be a 'son', but all of David's ruling offspring are
going to be 'sons'. The references to
chastisement do not apply to Solomon, but to later kings of Israel.
God had established a special
relationship with David and promised him He would keep this relationship with
David's descendants. God used a figure
of speech in this passage to describe a special relationship He would maintain
with David's descendants. (Cf. Psalm 89:26-37)
Note here
that Jesus is a descendant of David.
6Q) I Chr 22:10
"He is the one who will build a
house for My Name, He will be my son, and I will be his Father." Couldn’t this verse also be applied to
Jesus, one of simply being a special relationship of care and providence
between God, and one of His prophets?
6A) This ties in with the 2 Sam 7:14
verse. This reference deals with
Solomon specifically (Solomon was one of David's sons). Note here that God says "I will grant
Israel peace and quiet during his reign."
Again, the context here is a
relationship between Solomon and God.
Solomon was David's son, soon to be the next king of Israel. Also see that in the next verse, David calls
Solomon his son. To understand the term
“son” we must understand the context of the passage in which it is used.
7Q) Jeremiah 31:9
"...because I am Israel's
father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son".
In these
quotes Jacob (Israel) is called the firstborn as well as Ephraim, how can there
be two firstborns, and Jesus would be a third?
7A) First of all, God says He is Israel's
father. "Ephraim" in this
case refers to the nation of Israel.
Look at verse 7 - "Jacob" also refers to the nation of
Israel. [Again, the context concerning
"Ephraim", i.e. the nation of Israel, means God's relationship with
the people].
8Q) Psalms 2:7
David is referred to as the begotten
son of God. Again, couldn't Jesus be
another 'begotten' son of God, as David
is?
8A) There is a lot of theology in this
Psalm. But to address the point of God
calling David his son, you have to have some knowledge of the metaphors of that
time. In the ancient Near East the
relationship between a great king and one of his subject kings who ruled by the
great king's authority, was expressed not only by words as 'lord' and 'servant'
but by 'father' and 'son'. King David
was the Lord's 'servant' and His 'son'.
This ties into the 2 Sam, and 1 Chron. verses.
9Q) "Since Jesus has no father and claims
that He is the Son of God. Why not
consider Adam a Son of God?"
9A) In Luke 3:38, Adam is called the son of
God. We know that Adam is the first man
God created (Gen. 5:1). As the first
man God created, Adam is figuratively called God's son. Deut. 32:6 illustrates this where God, as
the Creator, is called the Father. Some
of the differences between Adam and Jesus are that Adam was a sinner and Jesus
wasn't. Adam was created and Jesus said
He was “with the Father before the foundation of the world” - John 17:5. There are many more differences, but the
point is that Jesus was far different than Adam.
10Q) "What about Hebrews 7-3 "Without
Father, without mother, without descent having neither beginning of days, nor
end of life...", which refers to Melchizedek, so, couldn’t Jesus be a “son
of God” like Melchizedek was?"
10A) This reference to Melchizedek is very
interesting. There have been a number
of different interpretations of who Melchizedek was, and not all
interpretations agree. Some say he was
Christ, others say a special being created by God. There is not enough material in the Bible to define who exactly
he was. This leads me to my conclusion.
My viewpoint is that he was fully
human, was born, lived and died. When
the writer of Hebrews says "Without Father or mother, without genealogy,
without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a
priest forever", he is referring to two facets concerning
Melchizedek: 1) the fact that no
genealogy or background information is given for him, and 2) his priesthood is
forever. I don't think Hebrews is
saying he was an eternal man/king/priest.
It's just that unlike most (not all) of the prominent figures in the
O.T., no background info is given concerning Melchizedek. He is tied to Jesus in that Christ's
priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek.
Another point on this is that the
writer of Hebrews initially writes to establish, and set apart, Christ’s true
identity. The theme of Hebrews is the
supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as the revealer and mediator of God's
grace. Chapter one describes Jesus'
unique Sonship. The book of Hebrews
sets Jesus apart from all other men and angels.
11Q) "If Jesus is really the Son of God, why
didn't He allow the demons to say so (refer to Luke 4:41)? By doing this, Jesus denied He was the Son
of God."
11A) First of all, Jesus never denied that He was
the Son of God. When Jesus was
questioned by the High Priest in Matthew 26:63, "I charge you under oath,
by the living God: Tell us if you are
the Christ, the Son of God?". Jesus
replied "Yes, it is as you say."
And in John 3:16 you see Christ referring specifically to Himself as the
unique Son of God.
Second, even the demons knew who He
was, i.e. the Son of God. They obeyed
him (Mark 1:25).
Third, this event occurred early in
Christ's ministry. Jesus wanted to
establish the kind of Messiah he really was by His deeds. The Jews at that time expected a Messiah to
bring them military victory over the Romans.
Jesus was not going to do that; instead He wanted to lay a foundation of
actions that the general populace could see and acknowledge. One that proved He was the Messiah. He did not want demons shouting out amongst
the people that He was the Son of God at this time. Note here that when Jesus talked to His disciples in private, or
to sincere seekers of the truth, He did acknowledge that He is the Son of God.
[Refer to John 3].
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ADDITIONAL
SCRIPTURES IN WHICH JESUS CALLS HIMSELF THE SON OF GOD, OR IS CALLED THE SON OF
GOD BY GOD THE FATHER
JOHN 17:1-5 Note here that this is Christ's prayer before His
arrest. And note that Christ says that
He was with God before the world began.
JOHN
5:18-27 - Note here that Jesus
refers to Himself as the Son of God about 10 times.
JOHN 8:36,
JOHN 10:36, JOHN 11:4
MATT 17:5 - GOD HIMSELF calls Jesus His Son.
MATT 22:2 - Jesus alludes to Himself as the
King's Son
MATT
26:63,64 - Jesus answers Pilate
that he is the Son of God.
LUKE 3:22 - Again GOD HIMSELF calls Jesus
His Son.
LUKE 1:35 - Even the Angel in talking to
Mary says that her son will be the Son of God.
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ANALOGY
Our country is headed by one man, a
man we call "President."
However, many business' are also headed by men or women who are called
"President." Are the two the
same? No. Does the term when applied to the man living in the white house
mean the same thing when applied to the man who heads a business? No.
Is there a big difference between the "President" of Joe's
Hotdogs, and the President of the United States? YES!
In the same way the term "son
of God" applied to many people in the Bible differs from the term
"Son of God" when it is applied to Jesus in the Bible.
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SUMMARY
It is correct to say that many
people have been metaphorically called "sons" of God. But it is incorrect when applying this
meaning to Jesus. From the scriptures it
is clear that Jesus was far more than a metaphorical 'son' of God. He is the only unique "Son" of
God. No one else in the entire Bible
is referred to in this manner - only Jesus.
sonofgod.htm
Rev A: 97-07-01, Rev B: 97-12-12, Rev C: 9/4/01