Some say that it’s true of every human – they say we are all sons and daughters of God. Others say it is true of particular humans – they say those who are particularly pious are sons of God. It is clear however that Jesus was not saying something about Himself that everyone else could say, nor was He saying something about Himself that anyone else could say. He was saying something about Himself that no one else could say. His claim was that He was the Son of God in a unique sense.
That’s the significance of the phrase made famous by John 3:16 – the “only begotten Son”. “Only begotten” is a translation of a Greek word that literally means “one-of-a-kind”. We find in the Bible that angels are called sons of God – they are sons of God by creation. Christians are sons of God by adoption. The Lord Jesus obviously isn’t the Son of God by creation or adoption, otherwise He wouldn’t be a one-of-a-kind Son. He is in a class by Himself because He is God’s eternal Son – the Son who shares the very nature of the Father.
Muslims very often misunderstand what the Bible means when it calls Jesus the Son of God. They can’t really be blamed for that because it seems the Quran itself misunderstands the title – the question is asked, “How could He have a son when He does not have a companion . . . ?” (Surah 6:101). But the Bible certainly does not mean that God had a Son through any sexual union.
The way Christ most often referred to Himself was as “the Son of Man”. But the Bible is clear (and Muslims agree on this) that Jesus was not the son of any man – He was born of a virgin. So what is meant by this title? In Jewish thinking, to be “son of . . . ” meant to be “the embodiment of” or to have “the nature of” (e.g., Acts 4:36; Ephesians 2:2). When the Bible refers to Jesus as the Son of Man it means He possesses the nature and attributes of manhood – He is truly man. Likewise, when He is called the Son of God it means He possesses the nature and attributes of deity – He is truly God. He is not God’s junior or inferior, but He is God’s equal – “the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3 LSB).
So, that’s what it means. But what should that mean to me?
God is essentially relational
God has always existed in relationship. God is love (1 John 4:8). The Lord Jesus said to His Father, “You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).
God is entirely revealed
Because Christ is the Son of God – the one who has all the attributes of deity – we know exactly what God is like: “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).
God is easily reached
We could never have found God or worked our way to Him. But He has come to us. He has bridged the divide, so that we can come into relationship with Him: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
