What does Son of God mean?

The Man Who Found It Abhorrent That God Should Have a Son

He was a Muslim man who honoured God and held Him far above every imperfection, so when he heard Christians call Christ «the Son of God,» he found it deeply abhorrent. He supposed they were saying that God took a consort who bore Him a child in the flesh, and this seemed to him plain blasphemy, lowering God's dignity and likening Him to His creatures. He rejected the expression from his heart and could not bear to hear it, for it seemed an insult to the God who neither begets nor is begotten. But one day he asked an honest question: what do Christians actually mean by this expression? Do they mean what I supposed, or something else? So he read the Bible for himself, and found that the Bible itself rejects what he had found abhorrent: "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). And he stopped: if God is Spirit and has no body, then the sonship the Bible speaks of is not a physical sonship.

The Bible's answer to the question of the Sonship of Christ is a single sentence, and once it is grasped it removes a deep misunderstanding: «the Son of God» does not mean that God took a consort who bore Him a child in the flesh, but that the Son shares the very divine nature of God, that He is of the essence of God, eternal with Him, not begotten by a physical generation. The sonship here is a sonship of nature and essence, not of procreation. As for the supposition that Christians say God married and begot, it is a misunderstanding that the Bible rejects as the Muslim rejects it, for God is Spirit, with no body and no consort.

What the Muslim Supposes «the Son of God» Means

Let the misunderstanding be stated fairly. Many Muslims suppose that when Christians say «the Son of God,» they mean that God took a consort who bore Him a child in the way human beings are born. From this it is understood that Christians have likened God to His creatures who procreate, and have ascribed to Him marriage and begetting, which in the Muslim's eyes lowers the dignity of God, who is exalted above all likeness to His creation. So the Muslim's rejection of the expression «the Son of God» is in truth a rejection of an idea he supposes to be in it — the idea of physical procreation.

And we acknowledge that the Muslim's jealousy to hold God far above marriage and physical begetting is a sound jealousy that we fully share. For the Holy Bible itself rejects that God should have a consort or a son in a physical sense, since God is Spirit and has no body. The true Christian does not believe that God married, nor suppose that the Son was born by a physical generation from a woman in eternity. So the dispute is not over whether God is far above such things — that is agreed — but over the meaning of the word «son» when it is ascribed to God. If it does not mean procreation, what does it mean? This is the question that ought to be asked sincerely, instead of rejecting an expression for a meaning the Christian never intended at all.

God Is Spirit — So the Sonship Is Not Physical

The first thing that settles the misunderstanding is that the Holy Bible itself declares that God is Spirit and has no body. The Lord Jesus Christ said: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). If God is Spirit, then He has no body with which to beget, and no consort who could bear from Him. So the Bible that calls Christ «the Son of God» is the very one that declares God to be Spirit, exalted above the body. How then could it mean by sonship a physical sonship, when it declares at the same time that God is Spirit?

And the Bible nowhere teaches that God took a consort. Indeed, ascribing marriage and physical begetting to God is foreign to the whole Bible, in the Old Testament and the New. The sonship the Bible speaks of is not a sonship that began in time from a woman, but an eternal relationship between the Father and the Son within the one divine being. So when we deny the physical meaning of the sonship, we do not deny the sonship, but the false understanding of it. The matter is to understand «son» as the Bible intends it, not as it is understood in human procreation.

Sonship Means Sameness of Nature, Not Procreation

What then does «son» mean when it is ascribed to God? It means sameness of nature, not procreation. In human custom, when a son is born to a man, the son shares his father's nature: a man begets a man like himself, not a stone nor an animal. So the very heart of the meaning of sonship is sameness of nature between the son and his father. In this same way, when the Bible calls Christ «the Son of God,» the meaning is that He shares the very divine nature of God — that He is divine as God is divine — not that He is the product of a generation in time.

This is why, when Christ called God His «Father,» the Jews understood at once that this was a claim to equality of nature, that is, a claim to deity, and they sought to kill Him: "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he... said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18). Notice how the Bible itself interprets the meaning of «his Father»: «making himself equal with God.» The Jews did not understand Him to be claiming to have been physically born, but understood Him to be claiming equality of nature with God — and this is the very meaning of divine sonship. So the sonship is a declaration of sameness of essence, not of procreation.

«The Only Begotten Son» — A Unique, Eternal Relationship

The Bible calls Christ «the only begotten Son,» and this expression does not mean a son born uniquely in time, but a unique, eternal relationship belonging to no one else. Believers are called «sons of God» by adoption, but Christ is «the only begotten Son» by a nature proper to Him, because He is of the essence of God. He is «the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person»: "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person" (Hebrews 1:3). «The express image of his person» — that is, the exact image of the very essence of God, not a separate creature.

And Christ declared that whoever has seen Him has seen the Father, because He shares the very same nature: "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). And He declared His unity with Him in essence: "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). The divine sonship, then, is an eternal relationship between the Son and the Father within the one being, in which the Son shares the full Godhead — not a relationship that began with a generation in time. And the one who sees the Son sees the Father, because the Son is the express image of the Father's very essence. So this is a sonship that declares equality of nature, not dependence in existence.

The First Objection: «What Is Begotten Must Have a Beginning»

Here the trained Muslim raises an objection that seems strong: if Christ is «begotten,» does this not mean that He has a beginning, and that there was a time when He did not exist? And the answer is that the Bible declares the Son to be eternal, without beginning, so that the divine sonship is not a birth in time. The prophet Micah prophesied of Christ and declared His eternity: "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). «From everlasting» — so He has no beginning.

And Christ declared His own eternity, by the name of God revealed to Moses: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). So He is, before Abraham, eternally. Indeed, by Him all things were created, so how could He have a beginning: "For by him were all things created... and he is before all things" (Colossians 1:16-17). The One by whom all things were created, and who is before all things, cannot have a beginning, otherwise He would be a creature. So the word «begotten» in respect of the Son does not mean a beginning in time, but means the relationship of eternal procession from the Father, as a ray proceeds from the sun without the sun preceding its ray in time. So the eternal sonship declares the relationship, not the beginning.

The Second Objection: «A Son Must Be Lesser Than His Father»

The Muslim raises a second objection: is not a son by nature lesser than his father, and younger? How then can the Son be equal to God? And the answer is that the Bible distinguishes between rank in order and equality of nature. A father and a son among human beings share the very same nature — both are fully human — even though they differ in rank and station. That a son is a son does not make him less human than his father. And so it is with the divine Son: He is equal to the Father in the divine nature, even though in His incarnation He took a lower station for a time to redeem us.

So when Christ said, «my Father is greater than I» (John 14:28), He spoke of His station in His incarnation and self-emptying, not of His eternal nature. As for His nature, He is equal to God: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:6). So the Bible holds both together: equality in essence, and humility in rank for the sake of redemption. There is no contradiction between the Son's being equal to the Father in nature and His taking a lower station in His incarnation. And the Son, in His essence, is God manifest in the flesh: "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16).

The Unique Sonship of Christ and the Adopted Sonship of Believers

The Muslim may say: but the Bible also calls believers «sons of God,» so what distinguishes the sonship of Christ from theirs? And the answer is that the Bible clearly distinguishes between two wholly different sonships. Believers become sons of God by adoption, that is, by a grace granted to them from outside themselves, for they receive Christ and are then given this standing: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12). Notice: «gave he power to become» — they were not sons, then became so by the gift. But Christ did not «become» a son; He is the Son eternally, by His nature.

This is why Christ distinguishes between His sonship and that of His disciples, never saying «our Father» so as to join Himself with them in the same sonship, but saying: "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John 20:17) — «my Father and your Father,» not «our Father,» distinguishing His original sonship from their adopted sonship. His sonship is a sonship of nature and essence; theirs is a sonship of grace and adoption. And He is «the only begotten Son» in this sense: unique, without peer, because He alone is of the essence of God, while others become sons by His grace. Believers are sons because they are received in the Son, and the Son is the Son because He is of the very being of the Father.

The Father Himself Bears Witness to the Son

And the strongest testimony to the divine sonship of Christ is not from Christ alone, but from the Father Himself, who spoke from heaven declaring this sonship at the greatest moments of the Son's life on earth. At His baptism, the heaven was opened and the voice of the Father came: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Here is the Father Himself calling Christ His beloved Son — no creature and no prophet says it, but God from heaven.

And this declaration was repeated on the mount of transfiguration, when the face of Christ shone as the sun, and the voice of the Father came again: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matthew 17:5). «Hear ye him» — a command to obey and heed the Son, which is said only of one who has the authority of God. So the testimony to the sonship of Christ is not a human claim, but a declaration from the Father Himself, twice, at the two greatest moments. And when Christ died on the cross, and the centurion saw what happened, he too confessed: "Truly this was the Son of God" (Matthew 27:54). So from heaven and from earth, the Father and men bore witness that Christ is the Son of God — not in the sense of procreation, but in the sense that He is of the essence of the Father, worthy to be heard and obeyed as God is heard.

How Sonship Can Be Eternal: Brightness From Light

A question may remain in the mind: how are we to conceive of a sonship without beginning, when every sonship we know on earth has a start? The Bible gives us an image that brings this mystery near, calling the Son «the brightness of the glory» of the Father: "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person" (Hebrews 1:3). Consider light and its brightness: the sun puts forth its ray, and the ray proceeds from the sun, and yet the sun was never without its ray, nor did its existence precede the ray's in time. The ray is «begotten» of the sun in the sense of procession, not in the sense that it began after it. So it is with the Son: proceeding from the Father eternally, the brightness of His glory, without the Father ever being without His Son.

So the eternal sonship means the relationship of perpetual procession, not an event that occurred in time. This is why the Bible also calls Christ «the Word,» who was «in the beginning» with God and was God (John 1:1); for as a person's word proceeds from his mind without the mind preceding its word at any moment, so the Son proceeds from the Father eternally. All human images fall short of grasping the unlimited being of God, but they suffice to show that the word «begotten» does not require a beginning in time. The divine sonship is brightness from light, a word from a mind, an eternal procession without beginning — not procreation, and not coming to be after not being.

Why This Reveals the Greatness of God, Not His Imperfection

The Muslim may suppose that ascribing sonship to God lowers His dignity; the truth is that, rightly understood, it reveals His greatness and His love. The divine sonship ascribes to God no imperfection and no need, but declares that within the one God there is an eternal love between the Father and the Son, before anything was created. So God was love in Himself from eternity, not in need of a creation to love. And this is greater and more complete than the conception of a god solitary in his eternity, with no relationship of love within himself.

And greater still, this God gave His Son — who is of His own essence — for the salvation of mankind. Were Christ a mere creature, the giving of Him would be of lesser weight; but He is the Son who is of the essence of God, so the giving of Him is the greatest proof of love. This is why the Bible said: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). So the divine sonship of Christ does not lower the dignity of God, but reveals that His love is eternal within Himself, and that His giving for us is beyond measure, since He gave the One who is of His own essence. So the expression the Muslim supposed to be an insult is in truth the highest declaration of the love and greatness of God.

Closing — Come and Know the Son Who Revealed the Father

If you have found it abhorrent that God should have a son, the Bible agrees with you in rejecting a physical sonship, and calls you to know the sonship as it truly intends it: sameness of the divine nature, an eternal relationship between the Father and the Son within the one God, not procreation and not marriage. You are not called to ascribe to God any imperfection, but to know that the Son is the express image of His essence, whom to have seen is to have seen the Father. And this Son, who is of the essence of God, died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), because God loved you so much that He gave His only begotten Son.

Come, then — not to ascribe to God what your heart finds abhorrent, but to know the Son who revealed the Father. Read the Bible for yourself, and ask about the true meaning rather than the meaning you supposed, and ask God to reveal His Son to you. For the one who knows the Son knows the Father, since Christ said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.

A Special Prayer

If you have come to see that the sonship of Christ is not physical but a sameness of the divine nature, and that the Son died for you and rose, you may come to God now. What saves you is not the words of a prayer, but faith that the Lord Jesus Christ died for you and rose again. So pray from your heart to the living God who hears:

"O great and holy and loving God, the one true God: I long found it abhorrent that Thou shouldest have a son, and I see now that the sonship of Thy Son is not physical but a sameness in Thy divine nature. I confess that I am a sinner, and that I need a Saviour. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son who is of Thy essence, died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. I trust in Him alone as my Saviour. Reveal Thy Son to me, forgive me, receive me, and grant me eternal life. I pray in the name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen."

After You Have Prayed

If you prayed this prayer from a sincere and believing heart, then you have come to know the Son who revealed the Father, and you have become a child of God by adoption forever. Here are steps to steady you:

First — read the Word of God every day. Know that the King James Version (KJV) is the truest and purest copy of the Word of God in all the world, His true and pure Word, and you will find it on this website (alinjil.com); and in Arabic, read the trustworthy Van Dyck translation. Begin with the Gospel of John, not in haste, but with meditation and prayer, for God speaks to you through His Word.

Second — pray to God directly every day in words from your own heart, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, asking Him to deepen your knowledge of the Son.

Third — read for yourself what the Bible means by the sonship of Christ, and distinguish between the physical meaning the Bible rejects and the true meaning, which is sameness of nature.

Fourth — seek a church that honours the Word of God and proclaims the deity of the Son, join the fellowship of believers, and be baptized in obedience to the Lord.

Fifth — bear witness to others with gentleness and love that the sonship of Christ is not physical but a sameness of nature, especially to those who found the expression abhorrent for a meaning the Bible never intended.

And keep reading the Word of God in the King James Version, the truest and purest Word of God in the world, and in the Van Dyck in Arabic — both found on this website — that you may grow in the knowledge of the Son who saved you.

A Personal Word to You, Dear Reader

Thank you for taking the time to read this message about the meaning of the Sonship of Christ, and the salvation that God offers through the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have received Christ as your own personal Saviour, you have come to know the Son who is the express image of the Father's essence, and you have become a child of God by adoption forever. "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9).

We encourage you to begin reading the Gospel of John for yourself, to continue in the Word of God in the King James Version — the truest and purest Word of God in the world — and in the Van Dyck in Arabic, both found on this website (alinjil.com), and to share this good news with everyone who found it abhorrent that God should have a son. May God richly bless you as you come to know His Son, who revealed the Father.

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