The Son of God is the second person of the Trinity. We know him as God entering our earthly space, God incarnate. John chapter one makes it clear that he is eternally the Son, God before time. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning…The Word became flesh…We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father” (1:1,2,14).
The Scriptures speak of him as “the one and only” Son, or only begotten Son, thus indicating his unique relationship to the Father. (See John 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9.) Let us not think of his generation, becoming the Son of God as occurring at a specific time. God is beyond time. The Father has eternally begotten the Son; that is, the Son has ever been, ever is, and ever will be the Son of the Father. Here as elsewhere human language fails to explain the indivisible but triune God. God is one but three.
Berkhof defines the generation of the Son as; “It is the eternal and necessary act of the first person in the Trinity, whereby He, within the divine Being, is the ground of a second personal subsistence like His own, and puts this second person in possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation, or change.” (p. 94)
Since asserting the divine character of the Son of God seems beyond human experience, some heretical teachers have denied his deity and pre-existence to assert that He was merely a great human teacher. By contrast the Scripture asserts his deity by affirming that he possesses divine names, attributes, glory, and does divine works. Consider the following.
On seeing the risen Christ, Thomas cried, “my Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Paul declares that “Christ is God over all” (Rom. 9:5). In Philippians Paul wrote that Christ Jesus is in very nature God (Phil. 2:5,6) and in Titus that he is our great God and Saviour (2:13). John declares that God’s Son, Jesus Christ “is the true God” (1John 5:20).
Divine names are given Him. “For to us a child is born…and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom…from that time on and forever” (Isaiah 9:6, 7). “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD’…a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). Jeremiah prophecies that he is the righteous branch, a King who will reign wisely…the LORD, our Righteousness”( Jer. 23:5,6). He is called Lord in Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21 and 1 Tim 3:16.
The Son of God possesses divine attributes. He is eternal and almighty (Is 9:6, John 1:1,2). He is the “Alpha and the Omega…, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8)
He did what only God can do. He created and sustains all things. (John 1:1,2; Col. 1:16,17, Heb 1:10). He forgives sin. (Matt. 9:2-7) He raised the dead. He will judge the world. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him” (Matt. 25:31,32). “He is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead” (Acts. 10:42) (See also Phil 3:21; 2 Tim 4:1, Heb 1:10-12; Phil 32:21; Rev. 21:5).
Given that He is called LORD and God, possesses attributes only found in God, and does divine works it is natural to find the Scriptures offering him divine honour. “The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (John 5:22-23). “When God brings his firstborn into the world; he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’” (Heb. 1:6). “Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matt. 28:19).
He is our Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder ever facet of our salvation revolves around his person. “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, it is written: ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Cor. 1:30,31). Let us begin every day with him and carry thoughts of him in our hearts throughout the day. If we awaken in the night, let us meditate on him.
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