What Does "Son of God" Mean?

TylerR

Read the series so far.

The New Testament is saturated with the title “Son of God.” So are our church documents, such as confessions, creeds and statements of faith. The church I used to Pastor, for example, had a statement of faith which read, “we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man.”

Christians from more Reformed backgrounds do not use “statements of faith”; they are explicitly confessional. Thus, we have the Second London Confession (1677) which affirms that “it pleased God in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus his only begotten Son.”1

As we journey further back in time, the Apostle’s Creed, for example, reads, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.” Notice the creed does not explain the title; it simply states as a matter of fact that Jesus is God’s “only Son.” The Nicene-Constantinople Creed does the same thing. “Also, we believe in one Lord; Jesus, Messiah, the unique Son of God.”2 The phrase here is τὸν uἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ; a phrase many Christians know better as “the only-begotten Son of God.”

Discussion

Do you think Jesus ever had a cold or was ill?

Ed Vasicek

Although sin brings death and gave birth to sickness, did Jesus get sick, even though He was sinless? After all, He lived in a cursed environment? In addition, He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. It is not a sin to be sick, so was He tempted by sickness? Was that part of the kenosis? He not only took on the appearance of flesh, but “sinful flesh” (meaning He had no sin predisposition toward sin, but was vulunerable to all the human experiences that sinful people suffered) — Romans 8:3

Discussion

Jesus the Son of God (Mark 1:1b)

TylerR

Read the series so far.

Jesus is the Messiah. He is also the Son of God.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1).

It’s another title. It describes something about who He is. In nerdy grammatical terms, it’s an appellation. Why is this title in the inspired Scripture? Well, on one level, it’s there because John Mark decided to put it there. On another level, however, it’s there because God wanted it to be there and the Holy Spirit moved Mark to include it. So, it’s probably a good idea to figure out what on earth it means, and to ponder what this title tells us about the Trinity.

Discussion

The Cruciality of Christ, Part 2

Paul Henebury

Read Part 1.

We have been considering the centrality of the Person of Jesus for an understanding of ourselves in the created order. We continue with a look at the Prologue to John’s Gospel.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

So again, this shows us that Christ is right at the very center of the creation. In fact, creation is made for Him, and not only through Him. It is not that God used the Second Person to make the world and then He had no further interest in it. No, these things were made for Him and nothing was made unless it was made through the agency of Jesus Christ and to the satisfaction of Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity.

Discussion