We have considered the revelation of God by the angels, and by our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have considered the Name of God, and how Jesus did and is glorifying God’s Name. We will now study the relationship between God and Jesus.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is and from the beginning, always has been, the center and foundation of God’s Plan for man, for the earth, and for all His creation. We read that Christ “. . was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake” (1 Pet 1: 20). The importance of the coming of the Messiah or Christ (anointed, crowned as king) is shown by the repeated promises and prophecies of his coming in the Old Testament as well as by all the symbols pointing forward to him in the worship of God by the Jews under the Law of Moses. The foremost example of the latter is the animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, which pointed forward to the sacrifice of Christ, for the salvation of all men from their sins, who have faith.
The fact that Jesus Christ is the central figure of the Christian religion is obvious to all. However, persons who are not Bible students may not realize that God’s Word teaches that all time and events since the creation have basically been in preparation for the coming of Christ as Savior. In view of this very great importance of Jesus Christ, it is even more necessary for us to have a correct understanding of the relationship between God, and His Son than we might have realized. We could draw conclusions, based on human reasoning, which are incorrect, if we don’t read carefully what God’s Word says.
Christ’s purpose
In John 14: 9, Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” However, it is clear that he meant that those who saw him, saw what the Father is like, not that they saw God Himself. “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made Him known.” (John 1:18: See also 1 Tim. 6: 16, and 1 John 4: 12). Thus Christ cannot be God, since men have seen Christ, and no man has ever seen God. Christ is divine, being the Son of God, but it is not customary in the Bible to call him God except in limited circumstances.
What then is the relationship between God, the Father, and Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God? What does the Bible have to say about the status or position of the Son relative to the Father?
First of all, without taking anything away from the exalted status of the Son, all has been given him by the Father. “Jesus .. said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. . . Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee’ ” (John 17: 1-7). “.. All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to me” (Matt 28: 18). This is spoken by the risen Christ, no longer in the flesh. All had been given to him. He did not possess power and glory by right as an equal, but as a gift from God.
Second, it is clear that both during his ministry and now, Jesus is subject to the command and direction of the Father. (He now possesses all power to decide and command, but that authority is bestowed by the Father.) He is at the right hand of the Father, an exalted position, but he does only what God wants him to do1. “Thins Jesus .. being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear” (Acts 2: 32-33; also Rom 8: 34, Rev 1: 1, and many other references). In John 14: 28, Jesus says “. . for the Father is greater than I”.
Now, there is a sense in which Jesus is equal with God. We read in the Gospel of John, “This is why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5: 18). Jesus claimed to be of God’s “family”, as the Son of God. As Prince Charles or Prince William of England have royal status, being the son and grandson of the Queen, so Jesus has divine status, being the Son of God. His status is greater than ours, like the stars are higher than the sky. However, as Prince Charles is not equal to the Queen, so Jesus is not equal to God. In John 10: 30, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” In verse 36, he explained that he meant, “I am the Son of God”, and so was not claiming to be God. The subject of the oneness of Jesus with the Father will be discussed in more detail in an article to follow.
“to my God”
Jesus and his disciples regard the Father as Jesus’ God. After Jesus’ resurrection, he said, “. . I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20: 17). God is spoken of as the God of Jesus in the following:
“That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:6).
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;” (2 Cor 1:3).
“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not” (2 Cor 11:31: See also Eph 1:3, 1 Pet 1:3).
If the Father is Jesus’ God, then Jesus must worship Him, and obey and serve Him, and in all ways acknowledge that he is subject to Him. Paul says “the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor 11:3).
Paul tells us, in 1 Cor 15:24-28, that Jesus will still be subject to the Father at the end of his reign over the Kingdom of God (1000 years!). In fact, at that time, he returns the authority which has been given him, back to God (“delivers the kingdom to God the Father”). (We feel that this will not really be a step down, but a step forward to an even more glorious state, a state beyond our understanding at present. But, Christ will still not be equal to God.). It specifically says in vs. 28,
“When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one.”
So we see that Jesus taught that he was the Son of God, subject to the Father as a Son, looking up to the Father as his God, and never claimed to be God or to be equal to God. All power that he has, was given to him by the Father, for the purpose of bringing glory to God, and for fulfilling God’s plan of salvation.
Christ’s son ship
One of Christ’s chief titles is “Son of God”. For example,
“Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3: 22).
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven’ ” (Matt 16: 16-17).
Now if the word “son” means anything, it means a man sired by a father at a particular time. Reading in Luke, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High . . .And the angel said unto her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’ ” (Luke 1: 31-32, 35). An important passage is “The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten you’ ” (Psa 1:7). Besides helping confirm that the Messiah is the Son of God, it rules out the idea put forward by some, that Christ “pre-existed” and was “eternally begotten”. It is quoted in Acts 13:33, and in Heb 1:5, and 5:5. “ . . today I have begotten you.” is certainly saying the opposite of “You are eternally begotten.”
A person reading the above passages without previous ideas would conclude that Jesus Christ came into being at the time of his conception in the womb of Mary. If God had intended some other meaning, He would have used some other word.2He might have used “brother”, for example, instead of “son”, if Jesus had always existed, and was just assuming a mantle (clothing or covering) of flesh. Brother might be appropriate if Jesus had existed as long as God has, instead of being created by Him. Now we have to take into consideration other Scripture about Jesus, and come to an overall understanding which agrees with the other Scripture as well as the above. However, the Scripture about Jesus as Son of God is primary or fundamental, as we will show shortly. And no one can reasonably suggest that the word “son” is being used symbolically. The words “the Christ, the Son of God” therefore mean that Jesus is a created being. These words are so familiar to us that the above reasoning may seem too simple at first. However, as we think about them, we see the power of the only possible meaning they can have.
Son of Man
The fact that Jesus came as Son of Man, as well as Son of God is also a foundation (basic) principle. He was born of Mary, having the same flesh, and the same nature as we. (Heb 2: 14) To deny this is disastrous. To even de-emphasize it by teaching that he was conscious of and knowledgeable about a previous existence is very dangerous. The Apostle John points out. “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7). Jesus’ coming in the flesh as a Son is primary. It is fundamental. Jesus almost always referred to himself as the Son of Man. Sometimes others referred to him as the Son of God and he didn’t object, but he called himself the Son of Man.
Having come in the flesh, Jesus was not yet perfect (Heb 2: 10) and could be tempted; (Heb 2: 18, 4: 15) that is, it was possible for him to sin since he came in the flesh (if he couldn’t sin, he wasn’t in the flesh). But he did no sin and was SAVED from (eternal) DEATH (Heb 5: 7). He LEARNED obedience through what he suffered and was MADE perfect.(Heb 5: 8, 9). He spoke “as the Father taught me” (John 8: 28), Thus, his coming in the flesh doesn’t fit in at all with the idea of Jesus being conscious of a previous existence. This last statement is discussed in more detail in a later article.
Son of God
We stated above that the Scripture about Jesus as Son of God is primary or fundamental in relation to other Scripture. The promise of a son or a seed (child, descendent) is the most important promise in God’s Word. It was first given to Adam and Eve, then to Abraham, and also Isaac, and Jacob. The promise of a son was repeated to David, and God revealed to David that the promised one would be God’s son. We can see all these promises revealed in the Bible:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15).
“And I will make of you [Abraham] a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Gen 12:2).
“He [Solomon] shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men” (2 Sam 7:13-14).
The fact that Jesus is the son of Abraham and David is the keynote verse of the New Testament, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Matt 1: 1). There is a lot more that could be said about this subject. The point is that the fulfillment of God’s purpose, and the salvation of man depends upon and is based upon the coming of God’s Son. Thus, the revelation in Scripture about “the Christ, the Son of God” is fundamental, and the interpretation of other Scripture should rest upon this as a basis. This is not to say that we are to ignore or distort other Scripture, but that we have to build upon the Biblical foundation.
The Word (John 1)
A passage which everyone thinks of in connection with the subject of the Father and the Son is John 1, and we should not proceed any further with the subject without considering it.
In John 1: 1, we read “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In Gen 1: 1 – 3, we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. . . And God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light’ ”. A word is an expression of an idea or of reasoning. We see from the above comparison that John is leading us to associate a Word with the beginning, the time of the creation. Now a word can describe a person, but a word is not a person in itself. John says in 1:14, “And the Word became flesh . .” The probable meaning of John 1: 1 then is that God had a thought or plan at the very beginning, a plan or word that described the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, at the appointed time, His purpose was fulfilled by the birth of the Son of God.
Is this suggested meaning logical, and does it agree with the rest of Scripture? We know that God has a plan of salvation for His creation:
“For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, “Seek me in vain.” I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right’ ” (Isa 45: 18-19).
We also know that His plan centers around and depends upon Jesus Christ. Therefore we see that He must have begun His plan by deciding that His Son would be the Savior. All the rest of the plan would have come after that decision had been made. Thus when His Son was born, the Word or plan was made flesh. This is logical, but does it agree with the rest of the Scriptures?
The Word and Wisdom
Well, what else do the Scriptures say about the Word? The commands (words) which God spoke at the creation are described as His Word: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth” (Psa 33: 6, see 7- 9) There are other references but especially helpful is Prov 8: 12- 31 (esp. 22- 31), where wisdom is spoken of as being at the beginning with God and personified in the same way as the Word is in John 1. Like a word, wisdom is also thought or reasoning and so this is a very strong indication that the Word is to be understood as having this meaning rather than some less usual or special meaning.
Now the Scriptures themselves are God’s Word, and are referred to as such in them: (for example, Mark 7: 13, Rom 9: 6). In these references, the primary meaning is what we know as the Old Testament, the New Testament not yet being complete. The Old Testament is the revelation by God of the details of the Word or plan which he formulated at the beginning. It of course speaks of the Messiah or Christ who was to come, by the picture given by the events of the lives of the great men of old, by the sacrifices commanded and the many other symbols given, and by the words of the prophets. Thus when Christ was born, the Word or Scriptures became flesh. All was fulfilled in him.
These comparisons of John 1: 1 with Genesis 1 and with all of the Old Testament are very helpful in understanding its meaning. Going on for a moment to John 1: 4-9 which refer to the light, we see that the comparison with Genesis 1 is strengthened, for God’s first commandment of creation was “Let there be light” (Gen 1: 3). Returning to verse 1, the question remains why it is written the way it is. The statement “the Word was with God” tells us that there is no separation between God and His Word. We believe that this had a special meaning at the time it was written in combating the teaching of a group called the Gnostics. They believed that the Supreme Being was part of a divine world which was separate from the material world or creation. They regarded material objects as inherently evil. John is emphasizing that the world created by the Word of God is “very good”, and that God is not separated from it by any permanent obstacle. His plan of salvation is designed to restore the Creation to its original state of being very good.
The expression of His being
In “the Word was God”, we have a statement of the Truth that God’s intentions have all the weight of accomplished or completed events. There is no way that His Purpose can be prevented from coming to pass. As surely as God exists, His Word, His commands, His Purpose will be carried out. Thus the Word was with God, and cannot be separated from Him, and the Word was God, the expression of His being, and will surely be carried out.
Careful examination of the language and context of these passages shows them to say that the Father planned that His Son would be the Savior of the world; and therefore Christ is the center around which the whole creation is molded. In Biblical terms, God made the world through him and for him. Once God had planned that His Son would be the Savior, then he proceeded to make the rest of His Plan. The rest was not possible until the plan for Christ was made. Thus the creation as we know it was made possible through the plan for Christ. It could not be made until it was planned, and it could not be planned until the plan for Christ was made by his Father.
- A person was given a position at the right hand of an all-powerful human king for the convenience of the king. The king wanted him there so that it would be convenient to give him orders, etc. No one thought that he was equal to the king.
- Two Greek words are used in this connection. The most commonly used means son, descendent, or offspring. The other, found chiefly in John’s writings, is translated “the only begotten” or “the only Son” in the various versions.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One