Jesus – the Son Of God or God the Son? This question is hardly presented. Most of us believe that Jesus is God – the church has so claimed for much more than 1000 years. But what should we think about this: Isaiah says Jesus is God’s servant.
Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen; (Deu 18:15)
Isa 42:1 Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. – There are two noteworthy things in Isaiah’s verse: Jesus is called a servant and chosen, and not as a divine character from heaven. Secondly, if Jesus were God, he would have had the Holy Spirit without God having to put it on him. In Deu 18:15 is again promised to raise a prophet to the Israelites.
When the Jews were strongly monotheistic, after the Apostles’ time, the weight shifted to Greek philosophies and to the previous pagan religions, to various forms of trinities.
Proverbs 8:22 turns out to be alternating. The old KJV translates this using the verb possess meaning to say that I was ‘God’s own’. Many translations follow the KJV. Verse 24 states: When there were no depths, I was brought forth,
In my view, it is true that Prov 8 is about personalizing wisdom. However, it goes astray when interpreting it is Jesus, the Son of God in question. Personalization is simply the wisdom of God. (The corresponding personalization problem is also in John’s 1st chapter, which I will discuss below).
The old English translation of KJV also uses a feminine form of the third person:
1 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
If wisdom was to refer to Jesus why not use a masculine form of him?
This is not the question of the birth or creation of Jesus, but if we remove the creation/birth of Jesus from this wisdom, then thinking about the matter itself, I could say that:
I think it is useless to argue whether Jesus was born or created. Sure, Jesus was born on earth, but when he ascended to heaven he is like all in heaven, a spirit. As to the concept of creation, I can understand this easily, but how does God, who is Spirit around whom flashes of lightning flash and thunder rumbles, give birth? God has given life to (Jesus), For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. (Jhn 5:26). If Jesus is to be Almighty God I must ask: is not the Almighty God the kind that has always been and to whom no one has had to give life?
“Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne. And out of the throne go forth lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and seven lamps of fire, burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; (Rev 4:2,5). On the throne is the Father, the eternal and invisible Holy God. Jesus is his only begotten Son (Jhn 3:16), who is ”in the bosom of the Father”. In this verse, Jesus is called ‘his only begotten Son’. In verse Jhn 1:18 (NASB) John goes further and Jesus is called ’the only begotten God’, μονογενής θεός monogenēs theos. Should it read theos: god? The International Std calls Jesus ”The unique God”, yet confessing that: [Other mss. read Son]. It takes courage to call someone God if other manuscripts all him Son! What kind of God is the unique God?
The high priest asked Jesus: But he kept silent and didn’t answer at all. The high priest asked him again, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky. (Mar 14:61-62) – Father is this power, on whose throne Jesus is sitting.
God is the Spirit and the Power. God’s creation is beautifully explained in the Bible. God created not only man, but also angels much before man. It would be easy to imagine that Jesus would be God’s creation at the beginning of times, even before the creation of the world, billions of years ago. But how would God the Father give birth to His Son? We humans in our thoughts are looking for a mother for this task, but there is no ‘Mother of Heaven’ except the Catholics who have inaugurated Virgin Mary to this high position and they respect her for the perpetual virgin and the queen of heaven. I have tried to reflect on how Jesus’ personality and value depend on whether he was born whether or created. There is a universally accepted tenet that God cannot be a created being. We know how beautiful and intelligent heavenly angel, cherub, Satan was. Could not “created” Son of God be much more? I find it difficult to understand why Jesus could not have been created by God, God’s first creation before anything else was? This is what I am pondering a little later in the question of Jesus’ pre-existence.
God the Father, Jehovah, is the One God, the source of all life and power, as revealed by the Bible. Jesus Christ is the only Son of God, our Lord and Redeemer.
Moses asked the name of God as follows: Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them? God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, you shall tell the children of Israel this: I AM has sent me to you. (Exo 3:13–14)
When Jesus then talked with the Jews, he said to them: Jhn 8:24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. Jesus said to them Jhn 8:58 Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. – The Hebrew Bible used by Jesus’ disciples translated both Exo 3:14 and Jhn 8:58 ”Ego eimi” i.e. “I am”.
Jesus ‘disciples, as well as Jesus’ Jewish listeners, understood that he had used the name of God and claimed to be God. The Jews who did not want to believe in Jesus freaked out after hearing what Jesus said, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple (Jhn 8:59). The Jews lost their temper because the law of Moses had commanded: He who blasphemes the name of Yahweh, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him (Lev 24:16). – This verse (John 8:58) could be translated more comprehensibly as follows: Before Abraham was born – I am the Messiah in God’s plan.
This “ego eimi” translation problem is better resolved in some other verses; When John in chapter 4 tells Jesus that he came to the well of Jacob, Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Jhn 4:25 The woman said to him, I know that Messiah comes, (he who is called Christ). When he has come, he will declare to us all things. 26 Jesus says to her, I who speak to thee am he.
Who testifies that Jesus is the Son of God?
Mat 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
Jhn 10:36 ow can you say to the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
Mat 14:33 Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, you are truly the Son of God!
Joh. 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that have heard shall live.
Mat. 26:63 But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, I command you by the living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God! 64 Jesus said to him, You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, henceforth you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky.
Jhn 17:3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
Luk 1:35 The angel [Gabriel] answered her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. – God testified that Jesus is His Beloved Son, the angel Gabriel witnessed that he should be called the Son of God, the apostles testified as well as Jesus Himself. No one said that He is God Almighty. It was only 300 years after his death that He was promoted God by the Catholic synod. Even today, about two billion people confess this way. Some scholars claim that some Bible verses prove this. I will return to these when I write about Bible translation problems. What, for example, did Thomas mean by saying, “My Lord and my God!”? (Jhn 20:28)
Jhn 20:17 Jesus said to her, Don’t touch me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’. – Jesus, therefore, has God, the Father Jehovah. He himself recognizes it.
Why is it necessary that the word translation is accurate? It is not at all insignificant whether ’I will ascend to my Father’ or ’I will return to my Father’. Returning would mean that Jesus has been before with the Father and is now returning there. Ascending does not include this kind of pre-existence purpose. Bible translations make it right, but in oral language, you may well hear ’Jesus return’ to heaven.
Rev 3:11 I am coming soon! Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your victor’s crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
Jhn 17:3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. – Although attempting to interpret, for example, Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John so that Jesus is God, it remains only an attempt. Jhn 17: 3 says even more clearly that the Father God is the only true God and Jesus is the one he sends.
No matter how hard you try to interpret e.g. the Gospel of John chapter 1 so that Jesus is God, it remains only an attempt. Jhn 17:3 says even more clearly that the Father is the only true God and Jesus is the one He sends.
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm.
Eph 1:17: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
Tit 1:4 to Titus, my true child according to a common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
