Did God have a Son? NEW TESTAMENT
We can expect to know the answer without question from the New Testament, as it is the revelation of the Old Testament. It is the Incarnation, when God became man.
But did one Person of the triune Godhead become a man from His conception to Mary?
Or was God’s Son born of God the Father in heaven aeons earlier?
It is important to remember all we have read in the Old Testament because it has laid a foundation for the New Testament.
For instance, Proverbs 30:4 asks the question if we know the Creator’s name and His Son’s name. This is pre-Incarnation. The many texts we read in the Old Testament are all pre-Incarnation, so when we come to the New Testament, we should expect to know who the Son is.
If Jesus was part of a Trinity, being born into humanity does not make Him a Son. Well, it depends.
If He was conceived by the Trinitarian Holy Spirit, a God-Person in His own right, then we can say Jesus is the Son of God, however, only from the conception and Bethlehem.
The Bible does say, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35.
But this also means He must be a completely new person. Otherwise, a pre-existing God cannot become a Son. He can play the role of a Son, but in reality He is not a Son.
Jesus does not call the Holy Spirit His Father. We all know that when Jesus spoke of His Father He was not speaking of the Holy Spirit. He was speaking of the first Person of the Godhead, God.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with THE God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1. (The Greek has the definite article before God at this point)
So this verse tells us that the Word, further on identified as Jesus, was with THE God, that is, the one identified as God the Father.
On the other hand, if Jesus was born of God the Father at some point in eternity, and then by some miraculous means took on humanity in Mary’s womb, then when He is born, He is still the same Son of God born earlier in heaven.
In this understanding, the Holy Ghost is not a God in His own right, but the Spirit of the Father overshadowing Mary to work with His Son in the miraculous act of taking on humanity in Mary’s womb. If this is understood, there are no contradictions.
When Jesus begins His ministry, He calls Himself “the Son of God”.
Is He telling the truth?
Is He really the Son of God, the Son of God the Father?
Mark 1:1. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
John 1:34. “And I saw, and bare record hat this is the Son of God.” (John Baptist)
John 1:49. “Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; there art the King of Israel.” John 1:49.
Matthew 16:16. And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus commended Peter, saying “flesh and blood did not reveal it, but My Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 27:40. “And saying Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, If you be the Son of God come down from the cross.”
Matthew 27:54. “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.”
John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:17.17. “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 5:25. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.”
John 9:35.37. “Jesus heard that they had cast him (once blind man) out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?... And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.”
John 11:27. “She said unto him, Yes Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”
Acts 8:37. “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest (be baptised). And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
1 John 4:15. “Whosever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he is God.”
John 20:31. “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life though his name.”
1 John 5:10. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him made made Him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.”
1 John 5:12. “He that hat the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
All these statements were said to Jews, who at that time believed God had a Son. They had read the verses in the Bible (Old Testament) and believed them. Thus they looked forward to the coming of Messiah. However, they did not believe He would be crucified, in fact, it did not enter their heads.
They believed He would come with power, perhaps riding from heaven on a donkey. He would come to Jerusalem and sit on the throne of the King. He would be accepted as the Messiah and crowned King of Jerusalem. Israel would become the capital of the world, and would prosper in everything she did. Duet 28.
So when Jesus came in great humility, they did not believe He was God’s Son.
When Jesus called God His Father, the leaders accused Him of blasphemy “because He made Himself God”, or God’s Son. (If He was God’s true Son, He would be a God-Person and could rightly be called God)
Jesus’ interchange with the leaders is very revealing.
John 10:36. “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”
The Jews attempted to arrest Him, but He escaped out of their hand. v39.
John 8:54.55. “If I honour myself, my honour is no thing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not known him, but I know him… Verily before Abraham was, I am.”
What was the result?
John 8:59. “Then took they up stones to cast at him, but Jesus his d himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
Again,
John 10:29.30. “My Father… is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”
What was the result?
John 10:31. “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.”
The point is that they understood Jesus was meaning God was His Father in the highest sense. Jesus’ Father was their God. And to the Jew this was blasphemy. It was not because they believed God did not have a Son, they just did not believe Jesus was the One. They did believe God had a Son who would come as the Messiah, but Jesus was not that Son.
The worst part was the illegal trial where the high priest got up and asked the question.
Matthew 26:63. “And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.”
This is under oath. What does Jesus reply?
Matthew 26:64. Jesus said unto him, Thou hast said…”
Mark 14:61. “Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Mark 14:62. “And Jesus said, I am…”
The result of this verdict, based on Christ’s own testimony (which was illegal), condemned Jesus to death.
Imagine that, Jesus died because He claimed to be the Son of God.
We must make a decision too.
Do we believe the Jewish leaders?
Or do we believe Jesus?