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The Son of God and sons of God

Throughout the Bible, various persons are stated as being sons of God or as God but what makes Jesus more unique than all them?  We must first properly understand what scripture means when it calls Jesus and others a son of God.  This helps us properly understand the uniqueness of Jesus.

sons of God

First let us understand who sons of God are.   Rulers and kings are refereed to as gods (Ps 81:6) but are they literally gods?  Of course not, there is only one God (Isa 46:9).  So to properly reconcile the passages and correctly understand them together, the kings and rulers were god in the sense they had the ruling authority and power like God but in their own role and position in the world.  Just like how Moses is described in Exodus 4:16, he was "as God" and not The God.  Therefore we can see that men being gods is referring to their position and status in the world as being like God.

God himself adopts men (and women) to become his children (Ephesians 1:5).  The children of wealthy parents are heirs to the wealth of the father.  Thus, those who are adopted by God have the God given rights to his Christ's inheritance (Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 3:24; Hebrews 9:15) which is the total sum of eternal salvation.  And thus, sons (children) of God (Romans 8:14) are heirs to a divine inheritance which in a worldly sense was typically passed down to the first born male in that culture (Romans 8:16–17).  

Then who are the sons of God in Genesis 6:2-5?

This takes more discernment and inclusion of more passages to help interpret.  Sons of God can relate to angels (Job 2:1,1 38:7, Psalm 29:1, 89:7). We also need to understand that angels are spiritual beings (Hebrews 1:14), they can appear in human form (Mark 16:5). The men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to have sex with the two angels, in the form of men, who were with Lot (Genesis 19:1-5) but this does not say they are literally IN physical bodies.  

A point made in Gen 6 is that these sons of God had sexual relations with the daughters of men.  BUT Jesus declares heavenly angels do not marry (Matt 22:30) and marriage includes becoming one flesh (Gen 2:24).  The idea it seems that angels (sons of God) had sexual relations of women.  This is present in The Book of Enoch 15.  This book was written between 300 and 100 BC but was not seen by Ancient Israel as a book written by God.  But this seems to also be supported in 1 Peter 3:19-20 and Jude 6-7.  How can angels marry and become one flesh with daughters of men?  We see throughout the Bible instances of Demonic possession (Matthew 4:24, 10:1; John 7:21, 8:48; Mark 1:25-27, 5:15; Luke 4:51-56; Acts 8:7).  In light of the sum of all these passages we can see that fallen angels did not need their own literal physical bodies but could possess men, and then be capable to have sexual relations with women; for the purpose of sin and leading women and the people of the days of Noah away from God.  Their unique offspring are named Nephilim.  Which also explains why they are in the post-flood era (Numbers 13:33).  The offspring, being unique, and empowered by their parental figure, a fallen angel, explains why they were "mighty men who were of old, men of renown".  Because they had the support of supernatural beings.  Demons were worshiped in ancient cultures (Deuteronomy 32:16-17).   These angels were sons of God in the sense they were directly created by God and did not have an earthly father.  Their beginning is from God but their rebellious sinful acts is out of themselves.  Like Eve, they saw something they desired and chose to take it for themselves (Gen 3:6, 6:2).  

So what makes Jesus' claim of being The Son of God different?

Jesus is the “Son of David” because He is the fulfillment of God’s promise that David would always have a descendant on the throne (2 Samuel 7:10–13). In these cases, Abraham and David become more than people or patriarchs; they become the embodiment of an idea—specifically, God’s work in humanity. To be a son is to partake in the grand purpose of another’s life (Matthew 13:38; Luke 6:35).  But Jesus did not have an earthly father.   Luke 1:35 declares, “The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’”

Son can also refer to a person’s character or identity. A “son of Aaron” was a priest, a “son of Asaph” was a musician and songwriter (2 Chronicles 35:14–15), and a “son of the prophets” was a prophet (2 Kings 2:3). “Son of” was also used metaphorically to identify one’s nature or a personality trait.  John 17:12 where Judas is described as the “son of perdition.” John 6:71 tells us that Judas was the son of Simon. What does John 17:12 mean by describing Judas as the “son of perdition”? The word perdition means “destruction, ruin, waste.” Judas was not the literal son of “ruin, destruction, and waste,” but those things were the identity of Judas' life. Judas was a manifestation of perdition. In this same way, Jesus is the Son of God. The Son of God is God. Jesus is God made manifest (John 1:1, 14).   Hebrews 1:3 expresses this very clearly, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.”  Jesus is God’s Son in the sense that He is God made manifest in human form (John 1:1, 14).  The Jewish leaders understood exactly what Jesus meant by the phrase “Son of God.” To be the Son of God is to be of the same nature as God (John 19:7Matthew 26:63-64). 
 
But does Psalm 2:6-7 mean The Son of God is created by God alone?

John 3:16, which reads in the King James Version as, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The phrase "only begotten" translates the Greek word monogenes. This word is variously translated into English as "only," "one and only," and "only begotten." 

So what does monogenes mean? According to the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BAGD, 3rd Edition), monogenes has two primary definitions. The first definition is "pertaining to being the only one of its kind within a specific relationship." This is its meaning in Hebrews 11:17 when the writer refers to Isaac as Abraham's "only begotten son" (KJV). Abraham had more than one son, but Isaac was the only son he had by Sarah and the only son of the covenant. Therefore, it is the uniqueness of Isaac among the other sons that allows for the use of monogenes in that context.  So if angels are called sons of God, and believers in Christ are adopted and become children of God, what then makes Jesus, as the Son of God one of a kind with a specific relationship?  

What does Jesus have that no other can offer?  He is not only sinless and only acceptable sacrifice for sin for all time but he is also the only one that existed before creation with God the Father, came down in the form of man, but is the embodiment and exact likeness of God in nature.  John 14:7 and John 10:30 are literal just as Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 2:9 and Ephesians 3:19 point out.  This unique specific relational position that only Jesus Christ possesses is "the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature" which "all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form".  Jesus was with God equally glorified before the creation of the world (John 17:5) and not only with God but was God (John 1:1).  This is THE Son of God.  More than just a child that will inherit the wealth and authority of the father.  More than being simply like God or acting as God in this world.  He is OF God in glory, nature, and deity.  And there is only ONE God that is glorious and divine; thus, the unique sonship of Christ is God incarnate.

 
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