Son of God …What Does it Mean?

The blockbuster movie “Son of God” which was supported and encouraged for viewing by mega churches (1) had its world premiere on February 28, 2014. As a miniseries in History channel, it was touted by many to be phenomenal but even more awe-inspiring this time as a movie. Directed by Christopher Spencer and starring Diogo Morgado, “Son of God” is being marketed as a major motion picture event that “brings the story of Jesus’ life to audiences through compelling cinematic storytelling that is both powerful and inspirational, complete with exotic locales, dazzling visual effects and a rich orchestral score” (2). The interview of producers Mark Burnett and wife Roma Downey in Hannity/Fox on 2/21/14 (3) was no less riveting. The film tells the story of Jesus’ birth, his teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection. The focus was about the fact that Jesus is unequivocally the “Son of God”.

However, the presentation did not delve further into the “truth or reason” behind this fact. And, this is a common inadequacy one finds in sermons/homilies that stop at merely identifying Jesus/Y’SHUAH/Ha-Mashiach (4) as the “Son of God”. As vital as that fact is, it does not equate with the far-reaching blessing from the “truth or reason” behind that fact. Hopefully, as we all acknowledge him as such, we will not be distracted from the underlying ultimate message and thus be haunted by the admonition in Matt.7:21-23:

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Because of time constraints intrinsic to the creation of any movie, it was understandable that a number of crucial and essential truth was left out. What was missing though in this movie was the provision for the reason why he had to become”Son of God”? What is the underlying message behind that fact? What is it to us and to our future, for this human being, the “Son of Man” to become the “Son of God”? What for is that descriptive title in relation to the future of the human race? Moreover, after the proclamation of Jesus as the “Son of God”, when did that title actually become a reality? Pre-incarnate, incarnate or post-incarnate? These are questions that are so important as they form a narrative to know why you and I are here in this world… the very reason for our existence, albeit our destiny.

As already indicated in the miniseries, movie, gospels, prophecies, apostolic letters, revelation, secular writings (5), etc, Jesus in fact existed and walked on this earth and was proclaimed to be the “Son of God”. All Christian churches are well-equipped to prove that fact. But the purpose of this commentary is to explore and expound the proposition that there is more to this titular fact than meets the eye. And, although alluded to in the Bible and its significance not fully appreciated by mainstream Christianity, the truth behind this title is even more outstanding, faith-enhancing and grace-encompassing.

At the outset, as we continue to grow in understanding, let us consider the following:

A. Prophesied

His identity was already prophesied long before He came to this world. This WORD-Creator/El Shaddai/YHVH (John 1:1-3, 14, Colossians1:16-17/Ex 6:3) took off his spirit-composition and glorious body to become flesh-and-blood. However, as a human being, he is identified as the Messiah(Isaiah 9:6-7), the Son of man(Matt 8:20), born of a virgin(Isa.7:14), a Nazarene(Matt 2:23), priest after the order of Melchizedek(Heb. 5:6,10), Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, Immanuel(Matt.1:23), Passover-lamb(I Cor.5:7), etc.(6, 7). These are descriptive declarations when he was “flesh-and-blood”, i.e., as a human being. And this human incarnation of YHVH was for this purpose, “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”(Hebrew 2:17). On the side, it is not inconceivable for the descriptions “priest after the order of Melchizedek, Prince of Peace and Everlasting Father maybe timed after his resurrection.

B. DECLARED Son of God

This Messiah, the”flesh-and-blood” Passover-lamb/Christ was also declared/identified as the “Son of God”.
Ps.2:7,12 “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him”. Notice the word “begotten” (derived from “yalad”), i.e. not yet born, still in the womb being developed. Also, that the Father-Son relationship is yet future.
Matthew 3:16-17 “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 16:15-17 “He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

Luke 1:35 – “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”

Hebrews1:5 “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”

While these preceding verses identified and declared the Man-Jesus/Messiah/Christ /Passover-Lamb as “Son of God”, they did not give us a definitive inkling as to when the realization of this “Sonship” occurred. If anything, it connotes a future (shall) timetable. Was that title achieved at that time when he was “flesh-blood” or was it yet in the future? Notice that the identification and official acknowledgment of Jesus at river Jordan as Son of God by the Father was technically as “begotten“, i.e.,  not born yet (yalad) as in Heb. 1:5.

C. Born again to see the kingdom of God?

From a human being, one has to be  “born again” to see the kingdom of God. This is a must according to Jesus. YHVH Elohim himself has to incarnate to man-Jesus before becoming Son of God to fulfill what was required. Does the Bible support these requirements?
The story of Nicodemus in John 3:1-12 gives proof. In the narrative, Nicodemus was asking how could man be born again. Notice verses 3-6 ” Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Here, it is obvious that Jesus was referring to 2 births, viz., first human birth to flesh as in “born of water”(from the uterus) and subsequently a second birth as in”born of the Spirit”. There had to be 2 births, otherwise John 3:3 states, no one (including Jesus) will not see the kingdom of God; no salvation without those requirements. He differentiated the 2 births in v-6, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The mechanics therefore of YHVH’s incarnation is, from his previous immortal composition, he has to become flesh through the human process of inception, growth and development in-utero of a mother, be delivered from the womb to become an actual live mortal person. This human process is different from any known human existence. Jesus “came from above”, heavenly; unlike other humans that came from the ground, “earthy”.

After human inception, birth (born of water), growth and development, then, and only then can a person, including man-Jesus, be “born of the spirit” through a process of “adoption-Sonship “, starting with “spirit-baptism”. And Jesus went through the process as “first of the firstfruits” for his “church-body” that will individually also has to go through the same. As YHVH-Creator, he created all. When he became Son of God at resurrection, from mortal man-Jesus to immortal, then he received from the Father, the spirit-power to create “his body-church”, “spirit-composed” children of God, a “God-kingdom”.

As a potter, with the spirit-power given to him by the Father, the prophecy in Jeremiah 18:1-4 (RSV) is being fulfilled:

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.”

He died and resurrected to receive this power as in:
John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
This is the “power (needed) to become sons of God”, as in: John 1:12-13,12

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

D. Son of God, when?

The title “Son of God” came to fruition only after resurrection. At which time, he transcended from “begotten” to “firstborn”, the first of the “first-fruits” (wave sheaf Lev. 23:10-13) with spirit-body, spirit-composed, albeit with the power to manifest as human (8). This did not happen after his death and through 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb as a corpse. It achieved reality only after he was transformed from “flesh-blood” to a living “spirit-composed being”,
capable of showing as “flesh-and-blood”. Consider the following verses:

Romans 1:4″And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead”N.B. Again declared “by resurrection”..

Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn (prototokus”) from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” N.B. “Firstborn from the dead”

Colossians 1:15 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creation.”

Revelation1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”. Note: we have to be “begotten” as man-flesh before being “son” with spirit-composed body. As Jesus said to Nicodemus(John 3), 2 births are required to see the kingdom of God: “born of water”( born as flesh), before “born in spirit” (with spirit-composed body).

Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren”

Hebrews 1:6 “And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”

Acts 26:23 “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. ”

I Cor 15:20 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

Rom 8:19 “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Rom 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren”

Hebrews12:23 “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,”

SUMMARY

The reason for the spirit-composed El/Shaddai/YHVH to change into Jesus/Y’SHUAH ( partaker of flesh and blood, lower than angels, Heb 2:7) is for him to fulfill:

A. The 2-births requirements to see the kingdom of God and

B. The promise and undertaking of a Passover-Lamb/Messiah to suffer the penalty of mankind’s sins which is eternal death”(Hebrew 2:17).

As all mankind’s sin was imputed to the sin of the “first” Adam(Rom.5:7-21), so was mankind’s penalty of death imputed to the death of the “last” Adam/Christ (1Cor 15:45), by grace as promised on faith of Jesus/YHVH Elohim and not by “works”( even of Jesus) so no one “can boast” ( Eph. 2:9 ). At resurrection, being spirit-composed, Jesus/Y’SHUAH then fulfilled the reality of being the “Son of God”, no longer “begotten”.
Rather, he became the “firstborn” of a new creation-kind, created or made higher (Heb. 1:4) than angelic beings. Moreover, as he is the firstborn (the first of the firstfruits, the “wave-sheaf offering” Lev. 23:10-14), he will then get others (Rom 8:19) to become the “sons/children of God” also by resurrection or “twinkling of an eye” ( I Cor. 15:52 ) at his return to earth to commence the Millenium. A new “creation”(Gal.6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17) above angelic beings ( Ps. 8:4; Heb.2:5-18) is being composed, through this mechanism of “Sonship”. Jesus, the first-born “Son of God”, the first of the firstfruits (I Cor. 15:20) and afterwards “bringing many sons to glory”(Heb.2:10), the other firstfruits of the “spring-harvest” at the start of the Millenium in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4,5; I Thes. 4:16,17), then the “latter-fruits” in the latter-harvest at the second resurrection. Based on this and “on this rock” ( the rock-solid meaning of “Son of God” Matt. 16:16-18), I will build my church (body), all spirit-composed. Through this rock-solid process of “sonship”, a new creation of spirit-beings will be realized, albeit a God-kingdom.

This is the essence of the commission to proclaim the gospel (Matt.24:14) of the coming”kingdom of God”. The overall plan is to create a kingdom composed of spirit beings higher than angelic spirit-beings, the “God-kingdom”. While (9,10,11) there is a “plant-kingdom” and an “animal-kingdom”, there is no “human-kingdom” created by God. In fact, all the ” human-kingdoms” from Adam who on his own “works” wanted to be like God (Gen 3:1-24), Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9), Israel-kingdom divorced by YHVH (Isa 50.1;Hosea 2:2; Jer.3.8), successive heathen kingdoms represented by Nebuchadnezzar’s dream(Daniel 2:1-48) have no longevity. As a “stone” will destroy the last human kingdom represented by 10-toes of iron and clay, only the kingdom created by God, spirit-composed “sons/daughters of God” (Kingdom of God) will be everlasting.

This present world is under subjection (11) to angels (Gal 3:19, Heb. 2:2). But, the “world to come” will not be under angelic-spirits but under the “kingdom-of-God”, spirit-composed “Sons/children of God”, all higher in category than angels. This is why  YHVH ELOHIM has to incarnate to man-Jesus and to be “born again” into spirit-composed “Son of God” with power to create sons and daughters of God , all spirit-composed. As it is written in Hebrews 2:5-17 “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (by angels). For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

This is the deeper and final essence of the title “Son of God”, with Jesus/Y’SHUAH the firstborn/wavesheaf firstfruit by resurrection, taking on this new category, higher than angels. Subsequently, other “sons/daughters” will follow through this mechanism of “rock-solid Sonship”, as Jesus/Y’SHUAH builds his “body/church”. What an awesome gift and blessing from the Father by grace and not “by works” of anyone, a destiny that we are looking forward to!

Will there be a sequel in the offing that embodies this truth and message behind the title “Son of God”? Let us hope so.

References:

1. Megachurch Pastors Lead ‘Son of God’ Campaign to ‘Take Over’ Multiplex Theaters Nationwide: http://www.christianpost.com/news/megachurch-pastors-lead-son-of-god-campaign-to-take-over-multiplex-theaters-nationwide-114732/
2. Producers: “Son of God ” will appeal to Christians and non-Christians alike:http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/02/28/son-god-movie-jesus-bible-american-audiences-religious/
3. Hannity/Fox on 2/21/14: https://74.217.254.62/tivo-tco/program/show.do?collectionId=tivo:cl…
4. Hebrew names of God. http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Yeshua/yeshua.html
5.Early Secular writings regarding Christ:http://www.nelsonprice.com/early-secular-writings-regarding-christ/
6. Prophecies Jesus Fulfilled:

http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/a/Prophecies-Jesus.htm
7.Ten prophecies about Jesus birth:https://theresurgence.com/2012/12/24/10-prophecies-about-jesus-birth
8. How many times did Jesus appear after ….resurrection:http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/resurrectionofchrist.html

N.B. While the Son of God is higher than the angelic-spirits, the latter can also manifest as humans as in Gen. 19:1-5
9. Destiny of Man: https://fact-s.net/2011/05/21/the-destiny-of-man/
10.Deification of Man: https://fact-s.net/2011/05/26/deification-of-man-2/
11. Passion of Christ: https://fact-s.net/2011/05/21/the-passion-of-christ/
12. The law was given by angels: http://www.askelm.com/essentials/ess003a.htm

Original post: 6.18.2014

Revised & Reposted:1.15.2017