The Son of God
The truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is fundamental to a life of faith in Yahweh. It is the testimony that the Father has given that all those who seek Him must hear, receive and believe.
9If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is God’s testimony which he has testified concerning his Son. 10He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 1 John 5:9-10
This testimony was given in several places, by Jesus' disciples, as well as by Jesus own words and actions. The resurrection from the dead of the Lord Jesus is the final, startling testimony to His nature as the Son of God. For only one without sin, not mere man, could be unable to be held by death. Only the Divine is without sin.
3concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, 4who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 1:3-4
The imagery of the father-son relationship helps us to understand the truth of the Deity's nature, but the words themselves can never fully explain the fundamental truth. The Father is father to the Son because the Son comes forth from the Father (John 8:42) (John 16:27-28). As in human procreation, the son receives his blood and DNA from the father; he carries the father's name and often does the work that his father does. He is also a physical image of his father. This human reflection is but a small glimpse of the eternal truth that Yahweh has revealed to us.
Yahweh the Father begets His Son from all eternity; the Son constantly procedes from Him. He shares His Divine nature (John 1:1) (John 5:18), He carries His Name (John 10:25) (John 17:11), and He does His work (John 10:37-38). Indeed, He looks like Him (Hebrews 1:3)!
The Father loves His Son without limit, and desires to share His goodness with all creation. It was not enough for the Father to make all things through Him (John 1:1-3) (Hebrews 1:2), nor to put all things in subjection under His feet (Psalms 110:1) (Acts 2:34-36) (1 Corinthians 15:26-27) (Ephesians 1:22) (Hebrews 10:12-13); but seeing the wandering of mankind, He sent His Son to earth, to be born as a man, to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). This Beloved Son has become our model, even our identity, as we learn exactly what the Father is like.
As the human son evidences his father through his words, actions and appearance, so does the Heavenly Son evidence His Father in the same ways.
7If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.” 8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake. John 14:7-11
The Life of Yahweh
The greater context of John's letter first quoted at the top is that it is our faith in Jesus Himself that brings us to life. However, the central truth is about Who Jesus is—He was not only a prophet, or just a man, but was God's anointed, indeed, Yahweh's very own Son. The Father has testified that the life that we seek is in His Son; without the Son, no person has the life (the true life, that is ageless).
11The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life. 1 John 5:11-12
This revelation is the doorway into life, receiving the testimony that God has given concerning His Son, and believing in the Son: to do so is to enter into the life that is forever. To not do so is to remain in the death in which we already are.
30Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. John 3:16-18
The Love of Yahweh
The Son of God is the love of God. Because God is love, to remain in His Son is to remain in His love. God begets love, and this love is His Son. As we trust that Jesus is that very Son of God, we enter into that same love that He is.
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world. 1 John 4:15-17
Seeing the love of the Father, that of sending His Son, born to die—all for us—opens our eyes to the Father and the Son. It enables us to see in works what the love of God truly is. By seeing this love that exists between the Father and the Son, that abides in the Son, we are enabled to love in the same way once we believe in that Son.
7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. 8He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. 9By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us. 1 John 4:7-12
God has given testimony concerning His Son and it is up to us to receive it and to walk in its light and experience the benefits thereby.