03042023 Son of God

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the Son of God. What an amazing thought it is to consider that the God of Heaven would manifest Himself to mankind in the person of Jesus and then offer Himself in a sacrifice of redemption. I’ve been reading the gospel of John this week and taking note of the emphasis on Jesus as the Son of God.

Jesus is unique. Although God accepts us into His family when we believe on Him, Jesus is, in an unmatched way, the only begotten Son of God (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, 3:18). The book of John refers to Jesus as the Son or Son of God 27 times, most of which are in Jesus’ own speech. There are also 116 references to God as the Father, and almost all of those are in Jesus’ own speech. Jesus made a big deal of identifying this Father/Son relationship. Jesus’ mission stemmed from that relationship, and there are 42 statements that God the Father sent Jesus, and all but one of those are from the verbal claims of Jesus Himself.

In addition to these dominant references, the gospel is permeated with statements that declare the deity of Jesus. I found some of these captivating, and I thought I would share some of them with you, along with some summaries organized by category.

The Son of God is declared to be so. “The Word was God” (1:1). Jesus shared the Father’s divine glory (1:14, 2:11). Jesus was above the level of men (1:27,30; 4:10,12). Jesus called Himself the Son of God (10:36), claimed His relationship with the Father (5:18), and made Himself equal with God (5:18), and those who heard Him understood that is what He was claiming (10:33, 19:7). Those who knew Him well also declared His divinity (Martha in 11:27, Peter in 14:9, and Thomas in 20:28).

The Son of God had unity with the Father. “The same was in the beginning with God” (1:2), when no one else existed. Jesus speaks of being in the bosom of the Father (1:18), of being one with Him (10:30), and of their unity (10:38, 14:10,20; 17:22). Knowing Jesus is like knowing the Father (14:7), seeing Jesus is like seeing the Father (14:9), and they own everything mutually (“All things that the Father hath are mine” 16:15).

The Son of God has eternality. He existed in the beginning (1:1), and His existence was prior to that of men who historically predated His birth (1:15,30; 8:58). Jesus speaks of “the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (17:5) and declares that the Father loved Him “before the foundation of the world” (17:24).

The Son of God was of heavenly origin. He was “not of this world” (8:23), and His “kingdom is not of this world” (18:36). He observed things together with the Father (8:38) and had eyewitness knowledge about heaven (14:2). Jesus came from God and was going back to God (13:3). He became flesh, revealed that He did not start out that way (1:14), and He descended from heaven (3:13,31; 6:51; 11:27).

The Son of God had a divine mission. He was sent by God (3:34) and came in His Father’s name (5:43). He was given His mission by God (5:36), and He sought the glory of the One who sent Him (7:18).

The Son of God had the Father’s approval. The Father put His seal on Jesus (6:27) and honored Him (8:54).

The Son of God had abilities that could be only divine. “All things were made by him” (1:3). He “taketh away the sin of the world” (1:29). He “baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (1:33). He knows all things (4:29), which caused His disciples to believe that He came from God (16:30). He did things that no human could ever dream of. “Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing” (9:32-33).

God gave us this wonderful gospel of John so that we would believe in the Son of God. “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (20:31). By my count, the word “believe” appears 99 times throughout the gospel.

What a gift is this gospel! What a gift is the Son of God who left heaven and came to do His Father’s will! What a gift is the salvation freely offered to those who believe!

Perhaps the thoughts above will be a springboard for your own study or serve as a foundation for interactions with the lost. But I guess my primary purpose was just to help us gaze on our Savior. May He truly be more precious to you as the years go by. I pray that God will use your lives and ministries to call others to also believe. God bless.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA