Bible Study 5: Son of God

5.1 Key themes⤒🔗

Jesus Christ is the only Son of God. He has always been with God, and he is God.
The Trinity is a mystery…
- that is too great for us to understand, but
- that we believe, because it is how God reveals himself in the Bible.
There is perfect love and unity between God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
God proved his love for us, by giving his only Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus is the only natural Son of God, but through faith in him we become the adopted children of God.

5.2 John 1:1-3, 10-18←⤒🔗

^1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.

^2. The Word was with God in the beginning.

^3. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

^…

^10. He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him.

^11. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him.

^12. But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children

^13. —children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.

^14. Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

^15. John testified about him and shouted out, ''This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’”

^16. For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another.

^17. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

^18. No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.

5.3 The mystery of the Trinity←⤒🔗

We have seen that Jesus is our Saviour (Lessons 1 and 2) and that he is God’s Anointed One (Lessons 3 and 4). In this lesson we will think about Jesus as the Son of God.

Any Christian will say that Jesus is the Son of God. But what do we mean when we say this? To answer this question, let us look carefully at our passage from the Gospel of John.

John starts his Gospel with these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God” (John 1:1). Here John is speaking about Jesus Christ. He says that Jesus Christ has always been there. He was there in “the beginning,” before God created the world. He has always been with God, and he has always been God!

From the Bible we know that God is three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We call these three Persons the “Trinity.” The word “Trinity” comes from the words “three” and “unity.” God is three Persons, but the three Persons exist in unity. They are not three different gods. Together they are one God.

How is this possible? How can God be three and one? That is a question that we cannot answer. The Trinity is a mystery, too great for us to understand. But we do not have to understand the Trinity to believe in the Trinity. We believe in the Trinity, because that is how God reveals himself in the Bible.

It is very important to understand that Jesus is God. If Jesus were not God, he would not have been able to save us. The punishment for our sins is too heavy. This punishment would have destroyed him.

But because Jesus is God, he had the strength to carry the punishment for our sins. He also had the strength to overcome death. He is the Lord our God, who is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17)!

5.4 The Father and the Son←⤒🔗

Jesus Christ is the Son. There is perfect love and unity between him and God the Father. Do you remember what God the Father said, when Jesus was baptized? “This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight” (Matthew 3:17).

As the Son of God, Jesus Christ is also “the Word” of God (John 1:1). He is called “the Word,” because he is the perfect revelation of God. He has come to show us exactly what God is like. Jesus said, “The person who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). He also said, “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me” (John 12:44).

In our passage Jesus is called “the one and only… who came from the Father” (verse 14). This means that Jesus is the only Son of God.

5.5 For God so loved the world…←⤒🔗

Do you remember the story of Abraham, who had to sacrifice his son Isaac? Imagine how Abraham felt when God told him, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2). Abraham obeyed, but God stopped Abraham just before he killed Isaac. He gave Abraham a ram to sacrifice in Isaac’s place.

The ram was a picture of what God would do, two thousand years later. He would sacrifice his only Son, whom he loves! Just as the ram died in Isaac’s place, God’s Son died in our place, for our sins.

Have you ever wondered if God really loves you? Then look at the cross of Jesus Christ. There God proved his love for you. There God gave his one and only Son, that you may believe in him and have life (John 3:16).

If you believe in Jesus Christ, you can be sure of eternal life. God would not let his one and only Son die for no purpose! God has paid the highest price for you. He will never let you go.

“If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).

5.6 Adopted children of God←⤒🔗

Jesus is the only natural Son of God. He has always been God’s Son. He is God himself. But when we believe in Jesus Christ, something wonderful happens. God adopts us, so that we can also be his children!

Not all people are children of God. Outside of Christ, we are God’s enemies (Romans 5:10). But when we believe in Jesus Christ, then Christ gives us “the right to become God’s children” (John 1:12).

Every child of God receives God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of adoption.” That is because he helps us to know that God has really adopted us. He helps us to trust in God, so that we begin to call God “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we become part of God’s family! God is our Father, and Jesus Christ is our Eldest Brother (Romans 8:29). Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11). He loves us. He is preparing a place for us in his Father’s house (John 14:2)!