How can Jesus be the Son of God and God? Aren’t we all sons and daughters of God?
I once heard Jimmy Carr in a stand up performance make this exact point; “if we’re all sons of God what was so special about Jesus?” It’s a fair point; what exactly do we, as Christians, mean?
Colossians 1: 15-18 helps us best in our understanding of this point, it reads:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
Jesus: God and son of God?
The above passage shows clearly that Jesus is God: “He is the image of the invisible God”. He is how God has chosen to reveal himself to the earth and in him we can best understand the nature of God.
At the same time in describing Jesus as the Son of God, the Bible is using this as a means of describing his position of submission to God the father. No attempt to describe this relationship will fully do it justice. The Fathers of the church describe the relationship of God, Jesus and the Spirit in terms of tri-unity (trinity). They are the same in nature but distinct in persons and this passage in Colossians is the best explanation of this in terms of Jesus. “…all things were created by him and for him”
Us as sons of God
What then does it mean for us to be sons of God? Firstly we need to be clear that this is a phrase which is only used in the Bible for Christians. The New Testament explains that Jesus is our means of adoption into a relationship with God. As Colossians describes, Jesus is “…the firstborn over all creation” and “the firstborn from among the dead”. This means that Jesus goes first on behalf of those that believe in him, and, through faith, we follow after him.
Romans 8: 29 describes this well when it says: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
As Christians we are those who are conformed to the likeness of Jesus to the extent that we can be called sons of God and as the Bible describes “co-heirs with Christ.”
To be sons of God is then the offer available to anyone who wishes to receive it. To be a Christian is to be adopted into God’s very family and to share in Jesus’ relationship with God.