Q:  The Bible does not use the expression “the eternal Son of God.”  Does this mean that Jesus was not the “Son” before he came to earth?  Is he eternally the Son of God?  Or is this a role he assumed in the plan of salvation?

A:  This is an interesting question.  There are two schools of thought regarding this matter.  There are some who believe that the preexistent Christ existed only as the Logos, or Word of God.  As a member of the Trinity, he was a distinct Person himself.  However, he was not the “Son” of God.  The Father/Son relationship within the Godhead only came about through an act of God in time, most likely at the Incarnation.  The other position is that two of the three divine Persons in the Trinity exist in an eternal relationship of Father and Son within the Godhead.  For all eternity the Father has been the Father, and the Son has been the Son.  The real issue is what do the Scriptures say?  I believe that the Bible is clear that the Logos has always been the Son of God.  Let me explain why I say this.

First of all, the Scriptures are definite in presenting Christ as eternal and unchanging.  Hebrews 13:8 proclaims that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”  This indicates that in His essential being He is unchanging, immutable.  I maintain that if He is immutable and He is currently the Son of God, then we should affirm His Sonship in the past also.  Remember, it is about “the Son” that God the Father declares, “Your throne, O God, is forever” (Hebrews 1:8).

Being the Son of God is not something Jesus assumed, it is who He is.  Indeed, John declares emphatically that he wrote his Gospel so that we would “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31).  Believing in Christ’s Sonship is a critical aspect of belief in His very Person.

A sort of backhanded affirmation of this reality is offered by Satan himself.  In his temptation of Jesus he twice tauntingly questions the Lord with these words, “If you are the Son of God…” (Luke 4:3, 9).  This is what the Devil is asking: “Is this who you really are?  Is being the Son of God really your very nature?”  Another similar example is found in the reaction of certain Jews to the teachings of Christ.  In John 5:17 Jesus said, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”  When these Jews heard this, they were outraged.  They understood that by asserting that God was His Father then Jesus was also asserting that as the Son of God He was Himself truly divine, and equal to the Father:  “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18).

This eternal relationship of Father and Son is evidenced in the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17.  In verse 1 the Lord Jesus prays to the Father that He would “glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.”  Then speaking as the Son of God, Jesus says in verse 5, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”  Obviously the divine glory was shared equally by both the Father and His Son in eternity past.

Consistent with this is the New Testament assertion that it is the Son of God who is the Creator of all things.  Colossians 1:13-16 declares that the Father through the “Son of his love” created all things, visible and invisible.  In a parallel passage Hebrews 1:1-2 affirms that it was “by His Son” that God created the worlds.

It is evident from the Scriptures that God sent his own “Son” from heaven to redeem the world.  John 3:16, that golden text of the Bible, says that “God so loved the world that he sent his Son.”  1 John 4:14 states that “the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.”  In 1 John 3:8 we read that “the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  And in Galatians 4:4 Paul says that “God sent forth His Son” for our redemption.  It is interesting that the resulting effect of the Son of God being sent forth is the believers’ “adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5).  In each passage, we see God sending His own “Son” to earth to carry out His plan of salvation.  (Note:  I have added the italics in the verses above. V.M.)

Further, we read in 1 John 5:20: “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”  Again, it is significant to notice the terminology here.  It is the “Son of God” who has come to us, and this Son of God is “the true God and eternal life.”

There are two parallel passages that may not definitively speak to the eternal Sonship of Christ, but are at least indicative of this truth.  In Psalm 110:4 the coming Messiah is referred to as a “priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”  If we parallel this with the New Testament’s teaching on Melchizedek in Hebrews 7, we read that Melchizedek was “made like the Son of God” and “remains a priest continually” (verse 3).

Many argue against the eternal Sonship of Christ by asserting that nowhere is the Logos called the “Son of God” before the Incarnation.  Now while the Trinity and the internal relationships of the members of Godhead are not explicitly taught in the Old Testament, there are still hints for us to pursue.  One very important verse in this regard is Proverbs 30:4.  The writer in proclaiming the majesty of God declares:  “Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?  Who has gathered the wind in His fists?  Who has bound the waters in a garment?  Who has established all the ends of the earth?”  And then he asks a most profound question: “What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?”  Here the sacred author certainly affirms that the Almighty has a Son, even though at that time His name was unknown.  It is significant that the pre-Incarnate Christ is called “My Son” by the Almighty God Himself.

From the foregoing I believe it is evident that the Bible does indeed teach that from all eternity Jesus Christ, the Divine Word of God, was, is and always will be the Son of God.  This means that in the internal life of the Deity, the first and second Persons of the Trinity dwell and relate to one another in a Father and Son relationship.  This does not mean that the Son is less divine than the Father, or in some way inferior to the Father.  It does mean that They have a loving relationship that we cannot fully understand, and we can only begin to grasp when we speak of the Father and the Son.

The words of A. W. Tozer are appropriate here…

“Our sincerest effort to grasp the incomprehensible mystery of the Trinity must remain forever futile, and only by deepest reverence can it be saved from actual presumption….  We cover our deepest ignorance with words, but we are ashamed to wonder, we are afraid to whisper ‘mystery.’  … What God declares [about himself] the believing heart confesses without the need of further proof.  Indeed to seek proof is to admit doubt, and to obtain proof is to render faith unnecessary….  The doctrine of the Trinity is truth for the heart…. Love and faith are at home in the mystery of the Godhead.  Let reason kneel in reverence outside.”

All hail, adored Trinity;
All hail, eternal Unity;
O God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, ever One.

O Trinity! O Unity!
Be present as we worship Thee;
And with the songs that angels sing
Unite the hymns of praise we bring.

Truth Builders is a ministry initiative of Advancing Native Missions.  However, the content of this site is the personal opinion of Victor Morris, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions, views or conclusions of Advancing Native Missions, its leaders or staff