Son of God (Course 104.0)
In this series we attempt to deepen and broaden your understanding of what it means to be a son of God and how the term applies to Jesus Christ our Savior. A relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit in any Bible study is necessary to develop your understanding. Each of you will be directly challenged to testify about that relationship before the others.
The very beginning of a true relationship or sonship (includes daughter-ship) with God is introduced by Jesus by the phrase rendered as “born again” in most translations in John 3: 3,5. It is spoken to Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, whom recognizing Jesus as a rabbi-teacher, comes to him at night (likely for fear of his peers). The Greek word ἄνωθεν (ânōthen) has several meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Here are its primary meanings: (1) From above: indicating a direction from a higher place or from heaven. (2) Again: It can also mean “anew” or “again,” as in being born again. (3) From the beginning: Less commonly, it can mean “from the beginning” or “from the start.” In John 3:3, the context suggests that Jesus uses it to mean “again” or “anew,” referring to being born again, but it also carries the connotation of being born “from above,” indicating a spiritual rebirth.
| John 3:3 Greek Phrase | English Translation |
|---|---|
ἀπεκρίθη¹ Ἰησοῦς² καὶ³ εἶπεν⁴ αὐτῷ⁵
(A Greek idiom) |
Answered¹ Jesus² and³ said⁴ to him⁵
(English lingo: Jesus told him) |
ἀμὴν¹ ἀμὴν² λέγω³ σοι⁴
(Another Greek idiom) |
Truly¹ truly² I say³ to you⁴
(English: With all certainty, I tell you) |
| ἐὰν μή¹-² τις³ γεννηθῇ⁴ ἄνωθεν⁵ | Unless¹-² one³ is born⁴ again⁵
(Literally: if not one is born anew) |
οὐ¹ δύναται² ἰδεῖν³ τὴν⁴ βασιλείαν⁵ τοῦ⁶ Θεοῦ
(τὴν and τοῦ are the same word, the, declined to match their noun usages) |
He¹ cannot² see³ the⁴ kingdom⁵ of God⁶
(In English, capitalization often replaces the need for “the”, thus the god is simply, God.) |
From the context, Nicodemus apparently took the “again” sense when he asked how he could re-enter his mother’s womb. Jesus clearly however spoke of a new birth, not a repeat of his first fleshly life.1
The new birth has a definite point of conception and it is a new and original type of birth apart from natural birth.
Being a Pharisee, Nicodemus was well educated in the Law and Prophets (also called, the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), or Torah and the Prophets נְבִיאִים (Nevi’im) from Joshua to Malachi. Jesus held him responsible for knowing about Moses’ testimony in Deuteronomy 18, verses 15, 18, and 19.
That very prophet, here in John 3, Jesus himself, declares directly to Nicodemus that he must do something more than he had already been doing as a pharisee. Now pharisees were diligent and ultra-refined learners of the Law and Prophets (supreme religious judges). Yet the Lord God says through his prophet Jesus, “You must be born again” if you want to even see heaven.
Surely, if such a scrupulously righteous man as Nicodemus required new birth, we require it even more. When we trust Jesus, and by trust we mean fundamental reliance on the truthfulness of his words and character such that we can put full faith and credit in what he says, then we can know certainly that we, along with Nicodemus, can experience a new birth through obedience to this message. Deuteronomy 18:19 affirms, “…whoever will not listen to My [God’s] words which he [the prophet Jesus] shall speak in My [God’s] name, I [God] Myself will require it of him.” There can be no mistake that Jesus of all prophets was speaking in the name of God Almighty. He gave no option but said, “must”. (John 3:7 “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”)
Nicodemus understood from the Law the penalty for sin is death and that no one dare present themself before God in the Holy of Holies, the most inner sanctuary, with a rebellious heart. To hear and receive what Jesus said here to Nicodemus is a very grave decision indeed.
Read about the demise of Achan in Joshua chapter 7. Further read about Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5.
Peter reaffirms the requirement of obedience to God’s Message in 1 Peter 2:8. The Message is simply that which Jesus declared plainly repeatedly, saying,
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12Believe…have faith in…I am the way, truth, life…vine, gate, door..good shepherd. I, and I alone am the only mechanism to God.
To fail to trust and obey Jesus destines one’s soul to condemnation– final and eternal judgment forever. In like parallel with Deut. 18:19 quoted above, Jesus says in John 3:18, “Whoever believes (=trusts, to have complete confidence in such that one acts obediently to without question) is not condemned, but whoever [ distrusts ] stands condemned already, because he has not believed on the only begotten son of God.
An expanded translation of John 1:12 might read, To those who receive Jesus and all that he represents himself to be, those that trust in his name, which represents himself and his Father, the name above all names, which is from the Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (YShUA or with vowels, Yĕshūa pronounced Yuh-shoo-ah) and often translated as Joshua.2 — any of which means Yahweh/Jehovah/”the LORD” saves. This same saving LORD gives them the right, privilege, honor, and authority to be sons of God and to be fully invested in all the associated benefits.
Who has authority to make a human-being a son of God? Can a mortal or someone less than God himself adjudicate an adoption for God? Only Jesus, both prophet and Son of God can speak as the oracle of God and give a new birth relationship to whomever comes to him for mercy. Please read the beautiful picture of this mercy and raising to honor of Joseph’s family in Genesis 42 through 47 and meditate on it in light of our Savior’s work of sonship.
Peter addresses these sons, this new class and family of people, in 1 Peter 1 calling them, “God’s elect, strangers in the world..chosen..through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ.” He tells them, (this revelation belongs only to those born into the family and not to others not yet saved) to these sons in verse 8 Peter says: “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” The transport and womb for the new birth is the seed of the words of God. Although you may be accustomed to calling the entire Bible the “Word of God”, we want to distinguish especially that because Jesus claimed to speak only what the Father commanded him to speak, his words and he himself is the very embodiment of the words of God. It is Jesus Christ’s words that conceive, develop, and grow a man from a dead, lost being, into a new creature, a son of God and a true man or woman of God. Do notice the new creature is imperishable or eternal in a sense which differs from being merely souls which shall exist forever, either in heaven or hell. The rebirthed soul is infused with life through the “living and enduring” word of God.
One cannot become a son by mere intense study of the Law and Prophets. You must also believe the words of the One to whom they point, Jesus Christ. The word of faith that you must speak and publicly confess is “Jesus is my Lord,” believing he is not dead, but alive forever. By implication, it is insufficient to merely state, “Yes, I believe Jesus was a good teacher.” Romans 10:8-10 shows that the seed of faith in your heart is given birth by germination in your heart, shooting a bud out your mouth, and growing into full grown fruit. Try it now: turn to someone and declare, “Jesus is my Lord!”
God has willed that you be birthed anew. James 1 says to existing Believers, “In the exercise of HIS will he brought us forth (begat us, birthed us) by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among HIS creatures.” There is something exciting about knowing that salvation and the plan of redemption was not accidental happen-stance. God specifically planned and purposed your salvation by HIS will so that you can be a new species, a new kind of HIS creatures, the very best spiritual fruit!
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10 NASB)
- Other references to this Greek word provide fuller meaning: Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 1:3, John 3:31, John 19:11, John 19:23, Acts 26:5, and James 1:17, James 3:15, and James 3:17. ↩︎
- Greeks skewed Christ’s name into Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous) to suit their language grammar. The Hebrew pronunciation “Yĕshūa” (Yuh-shoo-ah) would have been continued among Hebrew-speaking people, including Jesus’ contemporaries in Israel. While the Greeks adapted it to /jeɪˈsuːs/ “Ee-ay-soos.”, the original Hebrew pronunciation remained as “Yĕshūa.” The name Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous) is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Yehoshua. Both the Hebrew name Yehoshua (Joshua) and the Greek name Iēsous (Jesus) share the same root and meaning, which is “The Lord is salvation.” ↩︎
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