D. A. Carson
When the Bible uses “son” metaphorically to refer to someone other than a biological son, the range of its usage is rather large. The high point is Jesus the Son of God; Christians too, both men and women, are called sons (NIV “children”) of God. The paths toward the full range of the biblical usage of “son” are rich and diverse.
Overtones of Sonship
Sonship in the Ancient World
In addition to the many instances in the Bible where sonship is entirely natural and biological (e.g., Gen 22:2; Ruth 4:13, 17; 1 Sam 16:18; Ezek 18:14; Matt 10:37; Luke 15:11), sonship is often metaphoric. The root of these metaphoric uses lies in the way sons achieved their identity. In the Western world today, only about 5 percent of sons end up doing the same work their fathers did; in the ancient world, the overwhelming majority of sons took up the same vocation as that of their fathers. The sons of farmers became farmers, the sons of fishermen became fishermen—and in both cases the sons learned their trade from their fathers, not at a college or in an apprenticeship with someone outside the family. These realities established their identity. That is why Jesus can be identified as “the carpenter’s son” (Matt 13:55) and, presumably after the death of his (apparent) father Joseph, as himself “the carpenter” (Mark 6:3).
These social realities generate many of the sonship metaphors in the Bible. Jesus says that the peacemakers “will be called children [sons] of God” (Matt 5:9): he presupposes that God is the supreme peacemaker, and insofar as human beings make peace, they are acting like God; so that on that axis, at least, they can be called sons of God. Similarly, those who love their enemies are “children [sons] of God” (Luke 6:35). Biologically, of course, Abraham is the ancestor of all Israelites, but because faith characterized so much of his life, he is, more important, “the father of all who believe” (Rom 4:11), and believers are “the children [sons] of Abraham” (Gal 3:7). Biologically, the Judeans of Jesus’ day are Abraham’s descendants, but Jesus is prepared to challenge their claim to Abraham as their father on the grounds that they are not acting like Abraham (John 8:39–41). Their actions—their lies about who Jesus is and their efforts to kill him—demonstrate that their real “father” is the devil himself (John 8:44). In this metaphoric usage, paternity—who one’s father is—is established not by genes but by conduct.
The Range of “Sons”
Understandably, in the original languages there are many metaphoric uses of the expression “sons of [something]” that are translated into simpler expressions in English because English does not use “sons of [something]” in the same way. Translators rightly render “son of a murderer” as “murderer” (2 Kgs 6:32). The “son of a bow” is rendered “arrows” (Job 41:28). A “son of might” is a “fighter” (2 Sam 17:10); the “sons of wise men” are “wise counselors” (Isa 19:11). These and many more examples show us the patterns of thought that make some uses of “son(s) of God” easier to understand.
Son(s) of God
The uses of this expression are diverse. The Bible designates Adam as “the son of God” (Luke 3:37): human beings were made in the image of God (Gen 1:27), designed to reflect God in all ways appropriate to their status. As soon as someone in the line of David becomes king, he is declared to be God’s “son” (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7; cf. Ps 89:19–29). Even when a Davidic king reigns unjustly, he does not thereby cease being God’s “son” (e.g., Ezek 21:10), for the category of “sonship” discloses how he ought to be like God.
Collectively, God calls the people of Israel his “son” (Exod 4:22–23), whether they are properly reflecting him or not. The Bible uses the plural expression “sons of God” to refer to angels (see NIV text notes on Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; see also Pss 29:1; 89:6, though the NIV renders the expression as “heavenly beings”), including the fallen angel called Satan (Job 1:6; 2:1). The collective “children [sons] of God” frequently refers to God’s covenant people, whether under the terms of the old covenant (e.g., Deut 14:1; Isa 43:6; Jer 3:19) or the new (e.g., Rom 8:14; Phil 2:15; 1 John 3:1). This Father-child relationship is in view not only when the Bible calls believers children, but also when believers refer to God as Father (e.g., Mal 2:10) or, in the NT, address him as Father (e.g., Matt 6:9).
One other facet of the Bible’s usage of “children [son(s)] of God” as applied to believers must be underscored. The final vision of the Bible ratchets up the intensity or perfection of many expressions introduced much earlier in the Bible—and it does the same for sonship. For example, “God’s dwelling place is now among the people . . . They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev 21:3). When similar words are said to the Israelites in the wake of the giving of the law at Sinai, God’s dwelling place is tied to the tabernacle (Exod 25:8) and later the temple (1 Kgs 8:13), and God will be with them, manifesting himself to them as they traverse the wilderness (Exod 29:44–45; Num 1:51). When similar words are connected with the promise of a new covenant (Jer 31:31–34), the focus is no longer on the tabernacle and priestly system but on the inward transformation characteristic of the new covenant. In Rev 21, in the context of a new heaven and a new earth, within the walls of the new Jerusalem, God’s presence with his people entails perfection: no more sin, no more of sin’s miserable entailments, and no need of tabernacle or temple because the entire city is the Most Holy Place (Rev 21:22; see “Temple”). In exactly the same way, this vision in Rev 21 ratchets up the significance of “son”: “he who is victorious will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son” (Rev 21:7, author’s paraphrase)—and in this context the son, the believer, is utterly sinless (contrast the sins of those who are not sons, v. 8), perfectly reflecting the heavenly Father so far as God’s image-bearers can.
Jesus the Son of God
The Bible applies the title “Son of God” to Jesus in several distinctive ways—and this is where the trajectories of biblical themes running throughout the Bible come together.
The True Israel
Just as Israel is depicted as God’s son—a frequently failing son—so Jesus recapitulates key episodes in Israel’s life to disclose himself as the Son who does not fail. “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos 11:1) pictures the exodus, but Jesus too is “called” out of Egypt (Matt 2:15). Israel was tested and tempted during 40 years in the wilderness and frequently failed; Jesus is tested and tempted during 40 days and nights in the wilderness—the devil casts doubts on whether Jesus really is “the Son of God”—but this Son proves utterly loyal (Matt 4:1–11).
The True Davidic King
As is true with other kings in David’s line, when Solomon ascends to the throne, God declares, “I will be his father, and he will be my son” (2 Sam 7:14; cf. Ps 2:7). That same passage, however, promises to David (ca. 1000 BC) an unending dynasty (2 Sam 7:16). God progressively discloses how this will be fulfilled. Less than three centuries later, the prophet Isaiah foresees a king “on David’s throne” whose “government and peace” will never end and who will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6–7). Other passages closely identify this coming Davidic king, sometimes designated “Messiah” (see “The Kingdom of God: Jesus as the Davidic King”), with God the supreme Shepherd (e.g., Ezek 34:1–24). Jesus the Son of God insists that he has received from his Father the command to be the ideal good shepherd (John 10:1–18). Mark’s Gospel begins by announcing “Jesus the Messiah [almost certainly referring to the Davidic king], the Son of God” (Mark 1:1), and this is confirmed almost immediately at the baptism of Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love” (Mark 1:11). When Mark’s Gospel draws to a close and the centurion who witnesses Jesus’ death exclaims, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39), whatever pagan notions the centurion presupposes by the expression, Mark’s readers recognize that Jesus is, at very least, the promised Davidic king, the Messiah. Jesus supremely enters into this kingly role by his resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:3–4). When Heb 1:5 ties Jesus to the promise of 2 Sam 7:14, it is not confusing Jesus with Solomon but connecting him through this verse with the trajectory of Davidic kings that finds its promise and culmination in him. This makes him superior to the angels, for only he reigns perfectly in the name of his heavenly Father.
The Unique Son, One With the Father
NT writers find diverse ways to distinguish Jesus’ sonship from ours. For example, in Paul’s writings, believers become sons/children of God by adoption; the same thing is never said of Jesus. But it is John who repeatedly insists that Jesus is the “one and only Son” (e.g., John 1:18; 3:16) and then explains more fully what he means. While human beings may be “sons/children of God” because along one axis or another we act like God (making peace, loving our enemies, reigning in David’s line), only Jesus is the perfect Son of God because “whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19, emphasis added). For example, as the Word of God, Jesus the Son has created everything (John 1:3); like the Father, the Son raises the dead and “gives life to whom he is pleased to give it” (John 5:21). Small wonder that God is determined that all should honor the Son “just as they honor the Father” (John 5:23), which can certainly not be said of other “sons/children of God.” Jesus the Son is not only the one through whom God “made the universe” (Heb 1:2), but he is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb 1:3).
Intertwinings
The different ways in which the Bible applies “Son of God” to Jesus do not always follow independent trajectories through the Bible. Frequently they intertwine. For example, while Matt 1–4 emphasizes that Jesus as the Son of God is the new Israel, in the midst of this passage are the words “This is my Son, whom I love” (3:17), almost certainly picking up the Davidic/kingly use of sonship that was also implicit in the initial genealogy (ch. 1). Again, while Heb 1:5–13 focuses on the Davidic/kingly theme of sonship, the preceding verses display Jesus as the unique Son who is one with his Father (Heb 1:1–4). These and other numerous instances of intertwined uses of “Son of God” applied to Jesus demonstrate that the diverse uses, rather than entirely separate uses, “cross-pollinate” one another to generate a theologically rich notion of Jesus the Son of God.