2.22 Jesus Christ is the Son of God

The Life Of Love

1 Jn. strongly links belief in Christ Jesus as the Son of God with a life of true love. They had heard from " the beginning" of their contact with the Gospel that Christ was the Son of God; and yet also " from the beginning" they had been taught the need to love one another. The " message" which they had heard from the beginning was that Christ was the Son of God (1 Jn. 2:24); and yet it was also that we should love one another (1 Jn. 3:11). This is why in the context of teaching the need for love, John warns against false teaching regarding the nature of Christ as Son of God (1 Jn. 2:22,23; 4:1-4; 2 Jn. 7-11). " The word...from the beginning" was the 'logos' of Christ (Jn. 1:1-3); and yet in John's letters, the word from the beginning was that we should love each other (1 Jn. 2:7; 3:11). This is the essence of belief in Christ: love for each other. This is where the doctrine of Christ as the Son of God leads.

Defend The Faith

And for this reason, Paul pronounces an 'anathema' upon both those who teach another doctrinal Gospel, " another Jesus" (Gal. 1:8,9); as well as those who do not love the Lord Jesus personally (1 Cor. 16:22).John's writings are filled with two themes: Defend the Faith doctrinally, especially concerning the nature and person of Jesus; and... love one another. " This is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another" (3:23). " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him" [i.e. your brother]. " If we love one another, God dwelleth in us...whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him" (4:12,15). But why is there this link between love, and belief in Jesus of Nazareth being the begotten Son of God? Theologically, it could be said that if we accept Jesus Christ as the son of God, then we must likewise accept all God's other sons, begotten as they are by His Spirit. But practically, are we not being taught to see the pure wonder of the way in which Almighty God had a Son and gave that Son, so freely and so painfully, for us...? The pure wonder of God having a Son of our nature, a child and then a man who showed us the essence of God displayed in human flesh and temptation; and then giving Him to us... If we see this, we will naturally show love to our brethren. So it isn't just a case of thinking yes, we believe Christ was Son of God, not God the Son- and period. No. There's infinitely more to it than this. This faith and understanding can tear down every barrier between men, and provide the inspiration for a life of true, self-sacrificial love. The true wonder of it all simply must be meditated upon. That God's very own son should begin so small, as an ovum, " a single fertilized egg barely visible to the naked eye, an egg that would divide and redivide until a fetus took shape, enlarging cell by cell inside a nervous teenager" .

Confidence

Because Jesus was the only Son of God, therefore He is full of the Father's grace and truth. Jn. 1:14 makes this connection between fullness and only Sonship. Because of the wonder of this, we should therefore hear Him, respecting and thereby obeying His word simply because of our appreciation of who He is and was- the Son of God (Lk. 9:35). Quite simply, to truly believe in Jesus as Son of God means that we will have a sure Hope of passing beyond the gates of the grave into the Kingdom (Mt. 16:16 cp. 18).

Yet we can become over familiar with this most basic of all spiritual realities: that Jesus is the Son of God. We know it, and yet we can not know it in practice. Joseph and Mary believed Jesus was the Son of God; Mary of all humanity was the one who knew this most strongly. And yet when they took Jesus up to the temple at age 12, they were so swamped with all the human distractions that they forgot the obvious implications of His being God's son- not Jesus-ben-Joseph. She even scolded Him that " his father" , Joseph, had been worried about Him. " How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk. 2:49 RV) was His comment: as if to say 'Come on, if we go to Jerusalem, isn't it obvious to you I would go to my Father's house whilst there? That's where you could find me…'.