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-43-
The God Who Is
Chapter 9
THE ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST
If Jesus is the "Son" of God, then He had to be "begotten." The Bible says He is the "only begotten of the Father" (John 1:14c). Does this mean there was a time when He was not yet "begotten?" In what sense is He the "Son" of God; and in what sense is He "begotten?"
It is only reasonable that when we investigate the incomprehensible God that the study would be very difficult for us as mortals. If we could comprehend the being of God, then His ways would not be "past finding out" (Romans 11:33).
In Proverbs chapter 30, beginning in verse 1 we read, "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, `Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?'" (verses 1-4).
It is obvious that the passage speaks of God. Only He is almighty and all-wise. But note particularly the last sentence: "`What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?'" The doctrine of the Son of God was known in the Old Testament.
The Doctrine Promulgated
In Hebrews chapter 1, we read, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (verses 1,2). With these words, the writer teaches the doctrine of the eternal sonship of Christ since it is said God made the worlds by His Son. The Son of God was the principal agent in creation.
Note, that it is a very great thing to have God's Word delivered by prophets, which is what God did in times past, but how much greater a privilege is it to have it delivered by the Son of God!
"Who (i.e. His Son) being the brightness of his (i.e. God's) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power ..." (verse 3a). With these words, the writer pronounces the Son of God to be co-equal with the Father, and so he declares Him to be divine.
"When he had by himself purged our sins, (he) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high ..." The Son of God is better than the priests of the Old Testament who had to offer sacrifices again and again. When the Son of God made one sacrifice for sin, He did it once for all time. It is Roman Catholic blasphemy to pretend to offer up Christ as a fresh sacrifice in the weekly "Mass." According to the Bible, "This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). The work was done. "There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (vs. 26).
There was no place to sit down in the Tabernacle of old. The work of the priests was never done. The reason we can sit when we worship is because the work of salvation is finished. When Jesus made one sacrifice for sins, He did it forever. He purged our sins, and "sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
In verse 4, we read that the Son of God is "made so much better than the angels ..." In verse 1, He is better than the prophets. In verse 3, He is better than the Old Testament priests. Here, He is better than the angels "...as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."
In verses 5 and 6, the writer continues to show the pre-existence of the Son saying, "Unto which of the angels said he at any time, `Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?' And again, `I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?' And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, `And let all the angels of God worship him.'" God never said such to an angel. From this it is clear the Son of God is greater than the angels.