Son of God or God the Son Continued
Previously, I focused on the Old Testament and Gospel records in consideration of the deity of Jesus the Messiah. More support is found in the New Testament epistles, which reinforces the true identity of Jesus as God incarnate. Perhaps the strongest affirmations of His deity are found in the books of Colossians and Hebrews, although other New Testament books also contribute some important data.
Colossians addresses the error of proto-Gnosticism, which held that matter was evil and spirit was good. This meant that for Jesus to be God, He needed a non-physical existence, which denied His true humanity. Rather than conceding this perspective, Paul strongly teaches both the humanity and deity of Jesus using targeted terms.
First, he portrays Jesus as preeminent in His deity as creator of all things (Colossian 1:16), as preceding all things and holding all things together (Colossians 1:17). Jesus is "the image of the invisible God", which corresponds well with John 1:1-14, and He is "the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15). This latter description is not a statement of His coming into existence, but as the author of creation Jesus is first in priority and certainly not part of creation.
Paul also presents Jesus as preeminent in redemption as the head of the Church and its Saviour as "the firstborn from the dead" and "making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:18, 20). Again, this preeminence requires Jesus to be God, as well as human, for His sacrifice to be sufficient for the payment of humanity's sin.
In the midst of this treatment of Jesus' preeminence as creator and redeemer, Paul inserts a targeted term to counter the concerning error. He states that in Jesus "all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:19). The Greek word for "fullness" is pleroma, which later Gnosticism used to refer to the totality of spirit emanations from god. Here, Paul uses it to express the full measure of deity being in Jesus, which directly contradicted the false teaching in Colossae.
The book of Hebrews presents Jesus as superior to everything in existence, especially within Judaism. Jesus is superior to prophets, angels, Moses, the priesthood and so on. In chapter one, Jesus is described as creator, "the radiance of the glory of God", "the exact imprint of his [God's] nature" and the upholder of the universe (Hebrews 1:3). All of these demand Jesus is divine, which is reinforced by the requirement of angels to worship Him (Hebrews 1:6) and his address as "O God" (Hebrews 1:8).
Philippians also has an important expression of Jesus' deity in chapter two as Paul describes the humility of Christ as our example. He teaches that Jesus was "in the form of God" but did "not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Philippians 2:6). Paul uses the Greek word morphe, which “denotes the outward manifestation that corresponds to the essence, in contrast to the noun schema (2:7), which refers to the outward appearance, which may be temporary” (Kent, p. 123). This clearly communicates that Christ was truly God prior to the incarnation and not someone who looked like Him. In addition, the verb “existed” is in the present tense and carries the idea of continuous reality, not some temporary condition.
This identity as God is further affirmed by the next description of Christ’s attitude toward such a position. There is considerable debate on the meaning of harpagmos, the Greek word for “a thing to be grasped” in this context. Is it something that has been seized or something yet to be seized? This uncertainty has given rise to three options of interpretation of its use here: 1. Christ already possessed equality with God and resolved not to cling to it, 2. Christ had no need to grasp equality with God since He already possessed it, or 3. Christ did not reach for premature exaltation, as Adam did, but was willing to endure suffering to achieve it. Of these three, the context most supports the first view. The entire emphasis is on Christ’s setting aside His divine prerogatives (although not His actual deity) in order to redeem humanity, serve the needs of others.
Well, that's enough for now - next blog will consider divine attributes and the book of Revelation as our final consideration of Jesus as God the Son.
❝First, he portrays Jesus as preeminent in His deity as creator of all things (Colossian 1:16),❞
ReplyDeleteCol 1:16 - 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Interpreting Colossians 1 as saying that somehow Jesus was involved in the Genesis creation, and is therefore God, contradicts Paul’s other statements about the relation of Jesus to God. The “Genesis creation” interpretation also contradicts many other Scriptures. The Old Testament says nothing about a second god figure who created (cf. Deut. 32:6, Isa. 44:24). Jesus attributed the creation of humanity to “He who made them”, not “they” or “we who made them”.
In the letter to the Colossians, Paul distinguished Jesus from God. E.g., Colossians 1:1-3. “God our Father” – all of God, not just one person of a godhead, is our Father. “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you”. And Col. 3:1 “Christ is…seated at the right hand of God”.
Paul also says in Ephesians 1:3 and 1:17 “Blessed be the God and Father ๐of๐ our Lord Jesus the Messiah”, “That the ๐God of๐ our Lord Jesus the Messiah, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom…” Jesus is clearly distinguished from God, who is also called the Father. To interpret Colossians 1:15-19 as Paul saying that “Jesus is God” contradicts so much else of what Paul wrote in this book, in the parallel book of Ephesians and in so many other places.
The theme of Colossians 1:15-19 is that Jesus is pre-eminent, not because Jesus is God, but because God has put the exalted man Jesus in this pre-eminent position, reference. Matthew 28:18: “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”. Colossians 1:15-19 is best understood in context of a new beginning that God has undertaken in Christ. In other words, in Christ, God has begun creation renewal.
If one is the beginning of creation, the firstborn of creation, and the firstborn from the dead, you are not God. God is not created and God does not die. Nor is God raised to life again. So Colossians 1:15-19 is much better understood in the context of new creation which God brings about through the risen Jesus.
As with John 1:3 the phrase, “all things”, must be understood in the context that Paul uses it in. The word “things” is not in the Greek text. Translating the word “all” here as “all things” gives the false impression that somehow all the material world was created by Jesus. The chapter never mentions any Genesis creation such as trees, beasts, fish, stars etc. The “all” that Paul refers to here, he described and framed in the rest of the verse:
- Thrones
- Dominions
- Principalities
- Authorities
All of what Paul mentions is what was created through Him and for Him. In this verse Paul is describing all the authority structure, this isn’t a reference to the material world. The Messiah has been placed into a position of authority at God’s right hand and from there He rules over the works of His Father’s hands. Has this not been the plan of God all along? That mankind would rule and reign over the works of God’s hands, unfortunately Adam failed this task. But where Adam failed Messiah was victorious. God’s plan has been fulfilled, a man now rules and reigns over the works of God’s hands. He has been given all authority and power.
1 Peter 3:22 - who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
It makes no sense to say that angels have been subjected to the eternal Son who is ontologically God. It would go without saying since He would have been their creator. What God has done is fulfilled His plans. A man now rules over creation, He has been made the pre-eminent one and has been invested with God given power and authority so that all creation must bend the knee to Him.
❝as preceding all things and holding all things together (Colossians 1:17).❞
ReplyDeleteCol 1:17 - And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
As mentioned above the word “things” is not there in the Greek. Jesus is before all! The context is thrones, dominions, principalities or authorities. The Greek word “before” (ฯฯแฝธ) can be taken to mean that Jesus is first in time (as the firstborn from the dead), in place (at the right hand of God), and in pre-eminence (chief or head of all).
Translations of Col. 1:17 that state “in him all things hold together” imply that Jesus is holding the atoms and matter of the universe together. But the verb means things like “stand, present, demonstrate, endure, continue”. In context, the meaning is that as the head, the chief, the first, the beginning, all power structures are held together and continue to exist in Jesus. Like a CEO keeps everything in the company running, the Messiah keeps the whole team together and functioning properly.
Taken in context then what we see is by / through the Messiah God has created a structure of authority and the Messiah is the CEO of that structure. Everything has been subjected to the Messiah, that is, all but God of course.
1 Cor 15:27-28 - For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he [God] is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Messiah rules with authority and power to execute justice and righteousness in God’s name so that every knee will bend to Messiah to the glory of God.
❝Jesus is "the image of the invisible God", which corresponds well with John 1:1-14,❞
ReplyDeleteAdam was also created in the image of the invisible God and he was not deity. Paul often compares the man Jesus to the man Adam, which fits the renewed creation context. Adam was the firstborn of the Genesis creation and Messiah is the firstborn of the renewed creation.
John’s prologue is not about the Genesis creation but the renewed creation brought about through Messiah. The prologue alludes to the Genesis language because in Messiah creation renewal is brought about. I commented on the previous post about John’s prologue.
❝and He is "the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15).❞
ReplyDeleteThe word “firstborn” (Greek prototokos) can relate to either time or rank, as to an eldest child or a person of pre-eminent rank. Jesus, as being the firstborn from the dead (1:18), is the firstborn of the new / renewed creation. Resurrection is creation renewal. Paul doesn’t make any differentiation between the divine Jesus, or a Jesus having two different natures, which is all later philosophical speculation entirely foreign to Scripture. Paul is talking about the “Son” of God. The Son of God is the firstborn of creation. As mentioned this is either due to being the first resurrected person of the renewed creation or due to His rank over the creation at God’s right hand.
❝This latter description is not a statement of His coming into existence, but as the author of creation Jesus is first in priority and certainly not part of creation.❞
ReplyDeleteJesus is the heir of creation, not its author.
Psalm 2:1-9 - Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
God has always had the plan to have mankind rule over the works of His hands. In Messiah this is fulfilled. God promised a Son would come, a King to sit on the throne of David. This relationship was a future relationship to take place. Notice the “I will / He shall” statement.
2 Sam 7:14 - ๐I will be๐ to him a father, and ๐he shall be๐ to me a son…
God’s relationship to the Son, the Messiah, was a future relationship. God would anoint His Son to complete what was written. God is the Anointer, He does not need to anoint Himself. Men are the Anointed, who need an anointing from God. The Anointed One, God’s Son, is the firstborn of God’s creation as He is the first one to be raised back to life and granted immortality. He has been set up at God’s right hand with all thrones, dominions, principalities or authorities subjected to Him. He is preeminent above all as the heir of creation, with the nations having been made His heritage and the ends of the earth His possession. It makes no sense for Jesus to be the heir of His own creation, that’s nonsense. People do not inherit what they already own. God has made His purely human Son to inherit the works of His hands.
❝Paul also presents Jesus as preeminent in redemption as the head of the Church and its Saviour as "the firstborn from the dead" and "making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:18, 20). Again, this preeminence requires Jesus to be God, as well as human, for His sacrifice to be sufficient for the payment of humanity's sin.❞
ReplyDeleteThere’s no need at all for Jesus to be God to be preeminent. God can choose to make a man preeminent if He wills. The OT type of Joseph and Pharoah reflects God and His Son. Joseph was preeminent over Egypt and yet Pharaoh was still the one he submitted to. Likewise, the Messiah has been given the authority to be preeminent over God’s creation and sit at His right hand as the glorified Son. This doesn’t require the Son to be deity.
❝In the midst of this treatment of Jesus' preeminence as creator and redeemer, Paul inserts a targeted term to counter the concerning error. He states that in Jesus "all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:19). The Greek word for "fullness" is pleroma, which later Gnosticism used to refer to the totality of spirit emanations from god. Here, Paul uses it to express the full measure of deity being in Jesus, which directly contradicted the false teaching in Colossae.❞
So let me summarise what Paul is saying in Colossians based on the context.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God so that to see the Messiah is to see God. This is not to be construed as saying that the Messiah is deity, He is not. The Messiah is God’s human Son, just as Adam was God’s human son. Both of them were to represent the invisible God and reveal Him. Adam failed, Messiah did not. Messiah’s victory has made Him the firstborn over God’s creation. He sits at God’s right hand, having been given the nations and the ends of the earth as His possession, and rules over them as the visible representative for the invisible God. By / through Messiah, whether in heaven or on earth, all thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities have been brought about and subjected to Him so that He is before all and He holds all of this together. Messiah is the Head of the Church and the beginning of God’s creation because He is the firstborn from the dead. Because of all of this He is the preeminent One over God’s creation.
Moving onto Colossians 1:19
Col 1:19 - For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
This shows a clear distinction between the Messiah and God. God was pleased to have His fullness dwell in His Son. This doesn’t make the Son deity, but communicates that God was in the Messiah. Paul in 2 Cor 5:19, and John in John 14 mention very similar ideas. Comparable statements in Ephesians 1:23, 3:19 (cf. Col. 2:8-9) about the fullness of God dwelling in the community of believers (“the church”) shows that this statement does not mean that Jesus is God. Rather, it relates to the plans and purposes of God being realised in Messiah Jesus and the called-out community of believers. The body of believers, including Jesus, are a “temple” in which God dwells.
❝The book of Hebrews presents Jesus as superior to everything in existence, especially within Judaism. Jesus is superior to prophets, angels, Moses, the priesthood and so on. In chapter one, Jesus is described as creator,❞
ReplyDeleteHebrews 1:1-2 - In many parts, and many ways, God of old having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days did speak to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He did make the ages;
I’d suggest that an overall point that the author is making in Hebrews chapter 1 is not that Jesus is God, but rather that God has appointed the human being Jesus, as the representative of humanity, to be God’s vice-regent ruler, to “sit at God’s right hand.” This privilege was not granted to an angel or angels. This theme, that God has granted a human being to be at His right hand, fits the overall theme of the book of Hebrews that Messiah, Jesus, is greater than Moses, is a better high priest than Aaron, gives a better rest than Joshua, brings into effect and mediates a better covenant with a better sacrifice compared to what Israel experienced through the earlier covenant. If the author of Hebrews thought that Jesus was God, there would be no reason to make the point that Jesus is greater than angels, Moses, Aaron or Joshua. Further, a human being exalted to God’s right hand is an overall biblical theme.
In Hebrews 1:1 note that “God” is differentiated from the Son of God, Jesus the Messiah. Jesus the Son of God is not included in the author’s understanding of who “God” is. In other words, God is not a son, but God has a son, and the Son of God is a human being. Neither is God ever a trinity to the author of Hebrews. Also the phrase “God the Son” is never present in scripture, this is post Apostolic language. Hebrews 1:1-2, states that while God spoke previously by the prophets “in these last times He has spoken to us by a son”. Hebrews 9:26-28 declares that Christ (Jesus, the Son of God) has appeared only once so far, but will appear a second time. The author of Hebrews did not believe in any so-called “pre-incarnate” appearances of Christ, the Son of God. Hebrews 1:2, the son was “appointed heir of all things”. God is not appointed heir of anything, which would mean that God has a superior. Biblically, God appoints humans as His heirs to rule over the earth.
Hebrews 1:2, “through whom He made the ages”. We need to note the translation issues with two words in this verse. For instance, the ESV has “through whom he created the world” which makes it sound like somehow Jesus was involved in the Genesis creation. The word translated “world” (NIV and NLT translations have “universe”!) is the Greek plural word, aeons, meaning “ages”. The word denotes time not material substance. The word appears 14 other times in Hebrews and always denotes a period of time or ongoing time, with one ambiguous use at 11:3 where ‘ages’ is still probably the best translation. Also, the Greek word translated “created” is not the normal Greek word for created, but is the word for “made”. The word is ‘poieo’ and has a wide semantic range: make, produce, construct, create, prepare, appoint, ordain, to do, accomplish, perform, institute. With this understanding the verse could be translated in the following ways:
“for whose sake he (God) established the ages”
“on account of whom he (God) arranged the ages”
“because of whom he (God) set up the ages.”
The point then is that through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God made/makes/arranged/sets up the ages, both this age, the Messianic age, and the age/s to come. In a parallel way, God brought about different ages through other individual human beings, Adam, Noah and Abraham. Jesus is not the maker of these ages, but God makes the ages ๐through๐ Jesus.
❝"the radiance of the glory of God", "the exact imprint of his [God's] nature" and the upholder of the universe (Hebrews 1:3).❞
ReplyDeleteThe Greek for radiance is ‘apaugasma’ which literally means ‘a shining out from’, that which radiates from a source, e.g. the rays of light from the sun. Jesus, then, radiates the glory (of God), which means that Jesus is not God himself, not the origin of glory. This is the only occurrence of this word in the NT. The Greek for representation / exact imprint is ‘charakter’ which refers to the impression made in clay or wax or metal by a stamping tool, e.g. the image impressed on a coin or a wax seal; hence an image, likeness or representation. So Jesus, like a clay seal impression, is the representation of the substance of God. A clay seal impression, which represents the reality, is a different substance than the seal itself. To see the Son is to see the invisible God.
❝All of these demand Jesus is divine, which is reinforced by the requirement of angels to worship Him (Hebrews 1:6) and his address as "O God" (Hebrews 1:8).❞
ReplyDeleteBefore moving to Hebrews 1:6 and 1:8 it’s important to note Hebrews 1:4.
Hebrews 1:4 - having become so much better than the angels, to the extent that He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
Here we are told that the Son ๐became๐ better than the angels and that He ๐inherited๐ a more excellent name than the angels.
If the ‘son’ was the ‘eternally begotten Son’, co-equal with the Father and creator of the angels, would he not have always been, by nature, better than the angels? How can someone who is deity become better than angels? How can someone who is deity and be the angels creator inherit a more excellent name than they. The deity of the Son interpretation makes little sense in Hebrews 1. The point the author is making is that the human being, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah Son of God, is greater than angels. There would be no reason to make the point that Jesus is greater than angels if Jesus is God.
Hebrews 1:6 - And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
God has placed the man, Jesus the Messiah, in a position above angels. Angels, on the other hand, are made to be “spirits, servants” (Heb. 1:7, 14). Jesus represents mankind in the place originally intended by God for man (Gen. 1:26-27). The author sees the role of angels as inferior to that of the ‘son’ in that they are called upon to give the ‘son’ worship [ Gr. proskuneo – to pay homage and honor to one of greater rank].
Hebrews 1:8 - and unto the Son: `Thy throne, O God, [is] to the age of the age; a scepter of righteousness [is] the scepter of thy reign;
Hebrews 1:8-9 is a quote from Psalm 45, a marriage hymn of a king descended from David (perhaps Solomon?) to what appears to be a foreign princess. The Davidic king has a God who has blessed him (45:2) and anointed him (45:7). The Davidic king is praised for his strength and just rule (45:2-6). So Psalm 45 is an idealised conception of the Davidic king, not a description of a pre-existent divine being, but of God’s vicegerent, ruling over God’s kingdom in God’s power. The Davidic ruler is called ‘God’ in the Psalm not because he is ontologically so, but because he functions as the visible representative of God’s rule. As previously mentioned Moses was called God, the judges of Israel were called God, angels are called God, and the king of Israel is called God. Calling angels and men God is not an ontological claim but one of functionality. These men had been sent by God and given specific authority to execute the will of God as His representative to the people they were sent to. There is no need to apply ontological ideas to these concepts and then compound people into the Being of God when scripture plainly and explicitly states that God is a singular person over 20,000+ times. The Hebrews had no issue with applying a functional “God” idea to men in their culture (John 10). It’s only when we get to the 3rd and 4th centuries that the Greek philosophers apply ontological concepts to these Hebrew ideas and the result is a 3 person God with 1 person possessing 2 natures.
The Messiah is the Davidic King, the image of God and God in a functional sense because all has been made subject to Him.
❝Philippians also has an important expression of Jesus' deity in chapter two as Paul describes the humility of Christ as our example. He teaches that Jesus was "in the form of God" but did "not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Philippians 2:6). Paul uses the Greek word morphe, which “denotes the outward manifestation that corresponds to the essence, in contrast to the noun schema (2:7), which refers to the outward appearance, which may be temporary” (Kent, p. 123). This clearly communicates that Christ was truly God prior to the incarnation and not someone who looked like Him. In addition, the verb “existed” is in the present tense and carries the idea of continuous reality, not some temporary condition. This identity as God is further affirmed by the next description of Christ’s attitude toward such a position. There is considerable debate on the meaning of harpagmos, the Greek word for “a thing to be grasped” in this context. Is it something that has been seized or something yet to be seized? This uncertainty has given rise to three options of interpretation of its use here: 1. Christ already possessed equality with God and resolved not to cling to it, 2. Christ had no need to grasp equality with God since He already possessed it, or 3. Christ did not reach for premature exaltation, as Adam did, but was willing to endure suffering to achieve it. Of these three, the context most supports the first view. The entire emphasis is on Christ’s setting aside His divine prerogatives (although not His actual deity) in order to redeem humanity, serve the needs of others.❞
ReplyDeleteWe have discussed this previously before in the past or by articles. There are many different interpretations of this section, many of which do not require the Son to be ontologically God.
https://thetrinityontrial.com/2022/06/24/from-transfiguration-to-humiliation-reassessing-philippians-2-6-8-part-1/?fbclid=IwAR26vha2shDAtl0O5jCPBfgQdpOCBsrJfGR3adstGKrt536SgES7RpHUnQg
https://thetrinityontrial.com/2022/08/27/from-glorification-to-humiliation-reassessing-phil-2-6-8-pt-2/
❝Well, that's enough for now - next blog will consider divine attributes and the book of Revelation as our final consideration of Jesus as God the Son.❞
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. If I may summarise what it is I’m seeing.
The Messiah has a God and is the means through / by which God brings about a renewed creation. The resurrection of the Messiah makes Him the firstborn from the dead. Having been raised back to life He has been exalted to the right hand of God where the nations and the ends of the earth have been given to Him as His possession. As the heir of the world a structure of authority has been formed through / by Him to show that He is preeminent over all. Messiah is the visible representation of the invisible God and as the preeminent one, who functions as God by His God given prerogatives, He upholds all by the word of His power. The Messiah is glorious in appearance because He radiates the glory of God, His Father.