Luke 3:38. the son of God.
Jesus, the son of God.
Jesus, God the Son.
Christmas is the marriage of these two truths. These two realities. Jesus became the son of God, but Jesus has always been God the Son.
In taking on flesh and being the descendant of Adam, of Abraham, of and of David (and all the others in his genealogy), Jesus was positioned to fulfill humanity’s role as God’s son. His image. His glory. His mediator. Jesus was the true human who finally got right what all his forefathers got wrong. How do we know? Because Jesus died and rose again and was exalted as the “Son of God.”
Romans 1:1-4. 1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
But Jesus isn’t just a human who earned the title “Son of God” by being better than everyone who came before him. Jesus, is also God the Son. The divine Son. The eternally begotten Son. Jesus wasn’t just the end of a human genealogy; he was the Son to whom the entire genealogy pointed. John’s gospel “genealogy” puts it this way:
John 1:14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the Son from the Father. He is the eternal Son that was sent by God to become the human “son of God” by doing all that is required of a son, but that no human could ever do. Not Adam, or Seth, or Enoch. Not Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob. Not David, or Solomon, or Hezekiah. Not Joseph, or Mary, or you or me.
Restored son-ship required the Son.
And restored son-ship is what we have in Christ. That’s what Christmas is all about. It’s what the ancestry of Jesus is all about. God the Son (deity) became the son of God (humanity) so that all who call on his name in faith and repentance might become the children of God.
Galatians 4:4-5. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
May we each and every day, as we await the return of the Son of God in glory, confess that Jesus is both God the Son and the son of God, and may that confession bring hope, faith, and love into our hearts.
Questions
Have you seen how children react to opening gifts on Christmas morning? Is that how you feel about the gift of son-ship? Is your son-ship in Christ the source of your hope, faith, and love, or is something else? How might you focus on the gift of your son-ship in Christ more this upcoming year?
To Live is Christ 