Who are the Sons of God?

[newton3005]

Do all who are sons of God have equal standing? Could any son have equal standing with Lord Jesus, whom John refers to in John 3:16 as God’s “only son”? Can a son of God aspire to be on equal stature as Jesus?

The phrase “sons of God” or a variation thereof is mentioned throughout the Old and New Testaments. Does it have the same meaning, apart from which Testament it is used in? Where have these sons of God been? Can one of the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6:2 say “Hi” to one of the sons of God referred to by Jesus in Matthew 5:9, or Romans 8:19, or 1 John 3:1, or Galatians 3:26 if they all existed at the same time?

Since there are other sons of Gods in addition to Lord Jesus being God’s “only son,” then to the extent we can reason with God as provided in Isaiah 1:18 in strengthening our faith in God as provided in Proverbs 3:5, we can except that the phrase “only son” in John 3:16 might not mean that Jesus is the only son God has, rather, he is the only son that God deemed capable of carrying out the mission of spreading His Word. There are some who say that God’s so-called “only Son” referred to in John 3:16 is God Himself. That leaves one to question if at least it’s possible that a person can arise to being a son of God in terms of his rising to the state of loving God.

What have the sons of God done, as portrayed in the Bible? In Genesis 6:2, the sons of God took attractive women as their wives. Where did these sons of God come from? Did God create them as He created Adam, or were they born to parents? Genesis 6:4 is intriguing, It says, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the SONS OF GOD came in to the DAUGHTERS OF MAN and they bore children to them...” Interesting that these “sons” are referred to as the sons of GOD and not of MAN. Leads one to further wonder how they came into being.

Then there are the sons of God referred to in Job 1:6 which says, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” Where was God when these sons ‘presented themselves?’ Presumably, other than Adam, no man has seen God and lived to tell about it. Seems that either these “sons” passed away right after they saw God if God happened to be on the earth, or these “sons” did not exist on earth and they “presented themselves” in a place other than earth. It is unlikely that they presented themselves to Go in Heaven, since Satan was among them, if we believe that God wouldn’t want Satan in Heaven after He kicked him out. It’s possible we can accept that these sons of God were appointed by God on a divine mission on earth, and they met with God to report their progress to Him. This has been suggested among the commentators of the Bible.

Then Jesus in Matthew 5:9, as part of the Sermon on the Mount, says ““Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” The peacemakers that Jesus refers to is said among commentators to be men making peace with other men. If so, then this is an entirely different set of sons of God, who may not be equated with the sons of God who were appointed by God himself.

To the extent at least, that God desires that there be peace among men, Romans 8:14 says “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Peace in this context may be said to refer to peace between men and God as to what God wants and how man should act, free from strife and from differences which may arouse man’s anger with eachother, which in and of itself is sinful. Finally, Galatians 3:26 implies that anyone whose faith is in God can rise to being a son of God. Does that mean they could be of the same stature as Lord Jesus?

Well, to help answer that question, maybe, since it’s baseball season, there are three types of Yankees. There is the Yankee who is on the baseball team and there is the Yankee who is a fan. There is someone who aspires to be on the Yankees baseball team. In terms of the latter, I guess that the best a man can do is to strive to abide by the Word of God that Lord Jesus has professed. We cannot expect at this point in our lives to change water to wine, or perform similar miracles that Jesus did, but who knows? Some of us could have been in contact with angels among us, as Lot engaged with angels in Genesis 19:2, who warned him about Sodom in Genesis 19:15. Would those angels be sons of God too? Some of us might be performing miracles because of what God has endowed us with to perform His good works.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

 

[BobRyan]

Since there are other sons of Gods in addition to Lord Jesus being God’s “only son,” then to the extent we can reason with God as provided in Isaiah 1:18 in strengthening our faith in God as provided in Proverbs 3:5, we can except that the phrase “only son” in John 3:16 might not mean that Jesus is the only son God has, rather, he is the only son that God deemed capable of carrying out the mission of spreading His Word. There are some who say that God’s so-called “only Son” referred to in John 3:16 is God Himself. That leaves one to question if at least it’s possible that a person can arise to being a son of God in terms of his rising to the state of loving God.

1. All are called to love God - Deut 6:5 and to love our neighbor Lev 19:18 as Jesus points out in Matt 22.
2. Nothing in the Bible says that Jesus loved God so much that He became qualified as the 2nd person of the Godhead to be called "THE Son of God".
3. In the Bible you have "One God" Deut 6:4 in three Persons Matt 28:19 with the Son of God being the second person of that Godhead - and being equal to the Father, all powerful, all knowing, all wise, Creator of heaven and Earth.
4. Not one of the "other" sons of God references in Gen 6, or John 1 - is among that group. None of them created heavens and Earth and are equal to God. None of them were in the beginning with God and also WAS God!

None of those other "sons of God" -- "Made all tings that have been made"
John 1:1 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

None of those other "sons of God" -- "Made the worlds" -- only God the Son did that
Heb 11: 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible
Heb 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

None of those other sons are called "our great God and Savior"
Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

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All the other sons of God are in another class for that title.

John 1:11-12
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Believers among mankind are born again - new creation - created directly by God the Holy Spirit - and so - are sons of God.

Luke 3:38 38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Adam was a sinless being - made directly by God having no other father but God.

 

[Davy]

I'm amazed at such confusion among brethren, when understanding the "sons of God" phrase is so simple.

1 John 3:1-2
3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
KJV

John is comparing that "sons of God" title with the body of the world to come. That's why John said "... and it doth not yet appear what we shall be", meaning he didn't exactly know what kind of body Jesus had been resurrected to, yet saying that reveals he knew it wasn't exactly a flesh body of today's world. It's really that simple.

So ultimately John was pointing to 'where' about that body of the world to come? To Heaven, of course. It's about the heavenly glorious body of the future when Jesus returns.

What did Apostle Paul call that type of body in 1 Corinthians 15? A "spiritual body".

So the phrase "sons of God" ultimately points to the heavenly dimension existence per Spirit, and not the flesh. Why is it so difficult for brethren to understand that Christ's future Kingdom is not going to be in a flesh body like this present world.