We Christians tend to believe in certain things we can’t explain. We believe Jesus is the Son of God, the only begotten Son, but when someone asks us how God can have a son, we either come up blank with an answer, or we stumble into heresy. This has led many well-meaning atheists to reject Christianity, and many well-meaning Christians to end up as members of sects and cults.
How do you answer someone when they ask how God can have a son? And what do you say, when someone points out the fact that the Kings in the Old Testament were called sons of God?
To understand how to answer these questions, we first have to understand salvation.
If we break civil law, we could end up in jail or at least have to pay a fine. If our crime were so severe that it required jail time, then we would have to give up our freedom for a while because the law demands justice. Try for a moment to imagine you have broken civil law and have been sentenced to jail. Or try to imagine you are living in a country that practices capital punishment, and your crime was so severe the judge has ruled you must now pay with your life. How would you react if someone you did not know suddenly stepped in and volunteered to serve your jail sentence? What if this stranger volunteered to give up his life for you? You would, of course, be extremely grateful for it. Because of his love for you, this stranger has given you a second chance to restart your life. You would do anything in your power to make sure his sacrifice was not in vain by becoming the most law-abiding citizen on earth.
Why do we need salvation?
The Bible says, in Rom 3:23, all have sinned, and sin is the same thing as a violation of God’s law, the Torah, according to 1.John 3:4. So because you at one time in your life broke one of the Torahs 613 commandments, Yehovah (God) is justified and righteous when He sentences you to hell as punishment for your sins.
Because Yehovah is righteous and He is holy He cant overlook sin. But at the same time, the Bible says Yehovah is love (1.John 4:7-21), and He has made a commitment to Abraham. Yehovah promised Abraham he would have as many descendants like the stars, and He promised Jeremiah He would regather Israel and renew His covenant with them (Matt 15:24.)
Because Yehovah is love, and because He made these promises, He has given us the gift of the cross (John 3.)
On the cross, Yeshua Gods Son volunteered to take your and my place. We had all broken Yehovah’s Torah, we deserve hell, but Yeshua volunteered to take our place. Not our place in hell, but our place as a sacrificial lamb sacrificed to Yehovah for our intentional and unintentional sins. The resurrection of Yeshua shows us Yehovahs acceptance of our sacrifice.
When we understand the cross, and what really happened there, we will make sure His sacrifice was not in vain. If He died for our sins, we would make sure never to sin intentionally ever again to show our appreciation for the cross. This is called repentance, and this is what we are supposed to do if we are genuinely saved. We are to repent from sin, back to righteousness.
If 1. John 3:4 says sin is breaking the Torah (the written law of Moses) then we understand repentance from sin requires us to start obeying the law of Moses. (Acts 15:20-21, John 3, 1. John 2:6, James 2:10-26, Matt 7:21-23.)
The Torah (the written law of Moses) says Yehovah is one God (Deut 6:4, Mark 12:29.) If we have repented, we know and understand God does not have a son in the same way we humans have sons and daughters. Why? Because if he had a son the way we humans have sons and daughters, then God would no longer be one God.
In the Torah, in Ex 20:2-4, it says Yehovah is our God who brought us out of Egypt, we shall have no other gods before Him. So if we have repented, we know and understand Jesus is not someone we should worship instead of Yehovah. Why? Because if we should worship Yeshua instead of Yehovah, then we would be sinning against the commandment in Ex 20:2-4.
So how then does Jesus become God’s Son if He is not born of God the same way we humans have children, and He is not God nr.2?
In the Old Testament, the Kings of Israel were called sons of God. These Kings were not divine and not part of the Godhead, they were mortal human beings just like you and me. They carried the title the son of God because they as King served as Yehovah’s representatives on earth in obedience to His Torah.
Throughout the Gospels, we never see Yeshua do the opposite of Yehovah’s will. Phil 2, Hebr 5, and the Gospels say Yeshua was obedient to Yehovah in everything He did even until death. Because He was obedient to Yehovah in everything, He was and still is God’s Son. So the title the Son of God was given to Him because He obeyed the Torah in everything He did.
In John 3 and Gal 3, the Bible says we can become sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We have already seen how salvation in the Bible requires us to repent back to Moses if we believe in the cross and what Yeshua did for us there. So now we understand John 3 and Gal 3; if we have faith in Jesus, we will repent back to Moses, and our obedience to Yehovah and His Torah makes us sons of God.
Why is Jesus called the Son of God? Because He was obedient to the Torah in everything, He did. How can we become sons of God? By being obedient to the Torah in everything we do. How do we know if our faith in the cross is active and able to save us? If we are obedient to the Torah in everything, we do.
So how can God have a Son? Jesus was and is God’s Son because He obeyed the Torah. How can you become a son of God? By choosing to obey the Torah. How do you become saved? By following the Torah, which requires you to make an atoning sacrifice for your sins, this can only be done by faith in the cross and what Yeshua did for you.
The next question that gives itself is this, is Yeshua God?
This is something we will try to answer in tomorrow’s teaching.
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