Goldsworthy / Ortlund The Son of God and the New Creation

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4335-4538-2
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 144 Seiten

Reihe: Short Studies in Biblical Theology

'Truly this was the Son of God!' Matthew 27:54 The theme of divine sonship stretches across the pages of the Bible: from Adam in the garden of Eden, through the nation of Israel and King David, and ultimately to Jesus Christ in the New Jerusalem-the Son of God par excellence. In this volume, renowned biblical scholar Graeme Goldsworthy shows what Christ's fulfillment of the divine sonship motif means for all who are sons and daughters of God. Part of the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series.

Graeme Goldsworthy (PhD, Union Theological Seminary) previously served as a lecturer in biblical theology, Old Testament, and hermeneutics at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. Graeme lives in Brisbane, Australia, with his wife, Miriam. They have four adult children.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Goldsworthy, Graeme

Ortlund, Dane

Leseproben

2

Jesus the Son of God

The New Testament Testimony

Our concern in this volume is to understand the meaning and significance of the title given to Jesus as the Son of God. But Jesus as “son” is referred to in a variety of ways.

We cannot simply assume the meaning of these designations, or the relationships between them, without examining how they are used in the various books of the New Testament.

So, for example, Jesus is spoken of as:

Son of God;

“My [God’s] beloved Son”;

The Son;

His (God’s) Son;

His (God’s) only Son;

The only Son of God;

The Son of Man;

The Son of David;

The Son of Abraham;

Firstborn son;

“My son”;

The carpenter’s son;

The Son of the Highest;

The son of Joseph;

The Christ, the Son of God.

Clearly, the designation “son” is used in a variety of ways. Along with this list we must also consider the fact that “son” implies a “father.” If Jesus refers to God as his Father, or a New Testament author refers to “the Father” as the father of the Son, how is this different from the title “son of God”? That is, does “the Son” (of the Father) mean the same as “son of God”?

Initial Contact in the Gospel Event

Some have treated the divine names of relationship as having been assigned by us humans as analogies of our human relationship titles. Thus, it is claimed that biblical authors have applied the title “Father” to God simply because of the patriarchal structures in human society. But when Paul said, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (Eph. 3:14–15), he indicated that it works the other way around. God has named himself as Father, and our relationships are named after his. Thus, we are not at liberty to bow to those pressures that intend to change God’s names nor to designate him using feminine pronouns (she, her) in the name of evenhandedness. The biblical writers are completely consistent in this regard. Even when feminine metaphors are used of Jesus or God, feminine pronouns are never used.1

Not all of the sonship designations that are applied to Jesus have identical meanings. For example, Jesus being called the “Son of God” is very different from the designation “Son of Abraham” or “Son of David.” “Son of God” seems also to be somewhat removed from “Son of Man.” We note also that the early Christian church, certainly as it wrestled with the nature of God as Trinity, came to speak of the second person of the Godhead as “God the Son” or, simply, “the Son.” The question, then, is: does “God the Son,” a term not found in the Bible, mean exactly the same thing as “son of God?” If Christ preexisted from all eternity as God the Son, did he also exist from eternity as Son of God? Are these two titles completely synonymous and interchangeable? I do not think so.

Let’s begin by noting that some of the above listed “son” titles as they are applied to Jesus do appear to be broadly synonymous. Does this mean that there are no elements of distinction at all in such cases? And between those that appear to be only remotely related, what discernible connection is there beyond the obvious one that they are used of the same person, Jesus? Does not the Word becoming flesh (the incarnation) distinguish between the eternal Son and the incarnate Son (John 1:14)? After all, except in the mind and purpose of God, Jesus of Nazareth was not eternally incarnate but became such at a specific point in history.

Since we are examining the terminology as it is applied to Jesus, the unity of meaning will depend on the answers we give to at least two questions. First, there is the question of individual usage in each literary corpus. Does John’s Gospel, for example, reflect a consistent meaning for each sonship title? Second, we must ask if there is a consistent meaning given to the title across the range of New Testament literature. But even if there are nuances of meaning, or even quite marked differences in meaning within some individual documents, what can we then conclude on the basis of our assumptions regarding the unity of the whole Bible as the Spirit-inspired and, thus, self-consistent testimony to Jesus?

In tackling these questions, I want to stress again that this is not a purely academic exercise. Understanding the significance of the titles of Jesus is vitally important practically and spiritually for all Christians. To give an illustration: You are driving on a country road and come to a bridge over a swollen river that you have never crossed before. Do you ask, “Do I have enough faith to drive over the bridge?” Surely not! You would be more inclined to ask something like: “Is this bridge able to support me and my vehicle?” That is, you would be concerned not with the strength of your faith in the bridge but with the strength of the bridge itself as the object of your faith. Consider the application to our Christian lives of the parable of Jesus in Matthew 7:24–27, the house built on the rock. The question is not about me and the strength of my faith but about the word of Jesus the rock and his ability to hold us firmly and safely against the storms of life and death.

My point is that the titles of Jesus tell us much about him and make up part of the New Testament teaching about his power to save. Understanding the significance of his titles is of great importance if we are to confirm our confidence in the saving power of Jesus.

Before we turn to the relevant texts, let me be crystal clear about the assumptions with which I as an evangelical read the Bible. I would not be motivated to undertake this investigation without already having formed for myself some doctrine of Scripture and certain convictions about Jesus and salvation. First, I accept that the whole canon of Scripture as it has been received by the Christian church is the very word of God. Second, although the sixty-six books represent many authors, overall there is the supervision and inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, so that what the Bible says is what God says. Third, the testimony of Jesus, the apostles, and the New Testament authors is that the unity of the Bible exists primarily at the level of the Spirit’s testimony to Christ. This latter assumption implies a concern to understand the nature of the relationship between the two Testaments and, specifically, in what sense the Old Testament can be regarded as Christian Scripture.

Faith in Jesus Means Engaging the Old Testament

Alan Richardson designates four ways that “son of God” is used in the literature prior to the Gospels in the New Testament.2 These are references to: (1) angelic sons of God (e.g., Gen. 6:2; Job 38:7); (2) righteous men (mostly in Jewish wisdom literature written between the time of the Testaments3); (3) Israel (Ex. 4:22); and (4) the king (2 Sam. 7:14). It is to Israel and its king that the New Testament mainly directs us.

This series of Short Studies in Biblical Theology proceeds on the assumption that every Christian believer needs to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). Every pastor and church leader can probably relate some experiences of Christians in need of pastoral care because of a crisis of faith. My own experience suggests to me that when a Christian goes through such a crisis, it is often because of a superficial, or even erroneous, understanding of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished for us—which we understand only when we take into account the entire biblical witness to Jesus, Old Testament and New. Since the whole Bible points us to the unique person and work of Christ, our first concern should be the power and sufficiency of Jesus to give us confidence in his saving work for us. The sixteenth-century Reformers recognized that the gospel proclaims a salvation that is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed in the Bible alone, and all this to the glory of God alone. The more we learn about the Christ we believe in and trust, the more we will encounter and acknowledge the glory of God.

Understanding salvation or the benefits of the Christian gospel, then, is correlated with our grasp of who and what the Jesus of the Bible is and does. The study of christology, what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, involves the special concern for the biblical data that tell us about Jesus as the Christ. Jesus himself posed the question to the Pharisees: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” (Matt. 22:42–46). When they answered, “The son of David,” he had a further question that highlights something of the significance of this sonship. The question of David calling his son “Lord” in Psalm 110 is raised. How can the Christ be David’s son and Lord? This is a question that we must consider. For the moment, let us recognize that there is great significance to what we think about the sonship of the Christ. It affects our understanding of salvation, heaven, and hell.

Because we must reckon with the biblical data that impress upon us the true humanity of Jesus along with the evidence that he is God incarnate, we are forced also to face this question about the “Son of God”: is that title the same as “God the Son”? The study of christology must consider what truths we may already...