Names and Titles of Jesus

Jesus, the Son of God

To call Jesus the ‘Son of God’ is to confess that he shares the very life and nature of God, uniquely and eternally the Father’s Son. It is not that God had a wife and a child; it is the closest human word for a relationship of shared being and perfect love. Peter’s great confession, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16), is the heart of Christian faith.

What the Bible says

What it reveals

A son shares his father’s nature. When Scripture calls Jesus the Son of God, it means he is of the same divine life as the Father, not a created being. This is a relationship, not a family in the physical sense; John says the Word who was God became flesh as the ‘only begotten’ Son. John wrote his whole Gospel for this: that you might believe Jesus is the Son of God, and have life.

What it means for you

Here is the wonder: the eternal Son became human so that ordinary people could be brought into that same family. Those who receive him are given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). The Son of God did not come to keep his sonship to himself, but to share it, so you could call God Father.

Frequently asked questions

What does 'Son of God' mean?

It confesses that Jesus uniquely shares the nature and life of God as the eternal Son of the Father. It is a relationship of shared divine being, not a physical fatherhood. Peter confessed it in Matthew 16:16.

Does 'Son of God' mean God had a child?

No. Christians do not mean God took a wife and had a baby. 'Son' is the closest word for a relationship of shared nature and eternal love between the Father and the Son, who is himself fully God (John 1:1,14).

Why does it matter that Jesus is the Son of God?

John says he wrote his Gospel 'that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name' (John 20:31). It is the confession that opens the way to knowing God as Father.