Explanatory Footnotes *0.5
Does God have a Son? What does this mean?
Because this is about the nature of God and we are his creations, there will
continue to be a degree of mystery about this after all explanations are given.
But God seems to intend that we understand this much about him, at least to some extent,
namely that God has a Son, or that God exists as both Father and Son.
God created a universe and put in it humans that were by the creator's intent "in the
image of God". Humans live lives in time: they are born and grow up and at a certain age
have children and so become parents. Humans have words for the concept of "father" and "son"
but we know God is not a human and so he does not have a "Son" in any merely human sense.
Instead, human fathers and sons are points of comparison, analogies built into the created
order, and certain aspects carry over to the nature of God. Which aspects carry over and
which ones do not? This can be understood in the context of all the things God has taught,
and is not a matter of personal speculation. The Father and the Son have the same kind of being
and yet the Son comes from the Father and not vice-versa. The Father is greater than the Son and
the Son loves, prays to, and is obedient to the Father. The Father loves and treasures the Son above
his own life, and seeks the highest good for him. Yet the Father and the Son are both God and
both eternal and both uncreated and both responsible for creation. The Son has become a human
whereas the Father remains an unphysical spiritual being. The Father and the Son share the
same character and the Father has entrusted to the Son the upholding of the Father's honor.
The Son shows to all creation what the Father is like, and does so with perfect fidelity in
matters of character. There is no estrangement between the Father and the Son; they always have the
same will and purpose. To reject the Son is to reject the Father, and to accept and submit to
the Son is to accept and submit to the Father. These ideas are behind our use of the terms
"Father" and "Son".