Out of Time
Is Jesus the Son of God? If you are a Christian then your answer is “of course”. But I have recently heard an argument to the contrary that I would like to discuss here.
The basic point of the argument against Jesus being the ‘son of God’ is this: The phrase ‘eternal son of God’ is a positive contradiction. Eternal means without beginning and without end, standing without any reference to time. Being a ‘son’ denotes time and generation. The father and mother must pre-exist the one who becomes the son as a result of an act, a joining of two to create one. The concept of an eternal son therefore is absolutely impossible, as they imply essentially different and opposite ideas.
This sounds on the surface, like a simple and well thought out argument with wide reaching implications. But for this argument to be effective or even relevant, you really have to put God in a box. You have to look at God only in regards to our own finite and limited understanding. Placing our rules and limitations on God.
God exists outside of time. And when I’m speaking about God here I’m speaking about all three parts of the Godhead. For those of you who might argue here about the nature or doctrine of the Godhead I will only state I John 5:7 and continue on: “ For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (NKJV).
All of time and space are creations of God, meaning God existed before and without any of this restrictions. Consider the idea that as a being outside of time whatever God experiences with us at any given moment, He experiences at all points in time. God is according to Scripture omnipotent (all powerful) omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (exists everywhere at once). For a being who lives outside of time and space, this means that God, (and for the sake of this article Jesus specifically) is literally eternal since He is not restricted by the laws of time or decay. With the understanding that Jesus as a part of the Godhead is eternal we can move on to the concept of Jesus’ place as the Son of God.
Jesus of Nazareth was born of the Virgin Mary. To save ourselves much time and many pages of writing lets accept this as a fact here and move forward. If you are only looking at the physical manifestation of Jesus then you could very well see this as the ‘beginning’ of the Son of God and His crucifixion as the end. However, considering the eternal existence of the Godhead, Jesus has existed since before the creation of time. The actual birth is only a physical representation of Jesus, and since God experiences all events outside of time and all at once, that would also imply that Jesus exists in a physical form with the rest of the Godhead throughout time.
Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God. He has no restrictions of time because He existed before time began. He created the laws of physics and the movement of the galaxy. Don’t be afraid or allow confusion to harden your heart, remember to:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV)
Is Jesus the Son of God? If you are a Christian then your answer is “of course”. But I have recently heard an argument to the contrary that I would like to discuss here.
The basic point of the argument against Jesus being the ‘son of God’ is this: The phrase ‘eternal son of God’ is a positive contradiction. Eternal means without beginning and without end, standing without any reference to time. Being a ‘son’ denotes time and generation. The father and mother must pre-exist the one who becomes the son as a result of an act, a joining of two to create one. The concept of an eternal son therefore is absolutely impossible, as they imply essentially different and opposite ideas.
This sounds on the surface, like a simple and well thought out argument with wide reaching implications. But for this argument to be effective or even relevant, you really have to put God in a box. You have to look at God only in regards to our own finite and limited understanding. Placing our rules and limitations on God.
God exists outside of time. And when I’m speaking about God here I’m speaking about all three parts of the Godhead. For those of you who might argue here about the nature or doctrine of the Godhead I will only state I John 5:7 and continue on: “ For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (NKJV).
All of time and space are creations of God, meaning God existed before and without any of this restrictions. Consider the idea that as a being outside of time whatever God experiences with us at any given moment, He experiences at all points in time. God is according to Scripture omnipotent (all powerful) omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (exists everywhere at once). For a being who lives outside of time and space, this means that God, (and for the sake of this article Jesus specifically) is literally eternal since He is not restricted by the laws of time or decay. With the understanding that Jesus as a part of the Godhead is eternal we can move on to the concept of Jesus’ place as the Son of God.
Jesus of Nazareth was born of the Virgin Mary. To save ourselves much time and many pages of writing lets accept this as a fact here and move forward. If you are only looking at the physical manifestation of Jesus then you could very well see this as the ‘beginning’ of the Son of God and His crucifixion as the end. However, considering the eternal existence of the Godhead, Jesus has existed since before the creation of time. The actual birth is only a physical representation of Jesus, and since God experiences all events outside of time and all at once, that would also imply that Jesus exists in a physical form with the rest of the Godhead throughout time.
Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God. He has no restrictions of time because He existed before time began. He created the laws of physics and the movement of the galaxy. Don’t be afraid or allow confusion to harden your heart, remember to:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV)