Sons of God

I was recently looking into the concept of “sons of God.” This term was used of angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) and in reference to Christ’s unique divine sonship (John 3:16; 20:31; Rom. 1:3-4); however, I was particularly drawn into the way Scripture uses “sons of God” in reference to people. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Here He is speaking of the people who belonged to the kingdom of heaven. True children of God were to be identified as peacemakers. R.T. France puts it: “God is the supreme peacemaker…and this quality marks disciples out as his sons, for the son shares the characteristics of the father.”[1]  

Love would also be a quality that identified sons of God. Jesus taught; “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. (Luke 6:35). Love and mercy characterize those who are the children of God.

Jesus’ identification of His followers as “sons of God” unites with the covenant people of the Old Testament. God spoke through Moses to Pharaoh saying, “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Exod. 4:22). This would have been a shock to the Egyptian monarch’s senses. Pharaoh was “accustom to regarding himself alone as the ‘son of the gods.’ But for a whole people to be a “son” of the deity was a little surprising.” [2]  On another occasion, Moses begins instructions on ceremonial cleanliness, saying, “You are sons of the LORD your God” (Deut. 14:1). Hosea speaks of days after a looming apocalyptic judgment and exile when Israel would be restored as Yahweh’s covenant people. The prophet identifies that remnant “sons of the living God” (Hos. 1:7)

The idea of sonship to God may even be traced back even further to times before Abraham. The sons of God in Genesis 6 are considered to be the descendants of Seth, and the daughters of men the descendants of Cain. Seth’s descendants “call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:26), “walked with God” (5:24), and find ‘favor in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6:8). Conversely, Cain went away from God’s presence (Gen. 4:16), and his descendant Lamech took two wives (Gen. 4:19), against the heterosexual monogamy established in the Garden (Gen. 12:18-25), and Lamech follows after his forefather in murdering an innocent (Gen. 4:23-25). The Seth view also speaks to a real concern for the Hebrews entering in the promise land, who faced the temptation of wandering off into paganism through marital bonds (Deut. 7:3). [3]  The problem was not interracial marriage per se, for Moses married Zipporah the Midianite (Exod. 2:21), Salmon married Rahab the Canaanite harlot (Josh. 2:1-24; 6:27; Matt. 1:5), and Boaz married Ruth the Moabite (Ruth 1-4). The issue was the marriage becoming the occasion for spiritual harlotry. Genesis 6 then depicts people from a godly heritage falling from grace. This would also explain why the flood is divine judgment against humankind rather than angels. [4] 

Sonship to God is also used by other New Testament writers. Paul declares to Christians that “all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14), and “you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). John writes, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:1-2). The author of Hebrews informs us that “God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Heb. 12:7-8).

The Christian is a child of God. As the son reflects the father, so too the believer reflects the communicable attributes of the Heavenly Father. Yet, God is also shaping the believer in greater godliness. How great is that!

~ WGN

Notes:

1. R.T. France, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, vol. 1, ed. Leon Morris (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985), 111

2. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 2, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990), 331

3. Cf. discussion Thomas A. Howe, “Who Were the Sons of God in Genesis 6,” Christian Research Journal, 27, 3 [2004], http://www.equip.org/articles/who-were-the-sons-of-god-in-genesis-6/

4. This Sethite view is a better option to the tyrants view of the “sons of God” being demon possessed humans, or the very popular view of the “sons of God” being angels. The idea of angels marrying women opens up a theological Pandora’s box in the conundrum in light of the fact that Jesus teaches angels do not marry (Matt. 22:30; Mark 12:25). Non-corporeal beings such as angels also do not have the necessary physical reproductive structures to procreate.