Re: [TruthTalk] The Eternal Sonship of Christ

[Bill Taylor]

Judy,   You say that there is nothing new to the discussion coming out of Jonathan's posts. Will you please address the six points below and exegete the meaning of these verses? I am curious what you do pull out (i.e., exegesis) of these verses.   Thank you in advance as I know this is a big task,   Bill   In Isaiah 9:6, we read the prophetic words:  "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given".  This messianic prophecy informs us that the coming Messiah will not just be a child born into the world, but a "son given" to the world.  "To us a son is given" means that God gives us His Son; He gives us one who is already a Son.  So Jesus is the Son of God before His Incarnation! The New Testament confirms this: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16).  This favorite verse of Evangelicals tells us that the One Whom God "gave" to the world was "His only begotten Son".  Jesus was already the begotten Son of God when the Father gave Him to us in the Incarnation! The next verse adds:  "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17).  This clearly states that Jesus was the Son of God when He was sent "into the world", i.e.. the Incarnation! "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law" (Galatians 4:4).  Jesus was God's Son when He was "sent forth" from the Father to be born of woman.  Christ did not become God's Son at His human birth, He already was God's Son! "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him" (I John 4:9).  Again, Jesus is God's only Son before being sent into the world. The next verse reiterates this point:  "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins" (I John 4:10) And yet again, four verses later:  "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world" (I John 4:14).