Who are the Sons of God?

Action in the book of Job opens with a peek into a heavenly meeting:

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” (Job 1:6)

Who are these ‘sons of God’ presenting themselves to the Lord? Angels, according to the most common interpretations. Several translators use the word angels explicitly for the two Hebrew words, ‘the sons’ and ‘of God’. The presence of angels before the Lord makes perfect sense – who else might it be?

The Hebrew words for the sons of God are linked five times in the Old Testament: three similar times in Job, and twice more in Genesis, in a fascinating account that takes place before the flood:

“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” (Gen 6:4)

Again, the most common interpretation for these ‘sons of God’ are angels, fallen angels in this case. It’s difficult to disagree – the Hebrew is identical to Job, and is used nowhere else in the Old Testament. Some scholars object that angels can’t father children because they are spirit, and interpret these sons to be ‘sons of Seth’, or demon-possessed kings. But there are several Old Testament instances where angels take on physical bodies of men, so I’ll stick with the Job understanding.

There’s one use of the singular ‘son of God’ in the Old Testament, when the astonished King Nebuchadnezzar looks down into his fiery furnace and sees a fourth down there with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego:

“He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25)

This Son of God is understood to be our preeminent Lord Jesus Christ, or an angel.

So what terms are used for humans? In both the Old Testament and New, ‘sons of men’ and ‘children of men’ are widely used for mankind as a whole. The Psalms give good examples:

“The Lord looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men.” (Psalm 33:13)

“The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.” (Psalm 14:2)

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It’s in the New Testament that the Son and sons of God become truly exciting for us. We all know the Son of God to be our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen? (that’s a nod to Joseph Prince on YouTube) Throughout the New Testament, nearly everybody recognizes Jesus as the Son of God. Just some examples:

Mark, to begin his gospel (Mark 1:1);
the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary (Luke 1:32);
John, throughout his gospel (John 20:31);
Paul, more than anybody (2 Corinthians 1:19);
John again, in his letters (1 John 5:20);
multiple demons and unclean spirits as they are cast out (Luke 4:41);
the disciples, after Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:33);
a Roman centurion at Jesus’ death (Mark 15:39);
Nathanael, and Martha (John 1:49, John 11:27)
and John, writing of his Revelation (Revelation 2:18)

John the epistle-writer reveals great things for those of us who confess (with our mouths) and believe Jesus as the Son of God:

“If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)

“Who is it that conquers the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5)

“The one who has the Son has life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12)

“I am writing these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life – you who believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)

Our model for humility, Jesus never claims directly to be the Son of God, but instead confirms by an authority greater than He:

“Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”” (Matthew 16:16-17)

Through the New Testament, almost everybody recognizes Jesus as the Son of God, with important exceptions – most notably the ruling Jews, who keep asking:

“Then the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”” (Matthew 26:63)

The devil, for sure, knew Jesus was the Son of God, because he crafted temptations challenging Jesus to prove it:

“The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’” (Luke 4:3)

“Then he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here;’” (Luke 4:9)

Adam is given this title, only once and with a small s, in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus through Mary, which leads back all the way to “Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38)

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The fact that Jesus is the singular Son of God come down to Earth for our salvation is our plural Good News, as Paul writes to believers in Galatia:

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26)

The singular Son of God makes us believers sons of God in the plural, as John further explains:

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12)

The great news is that Jesus’ death and resurrection makes us children of God and sons of God, a privilege only the angels had in the Old Testament. And it is a great thing to be sons and children of God:

“In fact, they can no longer die, since they are like angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:36)

“For it is those who are led by the Spirit of God who are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

“For the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19)

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16)

“See what great love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God—and so we are!” (1 John 3:1)

And so we are! Amen.

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Agree or disagree? I’d be interested in hearing what you think – and especially if you have additions or corrections to my work – if I’m wrong, please tell me!