By Brenton Lehman
In the Old Testament, we often read about God’s promise to restore what sin ruined through a coming descendent. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of Himself as this true Son of God, “who descended from heaven” (John 3:13). The long-awaited descendant from God has come, and His name is Jesus. He’s not just a son given from God, He’s the very Son of God.
In Genesis 3:15, the promise is that the seed of Adam and Eve will crush the serpent’s head. The Gospel of Luke includes a genealogy that traces Jesus’s lineage all the way back to Adam, who is then called “son of God” (Luke 3:38). Through Adam, son of God, sin and death entered the world and the good world God created was compromised. But Jesus, the Son of God, brought life, salvation, and love (John 3:16, 1Jn 4:9). Both these passages make clear He is the “one and only” Son of God—there is no one like Jesus.
In 2 Samuel 7:13, the promise is that it is a descendent of the great King David through whom God will establish His kingdom forever. In our readings for today, the unique relationship between Jesus and God the Father is evident. It is different from the relationship between God and the prophets and kings of the Old Testament. Unlike King David, Jesus was not called out of the pasture to lead God’s people. Jesus, God Himself, descended from heaven to reveal the love of God to the world and offer eternal life (John 3:14–17, 1John 4:9–10).
And what did Jesus the Son of God come for? To lay down His life, in love, so that the world may know the love of God, and so that those who believe in and follow Him might live. There’s no one like Jesus, the Son of God. In Him, there is life and love in abundance.
The promises of God in the Old Testament about this Son who will restore what sin ruined continue and expand in Jesus. Jesus, the only Son of God, who laid his life down in love and took it back up again in power.
Consider Romans 8:31–32 from our reading today now, in light of thousands of years of promises made and kept. “If God is for us, who is against us?” If He would keep His promises, live, die, and rise again, would He not also “grant us everything” (Romans 8:32)? Indeed, He will!
One thought on "The One and Only Son"
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Nolan says:
“He must become greater, I must become less”.
Humanism suggests “decreasing” ourselves but replacing it with either nothing, more of ourselves, or relationships with other people. How can this be effective?
To me, Christianity as described in the New Testament is still beautiful, attractive, and rings true. Like the criminal on the cross next to Jesus who recognizes that his own death/punishment is just but that Jesus is without blame, we are extended an offer of new life through faith and by God’s grace. “The great exchange” of our brokenness for God’s wholeness is, to me, the only effective spiritual solution and a great source of hope.
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