Mainstream Christianity—spanning Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions—holds that Jesus is uniquely the “only begotten” Son of God. This doctrine affirms a one-of-a-kind relationship with the Father, underscoring His eternal pre-existence and full divinity as the second person of the Trinity. This view is often contrasted with that of believers, who are regarded merely as children of God by adoption.
While this position is widely accepted, a closer examination reveals significant theological and scriptural difficulties. Three key points challenge this traditional understanding.
- Conflating the Son of Man with the Son of God
A common error within mainstream Christianity is the conflation of two distinct identities presented in Isaiah 9:6: the “Child born” (the Son of Man) and the “Son given” (the Son of God). While the Son of Man is human, the Son given is purely divine and bears the very characteristics of God the Father, whose oneness is proclaimed in Deuteronomy 6:4.
To argue that we are merely God’s children by adoption is erroneous, since Scripture clearly states we were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). If we bear His image from creation, where does the concept of adoption originate? The Parable of the Prodigal Son serves as a profound illustration for those willing to move beyond this theological confusion. [See The Radical Fatherhood of God: Unpacking the Prodigal Son Parable].
- Misunderstanding the Nature of the Father and the Spirit
Jesus, as the Son of Man, is relatable to humanity; however, as the Son of God, He cannot be compared to anything in the physical universe. The Spirit is described as the Father, whom Jesus—the Son of Man—identified God as such (John 4:24). The error lies in differentiating the Father from the Spirit, a distinction Jesus Himself clarified when He said, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17 KJV).
His Church, which He promised to establish through Peter’s confession, follows the same pattern as Jesus: Christians are partly divine and partly human, just as He was.
- Contradicting Jesus’ Own Teachings
Jesus consistently taught that how one treats “the least of these” is equivalent to how one treats Him (Matthew 25:45). This “Him” refers to His identity as the Son of Man, an identity shared by Christians, and one He clearly distinguishes from the Spirit in Matthew 12:31-32. By insisting on Jesus’ absolute uniqueness from other children of God, mainstream theology may inadvertently contradict His own words.
Furthermore, Jesus Himself declared that those who believe in Him would do even greater works than He did during His earthly ministry (John 14:12). This promise suggests a level of participation in divine power that challenges the notion of a strictly unique Sonship.
The Original Relationship and Its Loss
Having been created in God’s image, all humanity represents God’s children. Sadly, through one man, the entire humanity—except Jesus—severed the relationship with God. This episode is vividly depicted in Genesis when Adam ate the forbidden fruit, leading to humanity’s spiritual demise:
“The Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die’ ” (Genesis 2:15-17 KJV).
God was communicating with His Son, Adam. This was spiritual communication, which should not be mistaken for physical communication. The pronouncement of life and death pertained to spiritual death more than physical death. Without God’s Spirit, humans cannot understand spiritual communication; hence, in the Old Covenant, God communicated only with the Prophets, rather than with ordinary humans.
Adam was a prophet, just as his first two sons were prophets. However, Cain can be described as God’s prophet who rejected the voice of God. Understanding God’s communication is impossible for those existing purely physically. The miscommunication between Jesus and the Jews was caused by His spiritual language, which His physical audience could not comprehend. The special group that could understand comprised those appreciating Jesus’ spiritual identity.
The Restoration Through Christ
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:23-26 NIV).
When Jesus said flesh and blood had not revealed Jesus’ identity to Peter, He implied the Spirit had revealed the truth. Jesus opened the floodgates for humanity to reconnect with their Father, but on one condition: believing and obeying the teachings of Jesus. Otherwise, the rest remain in the slumber of death since the day our ancestor Adam ate the wrong fruit, causing death that occurred immediately after eating it.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus, as Son of Man, never made Himself equal to God. He always insisted that His works were in accordance with His Father’s instruction. That does not imply equality with God. Those currently doing likewise are also God’s children, expected to follow in His footsteps. His direction invalidates the physical identity that Paul described as the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. That lawless man is similar to the one who was nailed to the cross, for the Son of God to triumph.
The Jewish Misunderstanding
The Jews sought to stone Jesus for declaring Himself God’s Son. They were stuck in assuming that humans could not become God’s children. That was true, as it described humanity after the Garden of Eden incident.
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?” (John 10:31-36 NIV).
As with mainstream Christianity today, the Jewish misunderstanding was conflating physical communication with spiritual communication. To understand God’s communication requires meekness or humility, according to Jesus (Matthew 5:5). The reason the Jews failed to understand Jesus was their exultation of the lawless man, unaware of the Son of God, also portrayed as Jesus. The same Son of God describes every Christian.
The important point is that it is impossible for one stuck in a physical viewpoint to understand the spiritual viewpoint. There was nothing of grandeur in Jesus’ appearance as the Son of Man. As one physically communicating with humanity, Jesus clearly told His audience that it was impossible for ordinary humans to understand.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father” (John 6:44-46 NIV).
Spiritual Versus Physical Understanding
The term “Father” refers to the Spiritual entity. Failure to differentiate between spiritual and physical entities caused Jewish misunderstanding. Although physical, Jesus represented God’s image. The Jews represented the physical, portraying Abraham’s descendants. Although Abraham obeyed God so that he was God’s child in every detail, it was by faith. Hence, Jesus said those Jews behaved not as Abraham’s descendants.
Those who obey God are not of this world, even though living in this world. Jesus initiated the Heavenly standard. Those born anew are branches whose stem is Jesus. They produce fruit according to the true vine, who is Jesus. His resurrection after death convinced believers of the insignificance of death. Those obeying His teachings cease to be of this world. They become God’s children, just as Jesus was God’s Son. As Jesus declared being not of this world, true Christians also identify themselves as not of this world.
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (1 John 4:4-6 NIV).
Testing the Spirits
Prior to the above assertion, the apostle John had advised them of the need to test the spirits, warning them of the presence of false prophets who masquerade as genuine. The important principle of Christianity is to compare the behavior of the preacher with Jesus, whose humility climaxed at the cross. It becomes easy to fall into the trap of false prophets as long as one identifies with worldly practices. The false prophets insist that Jesus is different from humanity, but as a god who is different from humanity.
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:1-3 NIV).
The Trinitarian doctrine qualifies as a typical example, as it assumes Jesus is not our brother, but a member of the Trinity. They cannot examine such Scriptures because doing so would challenge their self-elevation. Like the Pharisees, they generally do not possess the aspect of meekness that identifies God’s children. Only the meek are willing to consider facts without necessarily examining the communicator’s profile, comparing it with their elevated status.
They cannot understand the declaration that no one comes to Jesus except drawn by God (John 6:44). Rather than consider Jesus’ humility, emphasized at every turn, they insist on elevating themselves to positions higher than were ever accorded to Jesus. Hence, this information cannot reach ordinary people, regardless of how educated they may be.
The Foundation of True Understanding
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:17-19 NIV).
The above Scripture crushes the necessity for theological studies to become God’s child. Hence, Jesus said no one could come to Him except drawn by God. The theologians, worldly and elevated, are filled with confidence of being on the Lord’s side. They hardly ever question the fact that, starting with the first disciples, none was inducted into discipleship based on credentials.
Humility, as James also aptly attested (James 4:10), is simply the key. Jesus assured His followers to remain attached to His teachings, making them not different from Him. Among humans, Jesus could not be matched with anyone. But those applying His teachings are not different from Him. Ordinary humans cannot understand, but His followers cannot have any problem understanding.
Friends, Not Servants
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:12-15 NIV).
Jesus’ words should never be altered: His disciples are His friends, not servants, suggesting equality with Him. Profound as this may be to most people, His true followers are like Jesus, as Paul attested: “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). When Jesus comes, He will identify some as His servants, while identifying others as His brothers, as shown in Matthew 25:31-40.
Jesus said the least of His brothers would be fed and clothed by the righteous (servants). Those described as His brothers are the same as those described as Jesus’ friends (John 15:12-15). The separation refers to ordinary humanity, excluding the brothers of Jesus, who are not different from Him. Some of those righteous people may never have known anything about Jesus but were rewarded for their good works.
Servants and Sons
God’s servants include all the prophets, up to John the Baptist, who were not the brothers of Jesus, but God’s servants, used at various intervals. The secrets of God’s Kingdom were revealed to those described as His friends. Treating those people well or badly is the same as treating Jesus, who also highlighted this when talking about John the Baptist.
“I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11 NIV).
The least in God’s kingdom is greater than John the Baptist; hence, the secrets of God’s Kingdom were given to those equal to Jesus. The work of redemption invites all humanity to God’s Kingdom. But while the invitation is extended to everyone, not all are willing to accept its conditions. The key qualification to enter God’s Kingdom implies a willingness to learn.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 NIV).
True Christians know God, just as God and Jesus know them. They are despised, like Jesus, but God knows them, as Jesus also knows them. Their greatness is not denoted by exultation, but by the state of humility. God’s children are not necessarily those calling themselves “Christians,” but those sealed by the Holy Spirit, according to Paul.
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him, we cry ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings so that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:15-17 NIV).
The people referred to cannot doubt being God’s children. They have assurance, so as not to hesitate to identify themselves as co-heirs with Christ. They are different from those who consider Jesus as different from humanity, just as they are not different from Jesus, even though those of this world cannot agree with that assertion.
The Final Distinction
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV).
The difference between God’s children and them is that God’s children have no reason to declare having done good works. God would have been with them all along so that the works done would not be theirs, but God’s, through them. The opposite is true of those attempting to remind Jesus that they would have done good works in Jesus’ name.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilisation, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, relieving those who have witnessed the string of unworkable solutions leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book to be a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
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