Son of God and Son of Man

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 7
Son of God
The title "Son of God" is asserted of the Lord Jesus Christ in three different applications.
First: He is "Son of God" in incarnation.
“Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee." Psa. 2:77I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalm 2:7). Here it is in connection with His kingship in Zion, presented to Israel at His first coming, but postponed till His second, because of their unbelief then and now. So Jehovah's King was Jehovah's Son before He was begotten in time. So also in Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6): "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”
Compare Luke 1:3232He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (Luke 1:32): "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto. Him the throne of His father David." And further in verse 35: "Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Second: He is "Son of God" as risen from the dead.
Acts 13:33, 3433God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. (Acts 13:33‑34) shows Jesus in two positions: verse 33 as raised upon earth and verse 34 as raised up from the dead. See also Col. 1. where verse 15 seems to refer to His birth into the world, and where He necessarily was the firstborn or chief of every creature as being the Creator. In verse 18 the reference is to His place of preeminence as risen, "who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead." Heb. 1:55For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? (Hebrews 1:5) speaks of Him in the first of these two positions; verse 6 probably in the second, especially if the marginal reading (which is most likely the correct one) be taken. This would connect His introduction into the habitable world with His second coming. Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5) may confirm this.
So it is almost everywhere in the gospel and epistles of John. "The only begotten of the Father" does not refer to His place as born on earth or risen from the dead, but expresses His eternal relationship as a divine Person.
Son of Man
John 5 shows us the Son quickening whom He will in virtue of His divine glory, and it declares that all judgment is committed to Him as Son of man. This title refers to His assumption of that nature in which He is first rejected, and secondly, exalted as universal Lord and Judge. (See Psa. 8 compared with Heb. 2, Dan. 7, and the Gospels.) Also He is seen as "the Son of man" in connection with the judgment of the seven churches in Rev. 1. That is why cherubim as the witness of judgment were wrought on the veil, the type of His flesh.
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