Son of God
That Christ has been the Son of God eternally is a truth most carefully set forth in Scripture and to be faithfully maintained and insisted upon. It is of paramount importance and crucial to Christianity. He was God's Son before coming into the world (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)), continues to be so now (v. 15), and was so even when here on earth (John 1:1414And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)). There has never been a time when He was not the Son of God. He is such eternally.
But there did come a time when He was begotten of God as a man. This is something quite distinct from His eternal sonship, but depends upon that truth. As a man, He was conceived in Mary's womb by the power of the Holy Ghost and, as such, was called the Son of God. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:3535And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35).
I believe that it is in this sense that God says: "Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee" (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)), and that He refers to Him as "My Son" in Psa. 2:7, 127I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalm 2:7)
12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2:12). He is there the King (the Messiah), who will receive of God the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth and will rule over them with an iron rod. He is also thus owned in Heb. 1:5; 5:55For 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)
5So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. (Hebrews 5:5). It is something that begins in time and with His humanity— though He personally has been the Father's Son from everlasting and will always be such.
There are, then, two ways in which the term "the Son of God" is applied to the Lord. One is what He has been eternally, and the other is what He also became as man. As I said, used in the latter sense, it is something quite distinct from the other, but is dependent upon its being true of Him. In other words, of whom else could it possibly be said that He would be conceived in the womb by the power of the Holy Ghost? Surely, it could be said of none other than Him who had ever been the Father's son, dwelling in His bosom and declaring it to man, "daily His delight." Prov. 8:3030Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; (Proverbs 8:30).
Son of Man
The Lord is seen as "the Son of man" in at least two respects. To begin with, it is in His humiliation and suffering that He is viewed as "the Son of man". Then, and in answer to all that, He is seen as such in His exaltation and universal headship. In general terms, these are the two aspects, in which He is presented as "the Son of man".
Of course, in order to have such a title, the Lord must become a man. He "made Himself of no reputation [emptied Himself]... and being found in fashion as a man." Phil. 2:7, 87But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:7‑8). "A body hast Thou prepared Me." Heb. 10:55Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5). As a man, He was capable of suffering all that we suffer, so that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God.
And though not subject to it, He was even capable of experiencing death. Had He never taken part in flesh and blood, these things never could have been so of Him.
He was a man of a moral order quite apart from that of fallen man. He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." "Unleavened... fine flour mingled with oil." "The second man is the Lord from heaven." "The Son of man which is in heaven." "He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground." Though on earth, He was from heaven; His life was there and His sustenance was from thence. He was, in short, not that "first man", but the "second Man".
Now, as "the Son of God", He was rejected (Psa. 2). And so He has been exalted and given universal headship (Psa. 8). "But now we see not yet all things put under Him" and before we do, Israel must suffer and be sifted and refined (Psa. 3-7). Then His "people shall be willing" (Psa. 110:33Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. (Psalm 110:3)), and He will manifestly take His place as Head over all that He has created (John 1:50, 5150Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (John 1:50‑51)). I say "all that He has created," because "it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him.”
On earth He was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" Isa. 53:33He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3). "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." Psa. 22:66But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. (Psalm 22:6). And it was on earth as the Son of man that He was put to death: "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Mark 8:3131And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31). It will be in this very scene of His humiliation, death, and sufferings that He will be seen, not only over Israel (though that is true enough), but as "the Son of man" over all things! As such, He will execute judgment on the living and the dead (John 5:2727And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. (John 5:27); Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31); 1 Peter 4:55Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. (1 Peter 4:5); etc.). It is fitting and just that it should be so.
In Acts 3, God pleads with Israel one last time through Peter, but they resist the strivings of the Holy Spirit. Then in Acts 7, He testifies against them through Stephen, and the door is swung shut on that nation for the time being. As they are about to stone him to death, Stephen looks up and sees not the Son of God or the Son of David, but "the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." After that the Lord is seen as "the Son of man" in just three places: Heb. 2 where His universal supremacy in the kingdom is the thought, and in Rev. 1 and 14 where He is about to execute judgment. Never in the epistles proper is He thus spoken of.
D. Graham