Son of God
A Muslim may ask:How can Christians call Jesus the “Son of God”? This is blasphemy. God has no sons!
Jesus is referred to in the Bible as “The Word” of God (John 1:1). Jesus has that same title in Islam (Quran 4:171).
God’s word is His divine ideas given to us in a human understandable form of communication, via scripture or inspiration.
Now, think of ideas in terms of birth from the mind, “the idea is the child of the mind.” Is there anything wrong in saying: “my ideas are the child of my mind?” Did you say anything irrational here?
It is unfortunate, that some people think when Jesus is referred to as the “Son of God” that He was born from God in a physical or sexual manner.
Jesus is not a physical son of God, as you are not a physical child of your country, still you could say: “I am the son/daughter/child of my country” Nobody will think your country went into labor and gave physical birth to you.
Similarly, the idea which is born from the mind, is the child of the mind, remains in the mind, does not leave the mind, and a mind without ideas or knowledge is an absent mind.
We believe that Jesus is God’s Word, His idea which was given to us as a divine communication between God and man.
But does it give a confusing perspective? Not at all... It is unfortunate, that some people think when Jesus is referred to as the “Son of God” that He was born from God in a physical or sexual manner.
Jesus is not a physical son of God, as you are not a physical child of your country, still you could say: “I am the son/daughter/child of my country” Nobody will think your country went into labor and gave physical birth to you.
I don't think the trinity concept is as simple as that. In trinity, you have another separate being of the same kind (God) which you call him as the father. This will eventually bring the idea of son-father relationship as per standard human understanding i.e one is superior than the other, one is giving birth to the other, etc.
In above example, it sounds reasonable to say that I'm the son of my country, but that doesn't necessary mean that the country is the father at all. This is totally different than the son-father concept in the trinity.
Jesus is not God’s Son in the sense of a human father and a son. God did not get married and have a son. God did not mate with Mary and, together with her, produce a son. Jesus is God’s Son in the sense that He is God made manifest in human form (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is God's Son in that He was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 declares, “The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’”
During His trial before the Jewish leaders, the High Priest demanded of Jesus, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). “’Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Matthew 26:64). The Jewish leaders responded by accusing Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65-66). Later, before Pontius Pilate, “The Jews insisted, ‘We have a law, and according to that law He must die, because He claimed to be the Son of God’” (John 19:7). Why would His claiming to be the Son of God be considered blasphemy and be worthy of a death sentence? The Jewish leaders understood exactly what Jesus meant by the phrase “Son of God.” To be the Son of God is to be of the same nature as God. The Son of God is “of God.” The claim to be of the same nature as God—to in fact be God—was blasphemy to the Jewish leaders; therefore, they demanded Jesus’ death, in keeping with Leviticus 24:15. Hebrews 1:3 expresses this very clearly, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.”
Another example can be found in John 17:12 where Judas is described as the “son of perdition.” John 6:71 tells us that Judas was the son of Simon. What does John 17:12 mean by describing Judas as the “son of perdition”? The word perdition means “destruction, ruin, waste.” Judas was not the literal son of “ruin, destruction, and waste,” but those things were the identity of Judas' life. Judas was a manifestation of perdition. In this same way, Jesus is the Son of God. The Son of God is God. Jesus is God made manifest (John 1:1, 14).
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