The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1
It is important to remember that God the Father did not gain a Son when Jesus was born. God sent the Son, who was already at the Father’s side, into the world. The Son shared the Father’s glory, the Father’s life, and the Father’s love before He came into the world.
“[The Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). Jesus even said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). You might be like your father in many ways, but no one would say these kinds of things about the two of you.
In the ancient world names described character. This is very different from our normal understanding of a father and a son. For example, the apostles nicknamed Joseph “Barnabas,” which means “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36). Joseph was encouragement personified, encouragement in the flesh, so they called him “son of encouragement.”
When Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mat. 5:9), He was saying that God is the great peacemaker, and that when you make peace you reflect His character. So, when Mark tells us Jesus is “the Son of God,” he is telling us that Jesus is everything that God is in the flesh.
The more you think about this, the more staggering it gets. The great mystery at the center of all true Christian faith is this: Jesus is the Son of God. The disciples didn’t pretend to understand it. But they did believe it. They followed Jesus with a faith that seeks understanding, and that is how we must follow Him too.
Are you following Jesus with this kind of faith?
