In this post, we will discover one aspect of this focus on the family, namely that of sonship. Who were the sons of God in the Bible? Does God have one Son? How many children does God have? What does the Bible say that might help us understand such questions?
In Christianity, there are lots of family metaphors. God is often depicted as a father to us human beings; The church is often described as the family of believers; and there are many more examples.
There are quite a few different interpretations to this question which leads to many different possible answers. This is the kind of topic that many people have studied at length and in great depth.
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This post will only provide a short overview of the most important elements as it might provide an answer to the question on the lips of a normal Christian believer: What does it mean if we say God had sons?
The sons of God have been classified in four possible categories:
Jesus Christ himself,
the angels,
important biblical figures,
and lastly, people.
Let’s explore each one below.
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For each category, I will provide a very brief explanation of what it means and then we will explore two Bible passages that affirm this truth and I will briefly interpret what they mean.
The whole Old Testament points to the fact that God has promised to solve the problem of sin by sending someone who is going to introduce the Kingdom of heaven and eternal life. Christ Jesus is the One everybody has been waiting for.
There are countless New Testament passages that refer to Jesus as the Son of God and it is clear that He had a unique kind of relationship to God as His Father. Jesus Himself said that He only did what the Father told Him to do. John the Baptist, a prophet who lived alone in the wilderness, testified that Jesus was God’s Chosen One.
Jesus being the Son of God introduces to us the idea of the Trinity:
Understanding the Trinity
Imagine a triangle. At the very top is God. On the left corner is Jesus and on the right corner is the Holy Spirit. These corners all come together to form one shape, yet each corner is distinct and different. The trinity is sometimes explained in kids church as different phases of water.
So, you might have ice and liquid water and steam from a kettle, yet all are still the same substance. In the same way, the trinity is like three different expressions or characteristics of who God is and how He relates to people.
But if Jesus is only one part of the trinity, why are we told to follow Jesus and why are people praying to Him and worshipping Him? Some churches even call themselves “Jesus churches” and some people have gone so far as to say “I am not religious, I just follow Jesus.”
The thing is, Jesus himself said that nobody can get to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Jesus is God in human form, and He lived the perfect life so that He could be the worthy and spotless One who could take our place and conquer sin and death.
That is the Good News! That is the Gospel message!
Let’s discover two bible passages that confirm that Jesus is the son of God:
John 3:16-17
The book of John is in the genre called the Gospels – meaning it is a witness account of the life of Jesus. John is sharing the Gospel message with his readers. He says:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Jesus is the only begotten son of God. People love the first verse quoted here (v16) and they often leave out the next one. Our Lord Jesus Christ was sent to the Earth because God loved people, not to condemn people. Christians have unfortunately become widely unpopular as a group of people who are marked by judgement, oppression, and even hatred of other people.
But Jesus did not come to condemn the world – He came to set the world free! This is why the news of Jesus is often called the Good News. God sent His son to the world to offer a solution to the problem of sin.
(Matthew 3:16-17)
The book of Matthew is also in the genre called Gospels. Jesus is with John the Baptist and a crowd at the Jordan river:
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.””
God speaking from heaven and confirming that Jesus is His Son is one of the biggest pieces of evidence that Jesus was who He claimed to be: the promised Messiah. The One sent to save the world from the grip of sin and death. It does not get much clearer than this.
Even though people often use the expression ‘hearing God’s voice’ or ‘a voice from heaven’, this was not such a common occurrence in the Bible. And, ask anyone, it is not such a common occurrence today either.
In the Old Testament, God spoke through dreams and visions and angelic visions more often than he speaks audibly. So when the skies opened at Jesus’ baptism and a voice confirmed that He was the Son, it was not predictable or the norm. What’s even more profound is that this was not the only time that God spoke from heaven and confirmed that Jesus was His son. He did so two more times at the transfiguration and the crucifixion (Matthew 17 & John 12).
So, there we have it, the first interpretation of son of God is none other than Jesus Christ himself.
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2.The angels as the sons of God
A second interpretation of who the sons of God might be is the angels. Angels are spiritual beings that have been a topic of interest since ancient times. There are depictions or pictures of angels to be found all across the ancient world in paintings, literature, and even carved into the stone of buildings. Interestingly, the appearance of angelic figures is more scarce in modern art and culture.
Such angels have sometimes visited Earth disguised as people (Genesis 18-19 & Hebrews 13:3). More often though, angels are sent to bring a message from God to people. Think of the angel who appeared to Mary (Luke 1:25) to announce she was expecting a baby or the angels who walked with the guys in the blazing furnace (Daniel 3:25). In other words, angels are also known as the good guys.
The simple answer to who angels are would be to say they act like God’s messengers. There is also biblical evidence of rebellious angels – in fact, that is how Satan supposedly came to be. He wanted the power and the glory. The Bible also mentions other rebellious or fallen angels, also known as the bad guys.
Let’s discover two bible passages that confirm that the angels are the sons of God:
(Genesis 6:4)
The book of Genesis is in the genre of history and report. This is written as part of how the first people lived:
“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
This is one of the strangest things in the Bible. An interpretation of this verse in Genesis makes it seem like angelic beings were attracted to daughters of man (or human women) and they conceived children together. Some people interpret this to mean that supernatural beings literally walked the face of the earth. A lot of the literature and stories that we know about things like demigods actually have their roots in being creative interpretations of Biblical texts such as this one… Think Maui in the kids’ animation Moana, or Heracles, son of Zeus, in Greek Mythology. The angels are called the sons of God in this passage.
(Job 2:1)
The book of Job is in the genre of wisdom literature. The following verse appears after it is said that Job was pleasing God:
“On another day the angels[the sons of God] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.”
The wickedness of man is under the microscope in the book of Job, but it is written from the point of view of God. The story tells us that the spirit beings came before God, and the angels are called the sons of God by the author of Job.
In summary, the second interpretation of who the sons of God could be are heavenly beings or angels of God.
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3. Important Biblical figures as sons of God
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, some people who were held in high esteem were referred to as sons of God too. Note, the first example of a son of God we looked at was Jesus (God himself in human form), the second were angels (godly beings who walked the earth), and now, it seems like people – real human flesh- could also be called sons of God.
The title “son of God” is not only kept for deities and holy beings. The title is one that can also be bestowed upon normal everyday people, by God. Imagine if a king had a castle. If somebody broke in and slept in one of the beds one evening, they would not immediately be considered a son. They would be considered an intruder and thrown out.
The same goes for the Kingdom of Heaven (God’s Kingdom). We cannot give ourselves the title of sonship or belonging to His family. This honor is reserved for the king. He has to give the official word and His royal seal to confirm: These ones are part of our family now. They are heirs to the kingdom.
Not grabbing but receiving our title as God’s children is meaningful.
It means that God is the one who has mercy on us and invites us in – we cannot barge in, but we need to humbly approach the king of grace. We need to realize that there is no way that we can enter the Kingdom without the King inviting us in.
It also means that we do not get to pick and choose when we want to be a child of God – it is a completely new identity. We don’t put on our church clothes on Sundays and become completely different people from whom we were the night before when we were hanging out with our friends.
It also means that we learn that our place is one of the lowly recipients who are completely undeserving when the King decides to make space for us at the table. We are in awe when He hands us that honor, and we act accordingly.
The Word of God is clear that God’s story is closely woven together with the story of the human race. We are seen as God’s people. He is the Creator (Genesis 1-2) and we are his creation. This links to some of the Father imagery that we find throughout the whole Bible.
If one is a son, there must be a father. Yes, even before Jesus (the Son of God) came, people have been referring to God as their father for a looong time (Isaiah 64:7 & Jeremiah 3:19). And the same goes for the other way around, people have been called the sons of God as well.
Let’s discover two bible passages that confirm that important Biblical figures were called the sons of God:
(Luke 3:38)
The book of Luke is another example of the genre called Gospels that we discovered above. A long genealogy is given from the very beginning of man to Jesus:
“the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God”
It is striking how this genealogy states it so matter-of-factly. This one was the son of this one, and Adam (oh, of course) he was the son of God! This is a clear reference to the famous story from the book of Genesis where God creates the first man: Adam. God wandered through the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, talking to them and teaching them all there is to know about the wonderful creation. That is the kind of father-son relationship that Adam had with God.
The book of First Chronicles is in the genre of historical writings. King David is speaking to all the officials of Israel:
“Of all my sons—and the Lord has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.”
Surely, Solomon became the king and he is said to be the wisest person to have ever lived – not because of anything really special about him, but because He asked God for wisdom and because his intentions were good, God granted his wish (1 Kings 3). This is just one example, but a few of the ancient Israelite kings were described in this way (Psalms 89:27).
So, the third interpretation of who the sons of God might be is that they are actual human beings – but mostly important people, like kings of the nation who were God’s people.
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4. People as sons (and daughters) of God
Now, this is where the message comes home. God’s people have been called the sons of God in many instances. It appears that we (humans) can relate to God in the same way that angels and kings can. This has tremendous effects on how we view our own identity and how we relate to God. It affects how we speak to Him and how we think about Him. Let’s pause for a moment and consider how we might approach somebody who is high above us. Perhaps a boss at work, a judge in a courtroom, a king, or a president. Now, let’s consider how we might approach our earthly fathers.
Our Father-image
Granted, the complexities of our father-image are not lost on me. As an Afrikaans woman, I grew up learning that you have to respect grownups and basically only speak when you are spoken to. It sounds harsh, but that is just a cultural difference and it is our norm. We also never called adults by their names – we don’t even say “you”!
A common example of normal speech in an Afrikaans household at the time would be something like: “Papa can I make papa a cup of coffee? Does papa want milk in it? I’ll bring it to papa now-now.” I am using this example to illustrate that I had my own troubles with relating to God as a father.
My issues are minuscule in comparison to other people who might have never known their earthly fathers, or (perhaps even worse) those who knew their fathers but were hurt by them.
What is triggered in us when we hear the word ‘father’ or think about relating to God as our father, is a whole other topic. For the purpose of this post here, we only need to understand that God loved people so much that He called them his children. People are so precious to God that He does not call us servants or friends, but He invites us into His family and calls us his own.
The issue of gender
A further level of complication added here is the issue of gender. Gender and sexuality are heavily contested concepts nowadays. Quite frankly, as a woman, sometimes it seems like the Bible was written for men alone or that God only cares about men.
As a young woman, I remember struggling when I read my Bible and found texts like Psalms 2 which says “You are my son and today I have become your Father”. I wondered about how I could relate to God as a woman in ways that are still authentic and true. To further complicate the matter, there are a lot of different beliefs across denominations and churches about how women may relate to God or the role they can play in churches.
I’ve found comfort in knowing, as I learned more about the Bible, that there are also many places where I can uniquely relate to God as His daughter. For the purpose of this post, I won’t go into great depth about what the Bible says about womanhood or how Jesus treated women, but for now just know this: Being a daughter of God is also valuable. There are beautiful unique ways that women can relate to God (as his bride for example).
Let’s discover two bible passages that confirm that we are sons (and daughters) of God:
(Exodus 4:22)
The book of Exodus is also in the genre of historical narrative. The Lord is instructing Moses on what to say to the Pharoah:
“Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.””
The Israelites were the people of God – the bloodline from the father Jacob. Jacob wrestled with God (Genesis 32:22-32) and his name was changed to Israel after that. He had twelve sons who led the twelve tribes of Israel, also known as the Israelites. The Israelites were oppressed by the leader of Egypt who was called the Pharoah.
But God provided an escape plan and that is what the book of Exodus is all about. Notice how in this verse God calls the Israelites his son and his firstborn. Particularism and universalism are topics for another day – but according to the New Testament, we become part of God’s people when we decide to follow Jesus.
(Romans 8:14-17)
The book of Romans is in the genre called epistles (or letters). Paul is explaining to his audience, made up of mostly Roman citizens, how to live as a follower of Christ:
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to 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 in order that we may also share in his glory.”
This New Testament passage is more easily applied to our own lives – yes, yours too! Paul writes that anyone who is led by God’s spirit is God’s child. This verse makes it clear that we are adopted into God’s family and we are given a new identity.
The family metaphors run deep throughout the Bible but it has its culmination in this… People who were far from God and trapped in sin were brought near and adopted to become members of His household, his sons and daughters.
The fourth interpretation of who the sons of God are is you and me! When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become a child of God.
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A balanced approach to understanding
I remember when I started studying Theology, such questions would truly throw me.
Questions about God that do not make sense will usually have this effect on us. That is why it is so important to approach learning about such topics with a balance in mind. We need to constantly balance the new things we learn (on the one hand) with who we know God to be (on the other hand).
Spirituality and faith are things that we feel, it is not just something that we think. These are matters of the heart, not just the head.
Both are needed in order to form a mature faith that can withstand the strong winds of questioning and doubt.
It is clear from this short post that the term ‘Sons of God’ has many interpretations.
People crave understanding. We want to make meaning from the things we cannot understand. And the biggest point of question, the thing that we have the most questions about, is God. All that we can do is try to interpret God in a way that makes sense to us. And so, we try to put God into certain boxes, because those boxes make sense to us. Family – that makes sense! Sonship – that makes sense!
But God is not a human being, so the Sons of God in the Bible does not mean biological children. The matters of God are spiritual and not in human terms.
His ways are not our ways.
Jesus had a conversation with a man named Nicodemus that ties in here (You can read about it in John 3). Nicodemus was a really smart, learned man who was high up in the Jewish ruling councils. He approaches Jesus and lavishes compliments on Him: “You are so amazing, You were surely sent by God, The signs you perform are wonderful” – and so forth.
Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ praise with a simple statement. He said: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” This statement sends Nicodemus into a flat spin about crawling back into his mother’s womb and how a physical second birth is simply not possible.
But Jesus was never talking about a physical rebirth.
This encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus illustrates how we (people) try to understand God in ways that make sense to us, but most of the time, He is busy with something that we cannot see and do not understand.
At this point, it is worth remembering that God is not necessarily something we can (or should) understand completely. I am reminded of the Scripture in Isaiah 55 where God says:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Simply put, it is not our job to understand everything about God. We might make it our ambition to grow in our knowledge of Him – and that’s a good thing! Yet, we will do well to remember that we are the humble recipients of God’s grace – and not the other way around.
God does not need our affection or attention, but because of His great mercy, He invites us to co-labor with Him and become co-heirs of the Kingdom of heaven.
He invites us to become sons and daughters of God!
Eljoh Hartzer is combining theology and art to nurture faith journeys across generations. She is a Masters-level Practical Theologian with the University of Stellenbosch. She is also a writer and editor in the niche of Christianity and children's content and she illustrates children's books. Eljoh resides in the Swartland area in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
You can follow Eljoh on LinkedIn or Instagram.
