Sons of God

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:12-13

It has been opined by certain schools of thought that “Sons of God” are angelic beings. This opinion is however contradictory to the holy scriptures. The writer of the book of Hebrews was clear about this. See Hebrews 1:5;

For unto which of the angels said he(God) 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?

Apparently we can see from the scripture above that God has never in any point in time referred to any of His angels as a son neither has He declared Himself to be a Father to any of them. This then is a proof that angels are not sons. The writer of the book of Hebrews proceeded further to present us with the true nature of angels as found in Hebrews 1:7;

And of the angels he (God) saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

Undoubtedly we can see that angels are spirits. The writer of the book of Hebrews also lucidly reaffirmed this standpoint with a question in Hebrews 1:14;

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

It is obvious from the scriptures above that angels are spirits with a ministerial function. In other words they are God’s messengers and do not qualify as sons of God just because they are spirits. God made them spirits because He is Himself “a Spirit” and as such His messengers ought to be spirits since they belong and dwell in the “spiritual world” of God.

WHO THEN ARE THE SONS OF GOD?

The phrase “sons of God” first popped up in the scriptures in Genesis 6:1-4 which reads as follows:

1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

It was made known in verse 2 of Genesis 6, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose and later in verse 4 we were told that the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. Those two scriptures are also proofs that the sons of God are not angels because it has been made known by the Lord that in the resurrection we shall be like the angels who neither marry nor are given in marriage. We shall be like the angels because we shall be resurrected as spirit beings. Since angels are spirits (ministering spirits) they do not engage in marriage. As we proceed in this discussion we shall get to understand the difference between the sons of God and the angels. See Matthew 22:30;

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Another scriptures used to defend the opinion that the sons of God were angels is found in Job 2:1;

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

The presentation of the sons of God before the Lord in the scripture above presents us with a scenario in which the sons of God came together to fellowship and worship God. Meanwhile Satan also came amidst them to present himself before God. It is important to note that this event happened here on earth and not in heaven. A proof of this fact is that Satan has been banished away from heaven by the arc angel Michael. So Satan is here on earth and not in heaven. See Revelation 12:7-9;

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Interestingly Job was himself a son of God, he was among the sons of God that presented themselves before God. The truth here is that when ever the sons of God are gathered together to fellowship and worship God, the presence of God will also be there with them. No wonder the Lord Jesus Christ said the following as found in Matthew 18:20;

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

The gathering which is being referred to here is no doubt the gathering of sons that is the sons of God. So we can see that whenever the sons of God are gathered together the presence of God is also there with them. However on this very occasion when the sons of God were gathered God noticed an unusual figure among them and as such God had to question this unusual figure. See Job 2:2;

And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

The unusual figure was Satan, his presence was oblivious to the sons of God. But God noticed him and as such he was questioned. The first thing God had to ask Satan was “from whence comest thou?”. In other words where are you coming from you ought not to be here. The response of Satan was an interesting one in that he said “from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it. Satan’s response was one of despair, his response could simply imply that “you sent me away from your presence in heaven and look at me now I am laboring to and fro and walking up and down in the earth”. What follows after this is very interesting in that God pointed to one of his gathered sons and asked Satan the following as found in Job 2:3;

And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

The son whom God pointed at was Job. He (Job) was part of the sons of God gathered to fellowship and worship God. So we can see again that the sons  of God were some set of individual with a special grace that made to be special before God in a very sinful world.

One of the primary reasons why God created man was because He wanted an extension of His kingdom here on earth so that His creation can always call upon Him in fellowship and worship. To actualize this, God created Adam in His own image and after His likeness. Adam can be visualized as a seed planted by God meant to grow into a very big tree from which other seeds which are in accordance to God’s eternal plan and purpose are to spring from. Adam is “a son of God” from which other sons of God are to emanate from. In order to buttress the validity of Adam’s son-ship with God let us take a look at Luke 3:38;

Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

It is interesting to note that the sole qualification for being a “son of God” is that a son must have in his spirit the seal of the Holy Spirit which is from God. This seal represents the “likeness” of God in man while the image of God in man is simply the spirit of man since God Himself is “a Spirit”. See John 4:24;

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Before Adam fell he had the seal of the Holy Spirit in him which was his sole qualification for son-ship. In other words it is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God in a man that qualifies that man for son-ship with the Father. Generally it is believed that after the fall of man the Spirit of God departed from him. It was this departure that led to the falling short of the glory of God in man as explained by Apostle Paul in Romans 3:23;

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

It appears that the very sinful nature of man hinges upon the fact that he does not have the seal of the Holy Spirit in him, the Holy Spirit has departed from him and as such he has fallen short of the glory of God. Nevertheless man is still an image bearer of the Spirit of God but has fallen short of the glory of God which is the “likeness of God” in him. It is revealing to note here that the glory of God in man is simply the likeness of God which could also imply the seal of the holy Spirit of God in man. A “son of God” then is any one who has the likeness or the seal of the Holy Spirit of God in them.

Apart from Adam there were certain individuals that came from him who had the seal of the Holy Spirit in them. God had to place such seal bearers upon the surface of the earth to ensure the continuity of His sons of whom Seth was an example. See Genesis 4:25;

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.  

Notice the words spoken by Eve in the scripture above “For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” simply means that Seth was a “replacement seed” for Abel. This is because Abel was himself a son of God but because he was killed by Cain, God had to bring through Adam another son. See verse 26 of Genesis 4:

And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Seth being a son of God also gave birth to another son whom he named Enos, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Apparently God’s intention was to have His sons call upon Him from the face of the earth in fellowship and worship.

A careful look at Genesis 6:1-3 with the aid of an interlinear readily reveals certain truths. Genesis 6:1-3;

1 Now it had occurred when humanity had started to increase on the surface of the ground and daughters had been born to them,
2 the sons of the elohim saw the daughters of the human that they were good-looking. So they took wives for themselves from any whom they chose.
3 Then Yahweh said: My spirit shall not abide in the human for the eon, in that he too is flesh. So his days will continue a hundred twenty years.

It is crystal from verse 3 of the scriptures above that God (Yahweh) spoke concerning His sons that is “sons of God” (sons of the elohim as presented in the interlinear) that His Spirit shall not abide in human for the ages(eon as presented in the interlinear) because he is also flesh like others who were not His sons. The implication of this is that at a point in time God had to make “His sons” devoid of His Spirit as seen in verse 3 of Genesis 6 “My spirit shall not abide in the human for the eon”. The reason for this decision taken by God is apparent in verse 2 of Genesis 6 in that the choice of wives the sons of God chose for themselves were not worshipers of God, they were the “daughters of men” which means that they were not daughters of the sons of God which means that the sons of God started engaging themselves in an ungodly union with the daughters of men. Just as the love of strange women led to King Solomon’s downfall, the love of the daughters of men led to the taking away of the spirit of God from the sons of God.

Consequently it was God that prevented His Holy Spirit from dwelling in man. It should however be noted that after this event that if God is going to use a man in the times of the Old Testament he does so by placing His Holy Spirit upon them and not in them.  Let take a look at some individuals in the scriptures whom God used by placing His Spirit upon them:

God appeared to Moses in a cloud and took out of the spirit that was upon him. Notice that the “spirit was upon him” and not in him Numbers 11:25;

And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.

In Judges 6:34 it was stated in the scriptures that the Spirit of God came upon Gideon. See Judges 6:34:

But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.

Another good example was Samson upon whom the Spirit of the Lord would come on each time he was to engage in a battle with the Philistines.  Judges 15:14;

And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

The spirit also came upon the likes of Samuel, king Saul, Isaiah and Ezekiel. The list goes on and on. Since there was a time when God prevented His Spirit from dwelling in mortal men because he was flesh, it is then imperative to ask this question: “are there still sons of God in the world today?”

ARE THERE STILL SONS OF GOD IN THE WORLD TODAY?

The first chapter of the book of John gave a solemn explanation of the meekly advent of Christ, the incomprehension of the world in terms of who He was and the hubristic rejection He received from His own people. Saint John puts it this way in John 1:10-11;

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

One of the significant works of redemption was accomplished over 2000 years ago when God sent Christ into the world. The reality of this “significant work” hinges upon reception and belief on Christ in that anyone who receives Christ and believes on His name is empowered to become a son of God. John 1:12-13;

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Consequently the status of son-ship with God is accomplished once any one receives Christ and believes on His name. Notice the phrase “to them gave he power to become the sons of God”, the use of the word “power” in that phrase could represent “authority” which is simply the seal of the Holy Spirit. Simply put, Jesus Christ is the One who seals a man with the Holy Spirit. The effect of this is that anyone who is sealed by the Holy Spirit becomes “born again”. Not a physical birth or a physical rebirth like Nicodemus questioned the Lord about, but a spiritual birth which makes the image of God in man which is man’s spirit bears the likeness of God which is the Holy Spirit. The resultant effect then is that the sealed son of God is then being led by the Holy Spirit of God. The truth of these words were affirmed by the words of Apostle Paul in Romans 8:14 as follows;

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Apparently the decision to seal any one who faithfully seek Christ with the Holy Spirit was not preconceived by any man’s ability or will but by a loving God who gave His only begotten Son. Saint John puts it as “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God“. The expression of the love expressed towards the world by God is a treasure which cannot be purchased by anyone. This treasure is the Grace of God, the unmerited favor which is abundantly available to all who are willing to receive and believe in Christ. Summarily John the beloved in 1 John 3:1 expressed the profundity of God’s love towards mankind in the following fashion:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

 

His Goodness

“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:36-37

The Most High is a good God and all the work of His hands are good. As a matter of fact, after creating the whole universe God observed everything He has made to be in a very good state. Genesis 1:34;

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…”

Everything that was made by God was good and was without anything that defiles. This then implies that the Lord God placed in the hands of mortal man a good and beautiful universe. Interestingly, man was himself an entity of the universe and was also created good.

However man’s gullibility in the Garden of Eden to the deceit of Lucifer (the banished and fallen arc angel from the presence of the Most High) brought chaos and disharmony into the universe. Irrespective of the craftiness of the adversary, man’s obedience to the voice of Lucifer in eating out of the forbidden fruit led to his disobedience to the instruction of abstinence given to him by God to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The point here is that, chaos and disharmony was brought into this world by man’s disobedience in not honoring the “goodness” of the Lord. It was as a result of “His goodness” that the Lord God instructed man not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One may ask why? A simple answer to that is that the tree was not meant for man. It suffices to point out here that the garden of Eden was strictly meant for God. The truth of the aforementioned can be crystallized using the Holy Scriptures. The Most High said the following to Lucifer as found in the book of Ezekiel 28:13;

“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God…”

An extraction of the phrase “…Eden the garden of God…” from the scripture above readily present God as the sole owner of the Garden. It was God’s garden and as such man’s safety in it should be strictly guided by the Instructions given to him by the owner. But because of “His goodness” he placed mortal man in the garden and warned him to desist away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil simply because it was not meant for him.

The instruction of abstinence away from the tree of knowledge was good and perfect. In fact in order to make known to man how deadly the tree was, the Lord God had to place a curse of death upon it. God’s warning to Adam could be rephrased in the following sense “Hey man the day you eat out of this tree I’ll kill you”. See Genesis 2:17;

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

The aftermath of eating out of the forbidden tree made man to become conscious of evil, he could no longer do anything good which can be pleasing to his maker. In other words, that which is defined “good” by man is before God “evil”. The art of practicing evil and wickedness became a major attribute of man. This attribute is obvious in every generation of man that has been. See Genesis 6:5;

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

It should be noted that all human generations were in the loins of the first man (Adam) when he fell for the deceit of Lucifer into eating out of the forbidden tree. Apparently, the knowledge of evil was passed on to everyone from one generation to the other. No wonder the Psalmist exclaimed the following as seen in Psalm 51:5;

“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Apostle Paul also noted that the scriptures have concluded everyone under sin because we all came through the first man (Adam) who was in a fallen state. Galatians 3:22;

“But the scripture hath concluded all under sin…”

There are no exemptions to this rule. Irrespective of the background or religion, all has been concluded under sin. It is a spiritual principle which should be noted. The Patriarch David noted in one his Psalms the state of man as seen by the Most high. Psalm 14:1-3;

1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

The phrase “… there is none that doeth good, no, not one…” in verse 3 of the scriptures shown above clearly shows us the degenerate state of man. He is simply not good before God, he has been condemned by God and in need of a great help from God. Apostle Paul was bold and repeated the words of the Psalmist as seen in Romans 3:10-11;

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

It was all these revelations that made Apostle Paul to boldly declare that the scriptures have concluded all to be under sin. The first man (Adam) was a seed that was meant to bring all into the goodness of God through righteousness.  However he (Adam) failed in this regard. This readily clarifies and justifies the state of man. Evil is present with him (man), he cannot do good and need to be delivered from the power of sin. See the words of Apostle Paul again as found in Romans 7:18-21;

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

It is crystal from the scriptures above that although the natural man have the knowledge of good in him he does not however have the power to execute that which can be consider good and pleasing before God. Let us examine verse 7 of the scriptures above with an interlinear which reads thus;

For I am aware that good is not making its home in me (that is, in my flesh), for to will is lying beside me, yet to be effecting the ideal is not.

The words spoken by Apostle Paul portrays a genuine pathos of the degenerate state of the natural man “… for to will is lying beside me, yet to effecting the ideal is not”. It is as if the power which was meant to effect that which is good in man has been imploded by that which is evil. The implication of the aforementioned then is that man cannot be both good and evil otherwise God would have given him both knowledge at creation. At creation man was created with the knowledge of good and was warned to desist away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he cannot have both knowledge in him otherwise evil will rule over him. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was placed in the garden as an insignia meant to signify God as the one and only eternal Judge. It portrays God as been infinite in knowledge. Consequently man needs to be delivered from the power of evil which has taken over him.

SO WHAT’S THE WAY OUT?

The one and only way out is to accept and honor “His Goodness”. The Mercies of the Most High is born out of His Goodness. There cannot be “Mercy” without “Goodness”. In other words the product of “His Goodness” is simply “Mercy”. It appears from the foregoing that goodness and mercy are associative. Interestingly, grace is birthed out from His mercy. The same is true about His love which is the product of His grace. There couldn’t have been about God’s love without “His Goodness”. Thus we may say that wherever or whenever “God’s Goodness” is lacking or absent then the God kind of love (Zoe) which is a direct product of grace is also absent. The point we are trying to establish here is that the end product of Grace is simply the love of God. With respect to the aforementioned, the following order is established:

GOODNESS ⇒ MERCY ⇒ GRACE ⇒ LOVE

As a matter of fact what leads a man to repenting from his wicked ways is simply “His Goodness”. No wonder Apostle Paul warned that the goodness of God should not be despised or lightly esteemed. See Romans 2:4;

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

“His Goodness” has been extended to man as an end product of “His Love”. This action was demonstrated by God in giving His Son as the only source of propitiation for the “sin” of the world. See John 3:16;

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Accepting and believing in the Son is the only means by which the power of good can be activated in man. It then follows that anyone who accepts the Son is cleansed and delivered from the power of evil and its sins. The action of accepting and believing the Son then triggers in the delivered man the freedom to do that which is good. This is possible because of “His Goodness”. Glory to God.