Consider beginning your study with a devotional reading of Colossians 1:13-20, meditating on Christ's supremacy and role in creation.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, stands as the most profound revelation of God in human history. In fulfillment of ancient prophecies, He accomplished what was once thought inconceivable: taking on human flesh while retaining His full divinity. This extraordinary act of God the Son becoming flesh is a pivotal climax in human history, providing the key to understanding God's nature and His purposes for all creation. Understanding Jesus's dual nature as fully God and fully man, along with His eternal Sonship, is essential to grasping His unique Person and role within the Trinity. This session, we will focus on God the Son, exploring his relationships to the other Persons of the Trinity and to ourselves.
Show this diagram to your group to open up a conversation about the primary roles of the Persons of the Trinity, who are represented by the three symbols shown in the diagram.
You may want to ask the following questions to your study group to garner discussion. Teach from the answers provided to help facilitate the study, reading the passages mentioned to ground the conversation in the Scriptures.
Relationships
How is the Son related to the Father? (John 10:30)
God the Son, Jesus Christ, is born of God the Father. Jesus is the Way to the Father (John 14:6), the Image of the Father (2 Cor. 4:4), and the Revealer of the Father (John 1:18). Jesus is totally united with God the Father (and the Spirit) in perichoretic unity (reciprocal indwelling, John 17:21). Jesus entirely submits to and obeys the will of God the Father (John 5:30).
Throughout the whole of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we see Him carrying out the will of the Father, fulfilling God’s will on the earth through his work as a fully-man and fully-God Person. This distinct role of Jesus Christ follows logically from the fact that He is begotten by God; this is true both eternally by God the Father and in time and space through His conception by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary.
How is the Son related to the Spirit? (John 15:26)
The Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of God the Father but also the Spirit of God the Son, as God is a perfect union. This is why Paul can seemingly change his terms so freely in Romans 8:9-10. In this way, it is right, although confusing, to say that Christ dwells in us, for it is the Holy Spirit that truly indwells believers. This intimate relationship between God the Son and God the Spirit sets the stage for the Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit.
The Son sends the Spirit. While there is debate about whether or not the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son or from only the Father (called the filioque controversy, which contributed to the Great Schism in 1054), it is safe to say that God the Son at least sends the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). We also see the Son’s authority over the Spirit, in that the Spirit only says what he hears and glorifies Christ (John 16:12-15). After Christ sent the Spirit, the Spirit proclaims and guides those He indwells into all truth. Thus, all that the Spirit does was set forth and begun by Jesus Christ Himself.
How is the Son related to humanity? (Romans 5:18)
Jesus Christ, through his life, death, and resurrection, offers a new hope of life to all of humanity. This Gospel of salvation is freely given to those who believe in Him (have faith). Romans 5:12-21 explores this paradigm shift, contrasting Adam’s sin, through which death spread to all people, with Christ’s work, through which eternal life is offered to all people (see also John 3:16, 1 Cor. 15:45-49). Jesus Christ has rightly been given authority over all the world by God the Father (Matt. 28:18-20, Eph 1:20-22). This authority will be fulfilled in the end times, when everyone will recognize and submit to Christ (Isa. 45:23, Rom. 14:11, Php. 2:10-11).
What God the Son Does
What was God the Son’s involvement in Salvation? (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are the only means by which anyone can be saved. Salvation is entirely accomplished by Christ, and no one is able to add anything to what Christ has done in regards to salvation. While salvation is through faith, having such faith necessitates the surrender of any claim to salvific merit (the power to save) or worthiness to the one in whom we have faith, Jesus Christ. We will discuss further details on salvation in future weeks dedicated to the topic.
How does God the Son relate to Christians now? (Romans 8:34)
Jesus Christ intercedes for Christians. He functions as a high priest, making propitiation (appeasing God, providing atonement) for our sins (Heb 2:17, 7:25). While we have access to the Father without the need for an intermediary, this is only because of Christ’s atoning work (John 16:26-27). Jesus Christ is Christians’ Savior and Lord, to whom we owe unconditional obedience out of love for Him.
How has the nature of God the Son been revealed to us? (John 1:14)
While the nature of God the Son is revealed clearly in that Jesus has come to us in human flesh, there is much debate as to how we can rightly understand the fully-man, fully-God Person. The Scriptures clearly reveal both the Divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 1:14, Col. 2:9), as well as His anointing by the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:10). How do His Divinity, humanity, and Spirit work together in His single Person? Some of this interplay is truly mysterious, while other parts have been rightly understood through Biblical study in the Christian tradition.
The Trinity in Salvation (Ephesians 1:3-14)
Ephesians 1:3-14 outlines the roles of each Person of the trinity in salvation. It is God the Father who has predestined us to adoption through Christ Jesus (v. 5), in Whom our sins are forgiven (v. 7). Upon believing the Gospel, the Holy Spirit seals us as Christians (v. 13). We see repeatedly in this passage that all of the events of salvation are by God the Father’s will, and for his glory and pleasure. Likewise, no part of this salvation is carried out apart from Christ’s atoning work on the cross. It is after hearing and believing this truth that we as Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is a “down payment of our inheritance” (v. 14); we have truly been adopted if we are to receive an inheritance! In the present day, Christians immediately and intimately experience salvation and the seal thereof by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In this way, each Person of the trinity operates distinctly to achieve the singular work of salvation.
Conversation Starters
After working through the study, open the conversation to questions, or pose some of the following conversation starters to the group.
Is God the Son your Savior?
In what ways have you seen God the Son at work in your life, your church, or the world around you?
How can we better recognize and worship Jesus as a distinct person of the Trinity?
What are the implications of believing (or not believing) that Jesus is God the Son?
What confessional "we believe" statements can we make as a study group about God the Son?
The Apostles’ Creed is one of the earliest formulations of doctrine, and is still recited and confessed all around the world in various churches to this day. Together with your group, consider confessing and memorizing the apostles’ creed, focusing on the core elements of doctrine that unite all Christians. Conclude with a prayer conclude with a prayer for the group and for the study.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
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