Why Is Jesus Called the Son of God?

The Bible’s answer

The Bible often calls Jesus “the Son of God.” (John 1:49) The expression “Son of God” acknowledges that God is the Creator, or Source, of all life, including that of Jesus. (Psalm 36:9; Revelation 4:11) The Bible does not teach that God literally fathered a child in the same way that humans produce children.

The Bible also calls the angels “sons of the true God.” (Job 1:6) And the Bible says that the first human, Adam, was a “son of God.” (Luke 3:38) However, because Jesus was God’s first creation and the only one created directly by him, the Bible describes Jesus as the foremost Son of God.

• Did Jesus live in heaven before he was born on earth?

• What did Jesus do before he came to the earth?

Did Jesus live in heaven before he was born on earth?

Yes. Jesus was a spirit creature in heaven before he was born as a human on earth. Jesus himself said: “I have come down from heaven.”—John 6:38; 8:23.

God created Jesus before he created anything else. Regarding Jesus, the Bible says:

• “He is . . . the firstborn of all creation.”—Colossians 1:15.

• He is “the beginning of the creation by God.”—Revelation 3:14.

Jesus fulfilled the prophecy about the one “whose origin is from ancient times, from the days of long ago.”—Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:4-6.

What did Jesus do before he came to the earth?

He held an exalted heavenly position. Jesus referred to this position when he prayed: “Father, glorify me . . . with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was.”—John 17:5.

He helped his Father create all other things. Jesus worked alongside God “as a master worker.” (Proverbs 8:30) Regarding Jesus, the Bible says: “By means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth.”—Colossians 1:16.

God worked through Jesus to bring every other creation into existence. This creation included all other spirit creatures, as well as the physical universe. (Revelation 5:11) In some respects, this cooperation between God and Jesus was like that of an architect working with a builder. The architect creates the design; the builder brings the design to reality.

He served as the Word. When speaking of Jesus’ prehuman life, the Bible calls Jesus “the Word.” (John 1:1) Evidently, this means that God used his Son to convey information and instructions to other spirit creatures.

Jesus also seems to have acted as God’s Spokesman to humans on earth. God likely spoke through Jesus as the Word when giving instructions to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:16, 17) Jesus may have been the angel who guided the ancient Israelites through the wilderness and whose voice the Israelites were strictly to obey.—Exodus 23:20-23.a