Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 13
Q&A 33 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 13
Q&A 3333 Q. Why is He called God's only begotten Son, since we also are children of God?
A. Because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God; but we are children of God by adoption, through grace, for Christ's sake.
Beloved in the Lord, some of the things dealing with our salvation indeed had their roots in theology rather deeply. And these are the things that you and I will also have to look at very carefully at times because of the fact that these are things that affect our lives. And they affect our lives in such a way as we seldom imagine. So that some of the things, and I hope to make mention of that this morning, some of those things are again before us very clearly. Because on the whole of course, as I have mentioned several times before, we are not here dealing with a book on dogmatics, but we are dealing with a book of comfort, and that is, the Heidelberg Catechism. But when it is dealing with a matter of the second article of the confession, second article of the apostolic confession dealing with this, "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord."
There you see that there are certain things, as I also mentioned before we began this, that there are certain things that we have to know concerning the Christ in order that we may have all things straight. That we are to understand His names, that we are to understand His offices, that we are to understand His natures, and that we are to understand His states. And when you have those four things very clearly in mind then you will also have a clear conception of what is given us in the Christ of God. And at the same time, then you will also have a clear concept of this, "What is our salvation?" Because it is so tied up with the person of Jesus Christ, and that you are also able to see of course, that where there is a wrong conception of His offices, those are the things that have led to interminable debates in our day.
They no longer know what the offices of Christ really represent, and as a result of that, who is to bear that office in the church. Is it this, that we are to keep up with the times, and therefore also with the feminism of the present day. To go along with that, or are we to listen to the Scriptures. Those are the two alternatives, and there are no others. These are the things that ought to be very clearly in mind, in order that we may also see that these things are not merely theological niceties.
No, here in this question and answer beloved, we are dealing again with one of the names of Christ. One of the four that is given us in the apostolic confession. It is Jesus, and Christ, and only begotten Son, and Lord. Those are the four; there are many more; someone has figured out, I think I mentioned that; 250 names of Christ that are given us in the Scriptures. But the confession is very brief and gives us only four, but these are four of the more prominent ones. And here there are problems of course, because, "why is He called the Son of God, when I also am?" Why does He have a place above mine? In the chapter that I read to you this morning it becomes very obvious that we are children of God, sons of God, and anyone who would deny that has denied the Scriptures.
Then how come that we are going to speak of Jesus Himself in a different way. Well, in a way, you know, those are the things that are already made very clear in our day. The Christian Reformed Church adopted the gray Psalter Hymnal about five, six years ago, and there are many songs in there which are very fine, and there are many others that certainly are not for worshipful attitudes. But it is especially the back part of the book, that is where the dangers lie. And there the Apostles' Creed is not translated in the way in which you and I know it, but it is translated in that second article in this way, "I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord." Not only begotten. Well, then when it comes to Lord's Day thirteen of the Heidelberg Catechism, they are consistent, and they follow that same kind of a translation. And they say, "now why is He the only Son, when we also are children?" But that whole matter concerning His being "only begotten Son" has been dropped.
Here you see some of those things that are going in the direction beloved, of going contrary to what is clearly taught us in the Bible. Clearly taught us in connection with Jesus Christ Himself, with the Son of God, with our Savior, with our salvation. So that we are here dealing with the fundamentals. And those are the things that no one may ever touch.
We speak to you this morning on, "Christ's Sonship, and Ours." And then notice in the first place, the denied difference; secondly, the essential difference; Notice -- the denied difference, and the essential difference; and finally, the similarity.
Now this is the difference that are being denied on every side today, and those are the things of course, that we should also expect. These were the things that have been denied since before the Christian era. Already in the days of Greece and of Rome, these were the things that were denied that there would ever be anyone like this. Anyone who was the only begotten Son of God, the Jews can't understand that even to the present day. And that God can have a son; this is out of the question because of the fact that He has no body, and if there is no body then how are you going to have a son. You have a son that only comes through the body. "And a body have I prepared thee," says the revelation already in the Old Testament. So that they also ought to be on the alert that there is something going to take place that is entirely different. Is going to be entirely different than anything they have ever imagined. That He is going to prepare Him a body; for what! "But God Himself is going to provide the lamb," says Abraham to Isaac. "He will provide, my son." Well, if He is going to provide a lamb then it will also have to be one with a body.
Now, He is the only begotten Son, but that is denied today; that has been denied all along. That was denied especially philosophically in Greece already in pantheism. And some of these Greek philosophical terms, and philosophical ideas, we thought that we were through with that already for many years. And we studied these and also came to the conclusion that it is utter nonsense. That I have a spark of the divine, and that everything is God's, everything is part of God. In nature round about us you see God displayed, and it even sounds, sounds pious. You see God displayed everywhere, see Him displayed this morning in the lightning and thunder, see Him displayed in the beauty of nature. So that all is God. Now those are things, like I say, that I thought we were through with already years and centuries ago. But it is not the case. Now it is again erecting its head in such things as the New Age. And that is coming again with that same philosophy, with that same heresy; yah, I know, new heresies, you know. All the heresies of the present day have been there already for ages. And they come in a different form some time, but this one doesn't even come in different form. And here we have it proclaimed again in the New Age, all is god. And you are gods, and nature is god, and it might even be someone above; might be; could be; hard to tell.
And this is being proclaimed people, throughout the schools of this country and, I am told that it is even making its inroads in some of our Christian schools. That New Age philosophy, that we have a spark of the divine, we are part of Him, and this is not only nonsense, but it is also something that is blasphemy. He is the only begotten Son, and I am a son of an entirely different type. And now to deny the difference, to say that well, He is divine, but so am I, He is the Son of God, but so am I. And as a result, that there is no difference between the two, then you land right in the camp of pantheism and you land right in the camp of those who do not fear God, but have an entirely different outlook than what the Bible gives us.
Because now it becomes this beloved, that they have shown Jesus to be this, that He is one who shows us the way, shows us the way. In other words, He was the first to come to the conclusion that He was divine; it took us a little bit longer. But He was the first. I heard a sermon about 40 years ago, in one of our own churches, where this minister preached on that episode of Christ in the temple at age 12, under the theme, mind you, "The dawning of the Messianic consciousness." The big words already made it clear to the people of course, that it wasn't so bad. But nevertheless, it showed that He was not the God from eternity, not the Son from eternity, but now it dawned on Him when He was age 12, hey, I am the Son of God. That is the kind of "gospel" in quotation marks that you get then. And those are the things that are now being pedalled again, and they are being taught, and they are being pushed forward by those who seemingly have a new hold on things, with the New Age, and are going to make that clear to the whole nation. That this is something new, this is something bold, and this is something that is of great import to us.
No, this denies the Christ because He is only one to show us the way, and that if you only have enough sense to follow it, you'd be alright. But it is still up to you. He has only shown us the way, not that He is The way; not that it is only by means of Him. But that it is this, that He has shown us the way. Now, if we were also bright enough so that we would also grasp that. And that you would also realize you are a son of God, and that the divine is in you. And now that that divine may be stirred up within you. And that is the thing that is being taught today. It is being accepted by thousands and by millions.
Now these are some of the dangerous things beloved, whereby we are faced again in a very practical way. And when these practical things come to us, yah, then we begin to wonder. Sometimes we fall victim to it and our children fall victim to it, and our young people fall victim to it. They must be instructed in these things what are fundamental. And this is it, Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, who is God. "I and the Father are one," and these people deny that. Jesus Christ is one of the greatest teachers that has ever been, one of the greatest, the great healer. A man of tremendous capacity, man of tremendous ability, and they have missed the mark. Because the mark is this, whose Son is He, whose Son is He? "That," says Christ, "is going to show where you stand." "What think ye of the Christ," that is, "whose Son is He?"
And if you say anything less than this, that He is the Son of God, from all eternity, and here are things of course, that are far beyond us, that we are not able to grasp. That He was the Son of God from all eternity, that He was always there, eternal, not created, not made. And that is the way they have been together throughout all eternity; and that's the way He still is. That is the Christ, that is the only begotten Son, that is the One whom we serve, and that is the One whom we adore, and that is the One whom we worship.
Secondly, notice also the essential difference. Now some things already have been said of course, already in connection with this, what is the essential difference? And the essential difference is this beloved, that He is the only begotten, and I am not. I am a son of God, but I am not the only begotten. I am also a son of God and He is not the only Son, so that the translation that they have now in ever so many churches is wrong. There are more sons, we all are; sons of God, and we may not touch that, as we will see in a moment. But that we will realize that He is standing head and shoulders above us all. He is the natural, the only begotten, the Son of God from all eternity; that is the one who is God, who is of the nature of God, and that is the One who is to be feared, is to be worshipped, is to be adored. Because of the fact that He is divine; because of the fact that He is able to say without contradiction, "I and the Father are one." That He is able to say to the Jews of His day, "Before Abraham was, I Am." The fact that He was there at the council, council of peace, at the council of redemption. The very fact, as the book of Revelation points out again and again, that He is the One who was slain from the foundations of the world. And that this is the One who is now upon the throne, and that is the One who is coming again. That is the only begotten Son of God.
And therefore when we call Him God's only begotten Son, then we are thereby dealing with this matter of that revelation of Jesus Christ which is a revelation that goes to the depths, and that shows to us how, and in what relationship He is standing to us. And over against that, I am a son of God by adoption. I am a son of God not by nature but by grace. This question and answer states that. Notice; because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God, but we are children of God by adoption, through grace, for Christ's sake. In other words, the natural, the only begotten Son of God has seen to it that we would receive the adoption. That is the beauty of it. That is the grace, that it is in Christ's name, for Christ's sake. Christ has chosen us, Christ has purchased us, so that He who is the only begotten does not want to hold onto that at all costs. But has now also seen to it that there were so many others adopted, adopted.
Well, this means beloved, that we have then also these same kind of a fundamental relationship to the Father. That is, that we are heirs. Whether we are natural children or adopted, we are heirs. That is the same; legally it's the same. Because the Father is then responsible for us, and we are responsible to Him. We are legally heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, says the apostle. Can you imagine! There's no end to it, of all the benefits that we have. We are the children of God, but that does not yet make us the only begotten Son. Now, there is the difference of day and night of course, and that is the difference that must also be very clearly seen, that essential difference.
So that it is true that the adopted children have to worship the only begotten. They worship Him as their God; that is the difference. And that is the essential difference. And that difference may never be blotted out, it may never be wiped out; this is something that must always stand. And otherwise we have done despite to the matter of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. But we are heirs of God, heirs according to promise, and the promises of God are without end, the promise of God are so numerous that they cannot be counted.
Now we are heirs of that, joint heirs with Christ, He looks on us as though we were Christ’s. So that we ask for forgiveness as though we were Christ’s, as though we had paid it all ourselves. That's what that being an heir means; we are heirs of His favor, heirs of His love, heirs of His riches. And there's no limit to it. Now that is the glorious station of the children of God. And those who would then stretch out their hand and even touch the only begotten Son, it is impossible to believe that anyone would do that. That they would even dare to, because He still stands head and shoulders above all the others. It is only through grace that they have been received, but oh, how they have been received, and what a tremendous transformation has occurred.
See, this matter of salvation is not a minor matter. This matter of salvation goes to the depths of our being, and to the depths of life. And if we have that, we have everything, and if we don't have that, we have nothing. That is the relationship between the only begotten, and also we are sons of God. But the only begotten stands before us as God Himself. He is God; "I and the Father are One."
You can imagine what a tremendous blow that was to all of Jewry at that time, when He spoke these words. That He would dare say, "The Father and I are one." And they say, "this man blasphemes, he blasphemes. We've never heard it like this." And it would be one or the other, it's got to be two or it is blasphemy; see. But it was true. And therefore there is that essential difference between Christ's Sonship and ours.
And finally, notice also, the similarity. Now when we deal with this beloved, then we must also immediately establish this, that our sonship is something that we are to note, not only, but that we are to embrace, and that we are to realize, is something that is the greatest gift that could ever be given to us. That sonship is so beautiful, that there is nothing less that is given to us then this, that we are now children of God, sons of God, heirs of eternal life.
See, it is shown to us so beautifully for example, in the prodigal son. And that prodigal son, the story that everybody knows, every child knows, and it is this, that when he is in that far country and finally comes to himself. Comes to himself; that's good psychological language even. He has been away from himself apparently. But now comes to himself and then he says, "I will go to my father. Because even the servants of my father have abundance, they have plenty, and I don't have enough to eat. I must forgo even the essentials of life, and even the servants have plenty. And I will say, 'I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight. I am no longer worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants.'" But he never says that. He gets part way, he says to his father when he finally meets him, "I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight. I am no longer worthy to be called thy son." PERIOD. He never says, "make me as one of thy hired servants." He doesn't dare, he can't, he sees his father.
Because that would be the limit, to say to his father, "I am not your child anymore; make me a servant." That would hurt. So he doesn't say it. He had a mind to, because, yah, to get back into the good graces you'd do almost anything. And you plan it ahead of time. But no, when it comes right down to it, you can't say that though. Because he's still his child, and he looks at his father's face, and now the words die in his throat. He can't say it, "make me as one of thy hired servants."
We are the children of God, and we may never let loose of that. There are so many who have, and have done so and have lost tremendously of their own spiritual life. They don't dare to lay hold on this, that they are the children of God; that they are the children by adoption; that they are the children who have received everything and are now heirs of God and of His promises, and joint heirs with Christ. That's too much to expect isn't it; it is way too much to expect, but it is given. We always get more than what we could expect. And here it is given ever so clearly, and we must lay hold on it. We may not act as though it is something that does not exist, but we are to lay hold on it completely, and recognize that He has indeed given us that sonship.
And that is, says the Catechism, by adoption. And that is the language also of Scripture, and it borrows it from Scripture, because it uses that time and again. Adopted to be the children of God. And adoption, as you know, does not make you a member of that family in such a way so that you have the characteristics. Those characteristics are not found. And then someone is not able to say, "well, she looks like her mother," or "he looks like his father," because, that's not there. But here it is, an adoption so that the Bible also seems to go to the extremes in order to make it clear to us what this really is. So that they are born again, born again. Now you don't have that with an adopted child; he was born, not in your home, but he was born. But now this one is adopted and born again. "So that he is born of God," says the apostle John. And Peter adds to it, that he has become partaker of the divine nature. In other words beloved, this adoption goes way beyond what we know as adoption, way beyond.
We know it as a legal process whereby an adopted child is just as much entitled to the wealth of the father as is the natural son. Just as much. But we had never thought of anything like this because it is impossible in human life, that these are born again. Oh, Psalm 87, of which we will sing at the conclusion, had already intimated that. That concerning Babel and Tyre, it is going to be said, this one and that one was born in her, born in Zion. Can you imagine! That's Old Testament, and that was already pointing in that direction. But that is the beauty. We are the children of God only by adoption? Don't ever say that! We are the children by God by adoption; that is, we are born of Him, that is, we are born again, that is, we are made partakers of the divine nature. Now we begin to look like Him. And that is precisely what the Scriptures require.
So that there is given to us in this adoption something most beautiful. There is given something that is so beyond all comprehension, that it is indeed grace that we may be called children of God, children of God. "And such we are," says the apostle in the words that I read to you this morning; "and such we are." For we do not yet know what we shall be, no, you know, there is still so much waiting. But we know, that when He appears we shall be like Him. Why? Because we shall see Him as He is. And if you are going to see Him as He is, you'll have to like Him, and otherwise you are going to be blinded. You'll have to be like Him. So that we shall be like Him for, for we shall see Him as He is. That's what we mean, and that's what the creed means by this, that we are the children of God. This is what we mean by this, and what the creed means by it, that this is God's only begotten Son, whom we reverence, whom we adore, whom we worship. Not elder brother, as some have said; that's nowhere found in Scripture. But nevertheless who is like unto us, his brethren; well, His brethren. They're adopted, but they're His brethren. And that is the One who is the only begotten Son of God, the Christ, God's Son, the One whom we worship, for whom we come together again every Sunday, twice. To worship Him, to adore Him, to bring honor to Him. And He is here with His brethren. So close, so close is that relationship that it can't be made closer, in human terms. He is the only begotten, but we are also children, by adoption, through grace, for Christ's sake. That's the way we have come into that beautiful family relationship with our God. Amen....
We thank Thee heavenly Father, for the grace and for the mercy Thou hast bestowed on us. We thank Thee for the glorious truth which Thou hast made known to us. Thou Lord art a God of grace and Thou art a God of infinite mercy. We thank Thee that we may know that Jesus Christ is the only begotten of God, and that we may also know that we are children of God by adoption. We pray Father, wilt Thou continue Thy blessing upon us. Bless this Word to our hearts. Bring us together again in this evening in order that we may also be enabled to prepare ourselves for the Lord's Supper on the coming Lord's Day. Forgive our sins, and hear us, in Jesus our Redeemer's name. Amen....
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