Sonship: Beginning, Purpose, and Fulfillment
Bernard’s Oneness account of the Son as God’s genuine human manifestation for incarnation, redemption, mediation, kingship, and final victory.
Overview
David K. Bernard separates two questions that are often merged: Did Jesus preexist? and Did the Sonship preexist? His Oneness answer is that the deity of Jesus is the eternal God and that God’s Word and redemptive plan are eternal, but “Son” necessarily includes the human life conceived in Mary. Sonship therefore begins in history rather than naming a second divine person alongside the Father from eternity.
This article states Bernard’s model in its own terms. Nicene Christianity answers differently by confessing the eternal person of the Son, begotten rather than made, who assumes humanity in time.
When does Sonship begin?
Bernard reads Luke 1:35 as definitional: the holy child conceived by the Spirit will be called the Son of God. Galatians 4:4 places the sending of the Son in “the fullness of time” and joins it to birth from a woman. Psalm 2:7, Acts 13:33, and Hebrews 1:5 supply “today” and begetting language that Bernard interprets as historical and prophetic.
In this reading, Old Testament references to the Son look forward to incarnation, resurrection, and messianic rule. They do not record conversations between two divine persons before creation. The eternal reality behind the incarnation is God’s own Word, wisdom, foreknowledge, and purpose.
What is the Son for?
Sonship is not an unnecessary mask. It is the authentic human economy through which God saves. Bernard gathers several offices that require genuine humanity:
- Sacrifice and substitute: a sinless human life can truly suffer and die for humanity (Hebrews 2:14; 10:5–10).
- Kinsman-redeemer: Christ shares our flesh and blood and acts as our brother.
- Mediator and advocate: “the man Christ Jesus” represents humanity before God (1 Timothy 2:5).
- High priest: Jesus experiences weakness and temptation, then intercedes for those he saves (Hebrews 4:14–16).
- Last Adam and example: obedient human life repairs Adam’s failure and gives believers a pattern.
- Messianic king: the risen Christ receives authority until every enemy is defeated (Psalm 110:1; 1 Corinthians 15:24–28).
The distinction between deity and humanity is therefore soteriological: it explains how the one God can personally save through a life that genuinely belongs to the human family.
What reaches an end?
Bernard reads 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 as the completion of the messianic administration. Christ delivers the kingdom, every enemy is defeated, and the Son is subjected so that God may be all in all. He calls this, in one qualified sense, the end of Sonship.
That wording can easily be misunderstood. Bernard does not say the risen Jesus is erased. He expects the glorified body to remain visible in the new creation and reads Revelation 22:3–4 as one throne, one divine face, and one name. What ends is the unfinished work of sacrifice, mediation against sin, conquest, and kingdom transfer. The victory those offices served is complete.
Key passages
- Luke 1:35; Galatians 4:4 — conception, birth, and sending in history.
- Psalm 2:7; Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5 — begetting and enthronement language.
- Hebrews 2:14–18; 10:5–20 — humanity required for saving death and priesthood.
- 1 Timothy 2:5 — the human mediator.
- Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34–36 — messianic authority and victory.
- 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 — kingdom completion and “God all in all.”
- Revelation 22:3–4 — the enduring visible self-revelation of God and the Lamb.
The central disagreement
For Bernard, “eternal Son” confuses the eternal deity with a sonship that includes birth, obedience, suffering, death, mediation, and reign. Nicene theology replies that these historical actions belong to the incarnate mission of the eternally begotten Son; it does not define eternal generation as a biological event in time.
Both readings distinguish incarnation in history from God’s eternity. They disagree about whether “Son” names an eternal divine person or the historical divine-human manifestation and role.
Connected Atlas concepts
The Divine-Human Christ · The Word Before Bethlehem · The Sending of the Son · At the Right Hand of God · One God Manifested in Jesus
Primary source
This article paraphrases The Oneness of God, chapter 5, especially pp. 98–124. It preserves Bernard’s distinction between the continuing glorified Jesus and the completion of the redemptive Son-role.