The issue is not whether Christians should honour Jesus Christ as divine. Scripture is plain that the Son is not a mere man, not an angel, and not a created being. He is the Word who was with God and was God, the One through whom all things were made, and the One in whom the fullness of deity dwells. The real question is more specific: Why is Christ divine, and what does the Bible mean when it calls Him the only begotten Son of God?
This is where a major difference appears between much of modern corporate Adventism and the belief held by the early Adventist pioneers. Modern Adventism commonly affirms Christ’s deity while treating His Sonship as metaphorical, functional, or tied mainly to His incarnation and saving mission. The pioneers, however, understood Christ as truly the Son of God before Bethlehem — begotten of the Father, not created, and therefore possessing the Father’s own divine nature.
This distinction matters because the Bible does not separate Christ’s divinity from His Sonship. Again and again, Scripture presents the Father as truly Father and Christ as truly Son. To deny or redefine that Sonship is not a small wording difference. It changes the way we understand God’s love, Christ’s identity, and the very foundation of the gospel.
The modern corporate SDA position
In modern Adventist theology, Christ is usually described as eternally divine, coequal with the Father, and without any beginning. But in order to protect this theological framework, the language of “only begotten Son” is often explained in a non-literal way. “Begotten” is commonly treated as meaning unique, special, or one-of-a-kind rather than truly brought forth from the Father.
The result is that Jesus may be called the Son of God, but His Sonship is often understood as a role, title, metaphor, or redemptive office rather than His actual preexistent identity. In this view, Christ is divine because He has always existed independently as God, not because He is the true Son of the Father.
This position attempts to defend Christ’s deity, but it does so by weakening the plain meaning of the biblical language. The Bible does not merely say that God sent someone who became His Son in a symbolic sense. It says that God sent His Son into the world.
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
1 John 4:9, KJV
The text does not say that God sent one who would later become His Son. It says He sent His only begotten Son. This means Christ was already the Son before He was sent into the world.
The pioneer Adventist position
The early Adventist understanding was different. The pioneers believed that Christ was truly divine, but they connected His divinity with His true Sonship. He was not a created being. He was not made from nothing. He was begotten of the Father and therefore shared the Father’s own divine nature.
This is the important distinction: begotten does not mean created. A created being is made by divine power. A begotten son receives the nature of the one who begets him. Therefore, if Christ is truly begotten of God, then He is truly divine, because He possesses the divine nature of His Father.
This is why the confession that Jesus is the Son of God is not a weak confession. It is a confession of His divinity.
“She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”
John 11:27, KJV
Martha did not confess Christ as merely a religious teacher. She confessed Him as the Christ, the Son of God, the One who existed before coming into the world. Her confession connects His Messiahship, His Sonship, and His preexistence.
The real question — why is Christ divine?
The modern argument often says that Christ must be divine because He has no beginning. From that premise, any real begetting is rejected, because it is assumed that being begotten would make Him created or less than God. But Scripture never teaches that the Father’s Son is a creature. It presents Him as the divine Son through whom all creation came into existence.
“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
John 1:3, KJV
If all created things were made by Christ, then Christ Himself is not part of the created order. He is before creation, above creation, and active in creation. Yet John also calls Him the only begotten Son.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, … the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14, KJV
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
John 1:18, KJV
The Bible therefore holds both truths together: Christ is not created, and Christ is truly the only begotten Son. Modern theology often treats those ideas as opposites. Scripture does not.
Christ proceeded forth from God
Jesus Himself spoke of His origin from the Father. He did not describe Himself as merely appointed to a role. He said He proceeded forth and came from God.
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.”
John 8:42, KJV
He also said:
“For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.”
John 16:27, KJV
“I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
John 16:28, KJV
These verses are difficult to reduce to mere metaphor. Christ says He came out from God, came forth from the Father, and then came into the world. This supports the pioneer understanding that Christ’s Sonship existed before His incarnation.
The only begotten Son and the love of God
John 3:16 is one of the clearest gospel texts in the Bible. Yet its force is weakened when “only begotten Son” is treated as a mere title or metaphor.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…”
John 3:16, KJV
The greatness of God’s love is revealed in the greatness of the gift. God did not merely send a representative. He gave His Son. If the Father–Son relationship is only symbolic, then the depth of the sacrifice is obscured. But if Christ is truly God’s only begotten Son, then John 3:16 becomes even more powerful: the Father gave the One most precious to Him.
This same truth appears in 1 John:
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
1 John 4:10, KJV
The gospel is built upon the Father sending His Son. The Sonship of Christ is not a minor doctrine. It is central to the revelation of God’s love.
Proverbs 8 and Christ as the wisdom of God
Proverbs 8 speaks of Wisdom being brought forth before the earth was made:
“The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting… When there were no depths, I was brought forth…”
Proverbs 8:22–24, KJV
Some reject any connection between Proverbs 8 and Christ. Yet the New Testament calls Christ “the wisdom of God.”
“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:24, KJV
“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom…”
1 Corinthians 1:30, KJV
When Proverbs 8 is read alongside the New Testament, it gives strong biblical support to the truth that Christ existed before creation and was brought forth before the world was made. This does not make Him a creature. Rather, it identifies Him as the divine Wisdom of God, existing with the Father before all created things.
Begotten is not created
A major confusion in this debate is the failure to distinguish between begotten and created. Scripture does not present Christ as a created being. In fact, Hebrews places Him far above the angels and connects His superiority with His Sonship.
“Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
Hebrews 1:4, KJV
“For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?”
Hebrews 1:5, KJV
Christ is not one of the angels. He is not a heavenly creature elevated to divine status. He is the Son. His inheritance, name, authority, and nature are above the angels because He stands in a relationship to the Father that no created being possesses.
Hebrews also says:
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…”
Hebrews 1:3, KJV
The Son is the express image of the Father’s person. This language fits true Sonship. Christ reveals the Father because He is truly from the Father.
The heavenly controversy over the Son
The controversy over Christ’s position did not begin on earth. Scripture shows that pride and rebellion began with a created being who desired a position that did not belong to him.
“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
Isaiah 14:14, KJV
Lucifer wanted equality and exaltation that were not his by nature. Christ, however, did not grasp at something stolen. He possessed divine honour by right, as the Son of God.
“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God…”
Philippians 2:6, KJV
This helps explain why the Sonship of Christ is so important. The enemy has always hated the truth that Christ holds a unique position with the Father. To obscure Christ’s true Sonship is to obscure the very truth that Lucifer resisted.
What modern Adventism gets right — and where it goes wrong
Modern Adventism is right to reject the idea that Jesus is a mere man, a created angel, or a lesser saviour. It is right to affirm that Christ is divine, preexistent, and worthy of worship. But it goes wrong when it redefines the Sonship of Christ in order to preserve a later theological system.
The Bible does not ask us to choose between Christ’s deity and His Sonship. It teaches both. Christ is divine because He is the only begotten Son of the living God, not because His Sonship is only a symbol. His Sonship is the very truth that reveals His divine origin, His relationship to the Father, and the greatness of God’s gift to the world.
Why the pioneer view is more biblical
The pioneer Adventist view takes the Bible’s language more plainly. Father means Father. Son means Son. Begotten means begotten. Sent means sent. Came forth means came forth. This view does not make Christ created. It preserves the biblical distinction between a created being and the only begotten Son of God.
It also gives deeper meaning to the gospel. God did not send an associate playing the role of Son. He sent His actual Son. Christ did not merely pretend to reveal the Father. He reveals Him perfectly because He is the express image of His person.
This is the confession upon which true faith rests:
“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:16, KJV
Jesus did not rebuke Peter for using inadequate language. He blessed him for receiving this truth from the Father.
“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 16:17, KJV
Conclusion — return to the plain testimony of Scripture
The issue facing modern Adventism is not merely historical. It is biblical. Will we allow Scripture to define Christ’s identity, or will we force Scripture’s language into philosophical categories?
The Bible presents Jesus as the Word who was God, the Creator of all things, the express image of the Father, the wisdom of God, and the only begotten Son sent into the world for our salvation. These truths belong together. To confess Christ as the Son of God is to confess His divine identity, His preexistent glory, and the Father’s immeasurable love.
The safest path is to return to the plain words of Scripture:
“And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”
John 6:69, KJV
Christ is not a created being. He is not merely a symbolic Son. He is the divine, only begotten Son of God, brought forth before creation, sent into the world, crucified for our sins, risen in victory, and worthy of all honour, worship, and obedience.