For my Muslim friends who might be reading here

Greetings and I hope that you are finding peace and prosperity in the New Year. I have not forgotten you as I focus on Christian and secular events recently. I thought of you when I posted a recent Bible quotation from King David because I found a passage that you might find helpful. King David received a lengthy message from God, through the prophet Nathan. In this message God requested that at long last a house be built for him where the Ark can reside. God promised that David would find his name great on the earth and God gave him a number of prophecies. One of them is this:

Moreover, I declare to you that I, the Lord, will build you a house; so that when your days have been completed and you must join your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who will be one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He it is who shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me, and I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from him who preceded you; but I will maintain him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be firmly established forever (1 Chronicles 17: 10-14).

We know that God is not referring to the immediate heirs of David because all of them, even the great King Solomon, failed God in some way. God is careful to say that he will "raise up your offspring after you" but refers to only "one of your own sons." In other words, ONE of David's descendants will have a kingdom "establish[ed]" by God, God will "establish his throne forever," God "will be a father to him," God "will not withdraw [his] favor from him," God will "maintain him in [his] house and in [his] kingdom forever," and God will "firmly establish forever" "his throne." God states that this one descendant of David "is who shall build me a house." This is clearly reference to Jesus Christ, who is descended from David through both Mary and her spouse, his stepfather, Joseph. Joseph's lineage from David is detailed generation by generation in the Bible Book of Matthew.

The reason I point this out to you is that I am aware that a gap in understanding of Jesus being called the Son of God exists between the Muslim faith and the Christian faith. As you know I seek to narrow the gaps through scholarly and cultural understanding, not by sweeping the legitimate differences in faith under the carpet or minimizing them. However I have observed, as I know you have, dear Muslim brothers and sisters, that scholarly and open minded reading of the scriptures on both sides and the discussion points I have raised have helped mightily to narrow the gap. So I point this passage out to you as a legitimate viewpoint to consider. Notice that God is not saying that this offspring of David is literally a son of God in the way a human would use the word "son." God is saying that "I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me." This is different than making a secular declaration of parenthood, which is what Muslims correctly question. God is stating that he will be "a father TO him" and the one offspring "shall be a son TO me." In other words God will grant the privileges that a son is entitled to have from his father. He confirms this by saying, "And I will not withdraw my favor from him." God is granting the one offspring of David who will build a house for him (the Church) and who will never disappoint him (clearly not the Israelites who were chastised by prophets to the very end) the privilege of being able to call God "father" and to be called by God "son."

Further God states that he will "maintain him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be firmly established forever." Well, where is God's house? In heaven. What are the only things that last forever? In heaven. And where is the only place that a throne can be established forever? In heaven. Jesus Christ alone of the offspring of David was perfect in his lack of disappointing of God and therefore merited the privilege, through God's own statement, to be a son "to God" and for God to be a father "to him." And we know from both the Bible and the Qur'an that Jesus Christ ascended to heaven. That is very clear because it is there in heaven that God will "maintain him in my house and in my kingdom forever" and it is in heaven that the throne of Jesus Christ was established, since obviously that did not occur in perfection and completion on earth. Jesus Christ built a house for God by being the Savior and Messiah, and in return merited the privilege of being able to call God "father" and being called by God "son" in return, as God himself through Nathan prophesied to King David.

I hope this information helps in your understanding one aspect of difficulty, which is why the scripture records that Jesus referred to God as "father" and God has referred to Jesus as "son," even though you would correctly question a secular biological or heir type relationship that clearly God is above having. God is above having literal family ties, but God is fully within his infinite manifestation by the granting of the privilege of reference as "father" and "son" to the one offspring of David who God chooses to "raise up." Jesus repeatedly explained that all that he did he did from God. God is the one who raised him up and conferred the privilege of the title of "son" and ability to call God "father." This is a nuance but not insignificant. God is declaring a relationship and indeed having it prophesied to King David. Declaring a relationship is different from the restrictions of the literal relationship as defined in human biological and material inheritance terms, which is what Islam is justifiably cautious about. But Jesus was fully within his right to call God "father" and to be called "son" in return because God gave Jesus' forefather David declaration and notification that he would confer this privilege.

Looking forward to reading about continuing dialogue and mutual understanding and until then, best wishes and greetings to all of good hearts and caring.