Individual Israelite ‘sons.’ God also designated certain individuals within Israel as his ‘sons,’ in a special sense. Psalm 2, attributed to David at Acts 4:24-26, evidently applies to him initially when speaking of God’s “son.” (Ps 2:1, 2, 7-12) The psalm was later fulfilled in Christ Jesus, as the context in Acts shows. Since the context in the psalm shows that God is speaking, not to a baby, but to a grown man, in saying, “You are my son; I, today, I have become your father,” it follows that David’s entry into such sonship resulted from God’s special selection of him for the kingship and from God’s fatherly dealings with him. (Compare Ps 89:3, 19-27.) In a similar way Jehovah said of David’s son Solomon, “I myself shall become his father, and he himself will become my son.”​—2Sa 7:12-14; 1Ch 22:10; 28:6.

However, about 30 years after his birth as a human, when he was immersed by John the Baptizer, God’s spirit came upon Jesus and God spoke, saying: “You are my Son, the beloved; I have approved you.” (Lu 3:21-23; Mt 3:16, 17) Evidently Jesus, the man, was then “born again” as a spirit-begotten Son with the hope of returning to life in heaven, and he was anointed by spirit to be God’s appointed king and high priest. (Joh 3:3-6; compare 17:4, 5; see JESUS CHRIST [His Baptism].) A similar expression was made by God at the transfiguration on the mount, in which vision Jesus was seen in Kingdom glory. (Compare Mt 16:28 and 17:1-5.) With regard to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, Paul applied part of Psalm 2 to that occasion, quoting God’s words, “You are my son, I have become your Father this day,” and he also applied words from God’s covenant with David, namely: “I myself shall become his father, and he himself will become my son.” (Ps 2:7; 2Sa 7:14; Ac 13:33; Heb 1:5; compare Heb 5:5.) By his resurrection from the dead to spirit life, Jesus was “declared God’s Son” (Ro 1:4), “declared righteous in spirit.”​—1Ti 3:16.