The Only Begotten Son Of God

June 2016 — Grace & Truth Magazine


The Only Begotten Son Of God

Our Lord was always the Son! Vine’s Dictionary Of New Testament Words tells us “begotten does not imply a beginning of His Sonship.” Some creeds contain expressions like “begotten before all worlds” – causing misunderstanding. In the Bible only one Greek word is used to describe our Lord: monogenes . It is a compound word formed from mono, meaning “ one ,” and genes , meaning “kind.” Thus Scripture describes our Lord as the one-of-a-kind Son, or unique Son.

A prominent world religion suggests that God the Father took on the form of a man and impregnated Mary. But Scripture says that Mary “was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:18 ESV), not through the Father! The Father sent the Son (Jn. 5:37), and the Son came in the Father’s name (Jn. 5:43). Thus the Trinity, who is the God we worship as God, was involved in the incarnation: “The Word [our Lord] became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14).

We read that God “sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 Jn. 4:9 NKJV) and God “sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10 ESV). Let us never forget that our Lord Jesus never ceased being God. He always was God the Son and always will be.

The man Christ Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). As the Son of God, “by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible” (v.16). To the Son was delegated the task of creation, just as a human father delegates tasks to a mature son.

Again according to Vine’s, the expression “the only-begotten ... expresses both His eternal union with the Father in the Godhead and the ineffable [indescribable] intimacy and love between them, the Son sharing all the Father’s counsels and enjoying His affections.”

Unlike others who worship what they do not know, knowing these things we will worship God in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:22-24)!

By Alan H. Crosby