John 3:16 says, “For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Many people don’t
understand what the term “Only-Begotten Son” means. They think God had only one
Son in heaven and sent Him to earth. WRONG.
The Greek word for
“only begotten” is monogenes and
means “uniquely born” or “one-of-a-kind
birth.”
The conception and birth of Jesus was unique—nothing like it had ever happened
before and will never happen again in the future. He was conceived in the womb
of a virgin by the Holy Spirit and is the only one born with two
natures—divine and human. Jesus was all God and all man.
1. Jesus existed as “the Word” in eternity past.
Jesus always existed
as God in eternity past. Micah 5:2 says His days are from eternity. John
1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word (this was His name before
“Jesus”) and the Word was with God (the Father), and the Word
was God.” Jesus pre-existed as God and left
His throne in heaven to come to earth and become man.
2. When Jesus left heaven to take on a human body, “the Word”
became “the Son.”
Cults teach that a
father is older than a son, so Jesus must have come into existence at a point
in time. The Bible does not teach this. Jesus
has always existed as God in eternity past, and the term “Son” refers to His
humanity which began at His Incarnation. John 1:14 says, “And the Word
became flesh
and dwelt among us.” The angel Gabriel told Mary, “You will conceive in you
womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Highest.” (Luke 1:31-32)
Dr. Walter Martin,
author of The Kingdom of the Cults,
writes:
"There is no such
thing as 'the eternal Son of God.' Before Jesus took upon Himself a human form,
He already existed with the Father. Hebrews 1:5-6 says that when He brings
the first-begotten into the world, He says, 'I will be a Father to Him,
and He will be a Son to Me. This is a reference to the Incarnation. It
is a change of relationship when the Word takes on flesh—the Word
becomes the Son.”
The terms "Father" and "Son" describe the
first two Persons of the Trinity, God and Jesus, after Christ came to earth. This
proves that the terms “begotten” and “sonship” refer to His humanity and not
His divinity. As God, He had no
beginning, was not begotten, and was not a Son. As man, He was begotten in the flesh and became the Son. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net
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