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| subject: | Jesus Only Begotten Son Of God? 09 |
While we have proven that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God, we have not yet addressed the question of whether or not He the ONLY Son of God? There are some people, and not a few, who have interpreted some of the previous verses as meaning exactly that; that is, that Jesus Christ is the only Son that God has. As we will see shortly, this is most definitely not the case. In order to validate this claim, we are going to delve into yet another theme which has been widely misunderstood by many modern-day Christians. Let's begin by taking a look at some verses regarding the children of Abraham. In the Book of Genesis, we read the following: "And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael." (Genesis 16:15, KJV) "And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac." (Genesis 21:1-3, KJV) In the previous verses we witness the birth of Abraham's two sons; his firstborn, Ishmael, by Hagar the Egyptian handmaid of his wife Sarah, and Isaac, the child of faith given to him by his wife Sarah in their old age. However, notice what the Apostle Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews: "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son," (Hebrews 11:17, KJV) If Genesis tells us plainly that Abraham had two sons, why does Paul refer to Isaac as Abraham's 'only begotten son'? Is Paul contradicting the writings of the Old Testament? Definitely not! As you probably already aware, this term 'only begotten' is also used to describe Jesus Christ in a well-known verse from the third chapter of the Gospel of John: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, KJV) The above verse is actually a fulfillment of one of many prophecies uttered by King David in his Psalms regarding our Saviour, and His future reign on the Earth during the coming Millennium, when He will rule the rebellious world with a rod of iron subduing all nations for the glory and honour of His Father: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." (Psalms 2:1-12, KJV) In the above Psalm, I believe that the word 'LORD' is actually referring to God the Father who is speaking to His Son, Jesus Christ, who is referred to as 'his anointed', 'my Son', and 'the Son'. Notice also the phrase 'this day have I begotten thee'. As we have already seen, these are some of the very same phrases we find being used in the four Gospels to describe Jesus Christ. Thus in this prophetic Psalm, we witness the glorious reign of the Father and Son team during the Millennium. As I have mentioned in some of my Endtime articles, the Prophet Daniel also spoke of these coming events. In the second chapter of the book named after him, the Prophet interprets a wonderful night vision given to King Nebuchadnezzar, in which the Babylonian king sees a great image composed of different types of metal and clay. This towering statue is then struck in the feet by a rock which causes it to go crashing to the ground. In his interpretation of this particular part of the vision, the Prophet Daniel states the following: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Daniel 2:44, KJV) As we saw earlier, in the Gospel of Matthew, while speaking to the chief priests and the Pharisees, Jesus refers to this very same prophecy, in order to make a point with these self-righteous rulers of ancient Israel. You might also want to take note of the similarities in the verse references: "Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." (Matthew 21:42-44, KJV) The spiritual unity between the Old and the New Testaments is truly amazing. Although written hundreds, and possibly thousands of years apart, they fit together like a hand in a glove. Similar to King David, Daniel and Jesus, the Apostle John likewise mentioned the Lord's coming rule of iron three times in the Book of Revelation: "And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father." (Revelation 2:27, KJV) "And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." (Revelation 12:5, KJV) "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." (Revelation 19:15, KJV) Returning to the phrases "Thou art my Son" and "only begotten", in Acts chapter thirteen, when the Apostle Paul preached in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, he also made mention of the prophecies found in Psalm Two when he said: "God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." (Acts 13:33, KJV) This prophecy has much greater significance than most people realize. The fact that it is mentioned in the Psalms, in the Gospels, in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles, certainly attests to this fact. Exactly what is it that the writers were trying to tell us by using this phrase? Have we truly understood their message? In the final part of this series, I will presenting the shocking, exciting and wonderful conclusions at which I have arrived after performing a thorough study of the Holy Scriptures. I trust that you will join me. Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files. We Use Hermes II --- Hermes Web Tosser 1.1* Origin: Armageddon BBS -- Guam, Mariana Islands (1:345/3777.0) SEEN-BY: 10/1 3 34/999 53/558 120/228 123/500 128/2 140/1 222/2 226/0 236/150 SEEN-BY: 249/303 250/306 261/20 38 100 1381 1404 1406 1418 266/1413 280/1027 SEEN-BY: 320/119 396/45 633/260 267 285 712/848 800/432 801/161 189 2222/700 SEEN-BY: 2320/100 105 200 2905/0 @PATH: 345/3777 10/1 261/38 633/260 267 |
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