IS JESUS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD? - PART 3

Copyright 1994 - 2009 Endtime Prophecy Net

Last Updated : April 11, 2009

Defining "The Only Begotten Son Of God", The Spirit Of
Antichrist, False Prophets And Messiahs, The Ultimate Evil
And Delusion, Physical And Spiritual Birth, Transformation
And Resurrection, Redeemable Coupons And The Gift Of Faith,
Begotten At The Resurrection, Born Of Water And The Spirit,
Defining The Beloved Son, The Firstborn of Many Sons, The
Great Sacrifice, Firstfruits Of The 'Super Race'



The key to understanding this wonderful mystery is found in
the meaning of the phrase "only begotten". It is derived
from the Greek word "monogenes", pronounced mon-og-en-ace',
which means "single of its kind", or "only". With this
understanding of the term, it is easy to see how Paul was
not contradicting the Book of Genesis when he stated that
Isaac was the only-begotten son of Abraham. It also helps us
to understand how Jesus can still be "the only begotten Son
of God" even if there are other sons of God. You see, Isaac
truly was the only son begotten, or born to, Abraham by
Sarah his wife, which makes him a single of a kind. It
should also be noted that in Hebrews chapter eleven, Paul is
discussing the heroes of faith; and Isaac definitely was the
seed of faith to Abraham and Sarah, and not Ishmael. He was
the only one born for that specific purpose. In like manner,
Jesus Christ is also a single of a kind because He is the
only Son of God who was begotten, that is, conceived in the
womb of a woman, and then born through the natural process
of childbirth; all by the direct Will of God. To further
help you to understand the meaning of this word "begotten"
as it is used in the Bible, consider the following example:

"And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted
thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy
sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon
me? Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them,
that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as
a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land
which thou swarest unto their fathers?"
(Numbers 11:11-12, KJV)

In the previous verses, the Hebrew word for "conceive" is
"harah". It means to become pregnant through the union of
egg and sperm. On the other hand, the Hebrew word for
"begotten" is "yalad" which refers to the actual act of
bearing or bringing forth a child through delivery, or
natural childbirth. Based upon these verses, we see that the
fact that Jesus is referred to as "the only begotten Son of
God", means in part that He is the ONLY Son of God who was
ever born in human flesh through an Earthly mother. He was
conceived in the flesh by a work of God's Spirit, and then
brought forth, or begotten, through the process of human
childbirth. This is precisely the main point of the opening
verses of the Gospel of John. In the first fourteen verses
of the first chapter, John describes for us Jesus Christ's
pre-existence with His Father in the Spiritual Realm as the
Creator of the Universe. He then explains to us how Jesus
was willing to leave His Heavenly Abode in order to become
the Light of the World. Exactly how did He do this? By
taking upon Himself the form of lowly human flesh as the
following verse demonstrates:

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth."
(John 1:14, KJV)

It is very significant that it isn't until this fourteenth
verse that we find John referring to Jesus as "the only
begotten of the Father". Why is this? I am convinced that it
is because it isn't until this point in his narration that
Jesus has taken on human flesh; in other words, He, the
Eternal Son of God, has just been begotten, or born, through
natural childbirth, exactly as previous Scriptural examples
have shown us. To reiterate then, John is telling us that
Jesus is the ONLY Son of God to have ever been born, or
begotten, in the flesh. This point is so important to John,
that of the six times the phrase "only begotten" is used in
the New Testament, five of those times, it is written by
John himself. In his fourth Epistle, John again uses the
process of coming into the world through natural childbirth,
together with this phrase, thus leaving no doubt in my mind,
that this is what is to be understood, at least in part, by
Jesus being referred to as the 'only begotten Son of God':

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because
that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we
might live through him."
(1 John 4:9, KJV)

How does one come into the world as John states? It is
through natural childbirth, through being begotten. Thus
again we see that these are actually synonymous terms. What
is truly amazing to me, is that only a few verses before the
one I have just quoted, John tells us the exact same thing,
albeit in slightly different words. Notice what he says:

"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and
even now already is it in the world."
(1 John 4:2-3, KJV)

Some of us have read these verses many times before; but how
many of us have truly understood exactly what John is saying
in them? We read the above verses and we say to ourselves
rather nonchalantly, "Oh yes; of course I believe that Jesus
came in the flesh", but do we fully understand what we are
confessing when we say this? Until this very minute, I must
admit that I never did; and it is for this reason that I am
so excited and amazed by this truth! I have no doubt that
this is another one of those Heavenly revelations with which
the Lord likes to surprise me. He does it all the time, and
I just thank Him and praise Him for it!

So exactly what is John saying here? In fact, what are WE
claiming when we say that we believe in these verses? Quite
simply, when we confess that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh, we are in fact saying that He is "the only begotten
Son of God"! We are saying that He is the ONLY one that God
has ever sent from the Spiritual Realm, to be born in human
flesh! This is one of the main points that John is making
from the beginning of his Gospel, to the last chapter of his
final Epistle. He wants us to know with all surety that
Jesus Christ is "the only begotten Son of God", the ONLY son
of God ever to come down to the Earth and inhabit human
flesh!

Exactly why is John so concerned about getting this message
across to us, even moreso that the other writers of the
Gospels and the Epistles? It is because, as the previous
verses also reveal, from his time until now, the spirit of
antichrist has deceived many people into believing to the
contrary; or else it has deceived them into totally
misunderstanding what is truly meant by this phrase. They
have been tricked into believing, even by well-meaning
religionists, that the term "the only begotten Son of God"
means that Jesus is the only Son of God, which is the
furthest thing from the truth! As we saw earlier in this
series, this denial of the Divinity of Jesus Christ was the
very same accusation laid against Jesus by the unbelieving
Jewish Elders. They thoroughly denied that Jesus was the
begotten Son of God. They vehemently refused to accept that
He had come down from God to take upon Himself the form of
lowly human flesh. Thus, as John states, they were
antichrist!

Another reason why John apparently emphasized this in his
writings, is because the Lord gave him a glimpse of the
future in which he saw the final fruit of this evil
deception which has been perpetrated by the Jews for almost
two thousand years now. John knew, as did Paul and others,
that a time would come when belief in Jesus Christ as 'the
only begotten Son of God', would become so doubted, so
questioned and so suppressed, that people would become
willing to accept the deceptive false messiahs of Satan
himself! They would actually believe that the false
apostles, false prophets, and false christs which would
arise, would be new manifestations of Jesus Christ in the
flesh. It is for this reason that John stressed over and
over again that Jesus is "the ONLY begotten Son of God". He
is the ONLY one sent by God to take upon Himself the form of
a man. Jesus Himself was fully aware that this day would
come; and that is why He left us with this sobering
admonition:

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
(Matthew 24:24, KJV)

Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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