REFORMED WITNESS
Volume III, December 1995, Number 12
Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God
By Arie den Hartog
In this season of the year the church commonly celebrates with great joy, thanksgiving and praise to God, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. We devote our Reformed Witness this month to this mighty and wonderful event of history. Central to the truth of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world is the truth of who and what He was and is. The greatest wonder and mystery of this is the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. In much of the church world this is denied, forgotten or minimized. Many speak of Jesus only as a great man, which surely He is. But He is more than that. He is God's eternal and only begotten Son. Often this truth is at least minimized through an exclusive emphasis on the humanity of Jesus. We believe there are two reasons for this. Modern man ultimately wants a man-centered religion that boasts and glories in man. The natural man does not believe in the wonder of God. The coming of Jesus into the world is the wonder of wonders beyond all human comprehension, which man in unbelief refuses to accept. The inspired apostle Paul writes: "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (I Timothy 3:16).
The truth that Jesus is the Son of God is foundational to all of the Christian faith. Jesus once asked His disciples who they thought He was. Peter on behalf of all the disciples answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus responded to the great confession by saying: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:16-18).
What is meant by the truth that Jesus is the "only begotten Son of God"? Jesus is the true and eternal God Himself. The Nicene creed, one of the earliest creeds of the church, states it so beautifully: "God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God." Jesus is absolutely and fully God Himself. In Him dwells the fulness of the Godhead. He is the one only true God besides whom there is none else. He is in His person the infinitely glorious, eternal, sovereign, almighty God possessing all the attributes of God. He is the God of our salvation, worthy of our faith and trust, our worship and praise.
That Jesus is the only begotten Son of God is based on the truth of the Trinity. Faith in the triune being of God and the truth of the absolute deity and divinity of Christ are inseparably related. The most common way in which the truth of the Trinity has been denied is by denying the diety of Christ. On the other hand, the truth of the absolute deity of Christ is the most wonderful manifestation of the truth that God is the eternally triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is one in His being and three in His persons. Jesus is the second person of the eternal and ever blessed Trinity. By the coming of Jesus into the world, God the Father sent His only begotten and beloved Son. Anyone who does not believe the Trinity can not know this great mystery and wonder of the love of God. From eternity God had a Son, who from eternity is His only begotten Son. In the greatness of His love He sent this Son into the world, and even gave Him to the death of the cross for our salvation.
That Jesus is the only begotten Son of God speaks of the mystery of the relationship of the three persons of the one God within the Trinity. From eternity to eternity God the Father "begets" the Son. This is an incomprehensible mystery because it belongs to the truth of God as He is in Himself. Through an eternal act within the triune being of God, God the Father causes His own being and life to go forth in another person, the person of His Son; therefore, it is true that Jesus is "the brightness of the glory of God and the express image of His person" (Hebrews 1:3). The fullness of the person and glory of God is revealed in Christ Jesus. Philip, one of the disciples of Jesus, once asked Jesus when He was yet on earth, "Lord show us the Father." Jesus answered him, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works" (John 14:8-10).
Jesus is uniquely the "only begotten Son of God." Often in the history of the church men have claimed that we must identify the sonship of Jesus, in relationship to God the Father, with the sonship of all of God's children. The Bible indeed calls the people of God, the children of God; the sons of God. This is one of the most beautiful and wonderful names that God has given us. He calls us His sons and daughters. This according to I John 1 reveals the greatness of the love of God toward us; however, there is only one who in scripture is called the "only begotten Son of God." That one is Jesus only. We are sons of God only by grace and through adoption. Jesus is the only eternal and natural Son of God. He alone is the Son of God from all eternity. He is the Son of God in an entirely unique sense, even more wonderful than our sonship to God. As the Son of God He is God Himself, perfectly equal with God. This can never be said of mere men.
Already in the many prophesies concerning the coming of the Messiah it was made known that this Messiah would in His person be very God Himself. So the prophet Isaiah could write by inspiration of God that the virgin-born Messiah would be Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14). Concerning His name, Isaiah writes in chapter 9 of His prophesy, "He shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Micah, in His prophesy of the coming of the Messiah, tells us that, "His going forth has been of old, from everlasting," clearly indicating that Jesus is Himself the eternal God (Micah 5:2).
Jesus Himself testified of the truth that He is the eternal Son of God. This has sometimes been denied. It is claimed that Jesus never specifically called Himself the Son of God. He preferred to call Himself the Son of man. While it is true that Jesus while on the earth usually referred to himself as the Son of man, He certainly repeatedly testified concerning Himself that He is God in the absolute sense. As a young boy Jesus was becoming increasingly conscious of the truth that He was and is the Son of God; therefore, He testified to His parents that He must be about "His Father's business." Jesus boldly declared that He was before Abraham. Before the unbelieving Jews He declared that He is one with God the Father. They understood what He meant be this testimony. They accused Him of blasphemy, of making Himself equal with God. Jesus made no attempt to refute this understanding of His own testimony, which He surely would have done if it were not true and He was being accused of blasphemy.
Jesus said concerning Himself: "For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself" (John 5:26). He commanded men to honor Him as they honor the Father (John 5:24). No mere man could make such statements concerning himself unless of course he were a deranged fool. Jesus testified of the truth concerning Himself. In His High Priestly prayer recorded in John 17 Jesus prayed to God the Father: "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, who Thou hast sent" (John 17:1-3). In fact, the reason why Jesus was condemned to death was because He was accused of blasphemy in declaring even under oath that He is the Son of God.
God the Father made this testimony from heaven concerning His Son: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
The mighty works that Jesus did clearly revealed that He is the Son of God. He healed the sick, made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, and even raised up the dead to life again. No mere man could ever do such great wonders no matter how powerful he might claim to be. The great miracles of Jesus are infallible and mighty proofs that He is truly the Son of God. These miracles of Jesus were an integral part of His whole public ministry. He said concerning these miracles: "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak into you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake" (John 14:10 and 11).
The final proof that Jesus is the Son of God is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Though the Bible often speaks of God raising Jesus from the dead, it also speaks of Jesus Himself arising from the dead. In His resurrection Jesus triumphed over sin and death and hell. He could do that only because He is the Almighty Son of God Himself; therefore, after His resurrection He was exalted at the right hand of God in heaven.
The entire gospel of John is devoted to testifying of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. In its opening words John testifies of Jesus: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made." John boldly declares that "the Word was God". This testimony cannot be refuted by the fact that John does not use the definite article in the Greek. The word God does not in the Greek always require the definite article to be definite. We can see this in verse 18 of this same chapter. John also says in verse 14 of chapter 1: "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." Again in verse 18 John writes: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." John records many of the mighty works Jesus did. He also records many of the great discourses of Jesus, almost all of which lead to the ultimate conclusion that Jesus is truly the Son of God. John concludes his gospel with this mighty testimony: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name" (John 20:30 and 31).
The other apostles of the Lord also repeatedly testified of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. One such testimony is quoted above from I Timothy 3. Space constraints limit us in being able to give more of these. We encourage you the reader to search the scriptures and see how they testify of Jesus. Study for example what Paul says in Philippians 2, when he declares that Jesus is in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Study what Paul says concerning Jesus in Colossians 1, about Jesus declaring that He is the image of the invisible God, that all things in heaven and earth were created by Him and for Him, and that He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
We have already stated that the truth that Jesus is the Son of God is a fundamental truth of the Christian faith. That is true in the absolute sense first of all because only one who is truly the Son of God can be our Savior. The salvation of sinners is almighty work that could only be accomplished by one who is in His person very God Himself. Those who deny that Jesus is truly the Son of God, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, other cults and modern day liberal churches, have a Jesus who cannot save. That is the tragedy of their false doctrine and denial of the testimony of scripture concerning Jesus. No mere man can ever save us. Man is too great of a sinner to be able to save himself. That is the humbling and condemning truth concerning man. He fell so deeply into sin, he is so guilty because of sin, worthy of eternal condemnation in hell, that only the Son of God can save Him.
That Jesus is the Son of God means that the fullness of the glory of God shines forth in Him. John says concerning Him, "And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). All the glorious, wonderful beauty of God, all of His majestic holy and wonderful virtues shine forth in the Lord Jesus Christ; Therefore, the child of God falls down before Jesus in worship and adoration. If Jesus were not God, then the worship of Him would be forbidden. Such worship then would be gross idolatry, worship of the creature rather than God. But Jesus permitted such worship already when He was on earth. We read often of men who came before Him and fell down at His feet and worshiped and adored Him. When the resurrected Lord appeared to the disciple Thomas, who once refused to believe the resurrection of Jesus, then Thomas fell down before Jesus and confessed, "My Lord and my God." In this confession Thomas used the definite article in calling Jesus God. He said literally, "the my Lord, and the my God." This confession was true and praised by Jesus.
Jesus as the Son of God was not merely the founder of Christianity, teaching the truth of Christianity. He did not merely lead us to God. He is God. He rightly commanded men to believe in him and trust in Him for salvation. He could only do that because He is God Himself. He says in John 14, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me." How wrong it would have been for Jesus to command men to believe in Him if He were not God Himself! Jesus, Son of God, could and must needs give this command. The great command of the gospel is that we believe in Jesus as the Son of God unto our salvation.
The great work that Jesus performed to accomplish our salvation is His sacrifice on the cross. How can the cross be the atonement for the sins of all the elect? How can the cross have merited righteousness and eternal life for all of God's people? This could only be the case because Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross as the beloved Son of God. The blood that He shed was the infinitely precious blood of the Son of God. The sacrifice of Jesus was in the sight of God of infinite worth because it was the sacrifice of His only beloved and begotten Son. Deny that and you deny the value of the cross. Only the cross of the Son of God could be abundantly sufficient for the salvation of all of God's people from the whole world, millions and millions of God's elect.
Because Jesus is the Son of God; therefore, He is worshiped in heaven by men and angels. He will ultimately be worshiped by all creatures in the new heavens and earth. The song of the redeemed in heaven will be "Blessing, and honor, and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." We will see Jesus in heaven, and seeing Jesus we will see the fullness of the glory of God. This will be the glory and blessing of heaven. Our chief activity in heaven will be worshiping, adoring and serving Jesus the Son of God. Even now already we rejoice in Him with joy unspeakable and full of glory because we believe that He is the Son of God. When we see Him in heaven, then our joy shall be full. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, we will enjoy perfect fellowship, communion and life with God our Father. This will be the eternal and perfect joy of heaven.
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