Thursday, October 04, 2012

The Father's Son

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17).

During time in worship, you may have heard Jesus described as the only-begotten Son of God, begotten not made.  The word 'begotten' is an old word that has fallen out of use.  It is the male counterpart to the female process of birth.  Men don’t give birth to children, women do.  So how do you refer to a father’s role in creating children?  You use the word begit

Christ is the Son of God, and this was true long before Mary entered the picture two thousand years ago.  The Son of God did not have a mother until the first Christmas.  The Father brought forth His Son without female help—the only way we can describe this is by saying that Christ is begotten of His Father. 

Jesus was begotten, not made.  This is an important distinction.  God made the universe.  He made the angels.  He made mankind.  But nothing made by God could ever be His equal.  Christ is God’s begotten Son; He is made of the same divine stuff as His Father.  In church we say that He is of one substance with the Father, very God of very God.  The Lord Jesus is truly God in every way—like the Father, He is all-powerful and eternal, all knowing and present everywhere.  Like the Father, He is pure and holy, committed to justice and hating evil.  Like the Father, He is motivated by love and is generous with mercy.  Jesus is equal to His Father in every way.

Christ is the only begotten Son of God.  God is the Father of us all—every fetus in a mother’s womb has life and a soul thanks to God’s creative power.  But no human being stands on equal footing with Jesus; only Christ was begotten of the Father’s own essence.  We are made in the image of God, an image that is distorted by sin; Jesus is God, free of any corrupting influence. 

Christ was begotten of His Father before all worlds—He was at His Father’s side when the universe was designed, and He made everything there is according to the Father’s astounding plan.  The Lord Christ also represents God to our world; He is the light from heaven who reveals God’s brilliant glory to we who live in the darkness of sin. 

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