The Only Begotten God & of the Father.

“No one has ever yet seen God. [The only begotten God,] the One being in the bosom of the Father, He [Jesus] has made Him [the Farther] known.” John 1:18

The first point to address is that, he is [Not] saying, [the Word] was begotten or created. The Word is not some concept that existed with God. John in his gospel writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him.” John 1:1-3 He does not say, “In the beginning was the Son and the Son was with God..,” though it would have been far easier to do since, he is affirming the divinity of Jesus, but he says, “the Word.” That is the Word has always been and is God. God had existed from the beginning in One form [Spirit] but in three Persons: The Father, The Word and The Holy Spirit.

God is one in that He is Spirit. Jesus said, “God is Spirit” John 4:24 The Holy Spirit is Spirit that is evident. And Paul speaking of Jesus says, “Who, existing in the form of God.” Philippians 2:6 that is in the form of Spirit. Therefore, every Divine Person of the Godhead is of the same substance, Spirit and have existed without a beginning. In true form God is not begotten of another, the Holy Spirit is not begotten of Father, nor the Father of the Word or the Holy Spirit. God co-existed as one Spirit, in Father, Word, and Holy Spirit. The Word has existed in the form of God [Spirit] form eternity, as much as the Father and as much as the Holy Spirit without a hairbreadth of distinction between Them. God is One.

There is a misconception worth addressing here, it is the perception that the Son and the Holy Spirit are an extension of God, [as Light and Heat are of the Sun]. Which in essence make Them out to be less than God. However the illustration that best represents this truth in the natural, is the vast ocean. There are several great oceans yet one body of water, in whom exists all the worlds. God is Spirit and He comes forth to manifest Himself in a form, but returns to be one in form with God. [Not any less God but God] God the Son came in the form of Man and returned to the Father, “I glorified You on the earth, having completed the work that You have given Me that I should do. And now glorify Me, You Father, with Yourself, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.” John 17:4-5 Now the Holy Spirit also has come forth from the vastness of God and is at work among us and in us.

Jesus speaking of Himself and of the Holy Spirit says, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes forth from the Father,” John 15:26 [AND] “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father.” John 16:28 God is one substance Spirit. God is Spirit, the Lord is Spirit, and The Holy Spirit is Spirit.

Therefore when he says, “No one has ever yet seen God. The only begotten God,” he is speaking of the only God that was ever made manifest, as to take form into His own creation, that is Jesus Christ, [The Son of God]. As to be made Man, to take on flesh and blood, God [the Word] is born. This it does not say of the Father nor of the Holy Spirit but of the Word only because He is the only One who took on flesh “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” therefore He is “the only begotten God.” [Not] that the Word from the time eternal was ever begotten, but the Son in the form of Jesus Christ – the Son of Man is.

The prophecy of Micah speaking of the coming of the Christ Jesus, says “Out of you [Bethlehem], will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel[One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity]. Micah 5:2 That is [Jesus’] beginning is from eternity.  

Therefore two forms of existence are given, yet the same Person. The Word, who existed from everlasting in the form of God, through whom all things were made. [And] The Son, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, a glory as of [an only begotten from the Father], full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 Paul also expresses this truth and writes, “[The Word] Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider to be equal with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, having taken the form of a servant, having been made in the likeness of men. And having been found in appearance as a man [Jesus Christ].” Philippians 2:6-8 Hebrews  also says, “since the children have partaken of blood and of flesh, He also likewise took part in the same things, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death, that is, the devil,” Hebrews 2:14

The point is we need to draw a distinction between the Word and the Son: Jesus Christ. Though we speak of the same divine Person there is a moment in time when One took the form and attributes of the Other: the Word became, the Son. Therefore it says in Hebrews, “You are my Son; [TODAY] I have begotten You” And again: “I will be to Him for a Father, and He will be to Me for a Son” Hebrews 1:5 God the Son was begotten [Today] in Jesus Christ the Son of Man. And follows that with, “when He brings the Firstborn into the world,” that is none were ever born of God, Jesus Christ is the firstborn of God, and [the Only] begotten of the Father. “Jesus Christ, the great God and Saviour.” Titus 2:13

[The Only begotten of the Father]:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, a glory as of an only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

God is Spirit, and has always been one and is outside of all creation: all creation is in Him! Then what does the “the Word became flesh” mean? That is He became Spirit, Soul and Body: [flesh and blood]. His Spirit united as one with the Father. So He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet His body which was not formed according to Adam, but was [formed of the Word] had no spot nor blemish in Him. “For in Him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily.” Colossians 2:9

What makes man deferent from all of God’s creation is the packaging: [Body]. Hebrews says, “He makes His angles winds [spirits] and His ministers a flame of fire.” Hebrews 1:7 The angles of God, have spirit and soul, they possess will and have emotions and are mighty in power but they do not possess bodies. But in mankind, God and man can be presented in unity of one form. The purpose of God is to dwell in man. “I will dwell in them, and will walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16

The first instance of such unity, between God and a body of clay is in Jesus Christ. He is the Firstborn. Jesus is the only begotten of the Father, in whom the Father dwelt directly, through the Holy Spirit. “The words that I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself; but the Father dwelling in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me.” John 14:10-11

We are also born of the Holy Spirit through, “having been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, by the living and abiding word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23 That living abiding word is [the Word of God: Jesus Christ], it is having faith in who He is and what He has done for us; “He died for our sins, He was buried and was raised back to life for our justification.” This faith gives grounds for the Spirit of Christ to be formed in us by the Holy Spirit, and we are united to be one Spirit with the Lord [1 Corinthians 6:17]. In both instances it is through the Holy Spirit, God the Father dwelt in Jesus Christ, and Christ dwells in us. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 That is to say to be of the same type as “the Firstborn who came into the world.” in that God and man are presented as one in one body.

  • “those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29

This justification by faith, in the purification of our hearts by the Word of God qualifies us to be a habitation of the Spirit of God. Peter testifying of the acceptance of the Gentiles said, “And the heart-knowing God bore witness to them, having given them the Holy Spirit, as also to us. And He made no distinction between both us and them, having purified their hearts by the faith.” Acts 15:8-9 and Paul says, “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God.” 1 Corinthians 6:19

Speaking of the unity in Spirit, Jesus said, “And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, so that they may be one, as We are one — I in them, and You in Me—that they may be perfected in unity.” John 17:22-23 This unity it is not according to the flesh, the natural or what is perceived by sight but according to the Spirit. Jesus Christ the Son of God, in the flesh presented God the Father being united one in Spirit with Him by the Holy Spirit. The body of Christ, the church is also knit together into one body by the Spirit of God, we being many, are one body through one Spirit. “For also in one Spirit we all were baptised into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:13

Therefore we are children of God in Christ Jesus, that is we are known to God only through Christ. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, if not by Me.” John 14:6 And this relationship is expressed in two forms, adoption as sons and in the covenant of marriage. 

[Adoption as sons]: is used as an expression for the individual believer. That we in ourselves are not known to God; who were born in sin and of the spirit of the world, were in our life time alienated from God. That is we by ourselves by our own merits are not able to be reconciled to God. However we are accepted to God in that we have been grafted, onto the only Son of God, “the only begotten of Father,” Jesus Christ, in whom and through whom we receive the Spirit of Adoption. Because God is His Father, He becomes ours, because God is His God, He becomes ours, apart from whom we are lost to God without any reprieve. Jesus said in the day He was raised from the dead, “Now go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” John 20:17

  • “You have received the Spirit of divine adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:15-16 [That is the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, and calls out to God, as Father, so we also do.]
  • “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world for us to be holy and blameless before Him, in love having predestined us for divine adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Ephesians 1:4-5

[The bride of Christ]: is an expression for the entire body of Christ, the church. That is we individually are purified and made alive to be part of the one body. Peter says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5 Paul also in Ephesians writes of the unity of the individual into one body and says, “Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is increasing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:20-22 That is to say each individual sons and daughters are being united to form one body by one Spirit, the church the bride, whose head is Christ. So he says:

  • “For the husband is head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church, He Himself Saviour of the body. But even as the church is subjected to Christ, so also wives to the own husbands in everything. Husbands, love the wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water by the word, so that He might present to Himself the church in glory, not having spot or wrinkle or any of the such things, but that it would be holy and blameless. So also husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. The one loving his wife loves himself. For no one at any time hated his flesh. But he nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church. For we are members of His body.” Ephesians 5:23-30

Christ who is the Last Adam has redeemed His body the Church through His blood. Just as Eve was taken from Adam’s body, therefore it says, “Because of this, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will be into one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31 So it is also in the spiritual that is, we are united one with Him, because we are members of the one body and partake of the same Spirit. “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that He might be holding preeminence in all things,” Colossians 1:18 

Therefore, our spirit is made alive by being united to His Spirit, having been justified by faith in Christ Jesus. Therefore our bodies becomes a habitation of the Holy Spirit in that we are joined in spirit. Considering in the natural, husband and wife live as one flesh in one house. The same is extended in our relationship with God, our body is the house where the Spirit of God and our human spirit live as one. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:16 And this co-habitation continues into eternity,  “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 15:44 Whether in the natural or spiritual there is a habitation provided where both our spirit and the Spirit of God to dwell in as one. Husband and wife are considered one flesh yet are distinct in body from one another, but have all things in common. We are also united with the Spirit of God in Christ in same capacity and are co-inheritors with Him. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make a home with him.” John 14:23 

Therefore, Only Christ is born of God the Father. In that Jesus, the Word of God who was made manifest in the flesh is begotten of the Father as to possess the Spirit of the Father in Him. We are also begotten of Christ as to possess His Spirit in us, apart from whom we would be strangers to God.

Because I live, you also will live.

John 14:19

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