For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son — John 3:16

For our study this week, I have leaned heavily upon “The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary” for reference material. In the last article we saw how God has existed in three persons from eternity past. That statement is a little hard to comprehend since we are finite and bound by time. It gets even more complex when we factor in the statement that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God.

Humanly speaking, if we have been begotten, then someone begat us; we have a biological father and mother. This type of thinking can cause a big problem when we consider the Son, and what it meant to be able to call God His Father. When we read John 3:16 in the KJV, the words “only begotten” seem to be a poor translation. The original Greek word was actually referring to kind. It means; the only one of His kind, or unique. The French Bible correctly reads, “son Fils unique,” “His unique Son.”

Another place this poor translation shows up is in Hebrews 11:17 where it says, “And he (Abraham) who received the promises, offered up his only begotten son. The problem here is that Isaac was not his only begotten son; he had a total of eight sons according to the Bible. So what does it mean when it says, only begotten son in that verse?

With Abraham, it would be more accurate to say, He offered the only son on whom he had set his favor, blessing and love. Isaac was a unique (one of a kind), special son to Abraham, the only son of promise as written and foretold in Genesis 21:11. This is getting very close to the meaning of the phrase (only begotten son) in John 3:16.

In Psalm 2 it says, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee.” Here again, we know that (humanly speaking), Jesus was not begat or begotten at that time. And since the Son was (and is) the eternal Son of God within the Godhead, what does it mean?

In Psalm 2 it seems to be an acknowledgement or declaration of fact to be accepted by others. It is a figurative expression (rather than literal statement) of the meaning, “on this occasion I reveal, and declare thy sonship.” It could also be viewed as a confirmation.

There is a similar announcement in the New Testament. In Luke 3:22, we see all three persons of the Godhead involved. The Son is the one being baptized; the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. And the Father made the audible public declaration or acknowledgement, “You are My Beloved Son; in whom I am well pleased.”

In Luke 9:35, when Jesus was transfigured on the mount, the Father makes this proclamation, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him.” When you read the phrase, only begotten Son, think about God’s unique, one and only Son who has been confirmed by the Father. Have you put your faith and trust in Him?

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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published three books, Common Thoughts on The Word in 2016 and Eye of a Needle in 2017 and Common Thoughts on The Word II in 2019. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children’s book.