This truth is not debatable, whether you believe that Jesus is the promised Son of God, or not, it does not change the fact that He is the expressed “image of the invisible God.” Colossians 1: 15. As for me, I know that this man Jesus is the Son, who God gave to us, the second person of the united Godhead, but unfortunately most of us do not share the same view as Isaiah, even when other prophets of God foretold the nature of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and above all, His divinity.
Life for Jesus did not begin here on earth when Mary became pregnant. It was to show us what it means to love, and to live as one, and to take back our birth right that He came from heaven to earth. Either Jesus was indeed God, or He was indeed a lunatic: a reckless impetuous irresponsible per-son, a mad man: a person not capable at all of making rational decisions.
However, this is far from the truth, for the life He lived, and the price He paid for us, confirms that He was not and could not have been a mere man, much less, a mad man. So, He is indeed God; the Word made into flesh “and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” John 1: 14. He is from heaven and not of this world. He existed long before this world or anything existed; and be-cause He is, we are.
One may argue that Jesus is the “only begotten” Son of God, so he could not coexist with the Father, but the phrase “only begotten” is, an English expression which has been transliterated from a compounded Greek word. Therefore, to form a cognitive connection between the Greek text and the English transliterated text, I refer you to “The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament.”
The Greek word monogenes, from which the phrase “only begotten” derives, is compounded from the Greek words monos and ginomai. The word monos is transliterated from a Greek word, which is an adjective; and it can be used to mean alone, only, only one, or only thing. The other compound word ginomai is also a transliterated word. The Greek word from which it derives is a verb, which means to become, and express the idea that a person or thing changes its property and enters into a new condition, or moves from one point of realm or condition to another.
Therefore, in the context of John 3: 16, the giving of God the Father is predicated on the fitness of His begotten Son to be our Saviour; for He was given that we might not perish, but have ever-lasting life, thus the phrase only begotten Son does not suggest in any way that the Son was conceived by God the Father. However, what it connotes is that the only begotten Son of God, which is the Word, made a transition of state and place and became Jesus in the flesh, and dwelt among us on earth.
The entire phrase “only begotten,” truly means that Jesus is one of a kind, and there is none like Him; for He is the only member of the human race that came down from heaven to earth to stand in the gap for us (John 6: 38), and He is also the only one of the human race that shares the complete-ness of the Father's genes: for our Lord is one with God Almighty. Read John 10: 30.
Now, because of Jesus' monogenes: His oneness with the Father, He is able to adopt us into the family of God by virtue of His holy life. In symbolic language, we become one with God the Father through the chemical compound in the blood of His Son; for in the blood is the life, molecules joined together made up of a linked series of proteins forming our DNA, which is emblematic of Jesus, the epitome of righteous living to our fallen race. This is the mystery of godliness: divinity and humanity cohabiting in the same body. It is because of this union, Jesus being a man and God at the same time why we are offered the greatest hope of all: a new life, the privilege to move from life into living in Him an abundant life.
Jesus is our past: the One who created and redeemed us. Jesus is our present: the High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us. And He is our future: for He alone holds the key to free us from sin and the grave. Read Revelation 1: 18.
Jesus is the word personified. Read John 1. He reveals the character of the Father to man, and He is the “chief corner stone” that many of us refuse; and as a result the world is as it is, thriving on avarice, and selfishness to those less fortunate. Moreover, the contempt shown to the law of God and the land can be seen in the fierce baleful look of its transgressors. Far worse than cancer, hepatitis, and HIV is the crime committed in her. The silent cry of the earth does not go unheard;
ALTARBOY HERALD/January, 2013 5