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Only Begotten. We will speak more about
His grace and truth in the next few verses. But first we want to focus on the Holy Spirit’s statement
that the Word was the “only begotten from the Father.” What does this mean? To some it sounds like
Jesus became a baby god and grew up into an adult god. To others it appears that Jesus was simply created.
But the Greek word MONOGENES, which is poorly translated in many English Bibles as “only begotten,” does
not have either meaning.
The meaning of the Greek word MONOGENES can be discovered without even using a Greek lexicon
by looking at Hebrews 11:17 where we read,
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son . . . (NASB) Heb. 11:17 The Greek word MONOGENES is translated in this verse as “only begotten.” If we say that MONOGENES
refers to someone who is the only born child this would imply that Abraham had only one son - Isaac. But Genesis
16:15; 25:8-9 says that Abraham had two sons: Isaac and Ishmael. Abraham had more than one son. This illustrates
the fact that MONOGENES means something more that “only begotten.” In fact, MONOGENES means “unique
one” or “one and only.” That is why the New International Version Bible (NIV) translates
John 1:14 as follows:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV) John 1:14 This captures the meaning of the Greek text. The Word was the One and Only or the Unique One. There was
and is no other being like Him! He is the One and Only.
Existed First. We will also discover in our coming studies that the Word became
flesh after John the Baptist was born. That is, the Word became flesh six months after John the Baptist (Luke
1:26-2:7). Yet in the next verse, John the Baptist says that the Word existed before he (John) was born.
John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” (NASB) John 1:15
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||
