Sermon Tone Analysis

Begetting or Creating

There is a process found in scripture that speaks of creating making forming or even forging.

In this we have to come to terms with the fact that the only one who creates is Jesus

When we break down the words we note we beget or engender things… we do not create atleast not in the sense of creating from nothing.

Take for example the work of CS Lewis which has brought him much criticism but helps us to understand the work we are about to engage.

A dog will beget a dog

A bird will beget a bird

A human will beget a human

we cannot beget something that is not of the same kind or essence that we are

human cannot beget dog much less can a human beget a god.

When we consider the work of what we create or make as we take from already created things...

birds will make a nest

humans make form a house

in their making the ability is reduced to things that are not of the same essence.

It is fascinating to undertake Jesus and pretend for Him to be anything other than the same essence of God.

If we reduce Jesus to just a created or made being He is being formed into something that is of a different substance than God

What I mean by this is that Jesus the moment He stepped into creation remains of the same essence of God… which makes Him God…

Jesus’ nature as the begotten Son of God means He is the only able to save.

Most popular section of scripture that deals with the Sonship of Christ

Some translations only speak of the Only Son others speak of the Begotten Son

Importance in the when He is begotten, and why He is begotten

We briefly looked at why Jesus cannot be created

He is of the same essence of God

He is of the same nature of God

Emphasis is on the begotten Son

Begotten Before Time Began

We have looked this in some ways

Speaks to Him being present before time began

Identifies Jesus as part of the timeless God

4. Timeless God steps into creation and dwells with humanity

we read the sound… the text tells us they heard the

Voice of the Lord or;

The Word walking in the Garden

We may get ahead of ourselves but we need to note how the word was present even in the Garden

Process of Generation

Same word used to speak about the begotten Son is used here… we can only give birth to something of the same essence

Flesh can only give birth to flesh

The process of generation as it pertains to Jesus

He is begotten of the Father

same essence of the Father

He is the only one begotten the rest are what are known as created

Jesus is not created then ascends to be like God from the beginning is God

Only Begotten of the Father implies a relationship between the Father and Son that is the Son is already begotten and remains as Son not by subordination but by the process of eternal generation

His Nature Changes Our Nature

Fitting only appropriate moral choice

Founder or Captain of our faith

His sonship causes is through the changing of our nature to be like His

Sanctifier sanctifies and as a result causes us to be of the same source of the Father

Jesus is the only one who can restore us to the Father as is declared He not only makes us sons brings us to glory

We are then called brothers of Jesus…

Moving this work of begotten to a more tangible platform can be difficult as we contemplate why we even need to know Jesus as the only begotten one.

There are sects that profess to be Christian and yet they present Jesus as having been created… some who state the beginning of Jesus is when God and Mary had intercourse… These sound almost like Greek mythologies where demigods are created ad nauseam.

The nature of being the begotten of the father presents two things (a) He had to be eternally with God (b) Nothing else can attain to it… it is not the work of being created but the work of being engendered with the profession of the word. 1 John speaks about the word becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us.

This work refutes demigods through intercourse, a Jesus who is only elevated to being like God, and those who would think that Jesus and Satan are brothers as if they were both begotten of the Father and thus share the same essence.

Finally we have a task of ensuring that what we speak about Jesus is in accordance with scripture.

When we speak of a Jesus who is different than the one found in scripture we are engendering false doctrines which will yield offspring…

Denying Jesus as the only begotten and brings us to a posture in which anyone could have done the work of Salvation… Jesus’ nature is such that He is the only one could restore us to the Father