THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

John 1:14

Morning Meditations 6/19/17

GOD CALLS US SONS - JESUS CALLS US BRETHREN

I want to consider John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

This great text speaks of Jesus, the Word, as being "the only begotten of the Father." John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." When I look at a new translation of the Bible I always turn to John 3:16 and see what the translators did with the word "begotten." The word translated "begotten" (monogenes) is in the Greek, from which our Bible is translated, and means, "single of its kind; it is used of only sons or daughters (viewed in relation to their parents): when used of Christ it denotes the only begotten son of God." --Strong.

This great truth would not be important to a person who believes salvation depends on a moral reformation. If salvation is the result of being good, then whether Jesus is the "begotten" Son is incidental. But if Jesus came as God incarnate in the flesh, it makes all the difference in the world. God's goal in sending His Son was to beget sons in His likeness. Lets look at this.

Jesus as the Son of God is eternal. John 1:1-3: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." He was in the "Beginning" with God because He is eternal and coexistent with the Father. But He was not the only begotten Son at that time.. He was the eternal Son.

But Jesus became something in the incarnation that He had never been before. He was begotten of God; He became a man. And He did this to beget sons.

If Jesus had come and not died on the cross and been raised again, He would have forever been the "Only Begotten Son." But in the resurrection He became the "First begotten from the dead." Revelation 1:5 says, "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," If you had one son, he would be your "only begotten son." If you had two sons, the only begotten would become your "first begotten." This is what happened to Jesus. Before His death and resurrection and after His incarnation He was the only begotten Son of the Father. But after His resurrection, He became the First Begotten of the Father. Because in His resurrection He led many sons to glory (Heb 2:10). In Romans 8:29 He is said to be the "first born among many brethren." Hebrews 2:11 says He is not ashamed to call them brethren. To Jesus we are His brethren; to the Father we are His sons.

John 12:24 tells us how this took place: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Jesus is the Corn of Wheat." We are the "Fruit."

We have the Holy Spirit to confirm our sonship: Romans 8:14-17: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

It is only the grace of God that would take me from the gutter of sin and lift me to the position of a son. He found me on death row waiting execution. I had no future but judgment. He gave me a pardon and has given me sonship and made me a joint-heir with Christ the eternal Son. I have never gotten over that. I have no plans to. I don't want to embarrass you but I must pause to shout, hallelujah!!!!

May God bless these thoughts to you heart.

In Christ

Earl White