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which occurs nine times in the N.T. Four of these occurrences refer to the children of
ordinary human parents:
"Behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only (monogenes) son of his mother"
(Luke 7: 12).
"Jairus . . . . . had one only (monogenes) daughter, about twelve years of age, and she
lay a dying" (Luke 8: 42).
"Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child (monogenes)"
(Luke 9: 38).
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son (monogenes)" (Heb. 11: 17).
In each of these instances, a parent's heart is wrung by the death, sickness, affliction
or the commanded sacrifice of an `only begotten' as though it would prepare us to
discover in the title, a term of intense endearment, a term that points forward to a
sacrificial death, but which in each case ended triumphantly in an anticipation of the
resurrection. The five remaining passages all refer to Christ. The R.V. margin at
John 1: 18 tells us that many ancient authorities read God only begotten instead of `only
begotten Son', and there is a great deal of authority for this extraordinary reading. For
the moment therefore we will omit John 1: 18 from our list of occurrences, and observe
that of the remaining four, three are found in the Gospel according to John, and one in his
first epistle. No other writer in the N.T. speaks of Christ as the only begotten Son. If
therefore we can see what these passages say of the Only begotten Son of God, we shall
know all that God has revealed on the subject.
"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" (John 1: 14).
"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" (John 3: 16).
"He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God"
(John 3: 18).
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him" (I John 4: 9).
It will be seen that of these passages, only one, namely the first, makes any statement
as to the nature of the only begotten Son of God; the others tell of the love that gave Him
and the life that is given to those that believe in Him.
The Word, Who was God, and yet could be with God, in fullness of time "was made
flesh", and this is so vital a doctrine that John says:
"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God"
(I John 4: 2, 3).
The emphasis which the Scriptures place upon the fact that the Word became flesh,
that He was of the seed of David according to the flesh, that as concerning the flesh,
Christ came of Israel, that it was in the body of His flesh through death that He
accomplished reconciliation is of itself a testimony concerning the meaning and intention