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John
3:16: “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.”
Christ always
spoke of his Sonship in terms of his relationship to His Heavenly Father
as being uniquely different from that of all other human beings. Our Lord
carefully distinguished the term "your Father" Matt. 18:35 [used
only of himself and His Heavenly Father] and the terms "your Father”
Matt. 6:1, “thy Father” Matt. 6:4 and “our Father”
Matt. 6:9 [used of the disciples and their relationship].
The full expression
of this uniqueness is disclosed in the verses where Christ is designated
five times by the apostle John as the “only begotten” and
“only begotten Son” (John 1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16, John
3:18, I John 4:9).
The Greek
word for “only begotten” comes from two words: “Monos”
which means only, alone, sole, or single and “genos” which
deals with offspring or family and refers to someone of the same nature,
kind or sort. The phrase “only begotten” thus means “the
only one of His kind” and “one who is uniquely different from
any other”.
The begetting
here (only begotten) does not refer to an event or act of time but to
an unoriginated eternal intimate relationship between God the Father and
God the Son. Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words states “We
can only rightly understand the term ‘the only begotten’ when
used of the Son in the sense of unoriginated relationship. The begetting
here is not an event of time, however remote, but a fact irrespective
of time. Christ did not become, but necessarily and eternally is the Son
of God. ”
Vine correctly
declares “In John 3:16 the statement ‘God so loved the world
that He gave His only Begotten Son’ must not be taken to mean that
Christ became the Only Begotten Son by Incarnation. The value and the
greatness of the gift lay in the Sonship of Him who was given. His Sonship
was not the effect of His being given. In John 3:18, the phrase ‘the
Name of the only Begotten Son of God’ lays stress upon the full
revelation of God’s character and will, His love and grace, as conveyed
in the Name of One who, being in a unique relationship to Him, was provided
by Him as the object of faith.” (pp. 812-813)
There are some conservative scholars who
errantly believe that although Christ always possessed deity, He did not
assume the role or title of sonship until His incarnation. John 3:16 clearly
refutes this erroneous teaching. The person whom God gave in John 3:16
had clear identification as The Son prior to the incarnation, and an eternal
identification as the Only Begotten Son (John 3:18).
Furthermore,
if one denies the eternal Sonship of the second person of the Godhead,
it is impossible to logically maintain the eternal Fatherhood of the first
person in the Trinity.
As the Son
of God, Christ was unique in several ways: (a) He Was Unique in His
Background, Which Was Superior. There are two priestly lines mentioned
in the Scriptures: The temporary Aaronic priesthood (Heb. 7:12) and the
eternal priesthood of Melchisedec (Heb. 7:3) of which line Christ descended
(Heb. 7:17 & 21).
Christ was
also (b) Unique in His Human Birth, Which Was Supernatural. Matt.
1:24 declares that the child conceived in Mary was “of the Holy
Ghost”, while Matt. 1:20 states that as a “virgin” she
would “be with child.”
(c) Christ Was Unique in His Holy Behaviour,
Which Was Sinless. Heb. 4:15 declares that our Saviour was “in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
(d) Christ Was Unique in His Heroic Blood,
Which Was Substitutionary. In Matt. 26:28 Christ indicated that His
blood was “shed for many for the remission of sins.” Christ’s
blood was [1] Pure Blood-I Peter 1:18-19; it is [2] Purging Blood-Heb.
1:3 and also [3] Preserved Blood-Heb. 12:22-25.
Christ’s
Birth was unique in several ways which the Scriptures delineate:
1. THE PREDICTION OF HIS ADVENT WAS UNIQUE.
Christ’s birth was the only birth foretold at least 4,000 years
prior to its occurrence. (Gen. 3:15). Other births were predicted in advance:
John the Baptist (400 years), Samuel (9+months), and Esau and Jacob (several
weeks), but none 4,000 years or more in advance. In Genesis 3:15, (a)
The Particular Seed Was Predicted-The Woman. In Isaiah 7:14, (b)
The Particular Sign Was Prophesied–The Virgin, and in Micah
5:2 (c) The Particular Site Was Proclaimed-Bethlehem.
2. THE PARENTAGE IN HIS APPEARANCE WAS UNIQUE.
In His human nature, Christ was conceived “of the Holy Ghost”
(Matt. 1:18). Our Lord did not have a human father; Joseph only acting
in that capacity, but not supplying the conception seed (“And Jesus
Himself began to be about 30 years of age, being as was supposed,
the son of Joseph” Luke 3:23).
Every other human birth (outside the creation
of Adam) has required the seed of a human male to be implanted within
the womb of a woman; but this was not true of Jesus Christ – for
that which was conceived in Mary’s womb was “of the Holy Ghost”
(Matt. 1:20).
3. THE PLACE OF HIS ARRIVAL AND THE PLACE
OF HIS ANNOUNCEMENT WERE UNIQUE.
(a.) The Place of His Human Arrival Was
Unique, apparently in an open field, on a quiet hillside in the obscure
town of Bethlehem. Luke 2:7 states that “there was no room for them
in the inn.”
There are two Greek words for “Inn.”
The first (“Panducheion”) refers to a hostel, a place with
a host and provisions, which we might call today a “bed and breakfast”
lodging facility. The second word for Inn (“Kataluma”), the
word used in Luke 2:7, was merely an enclosure with walls into which travelers
might drive their cattle for the night.
This type “inn” had no host,
no room, no food and no entertainment. Even the cattle stalls were filled
that night. Our Saviour apparently was born in an open field, outside
a cattle stall, with only a blanket on the bare ground; born outside everything!
The Scripture
declares Mary “laid Him in a Manger.” This manger was not
a nicely varnished wooden piece of furniture, with a soft mattress and
warm woolen blanket as often portrayed, but apparently a feeding and watering
trough for animals. This act of condescension whereby Christ moved from
a throne in heaven, where legions of angels worshipped him to the feeding
trough of an animal is called in theological terms the “self-kenosis”
(emptying) or “The Humiliation of Christ”. Speaking of this
act, the Scripture states in Phil. 2:7 that he “made Himself of
no reputation”.
While from
Heaven’s standpoint, Christ was of a royal vintage and line with
heaven’s aristocracy in His blood, yet He bypassed both the hostel
and even the horses stable in His birth, arriving via the lowest means
possible.
(b) The Place of His Announcement Was
Also Unique; an open field on a quiet hillside, on the grazing pastures
of the little obscure town of Bethlehem. Not the bustling busy city of
50,000 like it is today, the location of Christ’s birth was just
a little small hamlet about 5-6 miles outside Jerusalem.
It is interesting
to note the places God bypassed in making this historic announcement.
It was not the palace of the Roman emperor in Rome; not the place of the
provincial governor in Jerusalem; not the gate of the city where the magistrates
and influential citizens sat; nor even the hostels, inn or stables. His
birth announcement was made on a grassy hillside to a few unknown shepherds
and at a time when nearly everyone was asleep.
4. THE PARTICIPANTS
IN HIS ANNUNCIATION WERE UNIQUE. It was not emperors, kings, princes,
governors, judges, educators and wealthy men who participated in that
annunciation, but a group of lowly SHEPHERDS. Why shepherds? Because these
shepherds were raising lambs, a large portion of which would be offered
as sacrifices to God. These shepherds knew that every sacrificial lamb
was a type of the coming Messiah, the true Lamb of God who would be sacrificed
for the sins of the world.
The implicit
and immediate faith of these shepherds cannot be underestimated.
They did not say “Let us see IF this thing is come to pass”,
but “which IS come to pass.” The news of the Saviour’s
birth stirred them to immediate action for they “came with haste”
(Luke 2:16).
They also
possessed correct priorities, believing that spiritual worship was
more important than secular work. They trusted God to keep their flocks
while they went seeking the Christ child. They also became the world’s
first missionaries after the birth of Christ, since they “made known
abroad the saying” as soon as they “had seen it” (Luke
2:17).
The ANGELS
were the second unique participants in that annunciation. While the Scriptures
record the birth of many other important personages (Enoch, Elijah, John
the Baptist, etc.), the birth of Christ was unique because it was the
only birth mentioned that was accompanied by angelic welcome (Luke 2:13-15).
5. THE PROVISION OF HIS ATTIRE WAS UNIQUE.
There may have been other infants born in Bethlehem that night, a possible
fact we do not know. As the Shepherds searched and sought, how could they
identify the right child?
When you
are searching for a Saviour, there must be no mistake! Throughout
the centuries, millions have sought for a saviour and accepted the devil’s
counterfeit. There was, however, an unmistakeable sign: The Scripture
twice records that the infant Jesus was “wrapped in swaddling clothes”
(Luke 2:7 & 2:12).
Why “Swaddling
clothes”? Swaddling clothes were long narrow strips of cloth often
used in the burying of the dead, a unique sign since a mother never wrapped
a new born baby in the clothes of the dead. God wanted the world to know,
however, that Christ was born to die!
Luke 2:7 records
the words “wrapped” and “laid” in speaking of
Christ’s birth. These same words are mentioned again at the death
of Christ in Luke 23:52-53 where speaking of Joseph of Arimathea it states
that “this man went unto Pilot and begged the body of Jesus and
he took it down and wrapped it in linen and laid
it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone”. Our Saviour was clothed
in His birth, much like He would later be wrapped in His death!
6. THE PRAISES
AT HIS ADORATION WERE UNIQUE. God chose two senior citizens to render
their praises in acts of adoration and worship of the Christ child. Simeon
(Luke 25-35) was the only man in the Bible to whom God promised that He
would see the Messiah before his death. Upon viewing the infant child
Simeon declared “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke
2:30).
Anna (Luke
36-38), a widow of either 84 years age, or 84 years a widow (which would
have placed her around 100 years old) who invested her entire days and
nights in the temple fasting and praying, was rewarded by seeing the Saviour
and afterward “spake of him to all that looked for redemption in
Jerusalem.”
7. THE PRESENTS
IN HIS ADMIRATION WERE UNIQUE. Matthew 2:1-12 records the visit of the
Magi (wise men) to worship the new born Saviour. The three gifts which
they brought symbolize the three divine offices of Christ: Gold, the treasure
of a KING; frankincense, the offerings of a PRIEST, and myrrh, the ministry
of a PROPHET; three unique presents.
In a great invitational song, the hymnwriter
wrote: “Do you know Jesus my Lord, my Saviour; Jesus, the Son of
God? Have you ever seen Him or heard of His favor, Jesus the Son of God?
O sweet wonder! O sweet wonder! Jesus, the Son of God. How I adore him;
Oh, how I love Him, Jesus the Son of God.
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