God Begot Jesus

16 July 2016

Dear Phyllis,

Today I want to briefly touch on a subject that is somewhat controversial but nevertheless I feel very important. This world, as we see it, is constituted by four measurable components – mass, space, energy, and time. We measure mass in pounds or kilo grams, space in feet and inches, or centimeters, energy in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit, and time in minutes and hours. We have scales, measuring tapes, thermometers, and clocks. That is it. Those are the four measurable components that God made in creation. But because God is the creator He is outside His creation. That is obvious. Therefore we must accept that God exists in a world outside that with which we can understand. We cannot measure God with our measuring tapes. If a person does not accept that God exists outside that which we can understand it is impossible to understand spiritual truth.

I say all this to establish a subject that is obvious but I have never heard anyone with courage enough to develop it. That is, that Jesus was begotten of God. Begotten has a singular meaning. It means one object to be born out of another. Jesus was born of God. I know there are two begottens in scripture. The standard accepted one is that Jesus was begotten out of death in the resurrection (Acts 13:33). But Jesus told Nicodemus that he was the only begotten Son of God in John 3:16. In this He is unique as the only begotten Son of God. Thank God there are millions of others, of whom we are some, that are begotten of God by the new-birth (Heb. 2:10). If a person is not born of God by the new-birth he simply is not saved.

There are some who cry heresy because Jesus was the creator and He already was with the Father in the beginning (Heb. 1:2; Jn. 1:1). True. But that is the point. He was the creator. He created time. But He was begotten of the Father before there was a beginning. That is why we have a Father-Son relationship.

The reason I bring this up is because last week the Lord was speaking to me about oneness. In Jesus' prayer in John 17 five times He uses the word one. This was one of the major objects of that prayer. He prayed that Christians would be one. And to illustrate that point, and the degree of that oneness, Jesus prayed that Christians might have the same oneness that Jesus had with the Father.

It is impossible for us to get a complete grasp of that oneness. We can come close by looking at some couples who have a close husband-wife relationship. Muriel and Robertson McQuilkin had one of the tightest marriages I ever saw. I never saw a woman more passionately devoted to her husband as Muriel was to Robertson. She just bristled if anyone spoke a word slightly contrary of Robertson. She passionately agreed with every thought that ever passed through his mind. It was her joy and devotion to provide anything he might desire. And he equally gave his life for his wife. His life was spent loving, providing, and protecting her. In her final years when she came down with Alzheimer, Roberson resigned as president of Columbia Bible College and declined all conference speaking engagements to stay home to care for his wife. In response to the question on why he should do such a sacrificial thing, on national radio, he said, “She has spent 40 years taking care of me and it is only right that in her final time I take care of her”. That is oneness.

Jesus could honestly say, “I always do those things that please the Father (Jn. 8:29). And the Father was so pleased with His Son that He broke the silence of heaven to audibly say from heaven, “Thou art My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Mk. 1:11). As far as we know, up to this point, Jesus had done nothing except make shavings in his father's wood shop and obey His parents. But His heart was certainly one with the Father, even in His silent years. He loved the things His Father loved. He hated the things that God disliked. He had a passion for the honor and glory of His Father. And the Father was delighted with the Son. The measure of the oneness of Jesus with His Father goes well beyond anything we can imagine and this is what Jesus was praying for for His church.. In John 17:11 Jesus prays that they might be one “as we are”. Then in verse 22 He emphasizes this by asking again that they might be one “even as we are one”.

One of the main characteristics of heaven is the total unity there. There is no political jockeying for position. There is no self-seeking. There is no “my way or the highway”. Everybody is on the same page pulling in the same direction. Oneness is not a one string banjo. In a quartet there are four parts and each one sings a different note but there is harmony. I have a beautiful auto harp with 36 strings. When it is well tuned it sounds wonderful, but when one or two strings are out of tune the sound is terrible. In heaven all the harps and hearts are well tuned. There is genuine unity there, which produces beautiful harmony. True unity depends on a devotion to a central object. And in this case it is a passion for the glory of God and an unqualified commitment to do the will of God. That is what makes heaven heaven. If we had more of it here, perhaps it would be more like heaven.

But when we look at the condition of the church it is pitiful. There are more denominations than Cater has liver pills. And even in individual churches it is more like a war zone. There is no doubt in my mind but what the Father has answered the prayer of His Son and there is a oneness like that which exists between the Father and the Son, but this is on a spiritual level. Religion is a man-made product, and because it is man-made it is fundamentally focused on a distinctive message or emphasis.

The central point of ecumenicism is oneness, but to achieve this, everyone is asked to delete the subject that is offensive to others. Liberals are incensed at the doctrine of infallibility and so they ask conservatives to give up their position on the inspiration of the scripture. Others dislike the deity of Christ and so we have to delete that. What they are doing is lowering the bar, but pretty soon the bar will be lying on the ground and the unified church will have no position on anything. Oneness is not organizational. It is spiritual. Wherever you have the Spirit of Christ He is the same any place in the world. The problem is where you have pollutants mixed in, then the overt unity disappears.

I have had the privilege of traveling and fellow-shipping in over a dozen foreign countries and, counting minority tribes, that number is well over 20. And I have found Jesus to always be the same regardless of what national suit He is wearing. Jesus in the Japanese and Jesus in Americans or Thai is still the same Jesus.

I love John 17. It shows the heart of Christ as we see it in no other place. It shows what is uppermost in His heart and His oneness with the Father. There is no doubt that some day we too will enjoy that same intimate relationship, but I fear we must wait for heaven for that. But in the mean time if we can close in with God perhaps we might enjoy some of that heaven right now.

Just a thought, bill