Only Begotten (one and only)

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Day 1

As Christians, one of the first verses we memorize is John 3:16. Even if you haven't, I'm sure you have seen a sign at a sporting event or at many of a multitude of places that people find it necessary to say God gave His only begotten (one and only) Son to die for your sins. In all of the grand gestures by us as Christians, I think the power and truth in John 3:16 gets watered down. As I mature in my faith, sometimes, it is the simple verses that make me say, "what does that mean". So, hopefully you won't mind indulging me this week and finding out what in the world "only begotten" means and why it is so important to our faith.

If you use NIV you will find "one and only" in place of "only begotten" in this weeks verses. After a little study, this would be a good place to note in your bibles that begotten is a better translation of the original. Begotten refers to being the biological son of a father. Saying "one and only son" isn't entirely correct because it leaves out those of us who are made sons through adoption.

John 1:14-18
The Word Made Flesh
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'"
For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Day 2

Only Begotten Son. God's only biological child.

From personal experience I can say that being someones daughter and biological child are two different parts of who a person is. My DNA, genetic code or whatever modern day term you would like to place on it has a portion that says I am Bob's child. There are important details in that code that will tell you the color of my eyes and skin come from him, that I have an increased risk of certain illnesses and I am sure a multitude of other physical characteristics are because I am a part of him.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to have a relationship with my dad until I was over 15 years old. I have to tell you though, don't discredit what other attributes come with being a biological child. My dad and I have eerily similar likes and dislikes. Even the way I stand can be a mirror image of my father. If I had spent any of my time as a child in his environment learning from him you would know quite a bit about my dad just because you know me.

During this study I have found a new favorite passage. John 1:18 says that the only begotten God (Jesus), explains God. Wow! If I want to know God I need to know his son. Jesus is not just the only begotten son of God but verse 18 also says he was in his bosom since the beginning of time. Who else could explain God better then someone who has his DNA and knows everything he has done since the beginning of time?

If I go back a few verses to 14, I see that the son is the Word in flesh. My friends, when you have a stack of questions about who your God is, take a look at Jesus. Take a look at the Word. Take a look at verses 14-18. In a few sentences we learn that Jesus shows us God's Glory, God's truth and God's grace. Imagine what else the Word might teach you about what God wants for you and your life.

Day 3

1John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

What is God?

Why did God send his Son?

What is our response to God's love?

Day 4

John 3:16-19
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

I thought we would take a day to talk about how much you are loved. You see, God loved you so much that he sacrificed his son for you. Our God, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, is perfect. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to free you from the bondage of judgement. Do you recognize the truth when you hear it? Are you choosing to know your God, be in relationship with God and believing in the blood of Christ so that you may be freed from the bondage of this world? God wants to spend eternity with YOU!

Day 5

"....God is Love"

The ultimate sacrifice has been made on our behalves. The Word was made flesh to be sacrificed for our sins so that we may have eternal life. You are freed from death by simply believing that God loves you that much.

The next time you are questioning who God is and what he wants from you remember that you can know who he is if you take the time to know His Son. Jesus, the living Word, explains Him!

Praise God for the Ultimate Gift, the undeserving sacrifice, because HE loves YOU!

Heavenly Father~Praise your name, Lord. For all that you are, all that you do, have done and will do in my life I praise your name. Thank you for the Living Word, that I hold the key to who you are in my hands. Forgive me for not always focusing on you. Make my life a response to knowing you. May your love flow through me and show your love to those around me. May the blood that has purified my life flow out of my home and be an example to my friends and my community. You are my All, You are my Life. ~In Jesus' precious name.