365 Ways to Know God by Elmer Towns November 04

365 Ways to Know God by Elmer Towns

(Devotional Readings on the Names of God)

November 04

JESUS: THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that

whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

JOHN 3:16

Jesus is the Only Begotten Son, an Old Testament title declaring that He was eternally generated from the Father. The Father said to Jesus, "You are my Son, begotten throughout eternity" (see Psalm 2:7). This does not mean that the Son was begotten at an event in eternity past; rather, it describes the eternal relationship of the Son to the Father. Both the Father and Jesus are equally eternal and equally God, but they have separate personalities. They are equal in nature. Jesus was not begotten at a time in the past, because that would mean the Son is not eternal. But the Father has eternally loved Jesus; and because the Father loved you and the world, He sent Jesus to die for your sins. When you receive Jesus as the Only Begotten Son, you have also believed in the Father.

Jesus, I worship You just as I worship the Father. You are both God, and

I come into Your presence with thanksgiving for all You've done for me.

When you receive Jesus as Savior, you become a child of God (see Romans 8:14-16). The Father has only One Son who could die for the world, and because of that sacrificial death, the Father now has many "sons." You are a member of the family.

Jesus, I worship You as the Only Begotten Son. I praise You

as the second Person of the Godhead. I thank You for

coming into the world to die for my sins. Amen.

Reading: John 3:9-20

Key Thought: Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of the Father.