The Glory of the Son: Full of Grace and Truth, John 1:1-18

The Only Begotten from the Father, John 1:14

 

Background on Logos: What we know about the Word so far…

• Was in the beginning, with God, was God, verses 1-2
• The Creator of all things, verse 3
• The Giver of Life, the True Light, verses 4-5
• Came into the world, rejected by many, verses 9-11
• Received by some, authority to grant status of “Child of God” to those who received Him, verse 12-13
• Became flesh and dwelt among us, verse 14
• We beheld His glory, verse 14

 

John 1:14 “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.”

1. Glory as of the only begotten from the Father

• Glory as a uniquely divine attribute

1. Only Begotten

• Sonship of the Logos in the Prologue of John’s Gospel (John 3:16-18)

o   “Only begotten from the Father”

o   In contrast to “become children of God” from verse 12

o   John wants the reader to know that becoming a child of God by receiving the Son is not the same as the relationship between the Logos and God the Father

• Old Testament reference in Psalm 2:7
• The Greek word “monogenes” – “unique” “one and only”
• Hebrews 11:17 – Isaac is the “only begotten” son of Abraham, meaning Isaac is uniquely the child of promise
• John 1:18, “the only begotten…He has explained Him” – only the Son of God bears all the attributes of His Father
• John 3:16-18, belief in the “only begotten” Son of God brings salvation

Conclusion: Through adoption and by the grace of God there are many children of God, children who are brought into God’s family through receiving Jesus Christ. However, there is one and only one uniquely the Son of God as the One bearing all of the attributes of God.

 

10/16/11 Seeing is believing

10/23/11 Only begotten from the Father

10/30/11 Full of grace and truth: The Glory of God as a Coalescence of His Divine Attributes

11/6/11 Moses and Jesus: Law upon Law and Grace upon Grace

11/13/11 Seeing and explaining

11/20/11 Lord’s Supper

 

The Glory of the Son: Full of Grace and Truth, John 1:1-18

The Only Begotten from the Father, John 1:14

 

Scripture Reading and Prayer

• Read Psalm 2 (slides)
• Coronation of the Jewish King, the Son of David
• Read John 1:1-18 (Slides)

 

John 1:14 “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.”

1. Background on Logos: What we know about the Word so far… (Header Slide)

• Was in the beginning, with God, was God, verses 1-2
• The Creator of all things, verse 3
• The Giver of Life, the True Light, verses 4-5
• Came into the world, rejected by many, verses 9-11
• Received by some, authority to grant status of “Child of God” to those who received Him, verse 12-13
• Became flesh and dwelt among us, verse 14
• We beheld His glory, verse 14

1. Only Begotten

• Two things about the word “only begotten” and then look at how John uses this phrase throughout his Gospel
• Read John 1:14 (Slide 2)
• Comparison of translations (Slide 3)
• Two reasons for this term “monogenes”
• The Greek word “monogenes” – “unique” “one and only”
• 1^st - Sonship of the Logos in the Prologue of John’s Gospel (John 3:16-18)

o   “Only begotten from the Father”

o   In contrast to “become children of God” from verse 12

o   Read John 1:12-13 (Slide 4)

o   John wants the reader to know that becoming a child of God by receiving the Son is not the same as the relationship between the Logos and God the Father

• 2^nd – Connection to the Old Testament Messianic Prophecy of Psalm 2

o   This became a statement of great confusion for various people throughout history – Muhammad being one of those confused by this

o   In the Quran it says “God does not beget nor is he begotten”

o   God did not have a sexual encounter with Mary in order to have a Son

o   God does something miraculous in Mary’s conception of Jesus but not in some type of physical union with Mary

o   In the same way that God spoke the physical universe into being, God’s Son, Jesus Christ entered the world purely at the will of God

o   Just as creation is the miraculous work of God, so the conception of Jesus Christ as being fully human and fully divine is the miraculous work of God

o   Psalm 2:6-7 (Slide 5)

o   Paul refers to Psalm 2:7 in his sermon in Acts 13 at a Jewish Synagogue

o   Hebrews 11:17 – Isaac is the “only begotten” son of Abraham, meaning Isaac is uniquely the child of promise

o   The coronation of Isaac as the child of promise

o   That fact that God used this means, the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ, to enter the world does not answer the question of why

• Why? Why does God the Son take on a human body and live here?
• If we trace these four moments in which John uses the word “only begotten” maybe we will get a sense of why God has done this

1. Glory as of the only begotten from the Father

• John 1:14 (Slide 6)
• Glory as a uniquely divine attribute
• John is making the case the Jesus Christ bears all of the attributes of God
• Colossians 2:9 (Slide 7)

1. Revelation of God’s nature

• John 1:18 (Slide 8)
• John 1:18, “the only begotten…He has explained Him” – only the Son of God bears all the attributes of His Father
• Hebrews 1:1-3 (Slide 9)
• Only in the Son can we truly see and understand the nature of God
• Why? Because we are in spiritual darkness and cannot see God without God’s supernatural work of revealing Himself to us

1. Gift of God to the world

• John is making the case the Jesus Christ bears all of the attributes of God
• John 3:16 (Slide 10)
• John 3:16, belief in the “only begotten” Son of God brings the gift of salvation
• Remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well, “If you knew the gift of God…”
• Only in the Son can we be brought into the family of God
• Why? Because we are in a state of spiritual death and need to be rescued from our sinful condition and brought into a relationship with God

1. Judgment of God over the world

• John is making the case the Jesus Christ bears all of the attributes of God
• John 3:18 (Slide 11)
• Psalm 2:11-12 (Slide 12)
• Matthew 25:31-46 (Slide 13)
• Only the Son of God can judge the world
• Why? Because only the Son of God lived a perfect life, died in our place, and rose again from the dead thus possessing the right to hold us accountable

1. Conclusion

• Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God, the “only begotten” from the Father
• 1. He became a human, making the glory of God visible
• 2. He became a human, allowing us to understand what God is like
• 3. He became a human as a gift from God to us for salvation
• 4. He became a human, functioning as the standard by which we will be judged for any that reject this great gift

Conclusion: Through adoption and by the grace of God there are many children of God, children who are brought into God’s family through receiving Jesus Christ. However, there is one and only one uniquely the Son of God as the One bearing all of the attributes of God.