I Believe in God’s Only Begotten Son

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: I John 5; Lord's Day 13
Psalters: 34, 60, 3, 125
  1. Great meaning about Him.
    1. The faith and hope of the Christian church is that the man Jesus is also very God.
    2. Scripture emphasizes repeatedly that Jesus is the Son of God.
    3. Scripture identifies Jesus as God’s “begotten” Son.
    4. And the Christian church maintains Jesus’ Sonship is “only;” i.e., distinct from all others.
    5. This means:
      1. Jesus shares the divine nature of God (Col. 1:15-17), and did not shed His Godhead when He became man (John 1:14).
      2. His being God when He willingly shed His blood makes His cross greatly efficacious.
  2. Although we are truly God’s children, there is a distinction between Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, and us.
    1. Jesus is God’s natural, begotten Son, while we are graciously adopted and gifted with the glorious privilege.
    2. How is our childhood realized? In and through the Son of God, God graciously adopted us and gives us the privilege of being children of God (Rom. 8:16; John 1:12; I Peter 1:23).
    3. Four powerful implications concerning the glorious nature of our salvation.
      1. We are given the glorious privilege of being called His children (Gal. 4:4,5).
      2. Our adoption is the highest expression of God’s love (I John 3:1) and grace.
      3. Adoption secures for a child the right to the name and property of the adopting parent.
      4. We are privileged to receive consciously all the rights of Christ, so that all that is His is also ours (I Cor. 3:21,23).
    4. Abide in the happy and peace-giving confidence that we are in His family and that He will take us into His home to dwell with Him forever.