Jehovah's Witnesses - 04_12 - Answers - Firstborn and Only Begotten Son
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1. You asked:
Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (And last but not least, why would Jesus say that he is the beginning of God's creation if he isn't?) Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every creature: Please answer. Do you understand what firstborn means? It means the one who was born first!
Do you understand what the meaning of the expression "the only begotten son means? It means the one and only Son.
a. No, "only begotten" does not mean the "one and only Son". But, let's look at "firstborn" first.
b. In Ps 89:27, speaking of Jesus, God says, "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." Jesus, the flesh in whom dwelt all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily, God manifest in the flesh, the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us, THAT Jesus was whom God made his firstborn - his only begotten Son. THAT Son, THAT Word, THAT Jesus existed prior to the incarnation, as we have already seen from Micah 5:2 ("from everlasting") and from other verses that put him "IN THE BEGINNING" and "Before the world". Therefore, if he pre-dated creation, and if he was with God and was God IN THE BEGINNING, and if All things were made by him; and without him was NOT ANY THING MADE that was made, then he was not a part of the creation but was the creator, himself. (John 1:3)
c. In Rev 21:13, Jesus claimed to be "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." In Heb 12:2, Jesus claims to be the author and finisher of our faith. The fact that he is "the beginning" of the creation of God does not mean that he, himself, was created, but rather that he, himself, was the creator of all the creation of God.
d. Yes, I understand what firstborn means. As you said, it does mean the one who was born first, (and it carries with it the connotation of special privilege, and of greater inheritance as well). Clearly God was manifest in the flesh, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; therefore, it – that flesh – that holy thing born of Mary – had a beginning. But that flesh died on the cross and Jesus, the Word, the Son, the God who had pre-existed before that incarnation, the God who manifested in that flesh, continued to live and will live forever.
e. Remember that, just before the cross, Jesus prayed, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." (John 17:5) Jesus existed BEFORE the incarnation and was exalted to the glory he had with the Father AFTER his resurrection.
f. No, "only begotten son" does NOT mean "One and only Son". New versions incorrectly translate it that way. The bible says there are MANY sons of God, so Jesus could not have been the "One and only". Also, the bible says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" So, Jesus couldn't be the "One and only" son. However, he IS the "Only begotten" son.
g. Study the word "begotten". It is always used in the context of, and in reference to, the NATURE of that from which something is derived, or comes. (For example, children that are begotten from their parents have the same composition or nature or substance – think about DNA genetics – as their parents). This is a perfect description of Jesus, because he is begotten of God, he has the same composition, nature, substance – genetic DNA, if you will – as does God!
h. To say that Jesus is the only BEGOTTEN Son of God is to boldly proclaim that of all the MANY sons of God that exist, JESUS is the ONLY SON THAT IS GOD!
16. You asked:
Do you understand that Satan tried to temp Jesus the "one and only Son directly created by God Almighty" to be unfaithful to his Father and God by using scriptures to trick him and discredit his mission by making him commit idolatry?
a. Well … Yes, if you phrase it correctly, I understand that Satan tempted Jesus, the only begotten son, in all manner as we are tempted, yet without sin. (Heb 4:15)
b. But again, I refer you to the previous paragraph in which I prove Jesus was NOT the one and only Son, but WAS the only begotten son; thereby making him literally GOD in the flesh.
17. You didn't really ask, but you stated:
Jehovah is God Almighty, the sovereign Lord of the universe, Jehovah of armies is His name, the most high over all the earth, the only true God and Father of Jesus Christ, cannot be tempted, Why? Because he is the owner of everything that exists.
a. Some of these things are not actually in the bible (Like the word "sovereign") but I agree that there is no God but God and that God cannot be tempted with evil. In fact, James 1:13 plainly states this.
b. But, you don't seem to realize that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man at the same time. Paul said that this was a great mystery - how that God manifested in the flesh. (I Tim 3:16) That is why Jesus is able to be our mediator between God and man. He is 100% both. So, even though God cannot be tempted with evil, and even though Jesus is God, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in like manner as we are tempted; yet without sin, because Jesus was also our mediator, "the man, Christ Jesus".
c. As I have outlined in several of the paragraphs above, we have to read the bible and understand who is speaking when God, or the Father, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit are speaking, in part by recognizing whether they are speaking in the singular or in the plural - and thereby understand who is actually speaking. Similarly, we have to understand that Jesus says various things as the Son of man and various things as the Son of God. He speaks at times as a man and he speaks at times as God. This is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh.
18. You asked:
1 Cor 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (Jesus is in his Fathers image, will he not reflect his Fathers Godly qualities with a capitol G?)
a. Absolutely, Terry! He will reflect his father's image and qualities with a capital "God" because he is the only BEGOTTEN son and therefore is literally God in the flesh and therefore has the very nature of "God".
b. Jesus was perfect. But even as an imperfect image, you reflect a great deal of your father's image too, including right down to DNA molecules – not because you are one in purpose with your father but because you are BEGOTTEN of your father and therefore have the same substance, or nature, or composition as he has.
