Son And Only Begotten Son.

By Maurice Barnett
This term "son" has several meanings, as does the word "father." It may refer to the offspring or posterity of a human, such as son or daughter; it may refer to offspring several generations down the line, such as in genealogies. A common use is to refer to sameness or likeness to something.
(1) Mark 3:17 - sons of thunder—an explosive character.
(2) Luke 10:6 - son of peace—a peaceful man.
(3) Luke 20:34 - sons of this world—meaning worldly minded.
(4) John 17:12 - son of perdition—a wicked man.
(5) Acts 4:35 - son of consolation—a helpful man.
In John 10:30, Jesus says that "I and the Father are one." The Jews well understood that this was a claim for Himself of being God. They accused Him of blasphemy and sought to stone Him. For Jesus to say that He was the Son of God meant that He was equal with the Father, He was also God. See also verse 36.
For Jesus to say that "I and the Father are one," was the same as saying that He was the "Son of God" and thus equal with the Father.
Yet, another meaning of His being a Son is found in Psalm 2. The time of the fulfillment of this prophecy is clearly specified in Scripture.
(1) Psalm 2:1-5 speaks of the nations setting themselves against God and His work, but God will overcome them. See Acts 4:23-30.
(2) Verses 8-12 speak of the universal dominion of the Christ. Following His resurrection, Jesus declared that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth, Matthew 28:18. The actual time that this universal dominion began was when He ascended to sit down at the right hand of God, Ephesians 1:19-23.
(3) Verse 6 says that God would set His king on His holy hill of Zion. This refers to the beginning of the rulership of Christ as King on His throne. See Acts 2:29-33 for the fulfillment connected with His resurrection.
(4) Verse 7 says that God has declared the decree, "thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." Here is the only begotten Son. Acts 13:32-34 says that it was fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus, not His physical birth by Mary! See also, Romans 1:1-4.
(5) This was also the time when He would be High Priest, Hebrews 5:5-6. Psalm 2:7 is specifically referred to in that passage in Hebrews. See also Hebrews 8:4, Zechariah 6:12-13. Jesus did not become High Priest until he went to Heaven following His resurrection.
The prophecy and fulfillment of Psalm 2 and the fact of Jesus’ being the only begotten Son of God relates to the time of His resurrection, not His birth by Mary. Jesus is never referred to as "Son" in the Old Testament except in prophecy.
Further, "Son of God" is used as a title equal to that of "Christ" and "King." Look at the following: Matthew 16:16, 26:63, Mark 14:61, John 1:49, John 11:27. There are numerous other passages that say the same thing.
The phrase, Son of God, declares sameness with the Father and is a title of His position.
Monogenes generally means that which is unique. It may be used to refer to an offspring who is one of a kind, an only child. Luke 7:12 records Jesus’ raising a dead boy, the "only son" of a widow of Nain. Luke 8:42 describes the healing of the "only daughter" of one Jairus. There is something unique about an only child in any family.
Hebrews 11:17 says that Abraham offered his "only begotten son," Isaac. In His instructions to Abraham in the Old Testament, concerning the offering, God refers to Isaac as "thine only son." However, though Isaac was Abraham’s literal offspring, the fact is, Isaac was neither the only son of Abraham nor the first son to be born to him. Ishmael was Abraham’s first born son. This should immediately tell us that the phrase, only begotten son, is being used in some sense other than a literal, physical, offspring. It is a figurative phrase that identifies Isaac as the child of promise through whom the blessings would come, a unique position. In this passage, he was only begotten in that he, not Ishmael, was the sole channel of God’s promises for the future; no other person was to be considered.
In the same manner, Jesus was the Father’s sole representative through whom the promises of salvation would come. He is referred to as the only begotten Son of the Father in several places, John 1:14, 18, 3:16,18, Hebrews 11:17, I John 4:9, but it has nothing to do with His origin, nor a literal father/son relationship, nor to any idea of Jesus’ being less than God, nor that he lost any of His powers and abilities of God. The phrase refers to uniqueness rather than derivation; it carries no idea of generation as it does with humans. We saw this amplified in the previous section on the word "son."
In Love
Eric C