Why is Jesus the "only begotten son"?
"The Word (Jesus) became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. And the Word was full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
"Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him" (1 John 4:9).
Saying that Jesus is the "only begotten son" is another way of saying that Jesus is the only Son of God.We can find the phrase "only begotten son" in the King James Version of the Bible, in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This verse means that Jesus is the only one who came from God to Earth to die on the cross for our sins and then rise from the dead.
Calling Jesus God’s Son can be confusing, because Jesus
is God. But God is very different than we are—He is really three persons in one: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We call this the Trinity. The three persons of God aren’t separate, but they do have different ways they function, or work. Our brains can’t really understand this, because every person on earth is just one person. But the Bible helps us understand by talking about things we know, like a father and son. God the Father sent His Son Jesus to take the punishment for our sin.
When the Bible calls Jesus the "only begotten son," it’s also showing how special Jesus is. He is not like anything or anyone else. He is God, and He is perfect, so He is the only one who could have died for our sins and then come back to life. Jesus is amazing!
