Page 11 - Foundations

The Only Begotten Son

John 1:14
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only
begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

From the time I was a child I heard Christ described as “the only begotten son.” Like many
Christians I could quote John 3:16 from my youth.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Incredible as it may seem, although I heard this expression thousands of times throughout my life,
I had never heard any minister, author, Bible teacher, or Christian explain what the words “only
begotten Son” meant in a way that was clear and satisfying. There was always a nagging thought that
something was missing, or not quite correct, in the common explanations of this Biblical expression.
Following are a few more occurrences.

John 1:18
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has
explained Him.

John 3:18
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

I John 4:9
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the
world so that we might live through Him.

The Greek word translated as only begotten is “monogenes.” You may recognize elements of this
word. The prefix mono means “one.” It is from this prefix that the English word “only” finds its way
into the expression “only begotten.” The latter part of monogenes is taken from the Greek word
ginomai. Strong’s Concordance defines this word in the following manner.