It is bad manners to give a gift to someone and leave the price tag on it, but this is exactly what God did when He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ.
God wanted us to know what it cost Him to purchase our salvation. So he left the price tag on the gift. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son.” That is, He gave His only begotten Son. This term translates the word monogenes. It means “the one and only.” It is used nine time times in the New Testament. Luke used it three times. Luke 7:12 used the word to tell us the dead boy of the widow of Nain was her only son. Luke 8:42 used the word to tell us Jairus’ dying 12-year-old was his only daughter. Luke 9:38 used the word to tell us the father of a demon-possessed boy pleaded with Jesus for help on the basis that he was his only son. The term is also used in Hebrews 11:17 to tell us Isaac was Abraham’s only begotten son, although Abraham had another son named Ishmael.
The other five times monogenes occurs in the New Testament, John used it in reference to Jesus; John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”; John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known”; John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in Him is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
First John 4:9 says, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
All human beings are God’s children generally through creation. All Christians are God’s children specifically through regeneration and adoption, but the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s Son uniquely because He is the only begotten Son of the Father.
Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Him the world fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Jesus Christ is the unique One, the One and only, the One of a kind.
In other words, there is nobody like Jesus.
Nobody was born like Jesus.
Nobody lived like Jesus.
Nobody died like Jesus.
Nobody got up like Jesus.
Nobody is coming again like Jesus.
Jesus is God’s only Son. When John 3:16 says God loved us by giving His only begotten Son, it is telling us Jesus Christ is what God sent when He cared enough to send the very best.
The other five times monogenes occurs in the New Testament, John used it in reference to Jesus; John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”; John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known”; John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in Him is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
First John 4:9 says, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
All human beings are God’s children generally through creation. All Christians are God’s children specifically through regeneration and adoption, but the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s Son uniquely because He is the only begotten Son of the Father.
Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Him the world fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Jesus Christ is the unique One, the One and only, the One of a kind.
In other words, there is nobody like Jesus.
Nobody was born like Jesus.
Nobody lived like Jesus.
Nobody died like Jesus.
Nobody got up like Jesus.
Nobody is coming again like Jesus.
Jesus is God’s only Son. When John 3:16 says God loved us by giving His only begotten Son, it is telling us Jesus Christ is what God sent when He cared enough to send the very best.
How did God say I love you? He gave His only begotten Son.
He who had glory before the world began, came down from glory…down from the heights of divinity to the depths of humanity.
An uncreated, divine Person, who had eternal pre-existence, took on the form of a created being and became what He was not in eternity—flesh.
He who in eternity rested on the bosom of the Father without a mother, in time rested on the bosom of His mother without an earthly father.
He who in Eden’s garden took from the body of a man a motherless woman, in Bethlehem’s barn took from the body of a woman a fatherless man.
The Ancient of Days became the Infant of Days, a baby as old as His heavenly Father, ages older than His mother, Mary. He who made man, yet was made in the likeness of men.
He who created the angels was made a little lower than the angels.
He who said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” was born 2,000 years after Abraham died.
He who was Abraham’s seed was Abraham’s Savior.
He who was David’s son was David’s Lord.
I know God loves me because I know He gave His only begotten Son—Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 9:15 says, “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”
He who had glory before the world began, came down from glory…down from the heights of divinity to the depths of humanity.
An uncreated, divine Person, who had eternal pre-existence, took on the form of a created being and became what He was not in eternity—flesh.
He who in eternity rested on the bosom of the Father without a mother, in time rested on the bosom of His mother without an earthly father.
He who in Eden’s garden took from the body of a man a motherless woman, in Bethlehem’s barn took from the body of a woman a fatherless man.
The Ancient of Days became the Infant of Days, a baby as old as His heavenly Father, ages older than His mother, Mary. He who made man, yet was made in the likeness of men.
He who created the angels was made a little lower than the angels.
He who said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” was born 2,000 years after Abraham died.
He who was Abraham’s seed was Abraham’s Savior.
He who was David’s son was David’s Lord.
I know God loves me because I know He gave His only begotten Son—Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 9:15 says, “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”
ACTION STEP: You are priceless. You are adopted into the family of God. Adoption is costly, and Jesus paid the price. An adopted child can never be disinherited. There is nobody like Jesus and there is nobody like you! You are made of the same substance as Jesus. He is the firstborn of many brothers...and you are one of them.
Tomorrow we continue #4 of 5 "The Redeeming Purpose of the Gift-Substitution"
Tomorrow we continue #4 of 5 "The Redeeming Purpose of the Gift-Substitution"
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