How Could Jesus Be God If He Was Begotten By God?

A:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16)

C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, "To beget is to become the father of something; to create is to make something. When you beget something you beget something that is the same kind as yourself. A man begets human babies, and beaver begets beavers, and a bird begets eggs that become baby birds. But when you make, you make of a kind different from yourself. Birds make nests, beavers make dams, a man makes a wireless set...What God begets is God; just as what man begets is man. What God creates is not God; just as what man creates is not man."

I would like to clarify some terms used in the Bible that are often misused and misunderstood with their English connotations and meanings. These words are Son of God, firstborn, and begotten. Remember that the Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek. At times and accurate translation is difficult to make into English. We must interpret all Scripture in light of how it was understood in the times that it was written.

- Begotten: the Greek word is mongooses and means "the only kin or kind, hence, the only." In the way it was used in the Greek and the Hebrew it was never used to speak of generation or creation -- meaning that it didn't mean that the begotten was generated or created- but it was a reference to a relationship and meant-unique, only beloved.

- Son of God: in the Greek the term “son of_____” is used in two ways. (1) of a relationship (2) as the expression of character. Jesus is called the Son of Man throughout Luke. And is also called the Son of Righteousness. Many think that the Son of God means that Jesus is God's actual son and therefore of lesser greatness than God. This is not true. If it were the case the Jesus would also be the actual son of righteousness and of man. That sounds silly! The phrase is used to express total representation. In other words, when Jesus is called the Son of God that phrase means that He is the absolute expression and character of God. A side note, the words Father and Son in the New Testament are never used to suggest the Father existed before the Son. Instead it is used to explain the special relationship the have with one another.

- Firstborn: a quick study of Hebrew will tell you also that the word firstborn does not refer to actual creation or birth as we know it. It refers, again, to a special relationship, a unique relationship not able to be held by anyone else. Thus, in Proverbs 8 when and Col.1:15 the terms birth and firstborn speak of a special relationship and not of an actual creation of Jesus. Jesus is eternal and co-existed with the Father (John 1:1-3) therefore, He could not have been created.