Text Ref. 11
| “But while he [Joseph] thought on these things [Mary’s pregnancy before they were married – and Joseph knew the child was not his], behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” (Mat 1:20)Sometime prior to that an angel had told Mary about her impending pregnancy. Mary was amazed and confused.
“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (35) And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luk 1:34-35) |
Allow me to use human terminology in my attempts to show you what happened (and bear in mind the following did not literally happen; I have to see it this way in order to dimly understand what occurred):
In fashioning Jesus, God gathered in all of His far-reaching Presence and all of His Great Power and all of His Essence and Being and compacted them in the seed that He placed within the womb of the Virgin Mary. But there was still all of His Presence and greatness and Essence in all of creation as there was before this Great Event. It is similar to the way in which a torch is initially set ablaze from another source, but the original source is not diminished in the least by the flame it gives to the torch.
God had amassed all of His divine attributes and placed them in a focal point named Jesus – but that diminished God not at all. The fullness of the Godhead was in Jesus while God still remained GOD. After Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, at which time Jesus symbolically received the Holy Spirit, no other being on earth could have the Spirit of God as an abiding Presence within him: the fullness was all in Jesus. Even John, who had the Spirit from birth, was affected by this truth. His ministry began to wane as the Spirit gradually withdrew Himself from John after Jesus publicly and symbolically received the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Himself Is God ‘Uniquely-Begotten’
We the people of God are quick to get stuck in ruts of our own making. For instance, when dealing with the old Truth that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, we have no difficulty in accepting it; it is a “slam dunk” – IF it is presented to us in the standard way. The standard way – and it is certainly a miraculous way – is that God was in Jesus, reconciling the world unto Himself. It is far beyond our understanding, but we don’t worry our pea-sized brains about it because “God knows what He is doing” and “God can do anything”; and we are absolutely correct in accepting what God does although it is beyond our comprehension.
John 1.18 is one of many biblical passages that declare this old Truth. I am not asking you now to accept some great new revelation hidden in this verse: it’s the same old Truth, but it is rammed home even more effectively by looking at the verse from a different perspective. You might say further light is shed on the verse (it is in no way a new revelation) by studying different translations or versions of the original Greek. Kenneth S. Wuest’s version of it, with an assist by the NIV, can help us see the oldTruth more clearly.
Now remember that John 1.18 is forever the old Truth on which our salvation is based. The only thing new is not the old Truth; it is the way in which the original Greek words are translated; and I am aware of no reputable Bible scholar who has disputed the three different translations of John 1.18
Following are the three versions in question:
Joh1:18 KJV:
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
John 1:18 NIV:
“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him [God] known.”
John 1:18 Wuest:
“Absolute deity in its essence no one has ever yet seen. God uniquely-begotten, He who is in the bosom of [has a cherished relationship with] the Father, that One fully explained deity.”
You will observe that the NIV boldly states that Jesus “is himself GOD” and then Wuest drives home the finishing nail: “God [who is] uniquely-begotten [as the Son], … that One [Jesus of course] fully explained deity.”
Don’t view this divine masterstroke as Jesus’ being uniquely begotten, but as GOD Himself being begotten as the human Son of God. This confirms the co-identity of God and Jesus Christ. God, of His own will and by His own power, was begotten as the Son Jesus Christ. Be careful: that does not make Jesus “His own father,” as some critics say contemptuously; Jesus in His divinity could have had no father as He was an eternal Being, never having been begotten. Only the glorified body of Jesus, which will merge with the essence of God in the summing up of all things, was begotten.
Man is basically body, soul and spirit. This will not change essentially in our eternal state. We shall then be glorified body, soul (our will and emotions) and spirit (the spirit of life or animate being that God gave us).
Jesus was also body, soul and spirit. In heaven He will be (and is now) glorified body, soul (having a will that is literally one with the will of God) and spirit (the spirit of life that He had forever because He was the Father who became the uniquely begotten Son). In the consummation of all things, Jesus, as one with the essence of God, will need no body, not even a glorified one.
Furthermore the full work of redemption will now have been accomplished; the body of Jesus will no longer be required for living and suffering and dying. He will be folded into the essence of God. Also the Holy Spirit, that constant, indomitable guide to the Church and its billions of needy individual members, will have accomplished His task of taking us all safe home. God sent Him; God shall bring Him back.
(1Co 15:28) “And when all things shall be subdued unto him [the Son Jesus], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [God] that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”
“And what about Jesus?” Why… I thought you knew. You didn’t? Then let me assure you: That wonderful, glorious name can never be forgotten or dispensed with. He has done marvelous things for us and in us and through us… God – whose name is JESUS – will be our all in all, and He shall reign forever.
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