If we define generate as cause or beget, what does the generation of man imply? Well, as it concerns the birth of one human being, it implies that two human beings are needed to generate human life. This, however, does not take into consideration the fact that without the word of God, we cannot tell how the first human being had come to be or the second, since it takes two human beings of opposite gender to cause, beget or generate another human life.
What about God? Many Christians believe the Father “generated” or is the direct cause of the one who became Jesus. This is not believed in the sense that he caused the virgin birth, but in the sense that it occurred (and actually continues to occur always) in eternity before anything was created. Christians speak of this as an “eternal generation.” It has always been going on, never to cease, but is this true?
Jesus spoke of himself as coming out from God and into the world (John 16:27-28). These verses stand in apposition with how Paul describes Jesus in Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:14-16 Whiston NT (14) That thou keep the commandment both without spot, and unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: (15) Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; (16) Who only hath immortality, and dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and eternal power. Amen.
Notice that at the appearing of Jesus, he will show to everyone who is the blessed and only Potentate (Ruler, or Authority). Jesus alone is called “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). He alone has immortality (cp. 1John 1:1-2). He dwells in the LIGHT which no man can approach (cp. John 1:18). In fact the Scriptures claim: God is Light (1John 1:5). In other words Jesus dwells in the Father (described as Light in 1Timothy 6:16), whom no one has ever seen nor can see. It is out from “LIGHT” that the one who became Jesus had come into this world, and it is to this LIGHT he returned (John 16:27-28; cp. John 17:5, 11, 13). This idea that Jesus dwells “in” LIGHT or God (the Father – John 1:18) and comes “out” from God was expressed to us first in the creation of mankind, where Eve had to come “out” from Adam. More about this can be found in my study on the Image of God.
If God (the Father) is the cause of the one who became Jesus through what is termed eternal generation, there is nothing in the Scriptures that would show this to be so.
John begins his Gospel: “In the beginning, was the Word…” What beginning are we speaking of here? There are many beginnings referred to in the word of God. For example, there is the “beginning of the gospel” (Mark 1:1); “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8); the beginning of the world (Matthew 24:21); “the beginning of miracles of Jesus” (John 2:11); “the beginning of the creation of God (Mark 10:6; 13:19). What beginning is John 1:1 speaking of? Perhaps we find a clue in John 1:3, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” The context refers to creation. Unless it can be shown elsewhere in Scripture that in the beginning refers to something other than creation, I must go with the implications of the context.
Not one thing was created that was not done in and through him (John 1:3; cp. Colossians 1:16). In other words, Jesus, or the Word, participated in all that is or ever was brought into existence. This alone should show Jesus is not a created being. If **all** things were created in and through him, logic demands he could not be a created being. What is more, it seems that time itself was created in and through Jesus (Hebrews 1:2; 11:3). Therefore, this one who became Jesus existed in eternity, before time existed, because that by which we measure our lives and the age of the universe (time) was created in and through him. I therefore conclude that John 1:1 must be speaking of the beginning of creation. “In the beginning (of creation) was the Word…” In the beginning he already existed, because all that ever was or is or shall be has been created IN AND THROUGH the one we call the Word or Jesus!
In John 1:18 we find that Jesus is the only one of his kind that came from God. That is, no other being (man or spirit) who has come into existence is like this one we call Jesus, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” The ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, as the Word, already existed at the beginning of creation, which seems to include the beginning of time.
If we say the Word existed in eternity before the existence of time, how can we conclude he ever had a beginning? The point is: we simply cannot comprehend eternity or how it is measured, or if it has ANY measurement at all. The Scriptures are silent in this regard. All we are told is Jesus came out from God, whom they describe as LIGHT. Jesus is also described as Light in John’s prologue. In other words he is “Light” come out of “LIGHT”! This is all we can say for certain, because this is all the Scriptures reveal, so it is in this sense Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God.
We are cautioned to remain in the teaching of Christ 2John 1:9 and not add to or take away from God’s word (Revelation 22:18-19; Deuteronomy 12:32). If we think we can know more than the Scriptures reveal, we deceive ourselves and do not know anything as we ought (1Corinthians 8:2). It seems to me that this is exactly what the Trinity doctrine and any other doctrine which tries to show Jesus was created or came into existence at his human birth are doing. Jesus is our Teacher and we are supposed to take him at his word, not adding to it or disbelieving part of it to justify our own understanding. Jesus is God; the Father is God; and this is all we know. The Holy Spirit seems to be the Spirit of the Presence of God, and is called God. He seems to be sent by both the Father and the Son (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). Although John 15:26 seems to say the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father alone, we cannot conclude this because Jesus also says:
John 14:16-18 KJV And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (18) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (emphasis mine)
Notice Jesus says to his apostles: “He dwells **with** you and shall be **in** you. Then he says: “I will come to you. This seems to say the Holy Spirit is also the Presence of Jesus. Jesus was present **with** the disciples and promised to be present **in** them. Later in John 17 in Jesus’ prayer to his Father, he claimed that both he and the Father would come and dwell in the believer (John 17:23), and this is even more clearly revealed in John 14:23. This suggests that the Holy Spirit is the Presence of God (the Father and Jesus) in the believer.
This is not what the Trinity doctrine says, but it is derived out of what Jesus says. If I missed something, I am open for correction, but this seems to be what Jesus is saying, and I offer it to anyone who reads to accept or reject as seems fitting to that one, but let God be true though every man be called a liar. I praise God for what he reveals through his holy word.
Smoodock's Blog 