Smoodock's Blog

The Prologue of John ends with verse-18 of the first chapter of his Gospel. This is his introduction to the life and ministry of Jesus our Savior. John says that no man has ever seen God, but if this is so, how can we conclude that Jesus is God, since so many in the first century CE have seen Jesus? Obviously, John is speaking in terms of God in his glorious form or spiritual essence (John 4:24). If this were not true, then how would we explain Abraham walking and speaking with God in the plain of Mamre (Genesis 18), or how would we explain Moses with God on Sinai?

Consider what John says:

John 1:18 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 contrasts two statements here. First, he says no man has ever seen God, but then goes on to say the only begotten Son has “declared him” or “made him known” as some translations put it. The verb in question is in the aorist middle tense, which means that the subject of the sentence (the only begotten Son) acted upon himself in order to show who God is. This makes perfect logical sense according to John’s argument thus far. Remember, the Word was both with God (the Father) and in essence God, himself (John 1:1). It is this one who has become man (John 1:14). If anyone could reveal who God is, it would be Jesus. The fact that the verb has Jesus acting upon himself in order to reveal God, shows that Jesus was revealing God in a practical, visible fashion. He wasn’t simply offering a theological statement about God—he was living out who God is as a man.

John also says that Jesus, or the only begotten Son, is in the bosom of the Father. What does this mean? We must remember that the Father had no direct involvement in the virgin birth. It was his will for the Word to become man, but the Word acted upon himself in order to fulfill the will of the Father as the language of John 1:14 shows. Therefore, if Jesus is not God’s Son by virtue of his human birth, in what sense is he God’s “only begotten Son”? I wrote a study concerning this Scripture against the argument of the Biblical Unitarians HERE and also in respect to what is called eternal generation HERE. The conclusion of both studies is that Jesus is God—one of a kind in the sense that he originates from or comes out of the “God kind” not human kind. He becomes human, but he is God.

Jesus told us that he came out from God and that he would return to where he was (John 16:28). Moreover, he said in his prayer to the Father that before he came into the world that he was glorified with God, that is, with God’s own self (John 17:5). What does this mean? Paul tells us in his letter to Timothy that Jesus is the only Potentate, dwelling in the Light that no man can approach (1Timothy 6:15-16). It is difficult to imagine this picture, but Jesus, whom John describes as “Light” (John 1:7-8), dwells in the LIGHT (cp. 1John 1:5) that no man can approach, whom no man has seen, nor can see.

The very essence of light is to permit visibility or mental understanding. However, if light is bright enough it will blind a person, sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. The sense in 1Timothy 6:16 seems to be that God cannot be known by mankind—cannot be seen, cannot be understood. But Jesus, the ONLY BEGOTTEN, the Light who comes out of LIGHT, has revealed God to mankind. He has visited us and lived out before man what God is truly like. We can know God only through him—the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.