I call the Lord Jesus the only begotten Son of God, because He is the express image of God,[/QUOTE
Berkhof on the Eternal Generation of the Son.
Louis Berkhof,
Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, 1949), pp. 93-94.
The Eternal Generation of the Son.
The Eternal Generation of God the Son
is the Personal Property of Jesus Christ
He is Eternally Begotten of the Father
(briefly called "filiation"), and shares with the Father
in the spiration of the Spirit.
The Doctrine of the Generation of the Son is suggested
by the Biblical representation of the first and second persons of the Trinity
as standing in the relation of Father and Son to each other.
Not only do the names "
Father" and "
Son" suggest the Generation
of the latter by the former, but the Son
is also repeatedly called "
the only-begotten,"
John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; Heb. 11:17; 1 John 4:9.
Several particulars deserve emphasis in connection
with the Generation of the Son:
(1) It is a necessary Act of God.
Origen, one of the very first to speak of the Generation of the Son,
regarded it as an act dependent on the Father's will and therefore free.
Others at various times expressed the same opinion.
But it was clearly seen by Athanasius and others that a Generation
dependent on the optional will of the Father would make
the existence of the Son contingent and thus rob Him of His Deity.
Then the Son would not be equal to and
homoousios [of the same
essence]
with the Father,
for the Father exists necessarily,
and cannot be conceived of as non-existent.
The generation of the Son must be regarded as a necessary
and perfectly natural act of God.
This does not mean that it is not related
to the Father's will in any sense of the word.
It is an Act of the Father's necessary will, which merely means
that His concomitant will takes perfect delight in it.
(2) It is an Eternal Act of the Father.
This naturally follows from the preceding.
If the Generation of the Son is a
necessary Act of the Father, so that it is impossible to conceive of Him as not Generating, it naturally shares
in the Eternity of the Father.
This does not mean, however, that it is an Act that was completed
in the far distant past, but rather that
it is A Timeless Act,
The Act of an Eternal Present,
an Act always continuing and yet ever completed.
Its Eternity follows not only from The Eternity of God,
but also from the Divine Immutability and from the True Deity of the Son.
In addition to this it can be inferred from all those passages of Scripture
which teach either;
The Pre-Existence of the Son or His Equality with the Father,
Mic. 5:2; John 1:14, 18; 3:16; 5:17, 18, 30, 36;
Acts 13:33; John 17:5; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:3.
The statement in
Ps. 2:7, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee,"
is generally quoted to prove
The Generation of the Son,
but, according to some, with rather doubtful propriety, cf.
Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5.
They surmise that these words refer to the raising up of Jesus as Messianic King, and to the recognition of Him as Son of God in an official sense,
and should probably be linked with the promise found in II Sam. 7:14,
just as they are in Heb. 1:5.
(3) It is a Generation of the Personal Subsistence
rather than of The Divine Essence of the Son.
Some have spoken as if the Father Generated the essence of the Son,
but this is equivalent to saying that He Generated His Own essence,
for the essence of both the Father and the Son is exactly the same.
It is better to say that the Father Generates the Personal Subsistence of the Son, but thereby also communicates to Him The Divine Essence in its entirety.
But in doing this we should guard against the idea
that the Father first Generated a Second Person,
and then communicated The Divine Essence to this Person,
for that would lead to the conclusion that the Son
was not Generated out of The Divine essence, but Created out of nothing.
In the Work of Generation there was a communication of essence;
it was One Indivisible Act.
And in virtue of this communication the Son also has Life in Himself.
This is in agreement with the statement of Jesus,"
"For as the Father hath life in Himself,
even so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself," John 5:26.
(4) It is a Generation that must be conceived of as Spiritual and Divine.
In opposition to the Arians, who insisted that the Generation of the Son necessarily implied separation or division in the Divine Being,
the Church Fathers stressed the fact that this Generation
must not be conceived in a physical and creaturely way,
but should be regarded as Spiritual and Divine,
excluding all idea of division or change.
It brings
distinctio and
distributio,
but no
diversitas and
divisio in the Divine Being. (Bavinck)
The most striking analogy of the Eternal Generation of the God the Son
is found in man's thinking and speaking,
and the Bible itself seems to point to this,
when it speaks of the Son as the Logos.
(Alan's Note: Just as we think of God the Father having the Attribute
and Ability to Speak freely all that is on His Mind and Will, as He Pleases;
well, there it is...!
That's what we mean by:
"The Eternal Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God".
The LORD JESUS CHRIST is The ETERNAL LOGOS!
We know God the Father's ABILITY TO SPEAK THAT HE HAS ALWAYS POSSESSED
INCLUDES GOD HAS ALWAYS SPOKEN THROUGH HIS ETERNAL WORD,
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/logos
The LORD JESUS CHRIST THE ETERNAL LOGOS.
"God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners Spake
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son..."
Hebrews 1,2a.
God's Son, through Whom He has spoken is The Eternal Logos, JESUS CHRIST.
Logos (λόγος) in Greek means, most literally, “word.”
In Greek thought, the Logos was the Reason behind all reason.
Logos (λόγος) is a concept word in the Bible that symbolizes
the Nature and Function of Jesus Christ
and refers to the Revelation of God in the world.
Logos' (λόγος) in its most basic and common meaning
is simply “word,” “speech,” “utterance,” or “message.”
Jesus Christ is God the Father's Eternal Logos,
and means that Jesus is God's, “Word,” “Speech,” and “Message",
AND JESUS CHRIST HAS ALWAYS EXISTED,
as THE ETERNALLY GENERATED ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD
WHO SPEAKS AND EXPRESSES THE REVELATION, WILL and MIND of GOD.
(5) The following definition may be given of the Generation of the Son:
"The Eternal Generation of the Only Begotten God Son of God, Jesus Christ,
is that Eternal and necessary Act of the First Person in the Trinity, God the Father,
whereby He, within the Divine Being,
is the ground of a Second Personal Subsistence like HIs Own,
and puts this Second Person, God the Son Jesus Christ,
in Possession of the Whole Divine Essence,
without any division, alienation, or change."
