IS JESUS ETERNALLY GOD EVEN THOUGH HE IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON?

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Does this verse mean that Jesus is a created being? In Psalm 2, the Messiah is called God’s “begotten” Son for the first time:

·       "Yet I [God] have set My King [Messiah] On My holy hill of Zion."  "I [Messiah] will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me [Messiah], 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.  Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.” (Psalm 2:6-8)

Does this mean that God gave birth to or created the Messiah on this day? It couldn’t possibly mean this. Even the Jewish Study Bible acknowledges this regarding verse 7:

·       Adoption language [“begotten”] expresses the close kinship between God and the king…Some biblical passages may suggest that some groups in ancient Israel viewed the king as divine (Psalm 45:7)

This verse couldn’t possibly have meant that “today, I am birthing you into life.” Why not? Because God is talking to His King Messiah as He is saying “today I have begotten you.” This means that King Messiah is already alive!

What then does this phrase mean? That God the Father had begotten the Son from the dead after He had been put to death by the nations who hated Him (Psalm 2:1-5) and had elevated Him heir of the whole earth! In Hebrew culture, to be the “firstborn son” meant that he would inherit everything from his father.

This was also the understanding of the Apostle Paul:

·       “And we declare to you glad tidings--that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.' And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption…(Acts 13:32-34 NKJV)

Jesus had been begotten from the dead following His crucifixion. However, He also existed:

·       In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1-3)