All right, Psalms 2, 1 through
7. Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves
against the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and
against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder,
cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision, then shall
He speak unto them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set my King upon my
holy hill of Zion. Regardless of the opposition,
regardless of the raging of the heathen, God's will is accomplished. The King is set upon my holy
hill of Zion. Now watch verse 7. I will declare
the decree. The Lord said unto me, Thou art
my son this day, have I begotten thee. Now we recognize this as
a messianic psalm when we look at it in that light. Now, a little
bit of background to get us on our way. One of the things that
we must establish is the correct view of the Sonship of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. That is a study in itself, that
He is the Eternal Son of God, that He always was the Son, that
He always will be the Son. He at no time, either in eternity,
in the incarnation, in the resurrection, or in the ascension, did He become
for the first time the Son of God. This is the doctrine of
some in the world, that Jesus is not the eternal Son of God. Many confess that He is Son,
then some believe in incarnate Sonship, that He became the Son
of God when He became incarnate. I've seen MacArthur hold that
view off and on. I don't know the position now,
but that the Lord became the Son of God at the incarnation. But now we want to go even further. Not only is the eternal Son of
God, has always been, shall always be, is not a created being, at
no point had a beginning whatsoever, but shares an eternality that
is exactly equal with that of God the Father, having no beginning
and therefore having no end. But now, we want to come and
consider a step further. That is that He is the eternal
Son of God and that He has this eternal Sonship by what the old
theologians call eternal generation. I'll say it like this, He is
the eternally generated Son of God. That might sound mysterious
and deep, and indeed it is. But what is involved in it, we
hope to show and to declare shortly in our study. First, let me more
firmly establish His Sonship. One of the leading ways that
Christ is presented in the New Testament is that He is a special,
one-of-a-kind, unique, only begotten Son of the Father. The Scripture
is clear. Romans 8 and 3, God sending His
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. That famous verse in John
3.16, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son. John 1 and verse 34, this is
the Son of God. Acts 9 and verse 20, After Paul's conversion, we read,
straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue, that He is
the Son of God. Romans 1-4, Paul said, declared
to be the Son of God by the resurrection of power, by holiness again from
the dead. Romans 8 and verse 32, God spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up. Galatians 4.4, God sent
His Son made of a woman and made under the law. Hebrews 4 and
verse 14, our great high priest is Jesus, the Son of God. In 1 John 1 and 3, our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, the Lord. Jesus Christ. 1 John 4 and verse 10. God sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sin. And of course, there are dozens
more, enough that we might consume the whole service just reading
statements concerning the Lord as the Son of God. Now, having
established that He is the Eternal Son, without beginning of days
or end of life, we now come to wade a little bit deeper out
into the deep, into what we call the eternal generation of the
Son. Now let's recall some points
that we've made in past studies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
because they may be more pertinent in this place than they would
be at another time. At least they will serve us well
that they might lead us into the matter that is before us. that I am referring to pertains
to the various personalities or attributes that we meet with
in the three persons in the Godhead. As we think three and yet one. Three in one. Three and yet one. First of all, Scripture seems
to emphasize that the chief personality is that of the Father. And that
the chief personality of the Father is that of paternity,
or fatherhood, agentia. This is His personality. He is
the heavenly Father again and again. And especially, He is
God the Father, and God the Father He is. The Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we read in the Scripture. Romans 15 and 6, here
He is God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have it again in 1 Corinthians
1, and 3. And 1 Corinthians 11 and 31. You have it in Ephesians 1 and
verse 3. You have it in Ephesians 3 and
verse 14. Colossians 1, 3. 1 Peter 1 and
3. That He is the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the Father's personality is
that of paternity or fatherhood. Secondly, the personal identity
of the Holy Spirit is spiration or procession, for Scripture
speaks of the Holy Spirit as sent or as given or as shed forth
or poured out, breathed upon and descending upon the children
and the people of God. Herman Bebink in his book, The
Dutchman, wrote this thusly, quote, this spiration is an eternal
act taking place within the divine essence, unquote. But thirdly,
we have the personality of Christ, or of the Son. He is Son. He has Sonship. It is a phileo-Sonship,
a relation that he has with the Father. in that His is sonship. He is the Son of the Father. Now, as such, we read in Psalms
2 and 7, He is eternally begotten. Psalms 89 and 27, He is the first
begotten. Psalms 80, Hebrews 1 and verse
5, the first begotten of the Father is how the Lord is described. Paul calls him in Colossians
1 and verse 15, the firstborn of every creature. Romans 8.29,
He does it again. The firstborn among many brethren. John 3.16 even refers to Him
as the only begotten Son. Now note two things of these.
He is the first and He is the only begotten Son of God. Let's say it again. He is not
only the first, but He is the only begotten Son of God. Now before we go any further,
I think we ought to explain and speak about the term eternal
generation. It might be a new term to you. It might be that you've heard
it, studied it well. Or it might be that it's something,
certain new things that are falling upon your ears. Now, as to eternal
generation, we have reference to the Son of God and the Sonship
of God's blessed Son. Now, there are enemies of this
doctrine, and the enemies of the doctrine of eternal generation
are offended deeply and greatly by such an expression. They construe it to be a teaching
that we are saying there is a begotten God, as if one has been begotten,
that was not in existence before. J.C. Philpott wrote well on these
subjects, and he said of these enemies of eternal generation
way back in his day, quote, this expression seems especially to
move their spleen, and some called it a piece of twaddle, unquote. This is how some looked when
they heard the doctrine of eternal generation. Now, let's explain
how the term came into being and why it came into use by the
people of God and those that were sound in the faith. The
expression was born, by the way, sanctified and used by such even
to this day. You'll find it in the writings
of John Gill, John Bunyan, Herman Bevinck, John Owen, Thomas Goodwin,
Thomas Manton, to name a few, have spoken and written on the
doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son of God. Now the term
came into being in opposition to such as held views of the
Son of God similar to those of Arius, a heretic in earlier days. Arius taught that the Son was
not eternal. The Son, Jesus, was not eternal,
that He was created, that He was made, that He was generated
before the world or before time, but generated nonetheless. He
teaches or taught that Christ was the first creature that God
created, and that by Him then, God created all other things
that we have in creation. Their error was, they understood
begotten to mean the Son once was not, and then took existence,
and so they called Him a begotten God. that if he were begotten,
it then follows that he once was not inexistent, then he was
begotten or generated by God, is their assumption. Thus, in
opposing this view, those sound in the faith began using the
term eternal generation to describe the eternal sonship of the Lord
Jesus Christ. to throw down the view of Arius
and of the Arian. If I'm not mistaken, this contention
took place about the fourth century. And then, because such a view
of the sonship actually destroyed the deity of Jesus Christ, eternal
generation, therefore, appeared in some of the older creeds,
particularly in the Nicene Creed, It can be found, and I'm quoting,
begotten of his Father before all worlds, begotten not made,
being of one substance with the Father, begotten before all worlds,
end of quote. That is, He is the Son of God,
and He is so by eternal generation. Basil, a man named Basil, who
John Gill identified as the Archbishop of Caesarea, wrote this on the
controversy, and I took it down. Quote, As there is one God the
Father, always remaining the Father, and who is forever what
He is, So there is one Son, born by an eternal generation, who
is the true Son of God, who always is what He is, God the Word and
Lord." Now, born is not meant to identify a beginning. We emphasize it till we're blue. He had no beginning. The Son is as eternal as the
Father. Milner in his church history
pointed out how the proponents of eternal sonship developed
an explanatory and a descriptive term to describe and define their
position because it was opposed to that of the Aryans and other
heretics on the person of Christ. He said eternal generation as
opposed to Christ having a beginning. So when we use the term eternal
generation, it refers to the eternality of Christ. That He
is forever without beginning. a part and part of the eternal
and divine essence. One of the Holy Three. One nature. One God. Three persons constituting
the Trinity. So let us acknowledge that at
times it is necessary for Arminians and Aarons and Sibelians and
other infidels to often use the same words that we use in describing
our doctrine or Christ, but they put different meanings upon them,
and so it is sometimes necessary that even though they're age-old
words, we would describe them and define them very definitely
and very clearly for our particular and our present use. And so it
is with eternal generation. It defined the eternality of
the Son of God for His oneness with the divine essence. That
He is the begotten Son, but He is not a begotten deity or God. He is begotten as to His eternal
sonship, but not as to His divine nature. He is eternally begotten,
but He is not a begotten God that had a beginning at some
time. That He is eternally begotten
as against the Arius view of having a beginning or being generated,
but not eternity. Thus they rob Christ of His eternality,
which also robs Him of His divinity, and being a part of the Divine
Trinity. Now, coming to some texts that
speak of the begotten Son, beginning with that one in Psalms 2 and
verse 7. Twice in this psalm mention is
made of the Son. You'll find it in verse 7, you'll
find it again in verse 12. Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten Thee. Now, this verse is important
because the expression, the word, or the term begotten appears
frequently over in the New Testament in declaring Christ as applied
to Christ as the begotten, first and only begotten Son of the
Father. First, as to the use of the word
today. Today have I begotten thee, here
in Psalms 2 and verse 7. Now, there are two views of the
meaning of these words in this psalm. Those times and things
when He is declaratively demonstrated and set forth to be and as the
Son of God, such as His incarnation, this is My beloved Son. His baptism, this is My beloved
Son. His transfiguration, this. is My beloved Son, hear Him. His resurrection begotten again
by the power of God and declared to be the Son by the resurrection
from the dead. That's one view. Then there's
a second view, that of Augustine and of others following after
him, that the words here in Psalm 2 and verse 7 This day have I
begotten thee, express the eternal generation of the Son of God,
the third person in the Godhead. By these words therefore, the
words this day, express eternality and not a point in time. And as Eberhard said, today always
is present with God. And Clement of Alexandria said,
today is the image of the eternal age, unquote. And you kind of
see a like of that in Isaiah 43 and verse 13. But especially,
let's go to the opening verse of Hebrews. where Christ is set
forth as the unique Son of God, and the Hebrew author, we notice,
uses Psalms 2 and verse 7, and twice, in verse 5 and in verse
6, uses the word begotten in reference to Christ in Hebrews
1. Now, he declares two truths in
Hebrews 1 concerning Christ. Number one, look at verses 2
through 4, that he is the very radiance, the very image, the
very affluence of the Father. It says he is the exact hypostasis
of the Father. He's the very affluence, the
very shining forth, of God's glory, the very brightness, the
very outshining of the Father. He, in other words, is the exact
likeness of the Father. Now, Marshall's Greek-English
interlinear renders Hebrews 1-3 this way, quote, who being the
radiance of His glory and the representation of the reality
of Him, unquote. Brother Craig put me on to this
in A.T. Robertson's book one time, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, that Christ being the affluence,
that verse there in Hebrews, Robertson sees here also the
eternal generation of the Son of God in that passage of the
Scripture, showing the distinction between being, in verse 3, And
in verse 4, in verse 4, being made something, but in verse
3, being, being such. Not being made the affluence
of God, but being the very affluence of God. He's not just the representation
of the reality of him, but he is the absolute and timeless
one who has existed with the Father. Because it is a present
active participle, being, being the very image of God, not becoming,
but being. Linsky renders it as being, as
being the very affluence of the Father, as being, existing in
absolute timeless existence, as being the affluence, which
again Christosom defined as like being light out of light, light
shining out of a light, yet participating in the essence of that light. Yet, Linsky said, the eternal
timeless generation of the sun lies back of this Word. That is, the brightness or the
affluence of the Son with the Father. The meaning of affluence,
says Robertson, gives the idea of eternal generation of the
Son of God. But now for the second thing
that we meet with there in Hebrews. And that is His high esteem of
the Son of God. Notice, far above all of the
holy angels of God. Verse 5-14, He deals with that
in Hebrews chapter 1. Now, to the Son God said, Verse
5, Thou art my Son this day, have I begotten Thee. Verse 5,
I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son. 2 Samuel 7 and verse 14, check
that out. In verse 8, to the Son He said,
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The Father is speaking
to the Son, calling Him God. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. Check out Psalm 45, verse 6 through
verse 7. But let's return. to the sons
begetting by the Father His eternal generation. We noted earlier
this term began to be used in opposition to false views of
the Sonship of Christ, who denied His eternality and they denied
his deity. John Gill wrote on the heresies
commencing concerning the eternal sonship and deity of Christ. They began those heresies in
the very first century. while the Apostles were yet alive,
and especially the Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John to combat
many false views already arising concerning the Son, that some
were contemporaries of John the Beloved. And as Gil wrote, quote,
the Apostle John, who wrote his Gospel, to confute the heresies
of Ebion and Cyrenthias, and in vindication of the deity of
Christ and His divine and eternal generation." That's why the gospel
of John is such a glorious gospel. Now such men and their heresies,
men like Simon Magus, the first one, this Pentecost that I can
find, in history who taught that there was but one person in the
divine Godhead. Later this was picked up by Sibelius
and you'll find it today in what is called Oneness Pentecost or
in the United Pentecostal Church. Corinthians taught that Christ
was just a man, a natural man, only the Son of Joseph and of
Mary. Ebion, whom I mentioned a moment
ago, also taught that Jesus Christ was a common, mere man. And Gil recalls the story that
he once heard about the Apostle John, the apostle John, who wrote
some of the Bible, about to enter into a bath in the city of Ephesus,
when he looked up and saw that Cyrenthias was there in the bath,
and that John the apostle then said, and I quote, Let us flee
from hence, lest the bath fall upon us, in which is Cyrenthias
this enemy of the truth. Unquote. Now there is a uniqueness
about John's gospel and about his epistle having to do with
the person of Jesus Christ, or the Son of God. In opposition
to false views of Christ, John frequently presents Christ one
in his deity, as in John 1, one through three. Two, as the one
and only begotten Son of God. Why John, of all of the four
Gospels, lays such a heavy emphasis upon the deity and eternality
of the Lord's Christ. He says in John 1.14, and the
Word was made flesh, we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1.18 calls Him the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father. Notice,
not was or shall be, but which is in the bosom of the Father. John 3.16, God so loved the world,
He gave His only begotten Son. John 3.18, the only begotten
Son of God. 1 John 4 and verse 9, God sent
His only begotten Son. Revelation 1 and 5, the first
begotten from the dead. In all of these, the first begotten,
the firstborn among many brethren, the firstborn from the dead. Thus we are brought to a threefold
conclusion concerning the sonship of Jesus Christ. Number one,
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Not a son of God, but
the unique Son of God. Second, He is the eternal Son
of God without beginning of life or end of days. And thirdly,
that He is the Son of God by eternal generation. Son of God,
Son of God eternally, Son by eternal generation. Now, the
third we more closely try to consider, if the Lord will open
our understanding. By using this distinction, He
is not and was not a begotten God or person or being. He is the eternally begotten
Son of the Almighty God. Eternal generation. does not
require the Son to have a beginning. To believe that He is eternally
generated does not require us to think that He had a beginning
at some time or that He is a made are a created creature. Just
the very opposite is true, because it is His personality as Son
that is begotten, not His essence as the very God. Now we proceed
to involved in this eternal generation or begetting of the personality
of the Son. First of all, of course, the
Father who declares, I have begotten Thee. Here is the paternity of
the Father God. And as Gil said, it is begetting
which belongs to God the Father. as the member of the Godhead.
Second, there is the begotten. There is the begetting, the Father. There is the begotten, the Son.
Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten Thee. However hard that is for us to
realize, and understand we have to see here that there is a begetting. I read Herman Bevinck pretty
heavily in studying for this message. He said, the Son is
begotten not because He was brought forth in time like a creature,
but because He is eternally generated in the essence of the Father. Hence the title, or the proper
name, Father and Son. How is Christ the Son of the
Father, except He is begotten of Him? Nor is this begetting
the Incarnation. That's not when it occurred.
His humanity was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. As the Father is Father from
eternity, so the Son is Son from eternity. And the eternal character
of the Divine Fatherhead exactly corresponds with the eternal
character of the Divine Son and of the Divine Sonship. Now God
is Father by nature and by essence, not just by consent or by office. He is eternal Father. He is Father
without beginning, Father without end. And so the Son is the eternal
Son For if the Son is not eternal, then neither is the Father. But the Father and the Son are
eternal. And we know the Holy Spirit is
eternal because He is called so in the book of Hebrews chapter
9. So to close, the Father's personality
is paternal. That is, He it is that has begotten
the Son. The Son's personality is Sonship,
and in that He is begotten of the Father. Eternally generated
in the Divine Godhead is the Father and the Son and the Spirit
of God. The Holy Three making up One. Beyond our comprehension, We
can believe it and accept it by faith, but to understand it
in all of its depth, it taxes our understanding to the limit. But we have such a great one,
an eternally generated one. not one who had a beginning,
not one who was created by God later, but one who is of co-eternality
with the Father, sharing equally in the nature of the divine essence. The three persons in the one
nature are essence. Oh, what a God and what a Christ
we have. What a son we have to save us
and to bring us into everlasting happiness. Thank God for being
able to understand a little bit about the great and deep mystery
of Him who was manifest in the flesh.