Articles
The Importance of Jesus' Resurrection: Fulfillment of Prophecy Pt 2 God's Begotten Son
God's Begotten Son
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 1:1-4
David wrote,
"As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.
I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, You are my Son;
today I have begotten you." Psalm 2:6-7
Upon the reading of this phrasing, "…today I have begotten you." many think upon the birth of the Messiah, but their attention is on the wrong moment in Jesus' life. Although the word is regularly used to identify the lineage of a child to a parent, in this case it is much more than that. Paul stated that Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God", "by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).
He also affirmed that the resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment and confirmation of this prophecy,
"…what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you.'" Acts 13:32-33
The Hebrew writer twice attributes this prophecy to Jesus
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”? Hebrews 1:5
Then,
5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you” Hebrews 5:5.
The Messiah was indeed begotten by the Holy Spirit through the agency of Mary's womb, but the apostles spoke of Him being begotten by another event in His life. This was in the sense that He was ultimately manifested as God's Son, not just by the virgin birth, but by His obedience to His Father in heaven. It was through His resurrection from the dead that God ultimately said "today, I have begotten you!" The fact that Jesus raised from the dead is proof beyond any contradiction that God is pleased with His life and that He recognizes Him as His true Son.
One is not "begotten" in order to place Him in a tomb and leave Him there. He is not "begotten" to be recognized as the true Son and then let Him languish and die. No! One is begotten to be the eldest of many sons and the King of God's Kingdom. That One who was begotten by the resurrection from the dead is Jesus Christ our Lord!
Michael Franklin
