Ps 2:7 THE BEGOTTEN ONE

THE BEGOTTEN ONE

“…the Lord hath said unto me, ‘Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee.'” Ps 2:7

In this Psalm we are privileged to hear the Father in heaven speak to His holy Son; He said, “This day I have begotten Thee.” When was this? The Nicene Creed has the answer: begotten of His Father before all worlds. God’s Son has no past; He is the eternal “begotten One.” Who can understand this? What mortal can begin to comprehend God?

This creed, however, suggests another answer to our question, When was this? We also read there: conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. God, the Spirit, through the Virgin Mary, conceived the eternally Begotten of the Father. Who can understand this? It is the great and mighty wonder of Christmas. Mary, a chaste and humble sinner, was chosen by the Almighty to give birth to His Son.

The very thought of a virgin birth was a great mystery to Mary. She asked, “How shall this be!” The angel answered: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee…therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” The angel did not really explain how this would be, but simply said, ” God will do it.”

While we, too, do not understand how it happened, we do know what happened. What Mary carried in her body and gave birth to was the holy Son of God. As great as is the mystery of the conception of the Savior, so is the mystery of His incarnation; the Babe in the Manger is the Son of God in human form, altogether human and altogether divine.

The reason for the wonderful birth of Jesus, however, is no mystery. He had to be true God so He could lead a sinless life for us and He had to be true man so that He could take our place. The angel of the Lord explained to Joseph very plainly before the child was born “He shall save His people from their sins.” It is faith in what this Child came to do that makes all the difference in our lives. Faith in Jesus means forgiveness and peace and the hope of everlasting life. The manger scene, viewed with the eye of faith, is a joyful reminder of the begotten One, come to earth for our sins. Viewed any other way, the scene becomes an empty symbol. When the baby in swaddling clothes is a mere baby and not also the Son of God, all the blessings of Christmas are lost.

Since all He comes to ransom,

By all be He adored,

The Infant born in Beth’lem,

The Savior and the Lord.