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Begotten?
Personal blog posted by Lahry Sibley on July 28, 2009 at 3:19pm
Begotten?
By Lahry Sibley
I seem to be, on many occasions, one of the last to "get it". No, I'm not blonde. ;) The same is true when studying the Word of God. So perhaps what I'm about to share with you, you already know. If so, you can at least be glad with me at my own discovery. I sometimes read something in the Word and I have no idea what is meant by the text. Actually, it's not just sometimes, but often. Anyway, let me share with you what I'm specifically getting at. Thank you.
Please consider the following scriptures:
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Act 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Jhn 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
1Jo 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
There has always been somewhat of a mystery to me surrounding this term "begotten". From reading in the old testament, it would seem to indicate simply a fact of being born into a family as in:
Jdg 8:30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
Tsk, tsk, yes, he Gideon was a busy fellow indeed. It doesn't say how many daughters he had in between all those sons. Whew! Never the less, the word "begotten" seems to be used to indicate that the sons were sons of his body.
In Psalm 2 above, David is prophecying of the coming Messiah, and the fact that the Messiah was "begotten" of God. He did not come from the flesh of Mary and Joseph, but from the Holy Spirit of God. Amen. But when was He begotten?
Acts 13:33 above tells us it was when Jesus was resurrected that God "begat" Him. Now, to me that has always been a bit confusing, and it may be you are already feeling the same thing. Was Jesus not "begat" at conception? Well, yes and no. Yes, He became flesh, begotten of God at birth (conception), but the Word above speaks of a "begetting" that takes place on the day He arose from the dead. So what is it that is wrapped up in this word "begotten". It would seem that the writers understanding was much more clear in the 1st century than the reader in the 21st century.
Well, today, I ran across an explanation I had not seen before. I was so excited about it, I wanted to share it with my friends and spiritual family. Here goes:
"A son is not a son in Hebrew life until he has willfully chosen to be completely identified with the purposes of the father, and he does so, knowing that he will no longer have any right to his own self-serving purposes and will. It is a radical 'crossing over' and a resting in the father and his purposes. When the father recognizes that consecration, he 'adopts' or 'approves' the son, and says, "this day I have begotten you." Until then, the son was treated as a servant, and his actual sonship waited on a total consecration to the purposes or will of his father." Simon Hensman
Thank you Mister Hensman! Alleluia. All of a sudden the light has shown in a dark closet. What was a mystery to me, has now become revelation. You may be asking, "what took you so long"? Or, you maybe saying, "I didn't know that!" Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one.
Though "born" into a family, the son was not approved until there was a wilful submission to the Lordship of the Father in all things. A radical crossing over and entering a rest of the Father. Come on somebody ought to be praising God with me here!
See, it was not long ago, that I completely and entirely submitted to the will of God for my life. Oh I've been in "the family" for a very long time. Thanks be to God, but there was no rest. There were the things that "I" wanted, and then there were the things God wanted. Sometimes I did what God wanted, but my commitment to Him was not "all that". When I finally got to the place of submitting to God fully and completely, then and only then did I come to know that I was in His Rest. Why? Because I told God that I surrendered all and I would set my heart to obey Him in all things, no matter what the cost.
Guess what? The war inside ended. I had peace beyond understanding. I became "begotten" of God. There is no shortcut however. We become "begotten" of God the same way Jesus did. We surrender ourselves and our old nature, with all it's wants, needs, lusts, compulsions, immorality, and stench to be offered up a living sacrifice. We repent! That is we not only turn away from sin, but we die to self. We become crucified with Christ and dead to the flesh and this world. We sacrifice all for Him, because He sacrificed all for us.
See, Jesus bacame begotten when was resurrected. Before He could be resurrected, He had to die. Before He could die, He had to be crucified. The Bible tells us that He willingly submitted to the Cross of His own free will. So if we want to be "begotten" of the Father with Him, we too must be crucified, in faith.
Crucifixion is a very horrible death. It is a "one way" event. It brings to an end all life that came before it. The spirit of man departs the old carnal flesh, so that the new creation of God can be resurrected, and we become the "begotten" of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
For the Hebrew son, there were no short cuts to becoming "begotten" of the father. Total submission and dedication to the father was a must. The father became his Lord. However, from that point on, the son was no longer treated like a servant. Alleluia. Oh come on, let yourself go. Live in Him!
When we come to the place of presenting ourselves to God as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), which is our reasonable service, we literally dedicate our lives to the Lordship and ownership of the Lord Jesus Christ. Glory to God. It is no more we that live, but Christ that lives in us. We become begotten of the Father, now true sons! Glory to God. Oh happy day. I hope I'm not the only one here. Praise God. Let's just have church, shall we?
When we are begotten of God, we keepeth ourselves and the evil one touches us not! Now that is a statement to ponder, for sure. Many people think their participation is very minimal and passive. "Keeping oneself" is not passive to me. For me it's like dying by faith daily to the old life, having nothing whatsoever to do with it. It's keeping watch so that nothing creeps in to steal from me what is rightfully mine by my faith.
If we are still involved with it, the old life, then the "old things" have simply not passed away. It should be obvious to each of us, if not to others, that we have not fully submitted to the Father, through the Cross of salvation, by the working of the Holy Spirit.
If we have not fully submitted to God by faith, it may be that we have decieved ourselves in thinking we can have it both ways. No, no, no! That is not possible. Because of the very nature of the Cross, one cannot live the old carnal nature and the new creations life at the same time. Sorry, it cannot be done. I know, I tried it for 40 years, in the wilderness, I might add. You can try to act like the new creation, but self and sin will trip you up time and time again. Just when you seem to be running at your best, sin will so easily beset you and down you go. Frustration and dispair flood the soul. Hopefully, you are in grief. You have not yet been to the Cross, to die, one time, for all time. Death and burial must come before there can be a resurrection.
Maybe you're reading this and realizing that you have not yet been to the cross. Oh you've stood by it, believed in it, trusted Jesus, but deep in your heart, right now, you know for sure that you yourself have not drank of the cup of His blood with Him. Please don't give up. See, you can change all of that right now, in a moment's time. Simply go to the Cross, by faith, and die. Surrender anything and everything of your old life to the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. Don't hold anything back. If you withhold one thing, you will not die that you may live. The Cross puts and end to life, completely and entirely. No coming back!That thief that hung on the Cross with Jesus has never been seen or heard of again. He is dead to this world, but alive in Him. You can be too. It costs you, beloved. To be His heir, you must be begotten. To be begotten, you must be resurrected. To be resurrected, you must first be buried. To be buried, you must first die. To die, you must willingly surrender all of your old life, habits, hangouts, holdons, everything, to Christ. It all dies. Everything! You can do it, Jesus is waiting to welcome you into the kingdom of the Father, just beyond the grave. He will place in you, His will and desire to do His good pleasure!
Father, I pray, my Lord, that there may be just one reading this message today, somewhere on the face of this globe, who will surrender the old carnal life to the Cross for death and burial, that they may be resurrected by faith into the newness of life in Christ Jesus. Oh my Lord, thank You for leading me to the Cross. I pray that my testimony to others will encourage someone somewhere to do the same thing. Give up the old life, to live the new. Oh I praise You and worship You and give You thanks eternally, for what You have revealed to us in Your Word. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever, amen and amen.
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