The Names of Jesus - Elmer Towns

The name “only begotten Son” (John 3:16) did not originate in the Gospels but, rather, in
Heaven before time began. In the first of the Messianic Psalms, David noted, “I will declare the
decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalm 2:7).
Over the years, several suggestions have been offered as to the “day” in which Jesus was
begotten. In order to resolve a doctrinal controversy in the early church, the church fathers
coined the expression “eternal generation.” When we speak of the eternal generation of the Son,
we mean that Jesus was eternally the Son and did not become the Son at His birth, baptism,
death, resurrection, ascension, or at any other historical point in His incarnate life. If Jesus
became the Son at a point in time, He would not be the eternal Son and, therefore, not related to
the Father as the Son from eternity.
We should understand the difference between being begotten and being identified or
named as a son. Traditionally, Jews name their sons eight days after birth, at the time of their circumcision.
It is not, therefore, unusual that a period of time should exist between the eternal
generation of the Son and various times when He was named or called the Son. I have only one
begotten son. When my son was born May 8, 1956, we named him Stephen Richard Towns.
About ten years later, I heard another man calling his son by several terms of endearment that
sounded too effeminate to belong to a boy. Turning to Stephen, I said, “If I ever give you a
nickname, it is not going to be something effeminate like that. I would call you something
strong, like `Sam,' a real man's name.” For some reason, the name stuck, and to this day my son
is known as Sam Towns. He was begotten Stephen Richard Towns in 1956 but called “Sam” in
1966. Similarly, Jesus is called the Son at His birth, baptism, death, resurrection, and ascension,
but He was begotten as Son in eternity past.
Two different Hebrew words for “Son” are used in Psalm 2: ben and bar. Each has its
own distinctive meaning, although both are used throughout the Scriptures to identify the male
descendant of a father. The first word, ben (2:7), refers to that which Christ achieves-that is, His
Lordship. As the firstborn, He is the builder of God's spiritual house. The second word, bar
(2:12), refers to that which Christ receives as heir of all things-that is, His legacy. The first refers
to His honor; the latter, to His heritage.
The word “begotten” emphasizes His uniqueness. All who receive Christ by faith are
“sons of God” but not in the same sense that Jesus is the only begotten Son (cf. John 1:12). God
had only one Son, and He sent Him to be a missionary. To that Son He gave the promise, “Ask
of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession” (Psalm 2:8).
This phrase “only begotten Son” occurs on three other occasions in the Gospel of John.
John beheld “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (1:14), noted “the only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father” (1:18), and later identified Jesus as “the only begotten
Son of God” (3:18). This uniqueness of the Son is alluded to prophetically in a birth name given
to Him by Isaiah when he distinguished between “a child is born” and “ a son is given” (Isaiah
9:6). Jesus had both a human nature (a child born) and a divine nature (a son given). Neither
nature in any way hindered or altered the other nature. He was the God-man-one Person with two
natures. “Generation” and “only begotten” are the terms which best express the eternal
relationship that existed between the divine Person of Christ and the divine Person of the Father.