According to Acts 13: 33, what is the meaning of “…thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.”?
To place these words in their proper setting, let’s read Acts 13:14-16, “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.” This occasion happened on Paul’s first missionary journey. He traveled with Barnabas and John Mark. Mark, being a young man, and inexperienced, had left Paul and Barnabas in their journey and went back home to Jerusalem (Verse 13). Paul and Barnabas continue on their trip and came into Antioch, where they were invited to give a ‘word of exhortation’. Paul begins to speak, giving a little history of Israel beginning with Moses, through the time of the judges, through King Saul, and up to King David. Paul said in verse 23, “Of this man’s seed (David) hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.”
Paul then proceeds to mention the work of John the Baptist and the attitude and actions of the people of Jerusalem against the Lord Jesus. He said in verses 28-30, “And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead.”
Now let’s read Acts 13:31-33, “And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 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.” Paul speaks of a promise God had made to their fathers and fulfilled to the people of their day. He raised Jesus from the day as was written in the 2nd psalm. We read in Psalms 2:7, “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, THOU ART MY SON; THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE.” This does not mean that Christ began to be the Son of God at His resurrection, but He was COMPLETELY MANIFESTED to be the Son of God at His resurrection. Let’s consider the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:3-4, “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And DECLARED TO BE THE SON OF GOD WITH POWER, according to the spirit of holiness, BY THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.”
As Christ suffered so horribly on the cross: naked, beaten, and bloody, I’m sure His Sonship was hardly apparent to those who saw Him there. Yet, in His resurrection, Christ was displayed before the world as being the only begotten Son of God. Christ being the ‘only begotten’ Son of God is plainly stated in John 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.”
We read of Christ, personified in wisdom in Proverbs 8:26-30, “While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.” The eternal existence of Christ as the Son of God is so clear in the scriptures. Speaking of Christ as the Word, we read in John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” We read of His eternal existence in Colossians 1:16-17, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Christ has always been the ‘only begotten’ of the Father and His resurrection manifested His true person to the world. (310.3)