Search the Community

Why did Jesus have to be a "Begotten Son in the flesh"? Being His spiritual Firstborn Son is not enough? The "Sunday school" answer is something along the lines of Him being the only perfect, sinless man on earth or that He is the Firstborn. A deeper response might be that being a Begotten son would give him the ability to lay down His perfect life to pay for our sins and to overcome death or to even perform the miracles He did in this world. And another response would be to simply reveal God's nature. One could also say, the Savior had to be Begotten because it was prophesied that way and one could provide numerous scriptures to that regard but that doesn't explain 'why'. (*I am also not discussing how it was done, that would be for a different thread. And I am assuming the traditional LDS belief that Jesus is the literal Only Begotten in the flesh.) There are a couple questions this brings up, if that is what we believe. What is it about being the literal half-offspring of God in the flesh that allows Him to have otherwise lived an immortal life if He didn't sacrifice it for us? Do we not have examples of others who are walking the Earth in bodies that will not die but later given up and become resurrected? And why does this have to be done by being the literal offspring of God in the flesh? Why could it not be that Christ simply be given a perfect body to sacrifice later, why does it have to be an Only Begotten (that is really just a half begotten) body? If we say there is added value to being the literal Begotten Son of God in the flesh than it speaks to the idea that our greatness here on Earth is at least partly determined by the type of body we have. And not only having a certain type of body but one made up of a certain lineage. To make that body "perfect" does it have to be Begotten? If the answer is 'yes' than that would imply our perfected bodies after this life will all have to be Begotten of the Father. If the answer is 'no' then what really is the value of Jesus being literally Begotten of the Father in this life? The other category of questions comes from the idea that Jesus' body had to be Begotten to be able to overcome death. If we say that is the case then we are also saying that that is where the power to overcome death comes from, the body, at least in part. I've always considered Christ's ability to overcome death a function of his Priesthood power. If it was the Priesthood power alone than would it really matter what body Christ was born into, other than it being perfect? And if a perfect, flawless body was needed to overcome death, He would have to change that body to a mortal one to allow for death. If it was changed, or given up to become mortal at the cross or in the garden, then wouldn't He have also lost the ability to overcome death if it was from that perfect body? Was Jesus healing power and miracles a function of the Priesthood power alone or from the Godly body He had while on the Earth? Even just believing that a perfect, flawless body alone was needed for the sacrifice of the savior, why did that sacrificial body have to given by being "Begotten"? If one says, that is the only way to make a flawless, perfect body, then we would have to say that Adam and Eve's bodies were made the same way, which we know is not true because Jesus is the only Begotten. So we know there are other ways of making a perfect, flawless body. So, what is the significance, why did it have to be that Jesus is the literal Only Begotten Son in the flesh?