What is the difference between creating and begotten ?
Hi octoberose, sorry if this response is too long but from what I’ve and understand (emphasis on MY understanding, I’m still a fetus in Christ). When someone is created, it means that they’ve been brought forth into existence. Before, they didn’t exist, they only existed, if you can even call it that, as an idea.
For example, God predestined to call us and know The Truth before the foundation of the world. We existed in a sense in God’s Mind in the respect that He planned for us to be created, grow up, be deceived by Babylon and then rescue us from the darkness. However, He still didn’t create us then because He hadn’t started the process of bringing us into existence.
Begotten, from what I’ve gathered from Scripture when referring to God, is when God regenerates or conceives someone, that is, He takes a person that previously wasn’t His child and puts His Spirit inside them and conforms them to His Image, that is, they share the spiritual attributes of their Father, His Kindness, Love, Compassion, Wisdom, etc. It’s also the same word used as when someone gives birth. In human terms, you are begotten as in conceived when your father impregnates your mother and you’re begotten 9 months later when she gives birth to you, it’s the same word.
However, when we look at Scriptures when referring to Christ as the only-begotten Son of God, the Greek word is different to when referring to us being begotten by God. The word used for us is 1080. gennaó and it means to beget, to bring forth, etc. But, the word for Christ is 3439. monogenés and it means properly, one-and-only; "one of a kind" – literally, "one (monos) of a class, genos" (the only of its kind).
So this let us know that let us know that in a way our sonship and Christ’s are different. If I’m not mistaken orthodoxy says that it means that Christ is eternally generated by God the Father.
Someone say that means that Christ wasn’t created and that it means He always existed as God’s Son. For me, from what I’ve gathered, when Christ is referred as God’s Only Son, it doesn’t mean that we also aren’t sons of God and even Christ calls us brothers and Scripture testify we share the same Father with Christ. But, it means that Jesus is Special, He’s The Son who has never sinned, who was never disobedient, who was never adopted and reborn. We are God’s sons and He’s called God’s Only Son. For me, this is because we are different in our likeness to God, we reflect God’s Character in part but Christ as the firstborn is the only one who reflects God’s Character completely, He’s the only one who’s equal to God in terms of power, character, love, divinity, wisdom, etc. We are flawed representatives of God while He’s The Perfect Representative.
So that’s why I’ve gathered and that’s why I’m confused because people use this special position of His as saying He wasn’t created while my position is that He’s the only one who was created (that is was brought into existence) and is currently begotten (conformed to God’s Image) in a perfect state.