Questions & Answers

SDA non-trinitarians do not believe or teach that God's divine only begotten Son is a created being. He is fully divine for He is a part of God Himself, His literal divine Son, a Son begotten or made in the express image of His Father's person, begotten not created, made of uncreated "always has been" material. Those who equate begotten or made with created are not thinking clearly about the eternal substance of which Christ was begotten or made. Adam was created and all his begotten children are created because Adam was created. In Christ's case He was begotten of divine, immortal, unbegotten, always has been, material. Christ's individual personality, as the Son of God, indeed had a beginning, but His divinity, His form of God, His divine substance, was of material that has always existed, a part of God the Father Himself. Ellen White makes it plain that in the case of Christ begotten or made and created are not necessarily the same thing. It all depends on what material you come from—divine eternal material or created material.

"A complete offering has been made; for “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,”—not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father's person, and in all the brightness of his majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

— Signs of the Times, May 30,  1895, par. 3 - Ellen G. White

"God’s love for the world was not manifest because He sent His Son, but because He loved the world He sent His Son into the world that divinity clothed with humanity might touch humanity, while divinity lay hold of infinity. Though sin had produced a gulf between man and his God, divine benevolence provided a plan to bridge that gulf. And what material did He use? A part of Himself. The brightness of the Father’s glory came to a world all seared and marred with the curse, and in His own divine character, in His own divine body, bridged the gulf and opened a channel of communication between God and man. The windows of heaven were opened, and the showers of heavenly grace in healing streams came to our benighted world. O what love, what matchless, inexpressible love!"

— 6LtMs, Lt 36a, 1890, par. 11 - Ellen G. White

"The Eternal Father, the unchangeable one, gave his only begotten Son, tore from his bosom Him who was made in the express image of his person, and sent him down to earth to reveal how greatly he loved mankind."

— Review and Herald, July 9, 1895, par. 13 - Ellen G. White

"It is not safe to catch the spirit from another. We want the Holy Spirit, which is Jesus Christ."

— 9LtMs, Lt 66, 1894, par. 18 - EGW

"Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. CHRIST HAS GIVEN HIS SPIRIT as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress his own character upon the church."

— RH May 19,  1904, par. 3 - EGW

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."

— Galatians 4:6 (KJV)

See also The Divine Spirit website.

"The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate—a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. “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.” John 1:1, 2. Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6. His “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2. And the Son of God declares concerning Himself: “The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting.... 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.” Proverbs 8:22-30."

— Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34.1 - Ellen G. White

"He [Christ] who had been in the presence of the Father from the beginning, He who was the express image of the invisible God, was alone able to reveal the character of the Deity to mankind."

— Ministry of Healing, p. 422.2 - Ellen G. White

"The dedication of the first-born had its origin in the earliest times. God had promised to give the First-born of heaven to save the sinner. This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the first-born son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood, as a representative of Christ among men."

— Desire of Ages, p. 51.1 - Ellen G. White

"Christ is the star that should arise out of Jacob, and the one in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, as the first born of heaven, and the only begotten of the Father, filled with all the treasures of eternity. He assumed humanity, and impressed upon it the glorious image of the everlasting God."

— 11LtMs, Lt 101, 1896, par. 7 - Ellen G. White

John 1:1-2 (KJV) — "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."

"This FACT the angels would obscure, that CHRIST WAS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD, and they came to consider that they were not to consult Christ. One angel began the controversy and carried it on until there was rebellion in the heavenly courts among the angels. They were lifted up because of their beauty."

— 25LtMs, Lt 42, 1910, par. 3 - Ellen G. White

“Will you grieve the Saviour that left the royal courts? What did He do it for? Well, Lucifer, he was striving; he had glory in the heavenly courts, but he was striving for Christ’s place next to God. Next he wanted to be God, but he could not obtain that. ¶ Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and Lucifer, that glorious angel, got up a warfare over the matter, until he had to be thrust down to the earth.”

— 25LtMs, Ms 86, 1910, par. 28-29 • Ellen G. White

"But when God said to His Son, “Let us make man in our image,” Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted concerning the formation of man, and because he was not, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. He desired to receive the highest honors in heaven next to God."

— Early Writings, p. 145.1 • Ellen G. White

"After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God said to His Son, “Let us make man in  our image.”"

— Story of Redemption, p. 20.2 • Ellen G. White

"God is the Father of Christ; and Christ is the Son of God. To Christ has been given an exalted position. He has been made equal with the Father. All the councils of God are opened unto His Son."

— 18LtMs, Ms 111, 1903, par. 5 • Ellen G. White

"Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” The words of Christ were full of deep meaning as he put forth the claim that he and the Father were of one substance, possessing the same attributes."

— Signs of the Times, November 27,  1893, par. 5 • Ellen G. White

"Christ the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in character, and in purpose,—the only being in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. By Christ, the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings."

— Great Controversy, 1888, p. 493.1 • Ellen G. White

“As the representative of God, Christ appeared in human flesh. Though in the form of a man, He was the Son of God, and the world was given an opportunity to see how it would treat God. Christ declared, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” [John 14:9.] But when He comes the second time, divinity is no longer concealed. He comes as one equal with God, as His own beloved Son, Prince of heaven and earth. He is also the Redeemer of His people, the Lifegiver. The glory of the Father and the Son are seen to be one. His claim to being one with the Father is now substantiated. His glory is the glory of the Son, and the glory of God. Then shall He shine forth before His ancients gloriously.”

— 13LtMs, Lt 90, 1898, par. 26 • Ellen G. White

See also God's Only Begotten Son website.