3rd Teaching - One Lord Jesus Christ

[kathy_w]

3rd Teaching - One Lord, Jesus Christ

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten
of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God
of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the
Father; by whom all things were made;

The person of Jesus Christ is of course what distinguishes
Christianity from the mass of religious options in the world. Jesus'
question, "Who do you say that I am?" is still the burning question
that calls for a response from every individual. Making a clear and
accurate statement of who Jesus is, was the focus of the Council of
Nicea. It was important to find language that made sense of the whole
of the Biblical witness about Jesus and his relationship to God and
especially to answer the challenge of Arius who claimed that Jesus was
the highest order of created beings - "There was when He (Jesus) was
not." Answering that challenge and resolving the "Christological
controversy" over the person of Jesus was the main reason for calling
the Council of Nicea, and developing this Creed.

"Begotten not made" was the clear and unequivocal answer given to
Arius. Jesus is not a created being, but co-eternal with God the
Father, of one substance with God the Father, and the Creator not a
creature. Like the Father in every respect, Jesus is the unique Son
of God "only-begotten"- in Him all the fullness of the God-head dwells
bodily. He is the Logos, the Word of God, giving full expression to
the nature of God. To see Jesus is to see God. Jesus' work is God's
work. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself on the
Cross.

This revelation of the nature of God (as one God in three persons)
only came to light with the Incarnation of Christ (next week's
teaching), but it made clear that there are not "many paths to the
divine" as is sometimes claimed. The "scandal of particularity" of
the Christian faith is Jesus statement, "No one comes to the Father
but by me." The way to the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden of
God is guarded by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Check back next week to
learn why this is "good news" for the whole world.

[joseph]

The declaration of "begotten, not made" answers the criticism that
skeptics such as Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) have toward the
atonement or sacrifice of Christ. He calls it barbaric to think that a
loving God would crucify his own son, completely missing the point
that if Jesus and God are of the same substance, One God, then, God
has crucified HIMSELF on our behalf. There's "no greater love" than
that!