The Nicene Creed Part 8 - The Son of God

John 20:31
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Col 2:9
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

In the Creed we confess that Jesus Christ is "the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father". This addresses the reason for calling the council in Nicea in 325. There were men teaching that the Son of God was a created being and not divine by nature. This is contradictory to the Christian faith, so a number bishops were gathered together to make a statement of faith and settle the doctrinal dispute concerning the divinity of the Son.

This foundational truth of the Christian faith can be found witnessed to throughout the New Testament. In the first chapter of the New Testament, we find a reference to Christ as "Emmanuel", or "God with us", and at the annunciation Mary was told "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God". Christ's ministry began with His baptism where a voice came from heaven saying "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", which was also heard at the Transfiguration. Peter proclaimed Jesus to be "the Son of the Living God" when asked who a Christian disciple is to believe Jesus to be. When Jesus came into contact with those possessed with demons, they would recognize and greet Him as the Son of God. He taught that He "proceeded forth from God" and prayed "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" before He was to be crucified. We find references throughout the epistles like "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God", "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.", He is referred to as "the image of the invisible God", and that the knowledge of the glory of God is "in the face of Jesus Christ".

We find this teaching echoed in the writings of Christian teachers as they preserved and proclaimed the truth throughout time. These words are attributed to Ignatius of Antioch...

And there is also one Son, God the Word. For “the only-begotten Son,” saith [the Scripture], “who is in the bosom of the Father.” And again, “One Lord Jesus Christ.” And in another place, “What is His name, or what His Son’s name, that we may know?”

Justin Martyr says in his Dialogue with Trypho...

“I shall give you another testimony, my friends,” said I, “from the Scriptures, that God begat before all creatures a Beginning, [who was] a certain rational power [proceeding] from Himself, who is called by the Holy Spirit, now the Glory of the Lord, now the Son, again Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord and Logos; and on another occasion He calls Himself Captain, when He appeared in human form to Joshua the son of Nave (Nun). For He can be called by all those names, since He ministers to the Father’s will, and since He was begotten of the Father by an act of will; just as we see happening among ourselves: for when we give out some word, we beget the word; yet not by abscission, so as to lessen the word [which remains] in us, when we give it out: and just as we see also happening in the case of a fire, which is not lessened when it has kindled [another], but remains the same; and that which has been kindled by it likewise appears to exist by itself, not diminishing that from which it was kindled.

Augustine writes in his On the Holy Trinity

They who have said that our Lord Jesus Christ is not God, or not very God, or not with the Father the One and only God, or not truly immortal because changeable, are proved wrong by the most plain and unanimous voice of divine testimonies; as, for instance, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” For it is plain that we are to take the Word of God to be the only Son of God, of whom it is afterwards said, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” on account of that birth of His incarnation, which was wrought in time of the Virgin. But herein is declared, not only that He is God, but also that He is of the same substance with the Father...

Cyril of Jerusalem writes in his Catechetical Lectures...

But we know Christ to have been begotten not as a word pronounced, but as a Word substantially existing and living; not spoken by the lips, and dispersed, but begotten of the Father eternally and ineffably, in substance.  For, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... He who hath seen the Son, hath seen the Father:  for in all things the Son is like to Him who begat Him; begotten Life of Life and Light of Light, Power of Power, God of God; and the characteristics of the Godhead are unchangeable in the Son; and he who is counted worthy to behold Godhead in the Son, attains to the fruition of the Father.

And Patrick writes in his Confession "...and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things...".

We can also find this teaching faithfully echoed in Orthodox catechisms. ‌We find this in the Orthodox Confession of Peter Mohila...

...first, that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is eternal God, begotten by the Father of his very essence, and is of the same honor and glory with the Father, as he speaks of himself: "Father, glorify me now with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was."... And he is called only-begotten for this reason, that he is the one Son of God according to the divine nature; but certain others are called sons of God by virtue of his freely given grace as all the faithful and the elect of God; this grace of adoption is given to them through Christ, as Sacred Scripture says: "As many as received him, he gave them power to become sons of God."... But he is called "light of light" because he has his total essence from the Father, just as when a light is lit from another light, it receives therefrom the entire substance of light.

And we find this taught in the Catechism of St Philaret...

139.  Why is Jesus Christ called the Son of God, Only-begotten? 

By this is signified that he only is the Son of God begotten of the substance of God the Father; and so is of one substance with the Father; and consequently excels, beyond comparison, all holy angels and holy men, who are called sons of God by grace. 

139.  Why is Jesus Christ called the Son of God, Only-begotten? 

By this is signified that he only is the Son of God begotten of the substance of God the Father; and so is of one substance with the Father; and consequently excels, beyond comparison, all holy angels and holy men, who are called sons of God by grace. John i. 12.

142.  Why is it said that he is begotten before all worlds?

That none should think there was ever a time when he was not. In other words, by this is expressed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God from everlasting, even as God the Father is from everlasting.

143.  What mean in the Creed the words Light of light?

Under the figure of the visible light they in some manner explain the incomprehensible generation of the Son of God from the Father. When we look at the sun, we see light: from this light is generated the light visible every where beneath; but both the one and the other is one light, indivisible, and of one nature. In like manner, God the Father is the everlasting Light. 1 John i. 5. Of him is begotten the Son of God, who also is the everlasting Light; but God the Father and God the Son are one and the same everlasting Light, indivisible, and of one divine nature. 

146.  Why is it further added of the Son of God in the Creed that he is begotten, not made? 

This was added against Arius, who impiously taught that the Son of God was made. 

147.  What mean the words, Of one substance with the Father? 

They mean that the Son of God is of one and the same divine substance with God the Father.

Christ our God, the True Light Who enlightens and sanctifies every person who comes into the world: Seal us with the light of Your Countenance that we may perceive Your Unapproachable Radiance.

The Jesus Prayer Part 9 - Son of God

Gen 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

John 1:1-3,14
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. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Most people are familiar with the verse that says that God gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. What does it mean for Jesus to be the only begotten Son of God, and what does that mean for Christians?

To be "begotten" means to come from, like a son takes his origin in his father. And while a "son" litereally means a "male child", scripturally speaking, it is the son who receives the inheritance from his father, and if there is more than one son, the firstborn receives twice as much of the inheritance as his brothers do. Men are not referred to in the Old Testament as being  sons of God. The only one referred to as being God's son is the nation of Israel. It is written in Exodus that "Israel is my son, even my firstborn" and by the prophet Hosea "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt". The verse in Hosea is referenced in Matthew as referring to Christ, and it could be understood that the references to Israel as God's son are talking about when God would send His own Son into the world. This is why the Psalms say "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." and "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.".

So what is the God's inheritance that He gives to His Son? In the old Testament it is first the people of Israel. Moses asked God to  "take us for thine inheritance", and then when God was going to destroy Israel for making the golden calf, Moses made his petition for Israel to not be destroyed "For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt". Samuel told Saul that the Lord had anointed Saul to be captain over His inheritance. Solomon ended his prayer at the dedication of the temple asking God to hear the prayers of the people and to forgive their sins "For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt". There are also references in the Psalms such as "Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance" and "Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed". There are also a couple of references to God inheriting the nations like "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." and "Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations." The inheritance that is given to God's poeple in the Old Testament is always the promised land that they were brought out of Egypt in order to inhabit.

So if a son being begotten from his father means that the Father is the source from which the Son comes, then when we call Jesus the Son of God, we are saying that He comes from God, has everything pertaining to the divine nature, and receives the inheritance of His Father. The first chapter of John tells us that in the beginning the Word was with God and was God, and that Word became flesh and dwelt (literally "tabernacled") among us. When Mary asked how she would conceive at the annunciation, the angel told her "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.". This is why Jesus said that "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself" and that He proceeded forth from God. It is written in Colossions that "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." and that he is "the image of the invisible God". This is why Jesus said that he who see Him sees the Father and Paul writes that the knowledge of the glory of God is "in the face of Jesus Christ". God the Father testifies of this truth, both at Christ's baptism and at the transfiguration on the mountain, when He says "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". Even the demons recognize Jesus as being the Son of God when they meet Him in the gospels.

If God's inheritance in the Old Testament was His people, then the inheritance that Christ receives from His Father is the Church and all the people that would be reconciled to God through Him. This why He prays "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.".

As God's people in His Church, we are told that "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God". This is why we are told that we must be "born again" of "water and of the Spirit". This is done in baptism where we are "buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." and Peter writes that God has "begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". While Christ is begotten of the Father with the same divinity as the Father, we are told that "the  Word became flesh" and elsewhere that in all things He became like unto His brethren, so He shares in our human nature in all things but sin. By uniting Himself to us, it is through Him that we "receive the adoption of sons" and become "an heir of God through Christ". It is the "Spirit of adoption" received in and through Christ that allows to cry out to God "Abba, Father"

Our inheritance in Christ is that we shall be like Him and see Him as He is, inherit everlasting life, the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, incorruption, and redemption through His blood. To live as a son of God in union with the Son of God, we must be "led by the Spirit of God" and suffer together with Him in this life if we are to be glorified together with Him when He returns. We also must be willing to forsake houses, family, and lands for Christ. We must also continually maintain Peter's confession of faith that He is "the Christ, the son of the living God". We also must always keep the attitude that Peter confessed toward Christ when Peter said "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.". We must also constantly strive to purify ourselves because "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.".

May the Son of God, the Word made flesh, Who has the words of eternal life grant me the strength to endure suffering with Him and purify myself with hope in Him that, having received the Spirit of adoption, I may be glorified together with Him when He returns.