Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Eternity of Christ 2/5/13

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God...The Word became flesh and lived among us. (John 1:1,14)

Thoughts: Jesus is, as the creeds say, "begotten not made."  Arius said that Jesus was "the first creature made" because Arius could not understand the eternity of Christ.  But the early fathers knew that if Jesus was created, He was not really divine.  There is not God the Father and a demi-God- His Son.  What the scriptures seem to indicate is that as far as you can go back- to the very definition of infinity and eternity- Jesus is.  God describes Himself as "I am who I am" (Ex. 3) pointing to His eternity and the ground of all being.  Jesus echoed this for himself when he said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (Jn. 8:58).  He didn't say, "Before Abraham was I was" but He used the present "I am" on purpose.  The last book of the Bible has Jesus describing himself as "The Alpha and the Omega- the beginning and the end.  The one who was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13)  Because Christ was- we owe our existence to Him and He is to be worshiped.  Because Christ is- we can call on Him knowing that He is around to hear us.  Because Christ is to come- we can trust His promises of salvation for eternity.  He is eternally begotten of the Father.  Part of the Father's eternal definition is that He has an eternal Son.  There was never a time when the Father did not have a Son (or He would not be the "Father").

Prayer: You have been there for me, Lord, in creation, on the cross, today and forever.  Help me to be there for you, faithful this day and on to heaven itself.

B. Incarnation
This is the second great mystery of the Christian faith, affirmed by all Christians everywhere: that Jesus Christ is both truly God and truly human. As to His divinity, He is the Son, the second person of the Trinity, being of one substance with the Father; as to His humanity, He is like us in every way but sin, of one substance with us, like us in having both a human soul and a human body. As to His divinity, He is eternally begotten of the Father; as to His humanity, He is born of the virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit. As to His divinity, His glory fills heaven and earth; as to His humanity, His glory is shown in the form of a suffering servant, most clearly when He is lifted up on the cross in our place.


“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” (Rev. 22:16)

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