The Apostles' Creed - Pt. 10

 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:14-18 ESV).

 

The next phrase in our study of the Apostles’ Creed is: “his only Son, our Lord”. It carries with it the greatest mystery and leap of faith of all. With this phrase we affirm the monotheism of our faith and the belief in the Trinity. It is difficult for us today to imagine that being such an important declaration. After all, have you ever really questioned either of those beliefs? Can you imagine having an argument about whether Jesus Christ is God? Today, Christians everywhere accept the fact that Jesus, God’s Son, is fully God. But in the early church, Christians argued vehemently about whether Jesus could be God if he was God’s only Son. This does still exist today though very subtly. We call it “modalism.” Modalism is the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three different modes of God. It is a denial of the Trinity of God as declared in Scripture.

 

When we call someone a son, we naturally conclude that the father came first and the son came second. So when we refer to Jesus in the Apostles’ Creed as God’s “only Son,” are we somehow putting him in second place? No. Since the fourth century the church has officially upheld what the Holy Spirit inspired John to write in our reading today: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (v. 18).

 

Of course this is one of the great mysteries of the Scripture. We can’t fully comprehend the mysterious relationship of God the Father and his only Son. But by faith we believe that Jesus is God’s Son, fully God and fully man. By faith we believe, with John, that through God’s only Son all of creation was made (cf. John 1:1-3). By faith we also believe that only God’s own Son, through his death, could bring us into a new life filled with everlasting peace and joy. Through Him we have all of God, all of the time, in every way. That gives me hope and strength in every circumstance of life.