FILE: DOG17.WMV Q We say that God is truly known through Jesus Christ. What do we mean when we say that He is God's Son? DR. ROLAND ZIEGLER: What do we mean when we say that Jesus is God's Son? The first thing we assert by that is that Christ is truly God. He is not only called God and it's not a title of honor, but that He is God from eternity. That He from eternity is in a relationship to the Father, and we say that only through Him we have access to the Father. Let's look at the Biblical foundation of that. Jesus is called the only begotten Son of God. John 1:14 says, "And the word became flesh and dwelled among us and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten," or as the Greek says, the ******* (mono genas) of the Father. Full of grace and truth. That same word, the only begotten, is repeated in John 1:18. Christ is begotten of the Father. What does that mean? It means that He has His origin in God. He is the only one who is by nature begotten of the Father. He is not created. He is not a creature. What is begotten belongs to the same class, you could say. It is of the same nature. Therefore, Christ, being the only begotten Son of God, is also God. There is an identity in what He is between Him and the Father. When we say that Jesus is the Son of God, we also say that 13 Jesus is from eternity. Again, John in his prologue, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." Jesus is in the beginning. He is with God outside of Christ. Therefore, when we say that Christ is the Son of God, we say that He is from eternity. He is not like a creature in time. At the beginning of St. John's gospel, the so-called prologue, it says, "The beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." Christ was there in the very beginning with the Father. We also say that the Son has all the Father has. Again, John's gospel: "The Father loves His Son and has given all things into His hand." And John 5: "For the Father has life in Himself. So He has created the Son to have life in Himself." The Father and the Son are one. Jesus says, "I and my Father are one." There is an interrelationship between the Father and the Son which is unique. There is an intimate communion of the persons of the trinity without mixing them. Jesus says that "You may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in Him." Or "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." Whenever God is called is Father in different respects, like the Father of Israel or our Father, the Father of all that is created, that is on a different level that calling Him the Father of Jesus. There it is derived from how God acts with us. He cares for us. He is like a Father to us. But if we look at Christ, Christ is not like a Son. And God is not like a Father. But He truly is His Father and He truly is the Son. That's why Jesus is the only one who sees God. In the Old Testament, it's a basic statement that nobody can see God and be alive. Moses wants to see God, but God tells him, no, you cannot see me. You can only see how my glory passes. You can only see me from behind, so to speak. But you cannot see me. But of Christ it is said, "Not that anyone has seen the Father except who is from God, he has seen the Father." Christ solely has seen the Father because He is from eternity with the Father and He is of the same kind as the Father. This uniqueness of Christ was in His earthly time also seen by others. The demons call Him the holy one of God. When Jesus shows Himself the Lord of creation, when He walks on the water, those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." When He calms the storm, the question arises, who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him? Well, who can that be? It is their creator. That's also why worshipping Christ is appropriate. Remember? We shall only worship God. You shall have no other gods beside me. That's the basic statement in the Old Testament. If you worship anybody outside of the one true God, it's idolatry. You deify a creature. But we see in the New Testament that the 14 worship of Christ is appropriate. Paul in his letter to the Philippians in this hymn on Christ, he ends it with saying, "in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. Of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Every knee will bow. That's really something which is only due to God. But here we see worship, divine worship, is due also to Christ. Why is that again? Well, because He is truly God. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily. Paul says to the Colossians. And although Paul himself rarely uses the word God for Jesus, normally God means to Paul the Father. That does not exclude that he sees Christ as being divine. As the passage in Philippians shows. "But also there's one in Romans where he actually calls Christ God. Of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ came. Who is God? God overall, the eternally blessed God." So when we look at the witness of the New Testament, we see that Christ is described as unique. A unique relationship to the Father. That He is actually put on the side of the Father. That He is worshipped like the Father is worshipped. Therefore, that He is called God. Therefore, the church has followed that and said Christ is truly God. He is not only called God, but he's truly God. So we can worship Christ without committing idolatry. We don't violate the first commandment when we say, with Thomas, "My Lord and my God." Of course, again, it took the church a while to say that and to understand that fully. And a statement like that is still not without contradiction. In many circles in Christianity you find the view that sees Christ more or less as a benign, enlightened man, but certainly not as divine. And if you had ever a visit from Jehovah's witnesses which, by the way, you should use because it's a great occasion to learn to debate theology, you will have heard how they say, oh, no, Jesus is not God. That's the first lie. That's all polytheism, that is idolatry. No. Jesus is just an angel. Well, then remember what scripture really says. If you know your scripture, then you can show them that scripture talks about Christ as God. He is not just some kind of exalted angel. He is not a creature. He is not just a mere man. But as scripture describes Him, there is no way than saying He is true God. He is then as the church said it, of one substance with the Father. Of one substance. That is, if you ask, what is Christ? You must say, He is God. Like when you say, what is the Father? He is God. That's what this phrase in the Nicene Creed, being of one substance with the Father, means. Christ and the Father are the same, excuse my language, thing. They are God. (End of DOG17.WMV.)