Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The second Qnuma (person) of the most Holy Trinity, God the word, is called the Son of God. This same Son of God, God the Word, became man, and was called Jesus.  It is written in the Holy Bible that He was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary and He was called Jesus.  The Prophets of the Old Testament and the Evangelists of the New Testament, who had expected the coming of Him to save humankind called Him Christ. It is written:

“She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

Again it is written: “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” (St Luke 1:31)

Saint Matthew in the book of the generation of Jesus says: “And Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah…” (Matthew 1:16)

Pilate the Roman Governor calls Jesus the Messiah which means Christ the anointed one. It is written:

“So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah (the Christ)?” (Matthew 27:17)

The Name Jesus, which means Savior, was given to the son of God for the first time by the Angel Gabriel at His conception and birth. He was so named, because He was conceived and born to save humanity from their sin through the ultimate death upon the Cross. It is written:

“She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

The word Christ is derived from the Greek word “Christos” which means to anoint.  However, in the Aramaic language the word “m’shikha” means the Anointed One:  It is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (Luke 4:18-19)

Saint Peter says:  “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, and with the Power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.”  (Acts 10:38)

The word “anointed” came from the anointing with the Holy Oils, through which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are conferred upon the anointed one. The priests of the Old Testament were anointed by oil for the work of ministry. It is written:

^“The priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the linen vestments, the holy vestments. He shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.” (Leviticus 16:32-33)

Again it is written:

^“You shall put them on your brother Aaron, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests.” (Exodus 28:41)

We also read in the book of the Old Testament that the kings, high-priests, and prophets are also called the anointed one because they were anointed with oil: Samuel anointed David the son of Jesse to be a king for the people of Israel.  It is written:

“Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.” (I Samuel 16:13)

Prophets are called the anointed ones of God. It is written:

“Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” (I Chronicles 16:22)

Jesus Christ, the Son of God is called “The Anointed-One” (Mshikha) because to His manhood were the Gifts of The Spirit imparted (conveyed) without measure; therefore, He possessed in the highest degree, the knowledge of The Prophet, the Holiness of the High Priest, and the absolute Power of the King. It is written:

“You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;” (Psalm 45:7)

Jesus Christ is also called “The Lord” because He is God, as The Name of God is “The Lord.”  It is written:

“The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him,   my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.” (Exodus 15:2-3)

Saint Thomas called the risen Jesus my God and my Lord. It is written:

^“Then he said to Thomas ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:27-28)

The Holy Bible says that our Lord Jesus Christ is God. It is written:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1)

Jesus Christ is called the only begotten Son of God because of His Divine Nature; others like Angels, and saints of the past, and believers of the present, are called “sons of God” by Grace in adoption. It is written:

“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,” (John 1:12).

Saint Paul in his Epistle to Ephesians confirms the doctrine that those who have believed in Jesus Christ are given the grace of the adopted children of God. It is written:

“He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,” (Ephesians 1:5)

The Holy Bible does declare that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God by nature. It is written:

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. . .”  (John 1:14)

In the Creed when we confess Jesus, saying: “He is begotten of the Father,” Through this expression He is distinguished from the Qnuma of God the Father and from the Qnuma of God Holy Spirit; for in truth, He who is Begotten is The Son; and He who begets is the Father, and the Holy Spirit is neither begotten, nor begets, He proceeds, which means comes forth.

We also confess in The Creed that “Jesus Christ was begotten before all worlds”

We need to be assured that there was no time in which Jesus Christ did not exist; we teach that Jesus Christ is the Son of God from everlasting unto everlasting as is God the Father from everlasting unto everlasting.

And the expression “Very God of Very God, of one Essence with His Father,” teaches us that Jesus Christ is of the same divinity as The Father, He is not lesser, nor greater, He is the same in authority, will, majesty, and worship. It is written:

“I and My Father are One . . .” (John 10:30)

Saint John says Jesus is the true God: It is written:

^“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (I John 5:20)

Jesus Himself declared His divine nature to Philip:  It is written:

^“Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father” (John 14:9)

We go forth in the creed confessing that Jesus Christ is begotten of His Father “before all worlds and not made”.  The Church fathers added this expression to the creed against the teaching of the impious Arius who taught that the Son of God was made and that there was a time when He was not (existing). Thus the purpose of this phrase was to declare the truth of the Orthodox Faith that Jesus Christ in His Divinity is not made but that He is the Creator.

By confessing “by whose hands the worlds were established and everything was created” we mean that God the Father created all things by His Son, as by His eternal wisdom and by His eternal Word. It is written:

^“All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being?” (John 1:3)

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Rev. Fr. Cor-Bishop Gewargis Toma

Parish Priest of Saint Andrews Church

Glenview, Illinois, U.S.A.

14-09-2016