Father Chas Canoy
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In this week’s reflection, Father Chas explores the profound truth of the Creed’s declaration: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God.” He explains what it means for Jesus to be fully divine, co-eternal with the Father, consubstantial with Him, and the One through whom all things were made. Father Chas also reflects on the mystery of the Incarnation—how God the Son entered His own creation by the power of the Holy Spirit for us and for our salvation.
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Father Chas:
For this Sunday, I’ll be preaching on the second “I believe” section of the Creed: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ. There are two titles there—Lord and Christ. The one Lord Jesus Christ. There is only one Lord, ultimately, the only begotten Son of God.
The Creed says that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, which means that Jesus is the Son of God in a qualitatively different way. And that qualitative difference is that Jesus shares the full divinity of God the Father. Jesus operates in the very person of God—born of the Father before all ages, born of the Father from all eternity.
When we speak of being born from eternity, the One born—the Son—is co-eternal with the One who begets—the Father. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. This professes that Jesus is fully God. God the Son from God the Father from all eternity. God the Son is fully divine just as much as the Father is fully divine. No, really—Jesus is true God from true God.
There was a time when the second person of the Trinity became human, but there was never a time when God the Son was not. He is co-eternal with the Father, begotten before all ages. Jesus, the only begotten Son of the Father, fully participates in the Father. He reveals the Father to us. Consubstantial with the Father means God the Son is of the same divine substance as the Father—one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Through Him all things were made. Because God the Son is with the Father from all eternity and consubstantial with Him, we can say the Son was co-creator with the Father. Through Him the entire universe was made.
For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven. This is the why of the Incarnation. And by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.
How did God the Son enter His own creation? By the action of the Holy Spirit. As the archangel Gabriel said to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”