Explanation of the Creed – Part 3
Explanation of the Creed – Part 3
Light from Light
The Lord Jesus Christ is Light, in the theological—not material—sense, for “God is Spirit” (John 4:24).
He is the True Light, unlike what He said of His disciples: “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Humanity, when it shines, receives its light from God, the True Light—just as the moon does not shine of itself but receives its light from the sun.
It was said of John the Baptist: “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:7–9). The “true Light” here refers to Christ, to whom the Baptist bore witness.
The Lord Jesus said: “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12).
We address the Lord Jesus by this title “the True Light” in the Morning Prayer (Prime Hour), saying: “O True Light who enlightens every man coming into the world, You came into the world through Your love for mankind, and all creation rejoiced at Your coming.”
“Light from Light” means the Son, who is Light, from the Father, who is Light. The begetting of the Son from the Father is like light proceeding from light.
The Scripture says of the Father that He is Light: “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). It is also written: “Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16).
True God from True God
This means that He possesses true divinity, not merely a title.
The word “god” has sometimes been used in Scripture in a non-divine sense. God said to Moses: “I have made you as God to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:1)—meaning “master” or “lord,” not the Creator or Almighty God. Similarly, God said of Aaron: “He shall be your spokesman, and you shall be to him as God” (Exodus 4:16).
In these examples, Moses was not truly God to Pharaoh or Aaron; it was only a title of authority, as the term “lord” is sometimes used to mean master, not deity.
In the same way, the Lord said: “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High’” (Psalm 82:6). Here, “gods” is only a figurative title, not a statement of divinity, for it continues: “But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” Those who die are not true gods.
Even earlier in that psalm, it says: “God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods” (Psalm 82:1)—a plural form that cannot refer to true divinity, for there is only one God. The same plural form is used of pagan idols called “gods,” though they are not real gods: “For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are demons (idols)” (Psalm 96:4–5).
But the Lord Jesus is True God—meaning a real, divine God.
Many verses in the Holy Bible affirm Christ’s divinity:
As in Romans 9:5: “From whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”
And in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Also, in Acts 20:28: “Shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” The phrase “His own blood” clearly refers to His incarnation.
Another clear verse: “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).
Notice that these verses use the word “God,” not merely “a god,” refuting the claims of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Scripture also reveals Christ’s divinity through His titles and works:
He is called “the First and the Last,” “the Alpha and the Omega,” “the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 1:8, 17; 22:13)—titles belonging only to God, as written in Isaiah 44:6. God alone is first, for none existed before Him: “I am He; before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior” (Isaiah 43:11).
Other divine attributes of Christ include: Creator, Forgiver of sins, Omnipresent, Knower of hearts and thoughts, Lord, Holy One, and Judge.
A full study of Christ’s divinity would require an entire book; here we only affirm that what the Creed declares is fully grounded in Scripture.
Christ is True God from True God—that is, from God the Father.
The divinity of Christ is just as true as the divinity of the Father.
Begotten, Not Created
He is begotten of the Father by nature, not created. The created has a beginning, but He has none. He is eternal with the Father. Though He was born in the flesh “in the fullness of time,” He is eternally begotten of the Father before all ages.
Of One Essence with the Father
This phrase answers the misunderstanding of Christ’s saying: “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). The Father is not greater in essence, divinity, or nature, for the divinity of the Son is the same as that of the Father.
Therefore, the Creed declares that He is “of one essence with the Father,” meaning that the Father is not greater; the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are equal.
The divine essence is one, so some say “one in essence with the Father,” which means the same thing, though we follow the precise wording of the Nicene Creed.
“To be of one essence with the Father” means equality in all divine attributes—
Equal in eternity, infinity, omnipotence, and omnipresence.
In short, equal in divinity and divine nature.
As the Lord said: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30)—a statement that made the Jews want to stone Him. He repeated the same idea in John 17:22: “That they may be one just as We are one.”
He also said to Philip, who asked, “Show us the Father”: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
As for the phrase “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), He said this concerning His self-emptying in the incarnation, not His divinity. It expresses His humility in taking the form of a servant, not any difference in divine essence—for His essence is the same as the Father’s.
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