Sunday Sermon

"The Trinity: The Son is God"
[Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 2:8-10]
January 28, 2007 Second Reformed Church

Before we begin to look at the Son, let us remember that we are looking at the doctrine of the Trinity -- what the Bible teaches about the Trinity -- briefly, and over a number of weeks. Today, we are only looking at one aspect of the doctrine, and to that end, we will be using The Creed of Chalcedon as part of our response this morning. These sermons will all be on our blog; feel free to review them and continue your study of this doctrine -- this teaching -- this truth -- from there.

So, let's jump right into the deep end: did the human being, Jesus, exist from all eternity? Did the created being, Jesus, exist before the creation? Did anything material exist before the creation? The answer of the Scripture is that there was a time when nothing material existed. Therefore, the Human Being, Jesus, Who was born on earth two thousand years ago, has not always existed.

Now, did the Son of God exist from all eternity? Is the Son of God a Being Who always was, even before the creation? Again, the Scripture clearly teaches that this is true: the Son of God has always existed, even before the creation.

So, when we confess that the Son is God, are we referring to the eternal Son or to Jesus? The answer is "yes." The Person of the Son of God and the Person of Jesus cannot be separated; He is One and the Same Person. Jesus is the Son of God. The Son is God; Jesus is God.

Now, God the Son, Who is the same in Being as God the Father, and Who is the One and Only God, is an Other Person from God the Father. The Father is the One God and the Son is the One God, but the Father and the Son are different Persons. What does that look like? If we remember last week, we looked at the text of Jesus' Baptism, and there we had One God, and God the Father spoke from Heaven, and God the Son was baptized in the river Jordan. The One God exists, at the same time, as the Person of the Father and the Person of the Son.

Understand, we confess that there is One God. However, God exists in separate and distinct Persons -- and we have seen the Father, and today we are seeing the Son. This is not saying that sometimes God acts like the Father and sometimes God acts like the Son. No, the Trinity is not about confessing that God acts in many ways; the Trinity confesses One God Who exists in more than One Person.

Now, don't glaze over on me!

One of the difficulties in the doctrine of the Trinity is that there are no good examples that make it clear in everyday life. The Trinity is unique. We can put forth what the Bible teaches, we can know that it is true, but there is a point at which we can go no further. God has given us His Word and revealed that He exists as a Trinity, so we might know Him and love Him and worship Him, but its understanding is not obvious and clear in all ways to us. Still, we ought to bear with it to know our God as He has revealed Himself.

So, God the Son, Who is the same in Being as God the Father, and Who is the One and Only God, is an Other Person from God the Father.

Jesus, the human being, was born in time, a real human being, just like you and me, a single person.

In the Miracle of the Incarnation, God the Son Incarnate in the Person of Jesus, and He is One Person -- Him Who we know through the Scripture and the Sacraments -- the God-Man is One Person, yet He still has two natures -- He is 100% divine and 100% human, and there is no confusion or mixture of His Natures.

In the Incarnation, we have the Eternal Son of God Incarnating into the specific human, Jesus, and He Who is Born is One Person. Jesus, the Son of God, is One Person. However, He has two complete natures: the Divine Nature and a human nature.

Someone might ask, "Well, doesn't the unity of the His Person -- the taking on of human flesh and a human nature -- doesn't that make Him less divine or sub-god?" No, the Scripture tells us that He is equal to the Person and the Divinity of God the Father.

Another might ask, "Well, doesn't the fact that He is called 'the Son' show that He is subordinate in His Divinity?" No, "the Son" is a title, just like "Christ." He is equal in His Divinity to God the Father.

Let us look at the text from Hebrews that was read this morning:

"In many and various ways, in the past, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. In these last days, he spoke to us by his son" (my translation).

We see that there is a relationship between God and the Son, and one of the ways that that relationship is seen is through the prophetic word. Just as God spoke through the prophets in prior ages, now God speaks through Jesus, His Son. So, what Jesus says is the Word of God. The words of Jesus hold (at least) equal weight with the words of God spoken through the prophets.

"Who he destined heir of all things, through whom also he created the universe" (my translation).

Notice what is said about the Son: the Son is the heir of the universe -- everything belongs to Him and will be given to Him. And, God created everything through/by/with the Son. The Son is the creator and their heir of creation. This should get our brains working -- if nothing existed before the creation but God, and God created everything that is through/with/by the Son, Who is the Son?

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of God's essence" (my translation).

The translation in our pew says that the Son is the "reflection" of the Glory of God, and while apaugasma can be translated passively as "reflection," it is not the preferred translation, which is "radiance." Why does it make a difference? The difference is this, to translate it passively, as "reflection," could mean that the Son is nothing more than a mirror, or even that He reflects the Glory of God in the way that the rest of the creation reflects the Glory of God. But to translate it actively, as "radiance," says that the Glory of God is emanating from His Very Being. That is, the Glory of God emanates from the Son because He is God.

The writer continues with "the exact imprint of God's essence." What is an essence? Something's essence is whatever is necessary for that thing to be what it is. If we look at a chair, whatever is necessary for us to call this a chair is its essence. Without any of those necessary things, if it has less that the essence of a chair, it is not a chair. So, if the Son has the Essence of God, then the Son must be God.

We're told that the Son "sustains all things by the word of his power, when he made purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high" (my translation). The Son is the One Who keeps all things in existence and working as they should, it is the Son, and the Son Alone Who made purification for the sins of His people. Why couldn't the Father make purification for sins? Because in order to make purification for sins, He had to be, not only Holy, keeping all the Commandments of God and never sinning, but He had to also be a real human being with a real human nature, so He could be our substitute. No angel or any other creature could have stood in our place before God the Father to make purification for our sins, it is only the Son, Who is the One God and also a Real Human Being, in a Single Person.

And, after the Ascension, this Son, Jesus, the God-Man, ascended in His Real Human Flesh to sit on the throne of God the Son in Heaven.

Turn with me again to our reading in Colossians:

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul is writing against false teachers who said that Christians must keep all the ceremonial laws of Judaism, and they had added to it the foreign practice of worshiping angels. And Paul begins the reading that was read telling them not to be fooled, not to be tricked, not to be carried away like the booty of war -- "see that no one carries you off like the booty of war through philosophy and empty trickery according to the traditions of men, according to the elementals of the world and not according to Christ" (my translation).

Why? Why should we follow Christ and not these fancy teachers that rely on tradition and linguistic skills? "For in him lives all the fullness of divinity bodily" (my translation). Paul says we should listen to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, because in Him is full divinity embodied. How much clearer could we hear this word? Jesus is God enfleshed. Jesus, the Son, is God.

And, Paul tells us, "you are in him fulfilled, who is the head of every ruler and authority" (my translation). We as Christians, find our fulfillment in Jesus, because His is the Authority above every authority, because He is God Incarnate; He is God enfleshed.

Let's summarize where we are:

There is One and Only One God.

The Father is God.

Jesus, the Son, is God.

The Father is One Person of the Trinity; the Son is an Other Person of the Trinity. They are equally the same One God, but they are different Persons.

Let us pray:
Almighty God and Trinity, we thank You for all that You have revealed to us in Your Holy Word. We thank You for letting us know that there is Only One God, and that You exist in a Trinity of Persons. Help us to see what You have told us and not be confused by venturing where You have not been pleased to explain. Please build these teachings upon us, and let us see the value and the glory of knowing our God, the Three-in-One. In Jesus' Name, Amen.