United Church of God

Letter From Devin Schulz - December 13, 2019

Letter From Devin Schulz

December 13, 2019

Greetings Brethren,

A fundamental premise of Christianity (really in most of the world's religions) is the belief in the existence of a deity. Among the various branches of Christianity there tends to be agreement on this point. Yet the exact essence of the Godhead is hotly debated. Ironically, much of the disagreement about the nature of God within Christianity comes from what is called Christology. Christology is the study of the person, the nature and role of Christ. Misunderstandings about this topic have led to many of the heresies that exist within Christianity today, including controversies that arise within the Church of God.

One of those fallacious ideas is that Jesus Christ was a created being. That unlike God the Father, Jesus was brought into being. Rumblings of this had already started not long after the death of Christ, but crescendoed in the late 200s and early 300s AD. By this time, the apostles had died and a counterfeit version of Christianity rose to prominence. This emerging group was faced with answering the basic theological questions that would form their identity, including the teaching of who God is. There was much wrangling regarding this topic, and it proved to be divisive enough for the emperor Constantine to convene the Council of Nicaea in the year 325 AD to settle the matter officially. While the Trinitarian view came out on top from the gathering, the relegation of Christ to part of the creation did not vanish. In modern times we see this in the Unitarians, who believe Jesus was not divine in any sense but only a man. The Jehovah's Witnesses teach Jesus was created billions of years ago as a divine being. As with most doctrines within the Messianic Jewish movement, there is not a consensus, but many hold to some variation of this core belief. Some claim that Christ was originally an angel who God used to bring salvation (sometimes Michael is named). The Mormon Church is also a large group that teaches Christ was created.

While there are divergencies within the details of how and when Christ would have been created, the main thought that is agreed upon is that Jesus is the Son of God, begotten by the Father as part of the created order. Thus, Christ is not co-eternal nor co-substantial with the Father. This belief is held by many and strains of this idea have even popped up within the Church of God--but is it biblical? The simple answer is no. How then do we address the arguments from the proponents of this? There are two main verses that are used to support belief that Christ was created - Colossians 2:15 and Revelation 3:14.

In our next Sharing Thoughts, we will begin investigating those two verses. Until then, it would be a good exercise to review those verses and see how well we can explain them.

May this Sabbath be uplifting to you all!

Devin Schulz