The Creed was formed (in part) because of a popular
heresy at that time which stated that Jesus was part of God’s creation: that He
was just a man. Which part of the Creed speaks of Jesus as truly God?
Shortly after the legalization of Christianity in 312,
the Emperor Constantine convened the first ecumenical council. (“Ecumenical” is
from the Greek economos, or “household.”) Indeed the entire “household”
gathered: over 300 bishops from the Christian world. They came together to
combat the heresy of Arianism that declared Jesus to be a “creature” of God,
rather than coequal and coeternal.
In the Creed, the Church Fathers stated that Jesus was
truly God with the phrases beginning with “Light of Light.” They continued to
emphasize the equality of Father and Son with the phrases, “True God of True God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father.” In the Creed,
“begotten” has a special meaning assigned to it. Jesus was “begotten,” not
created. Everything that exists is created by God. Only God Himself, the
Trinity, is not created. Jesus existed from all time with the Father and the
Holy Spirit.
***
“The Word, that is, the Son, was always with the
Father.” (Irenaeus, “Against Heresies, Book IV,” ch. 20, section 3, 180 AD)
“Christ Jesus, the Son of God, because of His
surpassing love for His creation, condescended to be born of the virgin.”
(Irenaeus, “Against Heresies, Book III,” ch. 4, section 2, 180 AD)
***
The divine Son of God was born in human flesh for the
salvation of the world. This is the central doctrine of the Orthodox Christian
Faith; the entire life of Christians is built upon this fact. They Symbol of
Faith stresses that it is “for us men and for our salvation” that the Son of
God has come. This is the most critical biblical doctrine, that “God so loved
the world that He gave his only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Hopko, “Doctrine,” 66)
Source: https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/the-creed-light-of-light-very-god-of-very-god/
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