Let us then turn in our bulletins to the insert to read together our confession of faith as we continue in the Belgic confession of faith, looking at article 10. We continue looking at the Trinity and specifically this week at Jesus Christ and that he is true and eternal God. So let us read together our confession. We believe that Jesus Christ, according to his divine nature, is the only begotten Son of God, begotten from eternity, not made nor created, for then he would be a creature, but coessential and coeternal with the Father. the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, equal unto Him in all things. He is the Son of God, not only from the time that He assumed our nature, but from all eternity, as these testimonies, when compared together, teach us. Moses says that God created the world, and the Apostle John says that all things were made by the Word which he calls God. The Apostle says that God made the world by his Son. Likewise, that God created all things by Jesus Christ. Therefore, it must needs follow that he who is called God, the Word, the Son, and Jesus Christ, did exist at that time when all things were created by him. Therefore, the prophet Micah says, his goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. And the apostle, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, He, therefore, is that true, eternal, and almighty God whom we invoke, worship, and serve. And so, brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, as we consider the eternity of the second person of the Trinity, that He is co-eternal God with the Father and the Spirit, that He is the second person of the Trinity, I think We back up just ever so slightly because it can be difficult for us even to get our minds around the idea that there are three persons, yet one God. One in essence, three persons. And we have to understand that this is beyond our understanding as human beings. The Trinity is outside of our ability as human beings to get around, and we often try to come up with analogies and mess around with those sorts of things. But brothers and sisters, so often that just leads us into error and danger. And I love what the catechism says to us, that these three distinct persons are the one true eternal God. God has so revealed himself in his word that this is certainly true, even if our little minds can't get around it. We believe that Jesus Christ, according to His divine nature, is the only begotten Son of God, begotten from eternity, not made nor created, for then He would be a creature, but coessential and coeternal with the Father. That Jesus Christ, according to His divine nature, is coeternal and coessence God. the various image, and the effulgence of His substance, and the effulgence, the brightness, the radiancy of His glory. That He is equal to God the Father in all things. And that He is the Son of God, not only from the time that He assumed our nature, but from all eternity. We see that clearly. And the confession of faith shows to us again and again from Scripture that He is, we read in Micah 5 too, that you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. That it is clear That Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, became man. That the Christ is true God, whose goings forth are from of old. We have that in John 1. Again, these are quoted and referenced in the Confession for us. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Emphasis there, by the way, on godness of the Word. That Jesus, that before His becoming flesh, He is still, He was the second person of the Trinity. That He is God. And we could read, and the words of the confession are so helpful, co-essential, co-eternal God, the very image of His substance and effulgence of His glory, equal to Him in all things, that He was not made nor created. And we see that again and again in Scripture. He assumed our nature. We see this as God talks about that. We read in Isaiah 9.6, again often quoted at Christmas, "...For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Those are all references to His divine nature. That He is wonderful. That God is wonderful. That He is counselor. That He is truly mighty God. Colossians 2.9, For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Likewise, that God created all things by Jesus Christ. Therefore, it must needs follow that he who is called God, the Word, the Son, and Jesus Christ did exist at that time when all things were created by him. Duh. But we have to understand, God created all things through his Son. And we read from Micah, his goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. The Apostle says He has neither beginning of days nor end of life. He therefore is that true, eternal, and almighty God whom we invoke, worship, and serve. That Jesus is true God. That He was God before the foundation of the world from eternity before. And I'm more and more convinced as we read Scripture, by the reactions of those listening to Jesus, that He was claiming divinity. They understood that. Our culture can't. Oh, Jesus was just a nice teacher, right? That's what our culture teaches us. Jesus claimed again and again, the I Am statements, other ways, His equality with God. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees' reactions to him as we see recorded in Scripture make that all the more clear. That Jesus is true God. And I just want to end a little bit with the formula of Chalcedon, the Tome of Leo from 451 A.D. As we think about the human and divine natures of the Christ in this we might say is a little extra credit, but I think it's helpful for us. That the human and divine natures of Christ are without confusion, they do not become confused, they do not change, and at that same time, they are not dividable without division, and they are without separation. So you, we have to understand that. We see those facts exemplified in the true death of Christ. That His body and His soul were separated, just like any one of us when we die. And that that was for Him truly an experience of death. Because we might say, well, The body was just an addition somehow. No, it is integral to who He is following the incarnation. And so, again, our brains don't get around these things, but I think they're very helpful statements for us to get in our minds. That those two natures are without confusion, they are without change, but at that same time they are without division and they are without separation between those natures. That that is truly one person. Jesus Christ, the divine nature, Jesus Christ, the human nature. that He took to Himself full, true humanity, sin accepted, and that He is God from all eternity and has all of these aspects that we have been looking at. Amen.