In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses, is rendered as Kyrios, "Lord". When we are reading either the Old Testament or the new Testament, when we see that title, “Lord”, it is referring to God’s Divinity.
The New Testament uses the title "Lord" both for the Father and for Jesus. Scripture affirms the divinity of Jesus Christ. You can’t walk away from reading the Scripture without confronting this fact, that Jesus is fully God. This was the teaching of the Apostles. The Apostle Thomas proclaims, “My Lord and My God” when he witnesses the resurrected Christ.
The early Christian Church was persecuted for this faith, for proclaiming not “Caesar is Lord” along with the rest of the Roman Empire, but “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
One group of heretics who denied the Lordship, the divinity of Christ, were the Arians, named after a heretic priest, Arius. As Arianism spread, the Bishops of East and West gathered at the council of Nicea, to confront this problem.
St. Athanasius was a key figure at the council, at which the consubstantiality of Jesus with the Father was clarified. Though the Council was definitive, Arianism continued to spread, due to the emperor adopting Arianism. Neither emperors nor inflated egos like rival gods!
So many bishops betrayed the faith for political gain, that one historian said, it was as if it were Athanasius contra mundum, Athanasius against the world.
Arianism spreads again in our modern culture, of course. Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are essentially Arian, as are the Muslims. Islamic extremists in a sense are a form of militant Arians. But many modern men deny the Lordship of Christ.
We’ve seen such a decline in Church attendance and religious practice since the so-called “Golden Age” of American Catholicism in the mid-twentieth century, likely because this truth, the consubstantiality of Jesus with the Father, was not passed on to the next generation, it was sort of taken for granted, or traded in for new gods called pleasure, wealth, and power. One can typically see who or what is Lord of one’s life, by what they do on the Lord’s Day.
So we must witness to Christ’s Lordship, to his divinity in word and speech, in everything we do: helping to pass on the true faith to the next generation, to correct the faith of those in error, and strengthen those weak in their faith. May the Lord Jesus Christ, consubstantial with the Father, be with us in spreading the Holy Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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God the Father was glorified in the death and resurrection of his Son. Let us pray to him with confidence.
God the Father bathed the world in splendor when Christ rose again in glory, may our minds be filled with the light of faith.
Through the resurrection of His Son, the Father opened for us the way to eternal life, may we be sustained today in our work with the hope of glory.
Through His risen Son, the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world, may our hearts be set on fire with spiritual love.
May Jesus Christ, who was crucified to set us free, be the salvation of all those who suffer, particularly those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction, and grief.
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