阅读经文 

你能想像自己在超市里与人辩论耶稣是否是神这个问题的情景吗？在今天，世界各地的基督徒普遍都接受耶稣是神的儿子、而祂也全然是神。然而，初期教会的基督徒曾经激烈地争论，耶稣既是神的独生子，祂能否同时也是神自己呢？

若说某人是一个儿子，我们自然便会判定他的父亲为首要、儿子则是第二位的了。所以，在使徒信经中，我们称耶稣为神“独生的子”，我们是否似乎已经把祂放在第二位了呢？

不是这样。从第四世纪开始，教会已经正式维护圣灵默示约翰在今天这段经文中所写的：“从来没有人看见神，只有在父怀里的独生子（祂自己也是神）将祂表明出来。”

我们无法完全理解圣父神和祂的独生子的奥妙关系。然而，我们凭信心相信，耶稣是神的儿子。我们凭信心与约翰一同相信，万物都是藉着神的独生子造成的。（参约 1:3）我们凭信心相信，唯有藉着神的儿子亲自的受死，我们才能进入永远充满平安和喜乐的新生命。

我们既然天天都活在神和祂儿子的爱里，那么，无论身在何处，我们都可以找机会与别人分享这份爱。

Can you imagine having an argument at the supermarket about whether Jesus Christ is God? Today, Christians everywhere accept the fact that Jesus, God’s Son, is fully God. But in the early church, Christians argued vehemently about whether Jesus could be God if he was God’s only Son.

When we call someone a son, we naturally conclude that the father came first and the son came second. So when we refer to Jesus in the Apostles’ Creed as God’s “only Son,” are we somehow putting him in second place?

No. Since the fourth century the church has officially upheld what the Holy Spirit inspired John to write in our passage for today: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

We can’t fully comprehend the mysterious relationship of God the Father and his only Son. But by faith we believe that Jesus is God’s Son. By faith we believe, with John, that through God’s only Son all of creation was made (John 1:1-3). By faith we also believe that only God’s own Son, through his death, could bring us into a new life filled with everlasting peace and joy.

As we live in the love of God and his Son each day, we can look for ways, wherever we are, to share that love with others.