GLEANINGS — June 16, A.D. 2013                                                                                                              "A Greek Snack"

No, this gleaning is not about baklava, loukoumades, or spanakopita, all of which are highly recommended to your discerning palate. It is about a battle, and one far more important than the skirmish between gourmets over whether baklava is truly Greek, Turkish, or Other in origin. Perhaps someday I will meet a person whose ethnic origin is Other. They must be a very quiet and unobtrusive people.
This crucial spiritual battle of old centered on two words from Greek (Koine), the original language of the New Testament. The two words at the heart of this warfare were almost identical, you will have to look very closely at these transliterated renderings to see the difference:
HOMOOUSION	HOMOIOUSION
You will note that both words end in I O N. But earlier in the second word only, the letter "I" appears again. In Greek this letter is named iota. When you refer to something very small as an iota you are speaking Greek, because iota was the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.
In Acts 14 there is a case of mistaken identity concerning the apostles. Certain idolaters, seeing Paul work a miracle, conclude that "the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" The word translated likeness is a participle form (grammatical term) of the word HOMOIOUSION.
The other word HOMOOUSION, the one without the first iota, means exactly the same in nature, not merely alike in nature. Here is an imprecise but serviceable illustration of the difference: one apple and one orange are HOMOIOUSION. They are alike, for both are fruits. But two apples or two oranges are HOMOOUSION. They are the same kind of fruit. This writer hopes you will keep reading, in order that you may become persuaded that he is not a nut.
The issue in our ancient theological battle, centered on these almost identical words, concerned the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Does Scripture teach that He is "like'' (HOMOIOUSION) the Father, or that He is of the same (HOMOOUSION) divine nature and substance as His Father?
As some have begun to learn anew and others profitably to review at our evening worship interactive messages from God's word (topic: the Deity of Christ), the Bible's resounding answer is that the divine, eternal Son is of the exact same nature and substance as the divine, eternal Father (as is the divine, eternal Holy Spirit, cf. Hebrews 9:14). Christians are baptized into the one name (not names, plural) of the triune God. 
Thankfully, Biblical truth about the nature and substance of God the Son won the battle in ancient times. This is reflected in many orthodox confessions of the "faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3) such as the Nicene Creed. The wonderful and incomprehensible truth according to the holy Bible is that the one true God eternally exists as three eternal Persons Who are fully equal in infinite glory and majesty. 
So on this Father's Day and always, Christian, rejoice in the truth that your heavenly Father never "became" a Father, but is the Father of His only begotten Son from all eternity. Though the Son became incarnate (came in the flesh) as a true Man, conceived and born in time and space, He was with His Father...our Father...from everlasting. And the Holy Spirit of God, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, likewise is eternally HOMOOUSION with the Father and the Son. 
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!  (Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8)