Knowing the Spirit as Future Restorer (Faith in Theology Series 6 of 6)

Christians believe that there is a new world coming when Jesus returns,[1] in the power of his Holy Spirit, to restore fallen humanity and creation by establishing God’s kingdom on earth forever. The Apostles’ Creed affirms three biblical beliefs regarding the age to come when Christ returns: 1) the resurrection of the dead, 2) the judgment of the living and the dead, and 3) the life everlasting in the world to come.[2]

The Resurrection of the Dead

The concluding affirmation of the Apostles’ Creed is, “[I believe in] the resurrection of the body.” The Nicene Creed added these words to strengthen it: ”We look forward to the resurrection of the dead.” On that final day, Christ, by his Spirit, will resurrect from the dead every person who has ever lived – beginning with all those who have believed in him.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thess. 4:16)[3]

All believers will be raised from the dead, except for those alive at his return, and restored to God’s original purpose by reuniting their glorified souls, that were in heaven, with their glorified bodies, that were in the earth. Paul writes,

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Cor. 15:51-53)

What will happen to believers who are still alive at Jesus’ return? Paul tells us, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17).[4]

When Jesus returns, all believers who are dead will be raised and given glorified bodies, and all believers who are alive will also be given glorified bodies. Then all of them will be miraculously and spectacularly joined with Christ forever.[5]

On that day, Jesus will also raise from the dead all who have not believed in him.[6] He calls the coming resurrection of believers “the resurrection of life,” and the coming resurrection of unbelievers as “the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29)[7]

The Judgment of the Living and the Dead

Earlier in the Creed, we find the ancient Christian affirmation that the ascended Jesus, who now rules at the right hand of God, “will come to judge the living and the dead.” The Scriptures teach that following the resurrection of the dead at Jesus’ return, there will be a final day of judgment. Paul writes, “He (the Father) has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man (Christ) whom he has appointed” (Acts 17:31).[8]

In the parable of the weeds, Jesus taught that “The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels” (Matt. 13:39).

On that day, Jesus promises he will send his angels to separate the wheat (the righteous) from the weeds (the wicked).[9] “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers.” (Matt. 13:41) All nations will be gathered before him as the Son of Man judges the whole world. (Matt. 25:32, Rom. 3:6)[10]

Humans will not be the only ones judged on that final day. Satan and his fallen angels (demons) must also appear before Christ’s final judgment seat. (1 Cor. 6:2-3, 2 Pet. 2:4, Jude 6)[11] And the final judgment will include both unbelievers and believers. Paul writes, “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Rom. 14:10).[12]

Although believers must all appear before Christ on the Day of Judgment, they should not fear because God promises them that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). John writes, “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment” (1 John 4:17).[13]

To the unbelievers on that day Jesus will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).[14] But to his followers, Jesus will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34).

The Life Everlasting in the World to Come

When Jesus returns, he will not only restore fallen and corrupt humanity, in body and soul, to the Father’s original design for their flourishing. He will also restore fallen and corrupt creation. Paul writes, “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21).

Jesus describes this coming restored creation, over which he will rule, the “new world” (Matt. 19:28). The Greek term for “new world,” palingenesia (παλινγενεσίᾳ), means regeneration and rebirth. Paul uses this same Greek word to describe the Holy Spirit’s regeneration and rebirth of all believers at their conversion. (Titus 3:5) Just as all believers experience regeneration and rebirth by the power of God’s Spirit, so will all creation experience regeneration and rebirth at Christ’s return.

This regeneration of our fallen world will include a purging and cleansing of all forms of evil and corruption. On that final day, when Jesus sends his angels to separate all the righteous and the wicked, he teaches that they will gather out of his kingdom “all causes of sin” and all law-breakers. (Matt. 13:41) The Greek term for “causes of sin” is scandala (Σκάνδαλα), meaning “stumbling blocks.” Not only will God’s Spirit purge the world of “all lawbreakers,” but he will also purge the world of all the stumbling blocks to believers that the disobedient have created.[15]

When Jesus returns, the kingdom paradise that the Father prepared for his children before his creation, the kingdom that was thwarted by Satan and sin in the garden, and the kingdom that the Son inaugurated on earth by his death and resurrection, will finally come to earth in all its fullness forever. John describes it like this:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,[16] and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new. (Rev. 21:1-5)[17]

Paul describes the blessedness of this eternal “world to come” as the believer’s “inheritance” that God guarantees will one day be ours by giving us his Holy Spirit when we believe. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:13-14).

Martin Luther beautifully summarizes the meaning of our belief in God the Spirit as Restorer in these five statements:

• I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith.

• In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

• In this Christian church day after day he fully forgives my sins and the sins of all believers.

• On the last day he will raise me and all the dead and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life.

• This is most certainly true.[18]

Footnotes:

[1] The Scriptures teach that there will be certain “signs of the times” preceding the return of Christ and the end of the age. Theologian Anthony Hoekema gives us a helpful description of these signs as being grouped in three categories: 1) Signs of God’s grace, e.g. the proclamation of the gospel to all nations and the salvation of the fullness of Israel (Rom. 11), 2) Signs of opposition, e.g. the tribulation, apostasy, and the Antichrist, and 3) Signs of God’s judgment, e.g. wars, earthquakes, and famines. Although some of these signs will be dramatic in nature, Jesus warns us not to see them as only spectacular and catastrophic events. (Luke 17:20-21) Jesus also warns us not to use these signs as a way of trying to determine the time of his return. (Mark 13:32; Matt. 24:36) He told his disciples that he didn’t know the time, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matt. 24:36). Since the Bible does not give us an exact sequence and order of these signs, we must not try to create a detailed, specific timetable of future events as some Christian traditions have done (Dispensationalism). But Christians should learn how to “see the signs” when they appear and think about how they could be signs of Jesus’ imminent return. Hoekema give us several practical examples of how God means for these signs to help us grow spiritually by thinking more about the return of Jesus. See Hoekema, A. A. (1994). The Bible and the Future, Eerdmans, chapters 11-12.

[2] For a deeper look at the Bible’s teaching on the resurrection of believers and our future life on the new earth, see the Appendix: Why Look Forward to Your Resurrection and Life in the World to Come.

[3] Paul writes, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, (have died) that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Paul does not want his readers to lose hope about their future with the Lord, simply because other believers have died. Some Thessalonians seem to have believed that Christians would not die before Jesus returned. Paul is reassuring them that those who have died in Christ will be raised from the dead and united with all believers who are living when Jesus returns.

[4] It’s a mistake to interpret this passage as giving us any more specific details about this event and what follows. Paul is not teaching that Jesus will miraculously scoop up all his followers to snatch (rapture) them out of this corrupt world before his final judgment on all who are “left behind.” When he writes, “and so we will always be with the Lord,” he’s not teaching that all the believers who are caught up with the Lord and each other “in the clouds” will be staying up in the clouds forever. Instead, Rev. 21:1-3 shows us the opposite, that heaven (holy city, new Jerusalem) will come down to earth in all its fullness.

[5] The terms that Paul uses in 1Thessalonians 4 for Jesus' "coming" (parousia, Παρουσίαν in verse 15) and our “meeting” (ἀπάντησιν in verse 17), reflect the political rhetoric of the Roman Empire used to describe military or political dignitaries making official visits. Paul’s words imply that believers will meet the Lord "in the air,” not as an act of departing from fallen creation, but as a majestic act of welcoming their victorious, conquering Lord and King back to the world he created. Paul’s emphasis is on the majestic, final union when Christ’s purified bride is fully united to the groom forever. Apparently, when that final union first takes place, it will not be on the surface of the earth, but above it “in the clouds.”

[6] While the Bible describes much detail about the resurrection body of believers, there is nothing said about the resurrection body of unbelievers. In 1 Cor. 15, Paul says nothing about the resurrection of unbelievers, he is only speaking of the resurrection of believers. So we can only speculate about what the bodies of unbelievers will look like for all eternity and the nature of the “place” of the unbelievers before they’re judged and cast into hell forever.

[7] The Scriptures present a general resurrection of believers and unbelievers as occurring together. (Dan. 12:2, John 5:25-29, Acts 24:14-15, Rev. 20:11-15) Some Christian traditions, e.g. Historic and Dispensational Premillennialists, believe that the resurrection of unbelievers will take place one thousand years (millennium) after the believers' resurrection.

[8] The final judgment will take place at the end of the present age (2 Pet. 3:7), the time of Christ’s return (Matt. 13:40-43, 2 Thess. 1:7-10), and following the general resurrection (Rev. 20). What the Bible teaches about the general resurrection for the saved and lost implies that there will also be only one final judgment for the saved and lost, since the final judgment is presented as following the resurrection. Dispensationalists believe there will be several judgments, including: 1) the rapture and judgment of believers at Jesus’ return (Parousia), 2) the judgment of gentiles before a one thousand year rule, 3) the judgment of ethnic Israel just before the millennium, and 4) the judgment of unbelievers after a one thousand year rule.

[9] In this parable, Jesus teaches that “the enemy (Satan) came and sowed weeds (the wicked) among the wheat (his Church)” (Matt. 13:25) Then Jesus says, “Let both grow together until the harvest (the end of the age), and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matt. 13:30) Prior to the final judgment day, there will be many professing Christians within the church who are not true believers. But when Jesus returns, his visible Church (the wheat) will finally be purged of all unbelievers (the weeds).

[10] John records this remarkable vision God gave him of the final judgment day, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it … And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne … and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Rev. 20: 11-12).

[11] Glorified believers will also participate in the judgment of Christ on the world and the angels. (Matt. 19:28) Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” (1 Cor. 6:2)

[12] Paul also writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Cor. 5:10) See Heb. 10:30; James 3:1; I Peter. 4:17. The Bible teaches that everything a believer has done, including thoughts, words, and deeds, will be taken into account on the Judgment Day. (Matt. 25:35-40, 1 Cor. 3:8, Eph. 6:8, 1 Pet. 1:17, Rev. 20:12; 22:12) Paul describes the believer’s judgment with this imagery: “Now if anyone builds on the foundation (Christ) with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Cor. 3:12-15) The loss referred to here is not a loss of salvation but the loss of eternal rewards. Leon Morris writes, “Here and now the man who gives himself wholeheartedly to the service of Christ knows more of the joy of the Lord than the half-hearted. We have no warrant from the New Testament for thinking that it will be otherwise in heaven.” Biblical Doctrine of Judgment, p. 67.

[13] See how Answer 52 of the Heidelberg Catechism reflects this: “In all my distress and persecution  I turn my eyes to the heavens  and confidently await as judge the very One  who has already stood trial in my place before God  and so has removed the whole curse from me. All his enemies and mine  he will condemn to everlasting punishment:  but me and all his chosen ones  he will take along with him  into the joy and the glory of heaven.”

[14] John writes, “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire … and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15). Similar to how believers will receive degrees of eternal rewards (1 Cor. 3:12-15), Jesus seems to indicate that unbelievers will receive degrees of eternal punishment. (Luke 12:47-48)

[15] The Apostle Peter describes the coming day of the Lord as a time when “the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Pet. 3:10) The Greek word heurethēsetai (εὑρεθήσεται), translated “exposed,” is used in the earliest Greek manuscripts and can be translated “found, revealed, and discovered,” possibly conveying the exposure and revelation of the righteous and unrighteous works that have been done on the earth. Peter is teaching that God’s final judgment of the whole earth with fire, will be like God’s earlier judgment of the whole earth with water during the times of Noah (2 Pet. 3:5-7). During the flood, the earth was not completely annihilated but purged of all its wickedness. So, when Peter writes that “we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13), he’s not referring to a totally new earth that is completely different than the present one. Instead, he’s referring to a gloriously renewed and restored earth that remains in continuity with the present one – but is completely without any form of corruption. In the same way that God will make us recreated bodies from our dust, God will also make a new, recreated world after being “burned up” and “dissolved”. The world will be a new creation, but not a totally new creation. We’ll still recognize the earth and the world as we know it, but it will be fully redeemed, restored, and glorified to flourish according to God’s design – just like our new bodies.

[16] Heaven and earth will no longer be separated with God “up in heaven,” where his will is done perfectly, and man “down on earth” where God’s revealed will is not done perfectly. When Jesus returns, the “first heaven and the first earth will pass away.” In 1 Peter 3:5-13, the Apostle Peter describes the “passing away” of the “old world” and its transformation into the “new world.” When Jesus returns, heaven will come “back down” to earth like it was in creation before the Fall, when God’s presence was with his people (Immanuel) on earth. But it will be far better than Eden.

[17] The Greek word John and Peter use to designate the “newness” of the new earth is not neos (νέος), meaning new in time or origin, but kainos (καινὸς) meaning new in nature or in quality. Similarly, when Paul says in Romans 8:20-21 that creation waits with eager longing to be set free from its bondage, he’s referring to how the present corrupt creation will be delivered from all its corruption when Christ returns to make all things new – not become a totally different creation.

[18] Martin Luther’s Small Catechism: The Creed, The Third Article.

Knowing the Spirit as Present Restorer (Faith in Theology Series 5 of 6)

To know God means to know who God is and what God does as Triune Lord – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.[1] In the first part of the Creed, we learn the biblical teaching on the person and work of the Father as Creator. In the second part, we learn what the Bible teaches about the person and work of the Son as Redeemer. And in this third and final part, we learn the biblical teaching on the person and work of the Holy Spirit as Restorer:

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,[2]

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Christian belief in the person of the Holy Spirit, who he is, is stated in one simple phrase, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”[3] Belief in the work of the Holy Spirit, what he does, affirms the Holy Spirit’s work as the Restorer who:

1) creates the Church as God’s new humanity,

2) applies forgiveness of sins to the Church, and

3) resurrects believers’ bodies and gives them life everlasting.[4]

The Spirit’s Person and Nature

The phrase, “I believe in the Holy Spirit”, is a profession of faith in the person of the Holy Spirit himself. To strengthen the biblical teaching on the deity of the person of the Holy Spirit, the Nicene Creed (381 AD) adds several phrases to this one phrase in the Apostles’ Creed,

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life.

He proceeds from the Father and the Son,[5]

and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.

He spoke through the prophets.

The eternal third person of the Trinity is called the Holy Spirit.[6] The Creed’s description of the Holy Spirit as “the Lord,” refers to his fully divine nature as equal to the Father and the Son who are also called Lord. For the ancients, breath in the body (which is what “spirit” literally means) was seen as the sign and source of life.[7]

The work of the Spirit is giving and restoring life by imparting God’s transforming presence. Beginning with his work in creation when “the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2, Ps. 33:6). The Spirit is the source of all true life from God, both physical and spiritual.

The Creed’s statement that “He spoke through the prophets” reflects the Apostle Peter’s teaching that “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:21)

The Spirit also acted as the divine agent in Jesus’ virgin birth (Luke 1:35), the one who descended on Jesus as a dove at his baptism (Matt. 3:16-17, Mark 1:10-11), and the one Jesus referred to in his first sermon, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18).

Peter attributes the Holy Spirit as the divine source of the power that Jesus displayed in his ministry. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).

Just prior to his death, Jesus comforted his disciples saying, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18) by promising them that he would return to them soon through the ministry of his Holy Spirit whom the Father would send in his name. (John 14:25–26; 15:26–27; 16:7–15)

Following his resurrection, Jesus commands his followers to make disciples by “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). Then Jesus immediately reminds them of his promise: “I am with you always (by the Holy Spirit), to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20).

In the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36), Peter saw the fulfillment of God’s New Covenant promises to Israel – to give his people a new heart and a new spirit by putting his Spirit within them. (Acts 2:38, Jer. 31:31-34, Ezek. 36:26-27, Luke 22:17-20, 1 Cor. 11:25, Heb. 8:6-13)[8]

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as a person, not a mere force. He can be grieved (Eph. 4:30), he can be quenched (1 Thess. 5:19), he has a will (1 Cor. 12:4-7), he uses his mind to search the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10), and he has fellowship with believers (2 Cor. 13:14).[9]

This strong testimony in Scripture about the person of the Holy Spirit as the divine “Lord and giver of life” is the reason the Nicene Creed affirms the biblical teaching that the Holy Spirit, “with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.”

After expounding the affirmation of faith in the person of the Holy Spirit, the Nicene Creed also expounds the Apostles’ Creed’s affirmation of faith in the work of the Holy Spirit.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

and the life in the world to come. Amen.[10]

The Spirit’s Creation of the Church

Belief in “one” holy catholic and apostolic church affirms that God’s Church is made up of one worldwide fellowship of believers whose Lord and Head is Jesus Christ.[11] It’s “holy” because it’s set apart for God’s purposes in the world. It’s “catholic” because it includes all Christians. And it’s “apostolic” because it’s devoted to the sound doctrine in the Apostles’ teaching. (Acts 2:42)

Although God the Father chose his people in Christ before creation (Eph. 1:1-4), and God the Son redeemed his people in the first century, it is God the Holy Spirit who actually gives life to and empowers God’s people in both the Old and New Testament times.[12]

The Apostles’ Creed also affirms belief in “the communion of the saints” listed immediately after the affirmation of belief in “the holy catholic church.” The church is made up of believers who share a mystical union with Christ and each other. This “communion of the saints” includes a real union in Christ of both believers who are alive today on earth and those who have died but are alive with Christ in heaven.[13]

The Spirit’s Application of Forgiveness

Peter ended his preaching of the gospel at Pentecost by promising two things to all who would repent and be baptized: 1) the forgiveness of sins, and 2) the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repent and be baptized[14] every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)[15]

As a result of sin, all people stand before God with a two-fold problem: 1) a bad standing as guilty and condemned, and 2) a bad heart that is corrupt with an inward moral disease. But the good news is that God promises all who believe in Christ not only God’s forgiveness (a new standing before God), but also God’s Holy Spirit (a new heart from God).[16]

The way we actually receive God’s forgiveness is by God’s Holy Spirit mysteriously applying it to us when we believe in Christ. The forgiveness that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross in the first century, is applied to us at the moment we believe.[17]

The meaning of forgiveness in the Bible is rich and multifaceted. There are several biblical words and images used in the New Testament to help us deepen our understanding of God’s forgiveness in Christ.[18]

The Apostles John and Paul sometimes use the word “propitiation” to describe God’s forgiveness in Christ. John writes, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).[19] No matter how great our sins may be, we can be forgiven because Jesus’ shed blood propitiates all of God’s just wrath against us for our sins.[20]

One of the most significant words Paul uses to describe God’s forgiveness is “justification”. Whereas forgiveness through propitiation cancels our liability to punishment; justification is the positive counterpart. Justification bestows on believers in Christ a righteous standing before God. Paul teaches that when we believe in Christ, a great exchange of records takes place in the heavenly court.

For our sake he (Father) made him (Son) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).[21]

The Father considers the sinful, guilty record we earned by our disobedience to God’s law to be the record of his Son, and he considers the righteous record Jesus earned by his perfect obedience to God’s law to be our record in the heavenly courts. Therefore, the Father now accepts us as righteous in his sight, not because of anything we do for him, and not even because of anything he has done in us, but only because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.[22]

Christians believe in the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ shed blood (propitiation) and Jesus’ perfect righteousness (justification) received by faith alone. When we believe in Jesus we are forgiven by God through Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

Footnotes:

[1] The biblical concept of “knowing God” is holistic, including the understanding of our minds, the affections of our hearts, and the behaviors of our lives.

[2] The word catholic used in the Creed is derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), meaning “on the whole”, “in general”, or "universal”. The earliest use of the term "catholic" referring to the Christian church was by the church father Saint Ignatius of Antioch (circa 110 AD). The creedal words “catholic church” (lower case “c”) in English refer to the universal, historic Church regardless of denominational affiliation. Many Christians use the words “Catholic church” more narrowly (upper case “C”) in reference to the Roman Catholic Church from which the Protestant Church emerged in the 16th century.

[3] Whereas the Father is the Creator and the Son is the Redeemer, the Spirit is the Restorer who sets apart God’s people to be holy. Throughout the Old and New Testaments God commands his people, “Be holy because I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44, 1 Pet. 1:16) Paul tells us the reason God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world is so that we would “be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:3-4). To make us holy, the Holy Spirit applies to us the benefits that Jesus Christ accomplished for us in his redemption. So the benefits he brings to us are in accord with his name, the Holy Spirit.

[4] We should not understand the third and final section of the Creed as merely giving us a list of remaining doctrinal topics, among which our belief in the Holy Spirit is simply the first of several others –  including the church, salvation, the resurrection, and the life everlasting. Instead, we must see this entire last section of the Creed as one section presenting the biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit’s person and work as Restorer of all things lost in humanity and creation because of the Fall.

[5] This translation of the Nicene Creed is the one used in the Western church. The Eastern church version does not include the statement that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father “and the Son” – the so-called “filioque.” The Eastern Orthodox Church still contests this phrase as an unwarranted addition to Nicene theology. The Western church added this phrase to affirm that the Spirit was one with Father and Son against the Arians who continued to maintain earlier heretical beliefs that the Spirit was subordinate to Father and Son – teaching that the Spirit was the greatest of the angels. This controversy caused the Great Schism in the 11th century. The Council of Florence in 1438 explains: "The Holy Spirit is eternally from Father and Son; He has his nature and subsistence at once (simul) from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one ‘spiration’ … And, since the Father has through generation given to the only-begotten Son everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the Father, from whom he is eternally born, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son."

[6] The Greek term for holy (Ἁγίου) signifies being set apart. There are many kinds of spirits mentioned in the Bible, including heavenly spirits, evil spirits, and human spirits. But only the third person of the Trinity is called the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls the third person of the Trinity several names, including the “Spirit”, “Spirit of God”, “Spirit of Jesus”, “Spirit of Christ”, “Holy Spirit”, “Spirit of Adoption”, “gift” of God, and the “comforter”. (John 14:18-26, Acts 16:7, Gal 4:6, Rom. 8:9,15, Phil. 1:19, 1 Pet 1:11)

[7] Certain symbols are associated with the Holy Spirit in Scripture. At his baptism the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. (Matt. 3:16) The Spirit is also associated with wind, fire, and prophecy. (John 3:5-8, Acts 2:1-3)

[8] When God announced, through the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, that he was making a New Covenant with Israel, God promised to give his people a new heart and a new spirit by putting his Spirit within them. (Ezek. 36:26-27). “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezek 36:26-27). See also the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of God’s Spirit, including Isaiah’s “last days” (Isaiah 2:2) and Joel’s promise that the Lord will “pour out his Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28-32).

[9] When Ananias lied to the church about the price of a piece of property, Peter said that Satan had filled Ananias’s heart to “lie to the Holy Spirit” and concluded by saying that Ananias had “lied to God” (Acts 5:3-4). Peter referred to the Holy Spirit and God as one and the same.

[10] The words in italics were added to the Apostles’ Creed by the Nicene Creed. The statement “[I believe in] the resurrection of the “body” was changed to “We ‘look forward to’ the resurrection of the ‘dead.’”

[11] When God determined to save his people, he determined to create a new humanity. Paul teaches that God in Christ takes off our old man (our old humanity in Adam under the old age of sin, death, and judgment) from his people and puts on our new man (our new humanity in Christ with the blessings of righteousness, life, and salvation). Paul teaches this new humanity transcends all distinctions between humans (e.g. between Jew, Gentile, male, female, slave, free, etc.) without obliterating them. (Rom. 6:6, Eph. 2:15, 4:22-24, Col. 3:9-11) Because of Paul’s corporate use of these terms, we should be careful not to interpret them as individualistic terms that only refer to a believer’s “sinful nature” and “fallen human flesh”. (Rom. 7:18) Likewise, we must also be careful not to divorce the corporate nature of these terms from their individualistic application to our “sinful nature” e.g., the crucifixion of our “old man” refers to our definitive, corporate break with our past in Adam – that we are to “consider (reckon)” as true of us in order to be free from sin’s enslaving power in our lives. (Rom. 6) There is an “already” and “not yet” eschatological tension in these terms communicating that: 1) we’ve already been decisively and completely brought into this new humanity in Christ, but 2) we’re also continually striving to escape the old humanity in Adam until Jesus returns.

[12] Just as the Holy Spirit empowered Christ to be God’s True Israel on earth, the Holy Spirit is now creating and empowering Christ’s Church from all nations to be God’s New Israel on earth by uniting his Church to the True Israel – Jesus Christ. (Exod. 19:6, Gal. 6:16, James 1:1, 1 Pet 2:9)

[13] Theologians refer to believers who are alive today on earth as the “church militant” and those who have died but are alive with Christ in heaven as the “church triumphant”. In Hebrews, the writer refers to “the church (assembly) of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” (Heb. 12:23). “Communion of the saints” may also refer to believers’ communion in holy (set apart) means of grace like worship that includes the preaching of the Word, the sacraments, and prayer.

[14] The affirmation of “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins” does not mean that Christian water baptism saves us, but that it is the outward sign required by God that represents the inner reality of Holy Spirit baptism that alone can save us. Peter uses this same language at Pentecost. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). In 1 Peter 3:21, Peter writes, “Baptism … now saves you,” but then he clarifies that the saving power of Christian baptism is not in the outward sign, but in the inward reality. “Baptism … now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body (not water baptism), but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21). When Paul teaches that in one Spirit we are all baptized (by Christ) into his one body, he also presents water baptism and the gift of the Spirit as two complementary aspects of Christ’s one single act of incorporating and engrafting us into one vital union with himself by the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 6:1-3, 1 Cor. 12:13, Rom 11:17-24) In Scripture, water baptism and Spirit baptism are joined. So converts who’ve received Spirit baptism should always seek water baptism, and all those who’ve received water baptism (e.g. infants of believers) must always be converted to receive Spirit baptism.

[15] Peter’s message reflects God’s New Covenant promises to Israel to forgive them and give them new hearts by putting his Spirit in them. (Jer. 31:31-34, Ezek. 36:26-27, Joel 2:28-32)

[16] The New Testament refers to believers in Christ and their benefits in several ways, including: “new creation”, “new heart”, and “new birth.”

[17] See John Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied.

[18] Some of the biblical words and images include propitiation (temple shrine), justification (law court), regeneration (washing/birth), and redemption (battlefield/marketplace). See Leon Morris’ The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross and John Stott’s The Cross.

[19] The Apostle Paul uses this same word when he writes that Jesus is the one “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood” (Rom 3:25). The English word “propitiation” is from the Greek word ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion) that is translated “sacrifice of atonement.” Propitiation is a personal word. To propitiate a person is to placate, pacify, appease, conciliate, and satisfy a person.

[20] John Stott extolls the riches of God’s propitiation, “It is God himself who in holy wrath needs to be propitiated, God himself who in holy love undertook to do the propitiating, and God himself who in the person of his Son died for the propitiation of our sins. Thus God took his own loving initiative to appease his own righteous anger by bearing it his own self in his own Son when he took our place and died for us.” The Cross of Christ, 1986:175

[21] God treated Jesus like a sinner so he could treat us like Jesus. Paul also writes, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known . . . which comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. . . . ” (Rom 3:21-25), and “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified” (Gal. 2:16). See the broader contextual meaning of justification in Romans chapters 3-5.

[22] Justification must be understood as a legal declaration, not a moral transformation. Righteousness is imputed to believing sinners, not infused or imparted. Believing sinners are to put on the alien righteousness of Christ like a robe, which conceals their continuing sinfulness. Every justified Christian is simul justus et peccator – at one and the same time righteous and a sinner. The Father treated Jesus like a sinner so that he could treat us like Jesus.

Knowing the Son as Redeemer in His Exaltation (Faith in Theology Series 4 of 6)

Having examined the Son’s work of humiliation as our Redeemer in his birth, life, and death, we turn now to consider his work of exaltation in his resurrection, ascension, and return.

His Resurrection

When describing Jesus’ resurrection, the Creed says, The third day he rose again from the dead.[1] Luke writes:

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (Luke 24:1-3)

Jesus’ tomb was empty and no one could produce his body.[2] During the next forty days, the resurrected Jesus presented himself to the Apostles with “many proofs” as he was “speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3, Luke 24:25-27). Paul describes several of Jesus’ appearances, which were usually to groups from 2 to 500, including his appearance to Paul after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 9:1-9). Paul writes:

He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive … Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor. 15:5-8)[3]

At Pentecost, Peter proclaims the resurrection of Jesus as proof that Jesus is God’s promised Son of King David. (Psalm 16:8-11, Acts 2:14-32)[4] The Scriptures give us several perspectives on the meaning and significance of Jesus’ resurrection.[5] The resurrection:

• declares Jesus to be Lord and God’s Only Son (Acts 2:29-39, Acts 17:30-31, Rom. 1:4)

• proves Jesus’ atoning death is accepted by the Father (Rom. 4:24-25, Phil 2:8-9)

• declares Jesus as firstborn from the dead (Rom. 8:29, Col. 1:18)[6]

• reveals Jesus as the firstfruits inauguration of God’s kingdom on earth (1 Cor. 15:20-28)[7]

• demonstrates Jesus’ victory over Satan, sin, and death (Acts 2:24)

• guarantees us forgiveness and justification (1 Cor. 15:17, Rom. 4:25)

• provides us assurance that Jesus now lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25)

• brings us, by God’s Spirit, into resurrection life now (Rom. 6:3-5, Eph. 1:18-20, 1 Pet. 1:3)[8]

• guarantees our future deliverance from death (1 Corinthians 15:18)

• promises our future resurrection body and everlasting life (Rom. 8:23, 1 Cor. 15:20, 23, 49)

Paul teaches that the bodily resurrection of Jesus is central to our faith. He writes, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Cor. 15:7) Because Jesus is risen, God promises all who repent and believe in the resurrected Christ:

1) a new standing before God by forgiving their sins,

2) a new heart from God by giving them his indwelling Holy Spirit, and

3) a new world with God when Jesus returns to raise them from the dead and give them resurrected bodies like his through which they will reign with him on a new earth forever.

His Ascension

The Creed’s next affirmation about Jesus Christ is that: He ascended into heaven, [and] he is seated at the right hand of the Father. In Jesus’ last meeting with his disciples, forty days after his resurrection, he tells them that they will receive power to be his witnesses when his promised Holy Spirit comes upon them. (Acts 1:8) After Jesus tells them these things, Luke records:

As they (the disciples) were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?” (Acts 1:9-11)

The word heaven in Scripture has several meanings, including the sky with clouds, God’s presence (his dwelling place), and the state of angels and humans as they share God’s presence. In this account of Jesus’ ascension, heaven refers to both the sky and God’s invisible presence.

Heaven is glorious but it is not the ultimate destination of Jesus and his followers. The two men in white robes (presumed to be angels) at the scene after his ascension said, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11b). Heaven is a temporary, “intermediate state,” after the believer’s death, that awaits Jesus’ return and the final resurrection when we’ll have renewed bodies on a renewed earth forever.[9]

Early in his ministry Jesus said, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). As the eternal Son of God, Jesus’ divine nature always has all authority. But the Father did not give all authority to the person of Jesus Christ as the God-man (Greek: theanthropos) until after his resurrection. Before Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, the resurrected God-man told them: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18).

In his ascension, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father to complete the Father’s mission as his Redeemer-King to redeem and restore fallen humanity and creation.[10] In his divine nature as the eternal Son of God, he always rules sovereignly over all things along with the Father and the Spirit. But now Jesus rules as the ascended God-man at the right hand of God the Father.

Jesus’ rule at the Father’s right hand reflects the model of kings and emperors in the ancient world where lesser kings would rule as vassals over various portions of a great kingdom, always rendering service and paying tribute to the one great high king. Therefore, at the end of time, when all things have been placed under his feet, Jesus will then subject himself and all things to the Father. (1 Cor. 15:28)

In Acts 2:33-36, Peter proclaims the good news of Jesus’ ascension to God’s right hand by reminding his hearers about Psalm 110 in which David’s promised Son (Jesus) is also David’s Lord who is now seated and ruling at the great high King’s right hand.[11]

When Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father in Heaven, he and the Father poured out his promised Holy Spirit on his Church, to make God’s invisible kingdom visible on earth, not only in human hearts, but also in every sphere of life until it reflects the order of heaven. The outpouring of God’s Spirit is both for our personal salvation and for the empowerment of his Church to fulfill God’s mission on earth.[12]

Peter explains that the miraculous outpouring of God’s Spirit which they all experienced at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) was evidence that the resurrected, ascended Jesus is now seated (enthroned) and ruling at God’s right hand, by his Holy Spirit, to bring all God’s enemies under his feet.[13]

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. (Acts 2:33)

Paul’s explanation of the gospel extends beyond Jesus’ death and resurrection in the past (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) to include Jesus’ present and future rule as the ascended King over all things by the Spirit. (1 Cor. 15:25-28) Jesus will continue his rule until he completes the mission that God the Father gave him to make all things new.

The good news is not only what Jesus did, but also who Jesus is because of what he did. Because of Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension, he is now reigning at the right hand of God as Lord and Savior of the world. In the New Testament this fundamental affirmation is that “Jesus is Lord!” (Rom. 10:9, Phil. 2:9-11)

His Return

The final section on Jesus’ exaltation in the Creed says, “He will come to judge the living and the dead.” The Nicene Creed later adds the biblical truths: “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.”[14]

For forty days after his resurrection, Jesus continued “speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). So just before his ascension, his disciples asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). It was not yet the time for Jesus to restore the fullness of God’s kingdom on earth, so he answered them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7).[15]

Jesus followers soon learned that they were living in a period between his ascension and return to restore the fullness of God’s kingdom on earth forever. During this interim period, Jesus told them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Earlier Jesus taught them, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).

As the enthroned Lord and Christ, Jesus is now continuing his Father’s mission of bringing God’s kingdom to earth by the power of his Holy Spirit and through his Church. Jesus will continue his rule until he completes the mission that God the Father gave him at the end of time. Paul writes:

Then comes the end, when he (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Cor. 15:24-26)

At the Father’s appointed time, when the work of his church is done, Jesus will return with glory to restore the Father’s kingdom on earth in all its fullness and his kingdom will never end. Paul describes this glory: “[W]hen the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:7-8).[16]

God’s final judgment will include both “the living and the dead,” meaning everyone who is alive on earth when Jesus returns, and everyone in all of history who has died. Prior to God’s final judgment, the Scriptures teach there will be a bodily resurrection of everyone. (1 Cor. 15:50-52)[17]

Then comes God’s final judgment when all people, believers and unbelievers, will stand before Jesus Christ as their Judge. To his followers Jesus will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). But to the unbelievers Jesus will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).[18]

Martin Luther beautifully summarizes the meaning of our belief in God the Son’s humiliation and exaltation as our Redeemer in these five statements:

• I believe that Jesus Christ---true God, Son of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary---is my Lord.

• At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person.

• He has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil---not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.

• All this he has done that I may be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally.

• This is most certainly true.[19]

Footnotes:

[1] In the first century, the term “third day” does not refer to three 24-hour days, but to three subsequent days, i.e. Jesus was crucified on Friday, remained dead on Saturday (the Jewish sabbath), and was raised from the dead on Sunday morning (the first day of the week that became the Christian Sabbath).

[2] Even though Jesus spoke about his resurrection often (Matt. 17:22; 26:61; Mark 8:31; 14:58; Luke 9:22; John 2:19), his followers were surprised by it.

[3] In 1 Corinthians 15:4, Paul adds to his phrase “he was raised on the third day” the phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures referring to God’s promises in the Old Testament Scriptures to send Israel a Ruler in the line of King David who would deliver his people from their captivity to Satan, sin, and death. The Nicene Creed also adds Paul’s phrase: “The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.”

[4] In Acts 2:14-32, Peter proclaims the good news of Jesus’ resurrection by reminding his hearers about the Old Testament Scriptures (Psalm 16:8-11), in which David spoke in the first person as one whom God would not allow to stay dead and decay: “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.” Peter reminds them that David died and his tomb was with them as proof of his death. He explains that David was speaking as a prophet in the first person in Psalm 16 about the Christ whom God swore to David would be one of his descendants, who would rule on God’s throne to bring God’s kingdom to earth forever. (2 Sam. 7:11-16, Ps. 78:60-72) Jesus of Nazareth, the man who performed many miracles in their midst, the man whom they killed, is God’s promised King in the line of David whom God did not allow to stay dead and decay. Peter proclaims “This Jesus God raised up.” (Acts 2:32a) Then, to bolster the physical reality of his claim, Peter refers to Jesus’ many post-resurrection appearances to his disciples, many of whom were with Peter as he was preaching. Peter proclaims, “We all are witnesses.” (Acts 2:32b)

[5] Since the Bible presents Jesus’ death and resurrection as his unified saving work (Rom. 4:24-25), we must understand the blessings of his resurrection as always integrally linked to the blessings of his saving death and vice versa.

[6] Paul describes the resurrected Christ as the “firstborn from the dead” (Rom 8:29) referring to all those who will follow Jesus by their resurrection in the new age to come and rule with him in all areas of life forever.

[7] The good news of Jesus’ resurrection reveals the inauguration of God’s kingdom coming on earth in a new way. Paul writes, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). The firstfruits are offered at the beginning of the harvest as a sign that there is much more to come later. Paul presents the resurrected Jesus as having gone ahead of us who will follow him later when Jesus returns. We now live in between Jesus’ resurrection and our future resurrection. Until our resurrection, we are called by God to “his resurrection project” of bringing his sovereign and saving rule as Lord to bear on all things.

[8] Through our union with Christ we experience the benefits of his death and resurrection. Paul writes, “We were ... buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” (Romans 6:4-5).

[9] In the New Testament, death is a temporary separation of the soul from the body. The physical body deteriorates, while the believer’s soul is in conscious fellowship and bliss in God’s presence awaiting the return of Christ and the resurrection when the soul will be reunited with the resurrected body. (Luke 23:43, Rom. 8:18-23, 2 Cor. 5:3-8, Phil. 1:23-24, 1 Thess. 4:14-17)

[10] Following the example of the ancient world in which kings also served as priests (Melchizedek in Gen. 14), the Bible refers to Jesus’ seat at the right hand of the Father as being both our King (Acts 2:30-36, Ephesians 1:18-23, Hebrews 1:3-9, 1 Peter 3:21-22) and our Priest who intercedes for us. (Rom. 8:34 and Heb. 7:25, 8:1) In Hebrews 7:25 we read, “Therefore he [the ascended Christ] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” At the Last Supper, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32).

 [11] At Pentecost, Peter proclaims that David was not raised from the dead, but David’s promised Son, Jesus, was raised from the dead in fulfillment of God’s promise in Psalm 16. Then Peter proclaims that David did not ascend to the right hand of God (For David did not ascend into the heavens), but David’s Son, Jesus, did ascend to God’s right hand in fulfillment of God’s promise in Psalm 110. Using Psalm 110, Peter proclaims that David’s promised Son was also David’s Lord. Peter quotes David’s words, “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ In this verse, the Hebrew word for the first LORD is Yahweh (יהוה) referring to God’s personal name he first revealed to Moses in Exodus 3. The Hebrew word for the second Lord is Adonai ( אדני) referring to the title, Lord (i.e. Christ). Therefore, David is saying: “‘The LORD (Yahweh) said to my Lord (Adonai i.e. Christ), “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool”’ (Ps. 110:1). 

[12] The Father and the Son graciously sent the Spirit to apply the riches of Christ’s redemptive work to all things lost in the Fall in order to redeem and restore them to God’s original design. The Holy Spirit’s transforming presence will one day fully restore fallen humanity and creation, freeing them from all the effects of sin at the coming of the new heaven and new earth. In the meantime, God has given Jesus authority, through his Spirit, to form a new corporate humanity, the Church, to embody and bear witness to God’s kingdom on earth in word and deed. We’ll study the person and work of the Holy Spirit in greater detail in the next section.

[13] We address the subject of tongues and prophecy in the book and course on “Revelation in Theology” in this series. A balanced approach can be found in J. I. Packer’s Keep in Step with the Spirit (Revised, Enlarged edition). Baker Books. (2005)

[14] We’ll examine in more depth the biblical concept of God’s coming kingdom in “the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” in the Creed’s next section on the Holy Spirit.

[15] Then he tells them, “’But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.’” (Acts 1:8-9)

[16] Jesus first came as God’s humble, suffering servant, but at his second coming, he will come as God’s righteous Judge. Paul writes, “He [God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

[17] We’ll study the biblical teaching on the end times and the final resurrection (I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting) in more depth in the next section of the Creed on the Holy Spirit as Restorer.

[18] Martin Luther writes, “And all this, in order to become my Lord; for He did none of these for Himself, nor had He any need of it. And after that He rose again from the dead, swallowed up and devoured death, and finally ascended into heaven and assumed the government at the Father's right hand, so that the devil and all powers must be subject to Him and lie at His feet, until finally, at the last day, He will completely part and separate us from the wicked world, the devil, death, sin, etc.”  The Large Catechism – Book of Concord, Article II, section 31.

[19] Martin Luther’s Small Catechism: The Creed, The Second Article.

Knowing the Son in His Humiliation (Faith in Theology Series 3 of 6)

To know God means to know who God is and what God does as Triune Lord – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the last chapter our focus was on knowing God the Father as Lord in his work of creation. In this chapter our focus is on knowing God the Son as Lord in his work of redemption.[1] The second and largest section of the Creed presents the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,

       who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

       suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;

       he descended to the dead,[2] On the third day he rose again;

       he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

       and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

The Person of the Son

A Christian is someone who repents of their sin and believes in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. This requires understanding the meaning of the names and titles: Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, and our Lord.[3]

Jesus Christ

Jesus is the proper name of an historic person who lived in the early first century in Jewish Palestine when it was part of the Roman Empire. The four Gospels tell us his parents were Joseph and Mary from Nazareth in Galilee where he worked as a carpenter. He was a rural rabbi for three years before being put to death by Roman authorities around AD 33.

Jesus’ Greek name Iesous (Ἰησοῦς) is derived from the Hebrew name Yeshua (ישע‎), meaning “to deliver; to rescue; to save.” Before his birth, an angel told Jesus’ parents to name him Jesus because “he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21).

Christ is not Jesus’ family surname. It is a title taken from the ancient Jewish Scriptures that refers to God’s promised Anointed One, the Messiah, the one through whom God promised to deliver his people, Israel.[4] Christ is from the Greek Χριστός (Christos) meaning Anointed One, a Greek translation of the Hebrew title Messiah mashiah (מָשִׁיחַ).[5]

Through the Old Testament prophets, God made a New Covenant with Israel in which he promised that he would forgive them, give them new hearts by his Spirit, and establish his universal kingdom on earth through his Messiah, the Christ.[6]

God’s Only Son

Jesus, who is the Christ, the Messiah, is also described in the Bible as God’s only Son. Throughout the Old Testament, the term “son of God” refers to people who have a special relationship with God, including the first human, Adam (Luke 3:38), the nation of Israel (called God’s “firstborn son” (Ex. 4:22, Hos. 11:1)), and the kings of Israel.[7]

But when the New Testament refers to Jesus as the “Son of God,” it’s referring to a unique sonship that is only shared by the one eternal second person of the Trinity. When the Creed calls Jesus God’s only Son, it’s echoing Scriptures like “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).[8] Jesus’ title as God’s only Son affirms his deity and equality with God the Father – that he is as truly and fully God as the Father is God.

The Scriptures present Jesus as the eternal, preexistent Son of the Father who shares the same essence and being as the Father.[9] This means that the Son and the Father are One God. Paul teaches that Jesus was God’s Son before his incarnation in the first century (Rom. 1:3-4, 8:3). He is the eternal Son through whom God created all things (Heb. 1:2, John 1:1-3).

The Bible teaches that God’s only Son, the second person of the Trinity with a fully divine nature, took on a human nature in his incarnation and now has both natures. As the God-man, Jesus Christ will have both natures for eternity.

Therefore, he is one person who possesses two natures: a divine nature and a human nature. Each nature is inseparably united in his one person, but each nature also keeps its unique properties so his divine and human natures are never fused or blended in any way.[10]

According to his eternal, divine nature, Jesus Christ is always all-knowing, all-powerful, and always present everywhere – like the Father and the Spirit. However, according to his human nature, he also experiences the fullness of his humanity, including not knowing everything and experiencing weakness and temptation. (Luke 2:52, Mark 12:32, Heb. 2:17-18, 4:14-16)

The Nicene Creed was written in response to many theological controversies regarding how best to understand this mysterious biblical teaching that Jesus Christ is both divine and human.[11] Heresies emerged contending that if Jesus Christ is fully God, he cannot also be fully human. And if Jesus Christ is fully human, he cannot also be fully God.[12] To help clarify a biblical view of Jesus divine and human nature, the Nicene Creed includes these carefully chosen words:

And [we believe] in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,

begotten from the Father before all ages,

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,

begotten, not made;[13] of the same essence as the Father.

Through him all things were made.

After centuries of doctrinal controversy regarding the biblical teaching on Jesus’ person and natures, in 451 AD, the historic ecumenical Council of Chalcedon issued the Chalcedonian Definition stating that Jesus is "perfect both in deity and in humanness; this selfsame one is also actually God and actually man.”[14]

Our Lord

Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, is also given the title Lord in Scripture.[15] Lord is the personal, covenant name of God that tells us that God speaks with supreme authority, he is in sovereign control of all things, and his transforming love and presence is always with us as his covenant people. Perhaps the most fundamental affirmation of Christian belief in the New Testament is the statement “Jesus is Lord.” (Rom. 10:9, 1 Cor. 12:3)[16]

Similar to his title as God’s only Son, his title Lord is another strong affirmation of Jesus’ deity. The good news Peter proclaims at Pentecost is that because of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, God made him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).[17]

The Humiliation of the Son

The first phrase, I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, describes who Jesus Christ is, his person. The remaining affirmation describes his work, what Jesus Christ did for us and for our salvation.

And I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,

       who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

       suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;

       he descended to the dead, On the third day he rose again;

       he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

       and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

The work of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord can be described as his humiliation and his exaltation. His humiliation includes his birth, life, and death. His exaltation includes his resurrection, ascension, and coming return.

His Birth

The next phrase in the Creed describes the Son of God’s first act of humiliation: “who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” [18] In the first century, the eternal Son of God entered this world in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and by an act of supernatural power called the virgin birth. (Isa. 7:14)[19]

Something miraculous happened in the first century. The eternal Son of God entered the world he created and took on the fullness of humanity by assuming both a human body and a human soul.[20] Now the resurrected and ascended Christ is at the right hand of God the Father as the God-man with two natures and one body forever.

His virgin birth confirms that Jesus, though not less than human, was more than human – he was also divine. It also affirms that Jesus, as God’s only Son, did not inherit the original sin of Adam, so he was completely free from all sin.[21]

His Life

So far in the Apostles’ Creed, there has been no mention of original sin or the Fall of man that resulted in a corrupt humanity and world that is ruled by Satan and hostile to God. (John 12:31, 14:30, 2 Cor. 4:4, 1 Jn. 5:19) But now we read the words: He suffered under Pontius Pilate.[22]

Under Roman occupation, the Jewish authorities could not execute Jesus. So after they condemned him for confessing that he was the Christ, God’s anointed Savior-King, they passed him on to their governor, Pilate, to carry out his execution.

Although the apex of Jesus’ suffering was when he was put to death on a cross under Pontius Pilate, the Scriptures teach that Jesus suffered for us throughout his whole life

Paul presents Jesus as the second man and the last Adam. (1 Cor 15: 45-47) When the first man, Adam, was tempted in the garden, he failed to obey God, resulting in eternal death for humanity. (Rom. 5:12-14) But when the second man, Jesus, was similarly tempted throughout his life (see especially Matt. 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13) he perfectly obeyed God resulting in eternal life for humanity. (Rom 5:18-19)

Jesus did battle with every spiritual enemy that defeated us and held us captive. He faced every kind of temptation known to humanity from the world, the flesh, and the devil. But unlike us he never sinned, so that through his suffering to obey, he could earn a perfect righteousness for us before God, completely obeying all of God’s commands in thought, word, and deed.[23]

His Death

When describing Jesus’ death, the Creed says, He was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.[24] This affirmation echoes Paul’s teaching that seems to be a standard summary of the good news in the first century: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [and] that he was buried” (1 Cor. 15:3-4a).

Paul includes the death and resurrection of Christ as being “of first importance” in understanding the heart of the Christian gospel. Jesus’ crucifixion was the means of his death and Jesus’ burial was its proof. The central message regarding Jesus death is that it is “for our sins,” meaning that Jesus died as our substitute, in our place.[25]

Paul adds to his phrase “Christ died for our sins” the phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures” referring to God’s promises revealed to Israel in the Old Testament Scriptures to rescue his people and the world after Adam and Eve sinned. Through the prophet, Isaiah, God promised a Suffering Servant who would rescue his people. (Isaiah 53:6-11)

As God’s promised Suffering Servant, Jesus willingly offered himself up to God for us as not only our substitute in his life, but also in his death. (Acts 2:22-23, Rom. 5:9, Gal. 3:13, Phil 2:8, Heb. 9:11-12) When Jesus died on the cross, he did not simply experience the pain of physical suffering and death. He also suffered God’s curse for us, the full wrath and punishment of God that we deserve because of our sin. (2 Cor. 5:21

The Scriptures also present Jesus as our Victor through his death for us on the cross.[26] Soon after the Fall of humanity into sin, God promised that he would send the “seed of the woman” (Christ) to deliver a fatal blow to Satan and his rule over humanity and the world. (Gen. 3:15) Through his death on the cross, Jesus crushed Satan under his feet accomplishing for us a great victory over all the powers that held us in bondage: Satan, sin, and death.[27] (Matt. 4, Luke 10:19, Rom. 16:20, 1 Cor. 15:51-56, Eph. 6:10-17, 2 Cor. 2:14, Col. 2:11-15, 1 John 2:13-14)

 
Footnotes:

[1] In the next chapter our focus will be on knowing God the Spirit as Lord in his work as Restorer.

[2] This phrase is often translated, “he descended into hell.” We’ll explore the meaning of these affirmations in our study of Jesus’ death later in this chapter.

[3] Martin Luther writes, “Let this, then, be the sum of this article that the little word Lord signifies simply as much as Redeemer, i.e., He who has brought us from Satan to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same. But all the points which follow in order in this article serve no other end than to explain and express this redemption, how and whereby it was accomplished, that is, how much it cost Him, and what He spent and risked that He might win us and bring us under His dominion, namely, that He became man, conceived and born without [any stain of] sin, of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, that He might overcome sin; moreover, that He suffered, died and was buried, that He might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe, not with silver nor gold, but with His own precious blood.” The Large Catechism – The Book of Concord, Article II, section 31.

[4] The Ebionites were an early Jewish Christian sect that believed Jesus was chosen by God to be the Messiah but denied his divinity, pre-existence, virgin birth, and substitutionary atonement.

[5] The title Christ as the Anointed One may also refer to the claim that Jesus fulfilled three ministries for which men were anointed in the Old Testament: 1) prophet, 2) priest, and 3) king.

[6] The New Covenant is the culmination of the Covenant of Grace, through which God pledges to keep all his previous covenant promises (Jer. 31:31-34, Ezek. 36:24-28, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:38-39), including the forgiveness of sin, a new heart, and a new world, through the Christ of the covenants.

[7] The Old Testament concept of “sonship” is connected to King David’s reign. God’s promised Messiah would be both a new king of Israel and a new David, thus he would be the Son of God. But the New Testament traces this theme back even further, earlier than David. The New Testament presents Jesus as the True Israel (Hos. 11:1, Matt. 2:13-15) Israel was the name God gave to Jacob, one of the sons of Abraham. And Paul teaches that Jesus is the second man and the last Adam. (1 Cor. 15: 45-47) This traces Jesus’ sonship back to creation: Jesus is son of God also because he is a son of Adam, the first man (Luke 3:37).

[8] Mark begins his gospel, writing, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). At Jesus’ baptism, and later at his transfiguration, God the Father spoke from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:16-17, 17:5).

[9] The Nicene Creed affirms the biblical teaching that Christ’s person is of the same essence as the Father’s and the Spirit’s. The Greek word homoousion (ὁμοούσιον) translated of the same essence means of the same being or status. It describes the equal ontological status (consubstantiality) of the three persons of the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[10] Theologians use the term hypostatic union (from the Greek: ὑπόστασις hypóstasis, "substance") to describe the inseparable union of Christ’s deity and humanity as one individual existence or one person. Christ’s hypostasis (person) exists in two natures (divine and human) and is not the same as the Father’s hypostasis (person) or the Spirit’s hypostasis (person). Christ’s hypostasis (person), with his two natures, is of the same essence and being (homoousion) as the Father’s hypostasis (person) and the Spirit’s hypostasis (person).

[11] Some of the more prominent heresies included: 1) Modalism (Sabellianism) taught that Jesus was not a distinct person, but one of three modes or manifestations of the one (monadic) God. 2) Arianism (A type of Subordinationism) denied the eternal, pre-existence of Jesus and taught that God the Father created (begat, birthed) him at a certain time before he created the world. Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are modern-day Arians. 3) Adoptionism (Dynamic Monarchianism) denied the pre-existence of Jesus and taught that he was born an ordinary human and was endowed with supernatural powers (adopted) as the Son of God at his baptism, his resurrection, or his ascension –so Jesus is divine but not equal with the Father. 4) Apollinarism defended Jesus deity against Arianism, but went too far by denying the existence of Jesus Christ’s fully human (rational) soul in his human nature. Apollinarianism was condemned as heresy by the second ecumenical council, the Council of Constantinople (381 AD).

[12] The Monophysites taught the heresy that Jesus has only one divine nature, denying his full humanity. The Nestorians taught the heresy of Dyophysitism, which affirmed that Jesus has two natures, but denied the full hypostatic union of his two natures, thereby denying his full deity. Nestorianism was condemned as heresy by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD (the third ecumenical council) when the council reaffirmed the Nicene Creed.

[13] It is difficult to describe accurately and biblically the unique, mysterious nature of the eternal relationship of the Son to the Father, and the meaning of the historic creedal affirmation that Jesus Christ is “begotten not made.” Some translations of John 3:16 read, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (NAS). Other New Testament translations read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his “only Son” (ESV) and his “one and only Son” (NIV). The debate is about the biblical meaning of the Greek word monogenēs (μονογενής) to describe Jesus. Some of those who believe the Greek word means “only begotten” argue from Scripture for the doctrine of “eternal generation,” that teaches that the Father eternally communicates the divine essence to the Son without division or change so that the Son shares all the attributes of deity with the Father, yet is also eternally distinct from the Father. Those who believe the Greek word monogenēs (μονογενής) simply means “only” or “one and only” as a description of Jesus Christ’s unique Sonship, sometimes argue against the doctrine of “eternal generation.”

[14] From the 5th century to today, all branches of Christianity have affirmed this historic definition as the biblical view of Christ’s person and natures. This carefully-worded statement repudiates the notion of a single nature in Christ, and affirms that he has two complete natures, Godhead and manhood, in one individual existence or one person.

[15] Like the title, Son of God, the title Lord has several meanings in the Bible, often referring to human rulers and authorities. But the Bible’s main teaching about God is that God is Lord.

[16] Paul alludes to Isaiah 45:23 and paraphrases it this way: “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11).

[17] Martin Luther writes, “If now you are asked, What do you believe in the Second Article of Jesus Christ? answer briefly: I believe that Jesus Christ, true Son of God, has become my Lord. But what is it to become Lord? It is this, that He has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and all evil. For before I had no Lord nor King, but was captive under the power of the devil, condemned to death, enmeshed in sin and blindness.” The Large Catechism – Book of Concord, Article II, section 27.

[18] The Nicene Creed adds these phrases to the Apostles’ Creed: “For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made human.” Some of these amplified statements in the Nicene Creed were probably added in response to other heresies like Docetism, important in Gnosticism, that taught Christ’s physical body was not truly human but just looked human (phantasm) like a ghost or an angel without true physical form.

[19] Belief in Jesus’ virgin birth is a necessary affirmation in orthodox Christian doctrine because it is integrally linked to the Scriptural revelation of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Carl F. H. Henry argues that the virgin birth is the “essential, historical indication of the incarnation, bearing not only an analogy to the divine and human natures of the Incarnate, but also bringing out the nature, purpose, and bearing of this work of God to salvation.” (Our Lord’s Virgin Birth,” Christianity Today, December 7, 1959, p. 20) The virgin birth is an analogy of salvation, indicating that salvation comes entirely by God’s grace, not by human decision and effort. Therefore, the affirmation of Jesus’ virgin birth is a necessary part of affirming Jesus’ incarnation, divinity, and the gospel.

[20] Westminster Shorter Catechism 22: “Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.”

[21] Even though the Scriptures reveal several clear truths about Jesus’ virgin birth, similar to the doctrine of the Trinity, there is still a degree of mystery that finite believers must embrace when seeking to understand the infinite Creator. When Mary asked the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:20), the angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called ‘holy’—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). God does not reveal any more details regarding exactly how Jesus’ conception was able to by-pass Mary’s sinful human nature so that his human nature remained freed from all sin. The Scriptures just tell us that the Holy Spirit “overshadowed” Mary in such a way that she became the bearer of the perfectly Holy One of God (Gal. 4:4); and her child, Jesus Christ, was without sin.

[22] One criticism of the Apostles’ Creed is that it contains no account of the life and ministry of Jesus, except to say that he suffered under Pontius Pilate. Among the earliest Christians it was customary to summarize Jesus’ life and ministry in the word: “suffering.” (Luke 24:26, Acts 17:3, Heb. 2:18, 1 Pet. 4:1) The Latin word in the Creed translated suffered is passus, from which the word “passion” is derived as a description of Christ’s suffering for our salvation.

[23] The New Testament emphasizes Jesus’ sinless life in all his behaviors, attitudes, desires, and motives. (John 8:29, 46; Romans 5:18ff.; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22-24) Jesus saves us by both his life and death. He lived the life we should have lived so that he could die the sinner’s death we deserve to die as our substitute, meeting all of God’s just demands for perfect righteousness. Before the cross, Jesus suffered for us as the Second Adam by resisting all the temptations to sin that defeated Adam and us, and by obeying God perfectly. Therefore, Jesus was the perfect, sinless lamb of God, who alone could pay the penalty for our sin and in our place. Jonathan Edwards writes “Every act of Christ’s obedience is propitious,” – not just the act of his death on the cross.

[24] The phrase “He descended to the dead,” also translated “He descended into hell,” refers to the realm of the dead where Jesus was after his death and before his resurrection. The English word hell is derived from Old English hel, helle in reference to a nether world of the dead. The Old Testament word for the realm of the dead is the Hebrew term Sheol ( שְׁאוֹל), and the New Testament word is the Greek term hades (ᾍδης). Both words refer to the realm of the dead who are waiting for the final resurrection and judgment day when Jesus returns. Another New Testament Greek word Gehenna (Γέεννα) refers to a cursed place of torment, often called hell. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus teaches about two men who were in hades; a rich man who is in torment and Lazarus, also in hades, who is in a place of great blessing and honor called Abraham’s bosom. Therefore, the realm of the dead (hades) includes a place of torment (Gehenna) and a place of blessing (heaven). The Bible does not teach that Jesus went to Gehenna, hell, but to hades, the realm of the dead, just another way of saying, “Jesus truly died.” The Nicene Creed deleted this phrase as an unnecessary redundancy, since the creed already states that Jesus was “crucified, dead, and buried.”

[25] To make the biblical teaching on Jesus substitutionary death more clear, the Nicene Creed adds the words “for us” to the Apostles’ Creed’s statement “he was crucified.” it reads “He was crucified for us.”

[26] The Christ the Victor (Christus Victor) theory of the atonement seems to have been dominant during the Patristic Period of the Church Fathers (e.g. Irenaeus). Later, Anselm of Canterbury (1033 – 1109) clarified the biblical satisfaction theory of atonement, also called the penal substitutionary atonement.

[27] Martin Luther writes that he had been “captive under the power of the devil. I was condemned to death and entangled in sin and blindness … the devil came and led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all misfortune. As a result, we lay under God’s wrath and displeasure, sentenced to eternal damnation, as we had merited it and deserved it. There were no resources, no help, no comfort for us until this only and eternal Son of God, in his unfathomable goodness, had mercy on us because of our misery and distress and came from heaven to help us. Those tyrants and jailers have now been routed, and their place has been taken by Jesus Christ, the Lord of life, righteousness, and every good thing and every blessing. He has snatched us, poor lost creatures, from the jaws of hell, won us, made us free, and restored us to the Father’s favor and grace. As his own possession he has taken us under his protection and shelter, in order that he may rule us by his righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and blessedness.” (Book of Concord, 434–435).

Knowing the Father as Creator (Faith in Theology Series 2 of 6)

To know God means to know who God is and what God does as Triune Lord – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This requires us to know God’s attributes and acts. In this chapter our focus is on knowing God the Father as Lord of Creation.[1] The Apostles’ Creed is divided into three major sections representing the person and work of the three members of the Trinity.[2] The first affirmation is the most brief:

I believe in God,

the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.[3]

 To understand God the Father, requires understanding God the Son and God the Spirit and the Father’s relationship with them. This is why the creeds and confessions written after the Apostles’ Creed amplified the Apostles’ Creed’s three major affirmations about the Trinity to show the oneness of God and the equality of the one Triune God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.[4]

For example, the Nicene Creed (381 AD) amplifies the Apostles’ Creed’s three major affirmations about the Trinity by presenting the equality of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as one God and one Lord[5]:

We believe in one God,      

the Father Almighty …

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God…

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life …

The Nicene Creed also amplifies the first affirmation of the Apostles’ Creed by adding that the Father’s creation of heaven and earth includes all things visible and invisible.[6] To help us better understand and apply this first affirmation, we’ll examine three biblical truths: 1) the Father’s name, 2) the Father’s nature, and 3) the Father’s work as Almighty Creator.

The Father’s Name

The Bible presents the unfolding mission of the Triune God as Creator, Redeemer, and Restorer of all things lost in humanity and creation because of the Fall. The Triune God’s mission is presented as accomplishing the Father’s will.[7] The Scriptures tell the story of the Triune God’s accomplishment of the Father’s will like this:

•  God the Father establishes his good and perfect will by creating all things

• God the Son accomplishes the Father’s will by redeeming all things lost in the Fall

• God the Spirit applies the Father’s will by restoring all things lost in the Fall[8]

It is the Father, not the Son or Spirit, whose knowledge establishes God’s plan for the world and authorizes the tasks that the Son and the Spirit will carry out in his plan.[9] By the supreme authority of his word, God the Father, as Lord of creation, establishes his plan and will for everything he creates, visible and invisible.[10]

Most of the Old Testament references to God’s fatherhood refer to the entire Trinity, and not just the person of the Father (Deut. 32:6, Isaiah 63:16, 64:8, Acts 17:24-29). There are hints of the doctrine of the Trinity in the Old Testament, such as in the creation account: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’” (Gen. 1:26a), but the doctrine of the Trinity is not clearly revealed until the New Testament.

In the New Testament, the name “Father” becomes the regular name for the first person of the Trinity, the person who sent Jesus into the world. Jesus adds the personal name, Father, to God’s previously revealed personal name – LORD (Yahweh).[11] The Apostles use “Father” in reference to a person of the Trinity that is distinct from the Son and the Holy Spirit. (John 1:14, 18; John 5:17-26; John 14:16-17, Galatians 4:6; 2 Peter 1:17, 2 John 9)

The name Father also reveals God’s inner life to us as Triune God. Within the eternal Trinity is a family relationship between the Father and the Son. On earth God the Son called the person he came to love, serve and honor, “my Father.” (John 14:31) Jesus said, “He (the Father) who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (John 8:29).[12]

The Scriptures teach that the Father loves and honors the Son by entrusting him to accomplish his will to redeem and restore fallen humanity and creation (John 5:20-30; 10:17ff.; 17:23-26).[13]

The biblical analogy of Father conveys the astonishing kind of love that God has for all who are in Christ by faith – the same love the Father has for eternity for his one and only Son. The Apostle John writes, “To all who did receive him (Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Through faith in Christ, we’re adopted into the life of God’s family. God the Father becomes our Father, and God the Son, becomes our brother.[14]

As followers of Christ, we belong to God’s family. Knowing God as our Father includes seeing God as our creator, sustainer,  authority, protector, and our tender, loving caregiver. J.I. Packer, writes:

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.[15]

We who were once enemies and strangers to God are now in the high position of being his own beloved children. To be right with God the Judge is wonderful, but to be adopted, loved and cared for by God the Father is even greater. 

The Father’s Nature – Almighty

God the Father is described in the creed as Almighty, meaning that he has all power. God’s almighty power is referred to as his omnipotence, from the root omni, meaning all, and the word potency, meaning power. The Bible teaches that God’s power is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.

He has unlimited strength and ability to accomplish whatever he chooses. The Father’s almighty power is being constantly exerted over every area of the universe, holding everything together, from the smallest atom to the largest planet and bringing about every event.

The term Almighty points to the biblical concept that God the Father is Lord, the sovereign King, the all-powerful one who reigns over all things visible and invisible.[16]

This is the good news that the Almighty King, who sovereignly creates and rules over all things, is also our Heavenly Father. Therefore, when we experience suffering, we trust in our Almighty King who loves us like a Father and promises always to protect us and provide for us.

To help his followers know and trust in God as their Almighty Father just as he did, Jesus instructed them to pray to “Our Father in heaven.” Throughout Scripture, the image of heaven is God’s throne room where he sits and rules as king. So Jesus means for us to pray to God as our Royal Father who is also our Divine King, enthroned in heaven sovereignly ruling over all things.

In his Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus teaches his followers about the life and values of all who trust in God as their Father in heaven, he refers to God as Father seventeen times.[17]

The Father’s Work – Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth

Since the second century, Christian creeds and confessions include the affirmation of belief in "God the Father Almighty" in his capacity as “creator of heaven and earth."[18] The Apostles’ Creed states:

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
      Creator of heaven and earth.

The Scriptures teach that God created the world out of nothing, and then he rested. But God’s work in creation did not stop at the beginning. Instead, as soon as God rested from his original work of creation, he immediately continued his work by sustaining and ruling over everything he had created. This is called God’s providence. (Prov 15:3, Ps 104:24)

When the Father created the world, he designed the way it’s supposed to operate. So God’s creation includes not only the natural laws which govern the physical and biological world, but also a creative order of laws and norms for the way things are supposed to be.[19] The Father sustains and rules over all creation not only directly as Almighty King, but also indirectly through his image bearers, as they cultivate and develop his creation on the earth.

God’s plan was for Adam and Eve to keep developing his creation by multiplying and subduing it according to God’s creative order.[20] As Adam and Eve learned how to apply these laws in all their spheres of life, God’s plan was to establish his kingdom on earth through their application of them, developing the whole domain of human relationships and societal organizations for his glory.[21]

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were cursed – along with all creation. But God did not abandon his mission to establish his kingdom on earth. Nothing could thwart God's original plan to make his kingdom come and will be done on earth through his image bearers.[22]

When we affirm our belief in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, we’re not only affirming our belief that the Father created all things in the beginning by his power. We’re also affirming our belief that, by that same power, the Father is now sustaining and ruling over all things in his creation to accomplish his original mission to establish his kingdom on earth.[23]

The Father’s supreme authority extends to all creation – every person, sphere, and detail of life. There is no created thing or person that is not under his authority.[24] Because God created everything for his purposes, no aspect of creation, visible or invisible, can be morally neutral.

So, everything either functions as God intends it to, and is therefore good, or functions apart from God’s intention, and is evil. This means that the Father’s supreme authority, now revealed in the Scriptures, includes his authority over not only religious or “sacred” matters, but also over “secular” matters like politics, education, and work.

Conclusion

Martin Luther beautifully summarizes the meaning of our belief in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth in these seven statements:

• I believe that God has created me and all that exists.

• He has given me and still preserves my body and soul with all their powers.

• He provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day.

• God also protects me in time of danger and guards me from every evil.

• All this he does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though I do not deserve it.

• Therefore I surely ought to thank and praise, serve and obey him.

• This is most certainly true.[25]

Footnotes:

[1] In subsequent chapters our focus on God’s Triune Lordship will be on knowing God the Son as Lord in redemption and knowing God the Spirit as Lord in restoration.

[2] The end of the section on the Holy Spirit that focuses on the Church is sometimes considered a fourth section.

[3] The affirmations are formatted to present the primary statements in relation to the secondary, supporting statements.

[4] The Bible teaches that there is only one true God who exists in the world. This separates Christianity from Polytheism that believes in the existence of multiple gods, and from other monotheistic religions like Judaism and Islam that deny the Trinitarian nature of God. God’s essence is simple, a unified whole consisting of one substance, not a composite of different substances. The Triune God is one divine being who exists in three persons.

[5] In 500 AD the Athanasian Creed also emphasizes God’s oneness as Triune Lord: “Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord. Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord.” The Athanasian Creed made the biblical teachings on the Trinity even more clear, giving the church terms that have been used ever since, such as each person of the Trinity is co-eternal and co-equal.

[6]  The Nicene Creed reads, We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” It also changes the pronoun “I” in the Apostles’ Creed to “We” to emphasize the communal nature of the Christian faith.

[7] Although God the Son and God the Spirit are equal in power and authority with God the Father, the Bible presents the Son as carrying out the Father’s will and the Spirit empowering it. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

[8] The biblical emphasis of the Father as Creator, the Son as Redeemer, and the Spirit as Restorer, does not deny that all members of the Trinity are involved in all aspects of creation and redemption, e.g. the Father is also Redeemer through the Son and Restorer through the Spirit, etc. When theologians speak of God’s ontological Trinity, the focus is on the Trinity’s one being or single essence, emphasizing how all three persons are one in their nature and work. But when theologians speak of God’s economic Trinity, the focus is on how the Bible presents the members of the Trinity interacting with each other in carrying out God’s will and mission. For example, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all involved in creation, but they each have different roles. The Father is the Almighty Creator, the Son is the person through whom the Father accomplishes his creation, and the Spirit is the person who proceeds from the Father and the Son to create and sustain all things visible and invisible. The Scriptures show similar roles of the Trinity in redemption, i.e. the Father’s election, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s application/restoration.

[9] The Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with a heartfelt prayer of worship to the Triune God for blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (1:1-3). Paul worships the Father for setting his love on us before he created the world (1:4-6), he worships the Son for redeeming us by his blood (1:7-12), and he worships the Spirit for sealing us as our guaranteed inheritance to the praise of God’s glory  (1:13-14)

[10] The Prophet Malachi speaks of God’s Fatherhood in creation when he proclaims, “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” (Mal. 2:10). In the New Testament, Paul identifies “the Father” as the one “from whom are all things and for whom we exist” (1 Cor. 8:6).

[11] Since the Father is made known to us by Jesus through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13), the full, abundant revelation of LORD’s (YHWH’s) personal name is now Trinitarian: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).

[12] Jesus prayed to the Father as Abba — an Aramaic term, like Papa, for the endearing expression of a child for a father. (Mark 14:36)

[13] This includes the Father committing to Jesus the tasks of giving life and executing judgment “that all may honor the Son” (John 5:23).

[14] The resurrected Jesus said to his disciples, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17).

[15] Packer, J. I. (1993). Knowing God, InterVarsity Press.

[16] In the ancient Near-East, it was common for human kings to be seen as fathers and for their citizens to be seen as their children. The Israelites called David their father because he had been their gracious and powerful king. David’s fatherhood over Israel is explicitly connected to his kingship. The crowds cried out, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” (Mark 11:10). Similarly, the church praised God with these words: “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One’” (Acts 4:25-26). Throughout the Psalms, we find God’s people praising him with ecstatic joy for his sovereign, loving rule and reign over them as their Almighty King. (Psalm 93, 96, 97, 99:1-5, 103)

[17] In the part of his sermon that addresses anxiety, he gives beautiful illustrations of the Father’s care for nature, including birds and flowers, which the Father values far less than his beloved children. (Matt. 6:25-34)

[18] B. B. Warfield refers to Calvin's habit of referring to the Father as the "creator of the heavens and the earth" as due to "that distinction of properties, already stated, by which there is referred to the Father the principium agendi, so that He Himself is indeed properly said to act (agere), yet through His Word and Wisdom - yet in His Power."  Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, Calvin's Doctrine of Creation, I. xiii. 24, I. xiii.7; cf. Commentary on Heb. 1:2.

[19] For example, this creation order includes things like the sanctity of life, the Sabbath rhythm, the institution of marriage, the sanctity of work, and even political order as examples of his creative order (Gen. 1:26-28, 2:15, Gen. 2:1-2, 24, Rom 13:1, 1 Tim 4:3-4, 1 Pet 2:13) for the ultimate flourishing of humanity on earth.

[20] This included developing his purposes for creation through Adam and Eve as his “sub-creators,” as they continued God’s creative work of building a world that brings glory to God. (Gen. 1:26-28, 2:15)

[21] God rules over not just the animal kingdom in creation, but all the developing domains of human rule, including the early forms of family, government, industry, education, arts, etc. This includes developing his purposes for creation through Adam and Eve as his “sub-creators,” as they continued God’s creative work of building a world that brings glory to God.

[22] Immediately after the Fall of humanity into sin, God graciously promises a Savior, called the “seed of the woman,” (Jesus Christ) who would destroy Satan and redeem fallen humanity and creation according to God’s original plan (Gen. 3:15). From Genesis to Revelation, we see God’s mission to establish his kingdom on earth unfold through a series of covenants God makes with Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, culminating in the fulfillment of God’s New Covenant promises in Christ. In the first century, through the person and work of Jesus, by his Spirit, God’s kingdom broke through into our world in a new way. But it will not be until Jesus returns to redeem and restore all humanity and creation in a New Heaven and New Earth (Rev. 21:1-5) that God’s kingdom will finally come to earth in all its fullness according to the Father’s original plan at creation.

[23] Belief in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, also affirms the Father’s supreme authority over all his creation to do whatever he wants with it – as a potter has authority over his clay (Isa. 29:16, Isa. 45:9, Jer. 18:1-10, Rom. 8:18-21).

[24] Martin Luther writes, “We ought, therefore, daily to practice this article, impress it upon our mind, and to remember it in all that meets our eyes, and in all good that falls to our lot, and wherever we escape from calamity or danger, that it is God who gives and does all these things, that therein we sense and see His Paternal heart and his transcendent love toward us. Thereby the heart would be warmed and kindled to be thankful, and to employ all such good things to the honor and praise of God.” The Large Catechism – Book of Concord, Article I, section 23.

[25] Martin Luther’s Small Catechism: The Creed, The First Article: On Creation

Understanding Faith and Creeds (Faith in Theology Series 1 of 6)

The Apostles’ Creed is a brief summary of the essential biblical doctrines of the Christian faith believed by most professing Christians throughout history, including those among the Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant traditions.

The creed was not written by Jesus’ apostles, but it represents their apostolic faith rooted in the teachings of Jesus.[1] Our ultimate goal in studying the Apostles’ Creed, and any creed or confession of faith, is to help us better understand the teachings of the Bible.

The Apostles’ Creed is not the earliest written summary of Christian beliefs, but the culmination of many rules of faith and similar creeds written in previous centuries.[2] The earliest summaries of Christian beliefs are found in the Old and New Testaments, including:

• “God is LORD.” (Exod. 3:16, I Kings 18:39, Joel 2:32)

• “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deut. 6:4, Mark 12:29)

• “There is one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 8:5-6)

• “Jesus is Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36, Rom. 10:9-13, 1 Cor. 12:3, Phil. 2: 6-11)

• “Jesus is the Christ, Son of God, Son of David.” (Matt. 16:16, 1 Cor. 15:3-7, Rom. 1:3-4)

• “Jesus Christ has come in flesh.” (1 John 4:2)[3]

God gave these brief summaries in Scripture to help followers of Jesus learn and preserve their beliefs. When false prophets began teaching heresy in the early church, the Apostle John instructed followers of Jesus to use a brief summary of Christian beliefs, “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” to test whether their teaching was from God.[4]

The writings of the early church Fathers contain similar rules of faith that were used as catechisms for converts in preparation for baptism and as a part of the baptism rite itself.[5] In the first and second centuries, rules of faith varied from church to church. But soon the churches created collective summaries that took the form of creeds they all believed to be the essential doctrines of biblical truth.[6] By the second century, the basic form of the Apostles’ Creed can be found in widely dispersed Christian communities.[7]

The Purpose of Creeds

In the first part of the third century, the early form of the Apostles’ Creed was used in Christian baptism as a holy pledge of allegiance to the Triune God. In The Apostolic Tradition, Hippolytus (170 – 235), a church leader in Rome,[8] gives us an example of how these credal statements were used in baptisms.

Pastor: Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?

Convert: I believe

Pastor: Do you believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of God who was born of the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and was dead and buried, and rose again the third day, alive from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the quick and the dead?

Convert: I believe

Pastor: Do you believe in Holy Spirit, and the holy church, and the resurrection of the flesh?

Convert: I believe[9]

The church used these early creeds, and the later Apostles’ Creed, not only for the preservation and teaching of their beliefs, but also as their holy pledge of allegiance to the Triune God of the gospel in worship and all of life.[10] 

In the early 5th century, Augustine encouraged Christians to use the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments as practical expressions of faith, hope, and love – the three virtues the Apostle Paul extols in 1 Corinthians 13:13.[11] Even for those who cannot read, the creed, the prayer, and the commandments can be memorized and used to help them understand the Bible and aid them in worship, strengthening their faith, hope, and love for God and people.[12]

The Value of Creeds

The greatest value of studying the Apostles’ Creed, or any creed or confession of faith, is to help us better understand the Bible. The doctrine of sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) affirms that the Bible clearly teaches, either explicitly or implicitly, all God's truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life.[13] Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word, which includes an understandable and consistent set of truths, we can understand it on our own – through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Nevertheless, God also gives his Church pastors and teachers to help us better understand and obey the teachings of the Bible, so we will mature spiritually in ways we could not without them. (Eph. 4:11-13, Heb. 5:12-14). Since the first century, church leaders have been faithful to preserve and protect written summaries of what the church believes to be essential biblical doctrines of the Christian faith in creeds and confessions of faith.

But we must be on guard against the danger of placing more value on the confessions and creeds from church councils than on the Bible. History has proven that creeds and confessions sometimes fail to represent the teachings of Scripture faithfully.[14]

The infallible Scriptures must be our sole authority (sola Scriptura) in all issues of faith and practice. And we must test the teachings of all church leaders, creeds and confessions against the clear teachings of God’s Word. Martin Luther reflects this in his famous statement:

Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God.[15]

Even though the Bible alone is sufficient to help us understand all the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, we are in need of summaries to help us better understand and apply these beliefs to our lives. The historic Christian creeds and confessions, including the Apostles’ Creed, give us just these kinds of helpful summaries. 

The Nature of Creeds

Since the Apostles’ Creed was often used in the early church as part of worship, it’s very brief – only about one hundred words. So people could easily memorize it and have a brief summary of what they believe about God in their minds and hearts.

But the brevity of the creed means it is missing more detailed explanations of essential Christian beliefs, including the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life. So when unbiblical beliefs began spreading throughout the churches, the result was much division and controversy.[16]

To help resolve these controversies, the first two historic ecumenical councils of church leaders met in the fourth century. As a result, prominent heresies were condemned and the historic Christian beliefs in the Apostles’ Creed were affirmed and clarified by the creation and adoption of what is known today as the Nicene Creed.[17] In subsequent generations, the church saw more challenges to historic Christian doctrine, resulting in more church councils[18] and creeds to help followers of Jesus clarify biblical beliefs about God.[19]   

By the end of the sixth century, the various major branches of Christianity began to move in different doctrinal directions, adding affirmations that originated from their different traditions. That doctrinal divergence continues to the present day.[20] But the early church’s Apostles’ Creed, as amplified and explained by the Nicene Creed, is the only authoritative, ecumenical statement of the Christian faith that is widely accepted by most Christian traditions throughout history.

Therefore, our primary focus in this study is on explaining the foundational beliefs affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed in the light of its subsequent affirmations and clarifications in the Nicene Creed and other great historic Christian creeds and confessions of faith.[21]

The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed present us with much more than doctrinal truths to believe. They also give us a summary of the Triune God’s unified unfolding story of salvation in history. 

This is the gospel – the good news that the Father’s creation, ruined by the Fall, is being redeemed by Christ and restored by his Holy Spirit into the kingdom of God on earth. Here we see a vision of God’s Triune lordship over the whole universe he has made from the beginning in creation until life everlasting. This is the gospel we believe and profess, not only at our baptism, but throughout our lives.[22]

The Apostles’ Creed consists of three long sentences that contain twelve affirmations, revealing the Bible’s teaching on the nature and work of the Triune God. The Trinitarian structure of the creed is based on the biblical structure of the Triune God’s unfolding story in history.

The Bible presents all individual doctrinal affirmations as vital parts of the bigger biblical story of who God is and what God does as Triune Lord: beginning with the Father’s creation in Genesis 1:1, reaching its apex in the Son’s redemption revealed in the New Testament, and ending with the Spirit’s restoration of all things in Revelation 22:21.

Therefore, the first sentence of the creed reveals God the Father as Creator, the second sentence reveals God the Son as Redeemer, and the third sentence reveals God the Spirit as Restorer:[23]

FATHER AS CREATOR

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth. 

SON AS REDEEMER

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead. 

SPIRIT AS RESTORER

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

In subsequent chapters we’ll examine each of these sentences and their affirmations in detail.[24]

 
Footnotes:

[1] There is an ancient church tradition that the creed was written in the first century by the twelve apostles, each apostle writing one of the twelve key statements. There is no credible evidence to support this tradition.

[2] The Apostles’ Creed we use today did not reach its final form until the late 6th or early 7th century.

[3] Other New Testament credal statements include: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, he was buried, he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4), “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.” (1 Tim. 2:5-6), “Foundation” list (Heb. 6:1-2), “Kenosis hymn” (Phil 2:5-11), “Christ hymn” (Col 1:12-20), “Mystery of godliness” (1 Tim 3:14-16), “Hebrews hymn”: (Heb 1:1-3), and “Peter’s hymn” (1 Pet. 2:21-25).

[4] “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God” (1 John 4:1-3).

[5] Besides the New Testament, the earliest summary of Christian beliefs and practices is found in a document from the first century called the Didache from the Greek word Διδαχή for “Teaching.” This document was highly regarded by many early Christians and theologians. It includes a list of beliefs, including the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer, that were taught to converts before they were baptized. In the section on how to baptize a convert, it reads, “Having instructed him in all of these teachings, baptize the catechumen (trained convert) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

[6] The second century early church Father Tertullian (155 – 240) refers to a Roman Creed that was developed like this and used as a declaration of faith for those receiving baptism. This creed contains a threefold structure taken from Jesus’ command to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:19), from which people would declare: “I believe in God the Father almighty; and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord … and in the Holy Spirit.” This creed was called the Old Roman Symbol (Latin, Symbolum) in the third century (Cyprian, Firmilian) referring to the creed as the “Symbol of the Trinity” used in baptism.

[7] Irenaeus, a pastor in the second-century (130 – 202), speaks of the threefold “rule” or “canon” that defines the faith of all Christians throughout the world as belief in “God the Father Almighty … Jesus Christ the Son of God, and … the Holy Spirit.” In his second century writing, Against Heresies, he wrote, “The church, indeed, though disseminated throughout the world, even to the ends of the earth, received from the apostles and their disciples the faith in one God the Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth and the seas and all things that are in them; and in the one Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was enfleshed for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets preached the economies.… The church … carefully guards this preaching and this faith which she has received, as if she dwelt in one house. She likewise believes these things as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart. She preaches, teaches, and hands them down harmoniously, as if she possessed but one mouth. For though the languages throughout the world are different, nevertheless the meaning of the tradition is one and the same.”

[8] There is an interesting legend in church history that Hippolytus was a disciple of Irenaeus, who was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John. The dating makes this possible, but there is not definitive, historic evidence.

[9] The pastor would then offer a prayer for the new convert that would end with: “For thine is the glory, to the Father and the Son, with Holy Spirit in the holy church, both now and world without end. Amen”

[10] “The creedal words are words of power. They are words that perform: like naming a yacht, or making a bet, or speaking a marriage vow. In baptism, something is brought into being as the words are spoken. It is the words, just as much as the water, that make a baptism. By these words a person becomes a disciple of Jesus and a member of his community.” Ben Myers, The Apostles' Creed. Lexham Press.

[11] Augustine argues that we must not see the creed, the prayer, and the commandments as separate but as interconnected aspects of faith, hope, and love. So, the creed is not merely something we believe with our minds, but it’s also the hope of our heart’s affections that we express in prayer. Likewise, our love for God and others described in the Ten Commandments must be deeply rooted in our beliefs about Christ found in the Apostle’s Creed and our hope found in the Lord’s prayer.

[12] Augustine’s approach to understanding and practicing the essence of Christianity soon became the basis for the theological education of clergy in the Middle Ages and played a major role in shaping Christian thought for the next millennium. History professor Gerald Bray writes, “It [Augustine’s Enchiridion/Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love] played a major role in shaping the spiritual outlook of the Western church for over a thousand years.” Gerald Bray, Augustine on the Christian Life, Crossway 2015, p. 34

[13] The Westminster Confession asserts: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, Chapter 1, Section VII.

[14] The Westminster Confession (1646) asserts: “All synods or councils, since the apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err; and many have erred. Therefore, they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice; but to be used as a help in both.” Church, T. O. P. (2007). The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, Chapter XXXI, Of Synods and Councils, IV.

[15] Martin Luther, quoted in Bainton, R. H. (2015). Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Reprint edition). Hendrickson Pub. 144.

[16] In the first two centuries a religious heresy, called Gnosticism, began to challenge the meaning of affirmations in the creed by denying their traditional interpretation. Likewise, in the third century, another religious heresy, called Arianism, also denied the creed’s traditional interpretation, teaching that Jesus was created by the Father, so he is not coeternal with the Father. Arianism also taught that Jesus was not consubstantial, of the same substance, with God the Father.

[17] The full name of what is commonly called the Nicene Creed is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed written in 381 AD in Constantinople to distinguish it from its earlier version written in Nicaea in 325 AD. The primary heresy condemned at Nicaea and Constantinople was Arianism. The heresies of Apollinarism and Sabellianism were also condemned at Constantinople.

[18] In the history of Christianity, the first seven ecumenical councils include: the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the Third Council of Constantinople from 680–681, and the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.

[19] In 451 AD, the Chalcedonian Creed explained the biblical view of the divine and human natures of Christ as two natures that “come together into one person and hypostasis.” In the sixth century, the Athanasian Creed focused primarily on clarifying beliefs in the Trinity and the person and natures of Christ.

[20] Today there are many differing creeds and confessions of faith that represent the wide array of Christian beliefs, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism.

[21] The ancient ecumenical creeds we’ll draw from include the Apostles’ Creed (120-250 AD), the Nicene Creed (381 AD), the Chalcedonian Creed (451 AD), and the Athanasian Creed (525 AD). Some of the best of Medieval theology is found in the writings of Peter Lombard (1169), Thomas Aquinas (1274), and William of Ockham (1348). The best early Reformation (15th-16th centuries) affirmations include: 1) German Lutheran Reformation, e.g. Martin Luther, Philip Melancthon, Augsburg Confession (1530), Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Formula of Concord (1577), 2) Swiss Reformation, e.g. Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin’s Institutes, 3) Scottish Reformation, e.g. John Knox, Scots Confession (1560), 3) English Reformation, e.g. Thirty-Nine Articles (1571), 4) Dutch Reformation, e.g. Belgic Confession (1561). The best Post Reformation (17th-18th centuries) affirmations include: 1) English Puritanism, e.g. Westminster Confession and Catechisms (1648), Thomas Goodwin (1680), John Owen (1683), and Richard Baxter (1691), 2) Swiss Post Reformation, e.g. Turretin’s Institutes, and 3) Dutch Post Reformation, e.g. Canons of Dort (1619), and William Ames (1633).

[22] Martin Luther recommends we profess our true belief in God by saying, “I believe in God the Father, who created me; I believe in God the Son, who redeemed me; I believe in the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies me.” Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, The Apostles’ Creed, Introduction, 1529

[23] Herman Bavinck uses the term Restorer in reference to the Holy Spirit’s work in restoring both corrupt human souls and the corrupt world (cosmos) because of sin. Martin Luther refers to the Holy Spirit’s work as Sanctifier in  light of the Spirit’s work in applying the accomplished work of Jesus Christ to the personal lives of believers.

[24] In chapter 2, we’ll study the affirmations under “Father as Creator,” in chapters 3 and 4, the affirmations under “Son as Redeemer,” and in chapters 5 and 6,, the affirmations under “Spirit as Restorer.”