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May 25, 2003 |
"Joy of Faith" Series |
Pastor Brian Shimer
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"THE APOSTLES' CREED. CREDO!"
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I. | What does it mean to believe?
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Tightrope Walker Jean François Gravelet, the great Blondin, was the first of many tightrope walkers to appear at Niagara Falls. ... At age 31 he came to America and made the announcement that he would cross the gorge of the Niagara River on a tightrope. On June 30, 1859 the rope was in position and at five o'clock in the afternoon, Blondin started the trip that was to make history. Over 5000 incredulous watchers saw him lower a rope to the Maid of the Mist, (the boat that chugs close to the bottom of the falls) pull up a bottle and sit down while he refreshed himself. He began his ascent toward the Canadian shore, paused, steadied the balancing pole and suddenly executed a back somersault. Never content merely to repeat his last performance, Blondin crossed his rope on a bicycle, walked blindfolded, pushed a wheelbarrow (no one would volunteer to ride in it), cooked an omelet in the centre and made the trip with his hands and feet manacled. …
You see, Blondin believed in himself. He knew he was good. Trusted in his abilities.
And he announced that on August 19, 1860, he would cross the gorge carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, on his back. It was to be the supreme test of Blondin's skill and stamina. According to Colcord, the trip was a nightmare. In the unguyed centre section, the pair swayed violently. Blondin was fighting for his life. He broke into a desperate run to reach the first guy rope. When he reached it and steadied himself, the guy broke.
Once more the pair swayed alarmingly as Blondin again ran for the next guy. When they reached it Blondin gasped for Colcord to get down. Six times in all Colcord had to dismount while Blondin struggled to gather his strength. In the end Blondin had to charge the crowd on the brink to prevent the press of people forcing them back in the precipice. The Great Blondin had done it again, but this time he had only just made it. Blondin died in England at the age of 73
www.wisdomportal.com/Dates/June30.html
The manager was showing faith in Blondin. He believed the fact that Blondin was good and was willing to rely upon Blondin.
When we say, “I believe” we are saying:
1. We recognize the facts about Jesus:
James 2:19 "demons believe that -- and shudder"
2. We receive those facts as true. John 1:12 "received/believed"
3. We rely upon them with our lives.
Like that manager. we put our life upon them.
The word Credo is Latin and simply means. I believe.
From “credo” we get the word “creed”. The word creed’s primary meaning is “to rest on”. How fitting for that is what it means to have faith!
The Apostles’ Creed is the earliest full creed of the Christian church. It is called the “Apostles’ Creed” for it is credited to the apostles. It best summarized what they taught. The apostles may not have actually written it, but it was used through the early centuries as a plumb line for training new believers in the faith. The earliest manuscript was about 212 AD.
As we spend 3 weeks looking at each clause, ask with me. What do we mean when we say we believe these things, why do we say we believe them, and what does it matter?
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II. | Let’s say first article of the creed together:
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"I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth."
We know that to believe is to put our whole weight down on something, and in this instance, upon the almighty God.
Note what comes first in this creed. Not I believe in God the King! Nor I believe in God the Creator. Nor, even, I believe in God the Judge.
But, this first clauses is, I believe in God the Father almighty.
Before "an assertion of God's sovereignty or the recognition of Him as the Creator, the Source of all things, comes the affirmation of His fatherhood."
(Dennis Kinlaw, This Day with the Master, 2/6, c 02 ubp)
Dennis Kinlaw, professor and Biblical scholar, writes:
"fatherhood speaks of a relationship within the very nature of God that was there before He spoke anything into existence. In the bosom of eternity, before there was time or space or humanity, the second person of the triune Godhead called the first person of the Trinity not Lord, but Father"
(2/6 Devotional Book "This Day with the Master" c2002 FAP ubp)
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III. | That is a powerful thought to ponder. In Scripture the language of God as Father
| | | stretches throughout Old and New testaments.
King David prayed, "Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever." (I Chronicles 29:10,11).
Again in Psalm 68, David speaks of God as "A Father of the fatherless, a Defender of widows" (Psalm 68:5).
The Prophet Malachi pleaded, "Have we not all one Father; has not one God created us" (Malachi 2:10).
Jesus constantly spoke of his connection to the Heavenly Father.
Listen to his questions to Philip and the disciples beginning in verse 9:
"Don't you know me even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen me and seen the Father."
Jesus is saying if you want to get to know God, look at Jesus.
The character of God the father was on display in the life of Jesus.
Jesus shows a good heavenly father who takes children on his lap; raises the dead to life and the lame to leap. The heavenly Father grants sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf. He sets the captive free. So Jesus tells us, to pray to the Father, to believe in the Father, to hear from God our Father and receive forgiveness from Him.
How can you say, Jesus asked, 'Show us the Father'?
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?
What does Jesus mean? The God Jesus demonstrated was bigger than the heavens and the earth He had created. Since all things fit in His God, certainly Jesus could say He also was in the Father and the Father, who is Spirit, was in him.
Jesus connects this statement to what he says: " The words I say to you are not just my own.
And to what He does, to His actions, saying:
"it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."
He tells the disciples: Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
Believe, Jesus says: Recognize the facts, Receive the facts as true and Rely upon them, for as you do, God will use your life as He used Jesus'. Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."
Jesus had compassion on the plight of people. He raised the dead, healed the sick, set free the crippled and possessed, spoke to a storm and stilled it, fed 5,000 from a few loaves and fish. Can you see yourself doing those things?
Jesus said you will, for: "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."
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IV. | Bring Glory to God the Father as a fruit of your faith.
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"I believe in God the Father…" the creed says.
Some in this era want to abolish the name "Father" from how we address God saying it is hurtful. Some Bibles are now published with the Lord's prayer addressing: "Our Father-Mother God" or "Our Creator". Or the baptismal formula of Father, Son and Holy Spirit given by Jesus at the end of Matthew, is changed to Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
But this is not what Jesus taught.
You see: If God is your Father, he is personally related to you.
Karen on a field trip with BCA this week experienced this kind of personal relationship in watching a couple of dads with their sons. On the Jerry Jet Boats on the Rogue River one boy wanted to get his head wet so was leaning out of the boat on the spins. The dad, without the boy knowing it, had his hand tightly gripped on the boy’s jacket as a safety harness. Here was such a picture of the protecting covering of the father’s love for that boy. Then another dad, when his son was cold in his wet clothes after the jet boat trip, offered him a blanket, and “tucked” it around his shivering son. There again, such a tender picture of a father’s love. And this second dad is a rough, tough character, yet so tender.
God shows such care for you, too.
Many people know there is a God, but do not know the God they know there is. For these spiritual orphans, God is a vague, abstract, impersonal, coldly indifferent, Power.
If impersonal God would be less than human. Such a god cannot have created human beings. what is impersonal can't create something greater than itself. ( www.Christians.org/creed )
So this creed says, God is no ordinary father, but the Father Almighty – An all-powerful heavenly Father who made the heavens and the earth. As God said to the prophet Jeremiah: "See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me" (Jeremiah 32:27)? Jesus restated that saying: "For with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).
That is the kind of God to have, a God who takes sides, a God who loves love, hates hate and wants his children to act in one way and not another.
Hear what Martin Luther wrote as he prayed this creed in the middle of the 1500s:
I believe that God created me and all that exists, and that he gave me my body and soul, eyes, ears and all my members, my mind and all my abilities. And I believe that God still preserves me by richly and daily providing clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, spouse and children, land, cattle, and all I own, and all I need to keep my body and life. God also preserves me by defending me against all danger, guarding and protecting me from all evil. All this God does only because he is my good and merciful Father in heaven, and not because I have earned or deserved it. For all this I ought to thank and praise, to serve and obey him.
This is most certainly true. … (from http://www.wels.net/sab/listen/luth-sm-cat.html#creed )
Have you ever taken a creed and prayed it? Take it a phrase at a time, and speak about it to and with God. That is a simple exercise to deepen the meaning experienced in this statement. Let's put our weight down on God as we pray: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth.”
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