The Apostles' Creed

Today I am writing from beautiful Colorado. I am on a "girlie" retreat with my daughter, my friend and another friend's daughter. We are going to be working on being "missional" while we are here and took the girls to a dog kennel to try to see if we could help. We got to play with and "socialize" some puppies! It was so fun!

We are also going to be working through a short bible study with the girls called "Confirming Your Faith" and today I would like to share some thoughts on The Apostles' Creed.

There are perhaps many that have not been raised in a "traditional" church setting and may not be familiar with this creed that states what the Christian believes. Here it is in a "traditional" but updated version:
"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen."

S - John 11:25-27
"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

O - Being raised in and growing up in the Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches I was aware of this creed and knew parts of it as a kid. I learned this creed in its entirety in confirmation class as a 6th grader and was able to recite it. This was something we would recite often enough in my church that it was helpful to know it. It didn't really hit home with me though until I was in college and teaching junior high Sunday school. It's like it had always been factual until I taught it to someone else and then it became personal. I was able to break it down into parts and really take in the depth of it because I was teaching it.

The verse here in John that accompanies this creed from our little study is Jesus speaking to a woman. I think it's important to know the context here...he is actually speaking to Martha the sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. In this verse, Lazarus has died and Martha and Mary are mourning, saying that if Jesus had been there, he wouldn't have died. Jesus was about to demonstrate His power over death so that his followers might believe. He is asking her to believe before He has even demonstrated this power. This is a testament to her FAITH. She had heard Jesus' teachings and seen miracles but resurrection takes it to a whole new level! She did not have to have proof of his power over death to have faith. She BELIEVED He was who He said He was by faith, and nothing else. He was not just a good moral teacher...He was God in the FLESH. He was God who came down to earth to live among us and save us.

Another observation is that He says whoever LIVES by believing in me...this is about not just believing but also LIVING by this belief. We demonstrate our faith by how we live and we help others come to believe as well by how we live. This does not mean we need to DO something to earn salvation, but it is how we respond to our faith, as well as how others come to know the Lord. If we don't share our faith, no one else would have a chance to believe and we would be keeping the greatest gift we've been given from ourselves. I don't know about you, but I want others to get to receive this amazing gift and share it with me!!!

A - the apostles creed has basically three parts of belief: creation, redemption, sanctification. First, we believe that God is the creator of all things and is over all things. Next, we believe that we have the opportunity to choose redemption because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us as a SUBSTITUTE. And third, sanctification is about holy living and demonstration of our faith...we need to believe in the importance of this AND in the correct purpose of holy living. I think this is the hardest part for many people in a lot of ways.

I think for the most part there are many that believe in God as they know Him...the creator, a "higher power", a provider. Even those that are not active in a church and those that follow the Jewish, Islam or other faiths or claim no faith at all believe that we are all believing in and following the same God. (I could get off on another topic about whether this is the same God or not, but I won't for now)

As for redemption, a belief that Jesus died for each of us is maybe an easier path to take than believing that this belief is actually going to CHANGE us through the process of sanctification. Many say "Oh yes, I want to go to heaven...I want to live forever with God." and yet do they really realize what they are inviting God to do? I don't want to dog certain denominations within the Christian faith but I think there are still MANY Christians that are focused on the "how to" guide book of what you have to STOP doing or what you SHOULD be doing to be a "good" Christian and forgetting one simple truth...we are saved by faith alone and this is the purpose of Jesus' redemption. Once saved, it is not up to US to change, it is up to us to ALLOW the Holy Spirit to change us through sanctification and show us how we can demonstrate our faith to others.

And this is why KNOWING what we believe is so important and why the Apostles Creed can be helpful. This is a creed that was written during the years of the early church. I'm not really an official "theologian" and will need to study up more on the origin of it but I think it's an important creed to know and live by and I'm pledging to try to be more purposeful in teaching it to my children. It is a foundation for everyday living and can be a guide for how to demonstrate our faith and share it with others. As the accompanying verse in John teaches us, faith is based on a belief that Jesus IS who He says He is and He will DO what He says He will do.

I think it would be a valuable exercise for all Christians to dissect this creed and really think through each of the points, one by one, and decide for themselves what they believe about it. Do we believe in the resurrection of the body, for example? Have any of us really taken the time to think about what we REALLY believe in relation to the gospel or are we just "going with the flow". Perhaps it's time to take a deeper look for yourself???

P - Father God, you ARE the creator of the universe. You sent Jesus to live among us and to save us through substitution and I am eternally grateful. You have transformed lives through the work of the Holy Spirit and I pray that others would not only believe this for themselves but that they would understand WHAT they believe. I ask for guidance Lord as I teach this truth to my children and to others. I pray protection for the TRUTH and that different interpretations of who Jesus is would not be just molded into a sweet little "box of rules" that we can hold onto. NO, I pray we would see life transformation and we would be open and receive the Holy Spirit, putting our life in his hands. Amen.