Welcome to this edition of the Weekend Sermon. Thank you for reading the blog. I pray that everyone is doing very well and that everyone has had a good week.
This has been a good week for me. I received a good performance review at work, and I was awarded a year end bonus. I just want to thank the Lord for allowing me to have a job after being without for so long. I actually got a lot of writing work done this week. Please pray that I can continue with this.
In prayer this week, please pray for an end to the terrorism that is becoming so prevalent in our world. Also, let us continue to pray for peace. Pray for peace in Syria, Israel, Iraq and Central African Republic. Let us also pray for the message of Jesus to reach Indonesia, Maldives, Mongolia and Myanmar.
In last week's message, we examined the first creed of the early church which was "Jesus is Lord." This powerful statement means so much. I pray that Jesus is the Lord of your life.
Today, we are beginning a new series of messages on the Apostles' Creed. In the next few weeks, I want to take the Creed phrase by phrase and examine what it means. Although the Creed is short, it contains the essential elements of the Christian faith that we need to grasp and comprehend.
First of all, what is the Apostles' Creed . The Creed derives its name due to the fact that some believed that the 12 Apostles actually wrote the Creed. There really isn't any historical evidence for this. Instead, the Creed is really called the Apostles' Creed because it reflects the fundamental beliefs and the teachings of the Apostles, It is a statement of the essential beliefs of the church.
One thing that we should notice right away when when look at the Creed is its Trinitarian structure. There are sections regarding the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Also, the Apostles' Creed is not the only important creed developed by the early church. It is one of the most basic. Other important creeds that developed Christian belief were the Nicene Creed, the Chalcedonian Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
The first phrase of the Apostles' Creed sets everything up. It says, "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth." Let's just look at the first part of this, "I believe in God", today.
Most people around the world believe in some sort of supreme being. There is something within people that wants to reach out to something that is bigger than they are. Here in my country, the United States, about 80 percent of the people claim to believe in God. There is a growing number of atheists and agnostics here in the United States and in Europe. I know that here in the United States, many atheists are becoming extremely hostile to any expression of faith, and there is a rapidly growing secularism in American culture.
When a Christian says that they believe in God. what does that mean. God has revealed Himself to posses certain attributes. First a note about the language we use to speak about God. Some want to use gender inclusive language when we speak about God. I will always refer to God as He because that is the way that He reveals Himself in Scripture. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. If God revealed Himself as He, that is how I will refer to Him. However, God is not a man. God is Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
As I said, God has revealed Himself in Scripture as possessing certain attributes. One of these attributes is Omnipotence. This means that God is all powerful. Psalm 8 is a great passage of Scripture that speaks of the might and power of God. Various passages of Scripture refer to God as Almighty, and this too is reflected in the Creed.
God is also Omnipresent. This means that God is present everywhere. A wonderful passage expressing this is found in Psalm 139:7-12 where the Psalmist writes that there is no place that he can go where God's presence is not found.
God knows all things. He is omniscient. Jeremiah 1:5 is just one verse that speaks about how God knows all. God tells Jeremiah that before the prophet was formed in the womb, God knew him. Also, Romans 8:29 speaks of the omniscience of God. God foreknew from eternity past everyone who would call upon the name of Jesus to receive salvation.
One other important attribute of God is His immutability. This means He does not change His essential character and nature. In Malachi 3:6 God says, "I am the Lord, I change not." Hebrews says about Jesus, who is God come in the flesh that, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."
This just barely scratches the surface of who God is. God is the awesome King of the universe. May His name be forever honored and praised.
There is one question that I would like to ask though. Do we really believe in God? I am not convinced that that many people really do believe in God. I think that there are many practical atheists because many people live in such a way that they don't seem to believe that God really does exist.
If we really believed that God sees and knows all, would we really live the way that we do thinking that there are no consequences for sin. Maybe we think that God really doesn't see.
Also, God is the Supreme Being. He is the absolute lawgiver, and He has revealed Himself in His word and ultimately through the person and teachings of Jesus the Son. However, very few even attempt to follow the life and teachings of Jesus.
I think that the statement "I believe in God" is something that all of us really need to think about before we just say that we believe it. We need to examine ourselves and see if we really do believe in God and if Jesus Christ really is our Lord.
Next week, I want to look more deeply into the fact that God is Almighty and that He is the creator of Heaven and Earth. The verses will be posted on Tuesday this week due to the Martin Luther King holiday here in the United States. I hope to have a review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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