Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are lost for
words? Believe it or not, it does happen to me on the odd occasion!
Whilst there can be a variety of reasons for one being lost for
words, when it comes to trying to explain some of the mysteries
of God, there can be an awfully long silence. Today in the 21st
century, we stand at a point in time when we are able to look back
in history and benefit from the conclusions that previous generations
have had to spend much time coming to –in a sense they have
done so much of the hard work, and today our Christian understanding
of God owes them a great debt of thanks. However, it can be easy
to take much of it for granted without truly understanding it and
this is why today is the second sermon in a series looking at the
Apostles Creed and what it is about.
Now a warning – every though this sermon series is dissecting
our statement of faith apart, it is paramount that we do not take
any part of it and isolate it out of context, because the full
significance of what we believe is only found in the whole of
our creed.
When we read the Apostles Creed, we discover that enshrined at
the heart of the Creed, is the belief in God the Trinity, commonly
described as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Now, the usage of the term ‘Trinity’ is a human attempt
using the inadequacies of the human language, to try and explain
both the nature of, and the interrelationships that exist within,
the Divine Godhead. At it’s heart lies the concept that
the three "persons" (whom we refer to as Father, Son
and Spirit) are co-equal, co-eternal (that is always have been
in existence) and that they share the same essence or as some
Creeds say the same substance. In so doing Christian Theology
is able to hold together the "oneness" of the Father,
the humanity and divinity of Jesus, and the relationship of these
two to the Holy Spirit.
Now it is true that the technical term ‘Trinity’
we use to describe this understanding does not appear per se in
the Bible. However, the concept does feature prominently - both
implicitly and explicitly in the New Testament (e.g. Matthew 3:16;
Luke 1:35; John 14:11; 14:16ff; 14:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14). What
is important is that the concept of the Trinity is enshrined at
the heart of the Creed.
Last time, we heard Paul Godfrey speak on ‘I believe in
God the Father’. Today’s statement of faith that we’re
concerned with is this:
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.
In a nutshell, this statement introduces us to the second person
of the Trinity – Jesus. How many of us have heard about
Jesus? Most of us – that’s good, and if I were to
ask what you could tell me about Jesus, we would be able to paint
a pretty good picture of his life. Most of us would also be happy
to make the declaration ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, his
only Son, our Lord’, because we believe that Jesus is God.
Yet, this idea of Jesus being accorded the same status as God
has proved to be an insurmountable obstacle for some people.
One of the false ideas that were being proposed in the last 3rd
– early 4th centuries AD was by a person called Arius. Arius
believed that:
1. Jesus had no existence before He was created. In other words,
there was a time when He was not, unlike God who has always been.
2. Jesus was not co-equal with God but the first of God’s
creation. In other words, he was, like the rest of creation, a
created being, like you and me, even though he outranks all other
creatures.
For people who thought this, calling Jesus ‘Son’
was what you can call an honorific title rather than a precise
theological title about who Jesus is.
Think of it this way – what is one honorific title that
we could give Richard? (Vicar) Now if you took the title of Vicar
away from Richard, that would not change who Richard is in the
deepest sense, because the unique, unrepeatable person that Richard
is, that which makes Richard ‘Richard’ would still
be Richard. If on the other hand though, you take away Son from
Jesus, it actually fundamentally changes who Jesus is.
Now, some of you might ask does this really matter? Is this the
kind of thing one should be concerned about? Well, the answer
is YES! Because if Jesus is only a created being like you or I,
then the whole concept of salvation inherent in the Christian
faith is called into question. After all, if God has saved us
once through one created being, perhaps he might need to do it
again through another created being? The point that we have to
remember is this: a Trinitarian understanding of God believes
that it is only God who can save us. God and God alone can break
the power of sin; God and God alone can bring us to eternal life.
If it were possible for another to bring salvation, God would
have enabled it to happen – and Jesus’ death would
have not been needed.
So, to counteract this false idea, and remember it is still an
idea that permeates 21st century culture, for example amongst
Jehovah Witnesses, our creed states very clearly ‘I believe
in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. In fact, if you ever
have the patience to engage a Jehovah Witness on your front door
step, ask them ‘Who Jesus is’ because to us as Christians
Jesus is not a created being – he is God, he is the eternal
Word, and this is what John 1 is making so clear.
But this is not all that John 1 tells us. John 1:14 also tells
us that this eternal Word became flesh and lived among us, or
as the creed says He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born
of the Virgin Mary. God becoming human - what an incredible thing
to do.
This is why John 1 is so relevant for a Christmas reading, because
it holds up for us not only the pre-existence of Jesus, but also
the incredible fact of the incarnation – that is Jesus becoming
flesh – Jesus becoming like you and me.
As the Christmas carol Hark! The Herald Angels Sing says:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.
Just think of it – the pre-existent Word took on our frail
human flesh. Why did he? Because he wanted to; because he loved
us, and because he knew that it was the only way we could be saved.
Remember, he left the glories of heaven for this mixed up, messy
earth. Have you really let this incredible truth sink into the
very depths of your being, because it is nothing short of incredible
and as such should be something to get so excited about and to
give thanks for. Jesus, the Saviour of the world - fully God and
fully human.
As Graham Kendrick wrote: ‘From the squalor of a borrowed
stable, by the Spirit and a virgin’s faith; to the anguish
and the shame of scandal came the Saviour of the human race.’
It is a scandal, a scandal that should make headline news –
because it is a scandal that we know is true. In Jesus, God took
on our humanity, in the most vulnerable of all human beings –
a baby. He experienced a full human life. Through taking this
decision to become human, He knows and understands each of us
better than we know ourselves – all because He entered into
our world and became like us.
Today, can I encourage you to ask yourselves who Jesus is to
you. Will you acknowledge the incredible miracle that he did in
taking our humanity upon himself so that we can enjoy all eternity
with him, or will you reject him? Today, are you willing to declare
to the world:
Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
Yes, I believe he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of
the Virgin Mary.
The choice is yours – a choice that carries eternal implications
for you!
Amen
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