The Apostles’ Creed contains one of the most concise summaries of the Christian faith in straightforward scriptural language. It follows the narrative arch of scripture from creation to incarnation, crucifixion to resurrection, Pentecost to life everlasting. This is not a routine repetition of doctrine. It is a liturgical poem meant to move our hearts as a pledge of allegiance to the triune God revealed in the person of Christ.
When we confess, ”I believe in the Resurrection of the Body, and the life everlasting” often we misunderstand it as “I believe I will go to heaven when I die.” But the Christian story is much better than that. The Christian story is that the Creator God has demonstrated in Jesus’ resurrection what he intends to do for the whole world.
Sin is a poison that mars, kills, and destroys the abundant life God desires for his people. But in a surprising turn of events we discover that God, in Christ, offers us the antidote – forgiveness.
In a moment marked by extreme individualism commitment to community and one another is revolutionary. We believe in the global church and the communion of saints. We are the people who live in a community with God and each other.
The final section of the Apostles’ Creed centers on the person of the Holy Spirit; the third member of the trinity and the very presence of God on Earth. Unfortunately, one of the greatest tragedies of the church today is that life with the Spirit has become unknown, feared, and divisive with bible churches sitting on one side and holy spirit churches sitting on the other. We need Christian communities that are deeply committed to engaging with the scriptures and cultivating a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit.
American Christians have a unique obsession with the end times. From doomsday predictions to rapture anxiety, the Return of Christ is a doctrine obscured by exaggeration, anxiety, and speculation. In Contrast, the New Testament authors spoke of Christ’s return as a triumphant and joyful conclusion to God’s conspiracy to take back His world.
The story of Jesus, living, dying, and rising from death gets a lot of well-deserved attention; but sometimes we overlook another crucial mysterious scene in the narrative which is where we find ourselves today- “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father.” In the event known as Ascension, we discover that God is really here, that he has always been here, and that he dwells in us.
A natural disaster strikes, there is a random act of violence, and a loved one dies; with each headline, with each death– we are reminded of the fragility of life, of our own mortality, and that life takes place in a dangerous world. A world that is often more like a warzone than a garden. Death is all around us, but Jesus’ conquering of death is an invitation to a new way of life.
Suffering always seems to be looming under the surface of life. In these moments where we struggle, we reach out to God more frequently and fiercely than ever before. Just as we have learned to walk with Jesus on the mountaintops of life, we must learn to walk with him through the valley of suffering
Jesus is God in the flesh, a doctrine known as the incarnation. As the Apostle John points out the Creator joins His creation and demonstrates what it means to be human. Jesus teaches us how to delight in the goodness of the creation he calls good.
The Apostle’s Creed confesses that Jesus is God. Yet in His divinity, Jesus becomes human and stoops to serve. This is to say, the very essence or form of our Lord Jesus is both God and Servant.
At the dawn of Creation, God’s space (Heaven) and Human’s space (Earth) were united in a Garden called “Eden”. Genesis 1 introduces a story of God’s efforts to prepare a beautiful place in which he may dwell and partner with those made in his image. The human race was entrusted and expected to share in God’s work of creation.
For many, the description of God as the “Father Almighty” feels problematic. Paternal wounds color our emotions and create a conflict in us towards the God called “Father”. But Jesus invites us to know the God who exercises his power in self-giving love.
We have all come to realize that what we believe cannot be taken as the default of society anymore. We feel tugged, pulled, and pressured by alternative, rival stories about who we are and what we're here for. And in the face of those options and that pressure, we are plagued by doubt. Apostles’ Creed begins with the confession, “I believe in God”. This statement is not made without doubt; it is to trust in the midst of doubt.
