SERMON: THE NICENE CREED #4: THE INCARNATE SAVIOR

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Colossians 1:15-23

 

Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

 

            -- once upon a time, three blonde women died and found themselves standing before the pearly gates -- St. Peter met them there outside the gate and told them they must pass a test before they could pass through the gates and enter heaven – Peter said, "all you have to do is answer one simple question -- What is Easter?"

            -- the three blonde women all sighed in relief -- the first blonde turns to St. Peter and says "Oh, that's easy! Easter is the holiday in November when everyone gets together, eats turkey, and give thanks for all they have" -- "No, I'm sorry -- you're wrong!" St. Peter replies

            -- he turns to the second blonde and asks her the same question, "What is Easter?"  -- she replies, "Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and drink eggnog." -- St. Peter looks at the second blonde, shakes his head in amazement, and tells that her she's wrong, too

            -- he then peers over his glasses at the third blonde standing there before him and asks, "What is Easter?" --The third blonde smiles confidently, looks St. Peter in the eyes, and says "I know what Easter is -- Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover -- Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper in the Upper Room and then went to the Garden of Gethsemane -- He was arrested, and then Pontius Pilate sentenced Him to death -- He was forced to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands -- He was stabbed in His side with a spear -- He died on the cross for our sins and was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder."

            -- St. Peter smiles broadly with delight as the third blonde has answered correctly so far – but then she continues, "Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out...and, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter."

 

            -- so many people have it wrong about Jesus – they just don’t understand who He is or why He came to live among us – and so there are many false teachings and heresies concerning the person of Jesus

            -- some people today still follow Arius’ lead and think that Jesus was simply a good man – a good moral teacher – a created being -- but not God

            -- others think Jesus wasn’t real and is only a myth or a fable – others continue to believe like the Gnostics, and say that Jesus was only a spiritual being and wasn’t a man

            -- and others think Jesus was just a conman and a magician, who fooled his disciples and the crowds with tricks and faked his own death and resurrection

 

            -- we are in the midst of a sermon series on the Nicene Creed because of these misunderstandings and false teachings about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit – in this day of fake news and deliberate misinformation, we need to know the truth – we need to know the foundations of our faith – so that we can ascertain in our hearts who Jesus is and why He came and so that we can tell others about the hope and the faith that we have in Him and in the gospel plan of salvation

 

II.  Who is Jesus?

            -- this morning, we are continuing in our study by looking again at the second clause in the Nicene Creed that concerns the Lord, Jesus Christ – last week, we dove into who Jesus was in relation to the Trinity – how He was not a created being but was God from the beginning – the second person of the Trinity – of the same substance and nature and being as God the Father Almighty and the Holy Spirit

-- that’s why the writers of the Nicene Creed made sure to proclaim that Jesus was “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father” – and that through Him, all things were made

 

-- look back at verse 15, and you will see a passage that corresponds to this teaching in the Nicene Creed

 

Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

 

            -- going back to our foundational truth of who Jesus is as the Second Person of the Trinity, Paul writes here that Jesus is the "image" of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation – Paul is affirming here that Jesus is one with God the Father – one in substance – one in essence – one in being – Jesus is the physical manifestation of God the Father – the Word made flesh

            -- these verses go on to describe the role of Jesus as the Creator of all things – verse 16 tells us that it was in Jesus and by Him that all things were created – things in heaven and on earth – visible and invisible – all things were created by Him and for Him

            -- that means that Jesus – as the "firstborn over all creation" – existed before creation and cannot be a created being – He was and is and shall always be the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity

– so, contrary to the teachings of Arius, Jesus was not a created being – contrary to what the Mormons teach, Jesus was not Satan’s brother and not co-equal with Satan – Satan was created as Lucifer by Jesus and they are not brothers

– and, finally, contrary to the teachings of the Gnostics who said that everything physical was inherently evil, we see here that all things – visible and invisible – were created by Jesus – God does not create evil, so the physical world as Jesus created it was not evil

            -- these verses sum up what we talked about last week and what the Bible makes so clear -- Jesus is God Himself – the Creator of all things – of one being and essence and nature with the rest of the Trinity

 

-- but we know that Jesus was also a person – a human – who was born in Bethlehem to the virgin Mary – that He ministered on this earth for about three years – and that He died on a Roman cross because of the will of the Jewish leaders

-- even secular historians support this truth – from the Jewish historian Josephus all the way up to modern historians, most are in agreement that Jesus was a real person who was born and lived and died in Israel in the first century

-- so, what does this mean? – how do we rectify the fact that Jesus was a literal man who lived and died in the first century AD with the fact that the Bible tells us that He was one with God and that He was God?

-- that’s what the next section of the Nicene Creed discusses – it tells us who this Jesus was and why He came and what that means for us as humans today in the 21^st century

-- the creed proclaims: “For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.  For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried.  On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.”

 

            -- so, the first thing we see is that Jesus was originally found in heaven – He was in heaven as God Himself – the second person of the Trinity -- that is what we talked about last week – and Paul brought that point home in verses 15-17

 -- but the creed tells us that Jesus “came down” from heaven – what does that mean?

 

-- hold your place right here and turn over to Hebrews 2:14-18

 

Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

 

-- there’s a lot going on in these verses, so let me unpack this for you – as you remember, our whole problem started with the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden – when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit and sin entered into the world and into us – from that point on, all mankind was born with this sin nature inside of us that separated us from God and that caused us to disobey His word and sin against Him

-- but the problem was that we could not get rid of this sin nature on our own – as flawed and sinful human beings, we were incapable of following the law and of paying the penalty for our sins – and just like it says in Romans 3:23, because of that, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – all of us are sinners and stand condemned because of our sinful nature and the sins that we have committed – and there was nothing we could do about it

-- we couldn’t earn enough to buy our way out of sin – we couldn’t do enough good things to make up for the bad that we did – we were lost and condemned and separated from God the Father with no way out

-- and because of God’s holy and righteous nature, He could not just forgive us out of hand – that would not be righteous – that would not be fair – that would not be just – we did wrong and we had to pay the penalty for the sins that we committed

-- the problem was that there was no human anywhere who could live a sinless life and fulfill the law and pay the penalty for themselves, much less for the rest of humanity

-- and that’s where Jesus comes in – it says right here in verse 14 that since the children – us – humans – since we have flesh and blood – Jesus shared in our humanity so that He could live a righteous and holy life in our place and by His death break the power of sin and death in our life – reconciling us to the Father through His own sacrifice on the cross

-- look at verse 17

 

 Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 

 

– for this reason – for our salvation – Jesus had to be made like us in every way – fully human – so that He might become our merciful and faithful high priest and make atonement for our sins

-- so, the Word became flesh – Jesus became a man – the technical term for that is “incarnate” – we see that in the creed – it reads that Jesus came down from heaven and was “incarnate” of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human

-- in order to save us, He had to become one of us – the Word made flesh – fully human – and fully God – that was the only way we could be saved

-- so, that’s what the creed is affirming when it says that He “came down from heaven” and “became truly human”

 

            – He didn’t just appear in spiritual form and appear to be a human – it wasn’t a mirage or a trick or a mask He put on – no, the Bible makes it clear – Jesus became one of us completely – He shared in our flesh and blood – and was made like us in every way

            -- that’s what Christmas celebrates – and that’s what we affirm and proclaim every Sunday when we light these two candles on the altar – they represent Christ in His dual nature as fully God and fully human

 

-- the Creed tells us that Jesus came down from heaven, “for us and for our salvation” – we see in that phrase the two-fold ministry of Jesus that we have already alluded to in our study so far

-- first, Jesus came for our salvation – He came to pay that penalty for our sins that we could not pay – so that through Him we might have everlasting life with Him

-- that’s John 3:16 in a nutshell, right? – “For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”

-- verse 17 goes on to say that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him

-- Jesus came down from heaven and became Man so that we might be saved from our sins and receive forgiveness and eternal life through grace by faith in His death on the cross

 

-- we read the same thing here in Hebrews – look back at Hebrews 2:14 – it says that Jesus shared in our humanity “so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death”

-- Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin are death – and that was the penalty that we all faced because of our sin nature and the sins that we committed against God – we lived in bondage to sin and death – we lived in slavery to sin and death – and Satan held that power over us because he was the one who originally tempted Adam and Eve and led to the introduction of sin into this world

-- but now Jesus has come to free us – to bring us salvation – by dying on the cross for us – by making atonement for our sins – atonement literally means that the payment for sin has been made – Jesus literally sacrificed Himself for us so that He might pay the price for the penalty of sin that we each owed

            -- that’s the main reason Jesus came – the Bible makes that clear – but Jesus also came for another reason, and the writers of the creed point that out when they say that Jesus not only came for our salvation, but He came for us

            -- this phrase points to the change that comes when we believe in Jesus and receive Him as our Lord and Savior – Jesus didn’t just come to die on the cross for us – He came to also show us how to live for God now in His power and strength

            -- through His death and resurrection, Jesus replaced our sin nature with a new nature – He removed our hearts of stone and replaced them with new hearts that were filled with His presence – and with this new nature inside of us – with this power over sin and death that we have, we can live our lives free from sin and in obedience to God

            -- for three years, Jesus lived among us as a righteous man – showing us how a human – remember, Jesus is fully human – how a human could live in righteousness and obedience to the Father – how we could live full and abundant lives right now as God intended

            -- we do that by relying on Him and His strength and by being part of His church on earth – turn back to Colossians 1:18-23

 

Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

 

 

            -- in the previous verses, Paul spoke of Jesus' divine nature -- here he turns his attention to Jesus' physical nature and His position as the Creator of the new covenant

            -- through His atoning sacrifice on the cross, Jesus created the church -- bringing all those who believe in Him and put their faith and trust in Him into His fold and making them part of His body -- when we express our faith and trust in Jesus' death and resurrection, the righteousness of Christ is given to us and we become one with Him

            -- He was the first to rise from dead never to die again -- and with His body and blood He offers us eternal life with Him -- as we look forward to His return when all things will be placed under Him in His kingdom

 

            -- in verses 19-20, we read of how Jesus reconciled us to the Father through His death on the cross – the same thing we read about in Hebrews

            -- through His death on the cross and the blood which was shed, Jesus removed the curse on creation, destroyed the power of sin and death, and bridged the gap that had separated man and God since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden

            -- the Bible tells us that once we were God's enemies -- once we were separated from God and alienated from His blessings -- but through Christ, we have been reconciled – and now live in peace with God because of the blood that was shed on the cross for us

            -- and that means that we can now live in righteousness with God – we are no longer bound by sin and death – we are no longer held by sin’s grip, but are freed to live our lives as God intended

            -- the power to do so is there – and Jesus lived among us for three years as a man in righteousness and obedience to the Father so that we would know how to live in the same way – now we have to make the choice as to whether we will live this way or not

 

            -- even on this side of the cross, a lot of people still live with a victim mentality – “I can’t help but sin – I’m only a human – it’s just who I am – I can’t do anything else” – to quote Pastor Jeff Shreve, the Hebrew word in response to this is “Baloney” – that’s just an excuse so that we can continue to sin and live sinful lives in disobedience to God

            -- in verse 23, Paul tells us here that we should continue in our faith – established and firm – and to not move out from the hope we have in the gospel – that means we are to live out our faith everyday – to believe the Bible when it tells us that Jesus has overcome sin and death and that we no longer have to live our lives trapped by temptation and sin

            -- this means that we can choose to live obedient and holy lives as part of the church of Christ on earth today – to be His body – His arms and feet – showing others how to live as Jesus lived and how to find peace and reconciliation and salvation through Him

 

            -- we’ve been studying Romans 6 in Bible study – and this whole chapter is about saying “no” to sin and living lives of righteousness through Jesus – as it says in Romans 6:2, “we are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” – and in Romans 6:11-12, we read, “in the same say, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus – do not let sin reign in your mortal body…”

            -- in other words, stop making excuses and start choosing to live lives free of sin – it is a choice that we now have as Christians because of the power and presence of Christ within us – and He showed us how to live this way during the three years He lived and ministered to Israel with His disciples

            -- so, the main take-aways that I want you to get today are these:

 

            1.  Jesus came down from heaven to be incarnate for us – He became fully Man and fully God

            2.  He came down from heaven for our salvation – He came to die on the cross and to pay the penalty for our sins through His atoning sacrifice in our place

            3.  He came for us – He came to claim us as His own and to show us how to live for God as His body on earth today – as the church – and that through His power and presence in our lives today, we can choose to be holy and righteous inside and out – and learn to say “no” to sin

 

            -- that is what the Nicene Creed is affirming when it tells us “For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.  For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried.  On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.”

 

            -- next week, we’ll be looking at Jesus’ ascension into heaven and the promise that He is coming again in glory in the end of days

 

IV.  Closing

            -- let’s wrap this up -- I read about this family who took their first-grader on a car trip to Canada -- To help pass the time, the little six year old boy practiced his new reading skills by calling out road signs -- He fell asleep just before they entered Quebec

            -- a short while later, he woke up and looked out his window at the highway signs, which were all written in French -- he was quiet for a moment and then said in a worried tone, "Mom, I think I forgot how to read while I was asleep."[forwarded by Michael Grice]

 

            -- One of the reasons that the early church gave us the Nicene Creed was so that we don't forget what we believe and so we might not get led astray by the many false teachings that surround us everyday

            -- C.S. Lewis wrote that more people leave Christianity because they have drifted away the truth and not because they have been argued away – and, in the same way, a lot of Christians fail to live holy and righteous lives today because they have fallen for the lies of the devil that we can’t do any better – that we can’t say “no” to temptation and sin, even though Jesus died for us to give us that power and to make us His body on earth to live out the truth today

            -- this creed reminds us of who Jesus is and what He has done for us -- these truths were taken from Scripture itself and put in a form that distilled it down to its basic elements so that we might continue on in our faith and not drift away from the truth that both saves us and helps us live righteous lives in His name

-- so, as we close today, remember who Jesus is and why He came – and remember who you are in Christ – of the power you have in Him – and of the ability that we have to say “no” to sin in our lives today

-- may we hear the word of God and receive it in us today and live the abundant and full lives that He wants us to live

-- let us pray

SERMON: THE NICENE CREED #3: THE SON OF GOD

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- as we begin this morning, I would like to invite you to recite with me the Nicene Creed, which is found on page 880 of your hymnal or you can follow along on the printed handout I gave you

 

The Nicene Creed

 

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven,

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary

and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son

is worshiped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic* and apostolic church.

We acknowledge one baptism

for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

            -- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the Nicene Creed, the statement of faith that all Christians everywhere affirm from east to west – from Catholic to Protestant – even those who claim to be noncreedal churches

            -- last week, we talked about the first statement of faith proclaimed in the creed – our belief in one God, the Father Almighty – this morning, we’re moving forward to the second great statement of faith in the creed, which addresses the second person of the Trinity – the Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God

            -- if you remember what we talked about in the introduction to this series, creeds and statements of faith are written for a purpose – they define who we are and what we believe – they give us a list of standards, by which we live our lives – and they unite us together as one church and one body on earth, whether we are Protestant, Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox

            -- the Nicene Creed is no different – and this morning, we are going to look at the main reason why the early bishops in the New Testament Church met to formulate this particular statement of faith

 

            -- it all began in 325 AD, seventeen-hundred years ago, when the ecumenical Council of Nicaea met under Emperor Constantine to discuss the preparation of a unifying statement of faith to counter the various heresies and false teachings that were being spread throughout the empire

            -- in the days of the Apostles, the main heresy the church had to combat was Gnosticism – the teaching that Jesus did not come in the flesh, but only came in a spiritual form – and that all matter, including the physical body, was evil and corrupt

            -- you’ll see reference to that throughout the New Testament epistles, especially in the letters of John – 1, 2, and 3 John

            -- now, in 325 AD, the issue is not Gnosticism, but a new heresy put forth by the priest Arius and widely taught and accepted by some in the church

            -- Arius taught that Jesus was not God – He was not deity, but He was a created, divine being who came to earth to show us the way to the Father – so, according to Arius, Jesus had not always existed and Jesus was always subservient to the Father – they were not equal – they were not one

            -- controversy about this teaching raged throughout the Roman Empire – so, Emperor Constantine called together the council of bishops in Nicaea in 325 to address this question – now understand, Constantine’s interest was not theological – he was simply trying to unify his empire so there would be no division, even religious division – but for the Bishops who gathered under Constantine to discuss this issue, this was a fundamental threat to their understanding of salvation and who Jesus was

            -- so, the council met to discuss two main questions raised by Arius’ teaching:

 

-- Has the Son always existed eternally with the Father, or was the Son begotten at a certain time in the past?

-- Is the Son equal to the Father or subordinate to the Father?

 

-- remember those questions – remember the main points that the bishops were discussing in the meeting – because you can see how the Nicene Creed was carefully worded to affirm the traditional orthodox view of Jesus as the second person of the Trinity

-- with that said, let’s turn in our Bibles to John 1:1-3 and read that passage together

 

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

 

II. Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God

            -- in the opening words of John’s gospel, he gives us several theological statements that are the basis for our understanding of who Jesus is and when Jesus came into being

            -- in verse 1, John opens with the statement, “In the beginning” – the same words that our Bibles open with in Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”

            -- what does John mean by “the beginning?” – he means the beginning of time and creation as we understand it – that is the moment that our brains can comprehend and understand – that, at some point in eternity and infinity, God brought about His creation and time began

            -- but the thing that both John and the writer of Genesis point out here is that before the beginning – before anything else existed – there was God

– God has always been here – He was here before the beginning – He was here in the beginning -- because He is the One who brought about the beginning of all creation and time – as it says in Genesis 1:1, “in the beginning, God…”

            -- and John begins his gospel by echoing Genesis 1:1 and telling us, “In the beginning was the Word” – what do we learn there about the Word? – since the Word was there in the beginning, that tells us that the Word was present before the beginning of creation, just like God the Father – this means that the Word has always existed and has always been present – throughout all eternity

            -- and, beyond that, John goes on to tell us that not only was the Word present in the beginning, but that the Word was God Himself – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

            -- plain as day – the Word has always existed – He was not created -- the Word was with God throughout eternity and infinity and was there at the creation of the world – not only that, but the Word was God – that makes Him co-equal with God the Father

 

            -- and who is this mysterious Word that John speaks of here? – look at verse 14

 

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

            -- the Word is the One who became flesh and made His dwelling among us – who is that? – who does the Bible say became flesh – God incarnate – God with us?

-- it’s Jesus – Jesus is the Word who was there in the beginning – who was with God – and who was God

-- John describes the Word here as the “one and only Son” of the Father – or, as the KJV puts it, “the only begotten of the Father” -- who came to us full of grace and truth and as the only source of salvation, redemption, and reconciliation to the Father

 

            -- I know this is basic – Christianity 101 – but this is foundational and non-debatable – men and women have died over this truth – empires and countries have risen and fallen over this truth – and it is vital that we don’t just dismiss it out of hand

            -- we need to know and to believe with all our hearts and minds and soul and strength that Jesus was the Word – He was with God in the beginning – and He was God

            -- that’s the very thing that the Council of Nicaea met to discuss and to affirm in the face of Arius’ heresy

            -- like I said, Arius taught that Jesus was not eternal – He was not coequal with God – but that He was a created being – that there was a moment before time began that Jesus did not exist – that there was a time when Jesus was not present

            -- so, that’s why the wording in this section of the Nicene Creed was so carefully put together

            -- look at the Nicene Creed with me now, beginning with the words, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ” – look at what it says – it says Jesus is the only Son of God – “eternally begotten of the Father” – eternally – that means Jesus was always present with the Father – He was there eternally – throughout eternity – throughout infinity

            -- the creed goes on to declare that Jesus is “God from God – Light from Light – true God from true God – begotten, not made”

            -- do you see the foundational truth that the Council was trying to put across here? – contrary to what Arius taught, Jesus was not a created being – He was “begotten, not made” – He was with God eternally – and He was God

– as John puts it here in verses 1 and 2 -- Jesus was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God – He was with God in the beginning

 

-- you’d think this would be plain as day, but even now, in our community, we have people and groups that do not agree with the clear teaching of Scripture but who still hold firm to the teaching of Arius – the Jehovah Witnesses, for instance, do not believe that Jesus was God and that Jesus has always existed with the Father, even before the beginning of time and all creation

-- the Jehovah Witnesses teach that Jesus was a created being – in fact, they teach that Jesus was the archangel Michael, who God sent to earth to assume the form and person that we know as Jesus – they believe him to be a lesser, although mighty, god – but not God and not equal with God the Father

-- and the Mormons – the Latter Day Saints – while they do not teach that Jesus is a created being, they teach that he is the literal son of God through procreation – that there was a time when Jesus did not exist – and that he is the offspring of the eternal Father and the eternal Mother – and that God the Father was a human who became exalted and became God by following the Law

-- so, this is important – it is vitally important for us to get into our heads who Jesus is and who the Bible says He is – He is the eternal Word – the begotten Son of the Father – who was and is and always will be -- God from God – Light from Light – true God from true God

-- and it’s important for us to know that when other people and other groups talk about Jesus, they may not be referring to the Jesus that we know – the Jesus the Bible proclaims – and the Jesus that the Nicene Creed affirms as the one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God

-- remember – it was because of false teachings such as this that the Council of Nicaea was called and the reason for the writing of the Nicene Creed as the church’s unifying statement of faith

-- so, when the Jehovah Witnesses knock on your door, pull out your Bible, turn to John 1, and keep the Nicene Creed in your thoughts

-- please don’t follow the example of Santa Claus – St. Nicholas – who was there at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD – when the Council allowed Arius to stand and present his teachings before the group and the Emperor, Nicholas listened and got more and more agitated at the heresy that Arius was putting forth

-- he got up from his seat – went and stood right in front of Arius as he was teaching – and, all of sudden, hauled off and whacked Arius in the head – the emperor had to have Nicholas taken from the hall by the guards

-- so, when people show up at your door and try to spread false teachings about Jesus to you, don’t hit them in the head – instead, use your words and the Scriptures to share the truth of the gospel and the truth of who Jesus is to them

 

-- look back at verse 3

 

John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

 

-- not to belabor the point, but notice what John tells us here about Jesus as the Word, who was with God in the beginning – John says that all things were made through Him – all things were made through Jesus – without Him, nothing was made that has been made

-- in other words, Jesus – as the Word of God – present with God and present as God in the beginning – was the source of creation and the Creator

-- going back to Genesis 1, we see the repeated phrase, “And God said” – God spoke, and creation was brought into existence – God spoke, and His Word went forth, creating all things

-- so, as John says here, all things were made through the proclaimed Word of God – and without the Word, nothing was made that has been made

-- that is why Jesus Himself declares in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end”

-- the Word is the source of our Creation – and all creation springs from Him

 

-- the reason this is brought out in Scripture and the reason the writers of the Nicene Creed made sure and included this truth in their statement, “through Him all things were made,” was to counter the false claim that Jesus Himself was created

-- if Jesus was created, then all things were not created through Him – if Jesus was created, then there would be something that was made that He did not create – Himself

-- that is what Arius was teaching – that is what the Jehovah Witnesses teach – that Jesus was created by the Father – but the word of God is clear, and the Nicene Creed affirms that truth for us, as well

 

-- there’s another major point in the creed that was affirmed in opposition to Arius’ teaching that Jesus was a created being – and that is His relationship to God, the Father Almighty

-- the Bible tells us that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God – what does that mean?

 

-- the key word here is “begotten” – it’s a word that we don’t use in our normal, everyday conversations – but it is an important word

-- thinking about our use of “begotten” reminds me of what President Trump said about the word, “groceries,” in an interview -- “It is an old word – an old-fashioned sound – but a pretty accurate term”

-- the same is true for begotten – it’s an old word – an old-fashioned sound – but it’s a pretty accurate term for what the Holy Spirit was impressing on the writers of Scripture and what the authors of the Nicene Creed were trying to get across

 

-- in the KJV, John 1:14, we read, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”

-- in John 1:18 it says, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him”

-- and, of course, in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”

 

-- what does the Bible mean by “begotten” and what point is the Nicene Creed trying to make when it affirms that Jesus was “begotten, not made?”

-- the term literally means “to bring into existence,” and when we use it to describe parents bringing forth children, we mean that they were begotten or made or brought into existence by the parents

-- think for a moment about children – today is Father’s day – so, when children are born to a father, what is their relationship – what exactly is going on in regards to their being and existence? – in a very real literal sense, children are created in the essence and substance of their fathers and mothers – in other words, a child’s DNA and being comes from their parents – so, their essence – their substance – comes from their parents – everybody understanding that?

-- that’s why we can say when we see a baby, “they’ve got the mother’s eyes” – or “they’ve got their father’s smile” – it’s because the DNA – the essence – the substance – of the parents is passed on to the children and they are one with the parents in that way

 

-- the Bible uses the term begotten in a similar way – in this case, the Bible uses the term to speak of who Jesus is in relation to the Father – as the only begotten Son of the Father, Jesus is of the same substance or essence of the Father – are you with me?

-- Jesus has the same divine nature of the Father – that is why He could tell Philip in John 14:9, “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? – Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

-- Jesus and the Father are one and the same – Jesus and the Father are of the same divine essence – of the same divine substance – that is why John told us in John 1:1 that the Word was with God and the Word was God – Jesus and the Father share the same substance because they are both God – they just exist in two separate persons, as part of the trinity and the Godhead

-- the technical term for this is consubstantial – it means that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is of the same substance, essence, or nature as God the Father -- He is not a lesser deity or a different kind of being, but shares in the same divine essence as the Father

-- so, the Father is God – Jesus is God – and, as we’ll talk about in a couple of weeks, the Holy Spirit is God – they are all God and all share the same divine essence, nature, and substance

-- for that reason, the Bible says that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God to make it clear that Jesus is God

 

-- now, that truth flies in the face of Arius’ teaching that Jesus was a created being and was not God – this is the main critique of his heresy and the main critique of those cults like the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons who exist around us

-- Arius claimed Jesus was created and was not God – but the Bible clearly says that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God – the Word made flesh

-- it is critical for us to know this and to understand this and to not get blown away by false teachings that say otherwise

-- that’s why the wording in the Nicene Creed is so specific here – this section of the creed says, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father”

-- it goes on to say what “begotten” means – “God from God – Light from Light – true God from true God – begotten, not made, of one being with the Father”

-- do you see what the authors of the creed were trying to say?

-- Jesus is begotten because He is of the same divine substance as the Father – that makes Him one with the Father – and that makes Him God

-- this is foundational – this is non-debatable – this is critical that we get this and understand this

-- Jesus is God – no if’s, and’s, or but’s – God in the flesh – God incarnate – Emmanuel – God with us

 

            -- next week, we’ll go on to discuss the theological understanding of Jesus as fully man and fully God – and what that means for us – the heart of the gospel and of the truth of God’s word and salvation for us today

 

III.  Closing

            -- on January 12, 2007, the world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell was visiting Washington, D.C. and riding on the D.C. Metro – when his train stopped, Bell got off and positioned himself against a wall next to a trash can – most of the people there saw him, and didn’t give him another glance – by most measures, Bell was nondescript – a young white man wearing jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and a Washington Nationals baseball cap

            -- he opened his case and removed his violin – he put the open case at his feet, threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, and began to play – for the next 45 minutes, people streamed past Bell as he expertly played classical music, such as Mozart and Schubert – a few stopped to listen – a few added a little cash to his case – but most just walked on by without sparing a glance

            -- if they had paid attention, they might have recognized Bell as the world-renowned violinist he is – they might have noticed that the violin he was playing wasn’t just an ordinary violin, but a rare Stradivarius, worth over $3 million dollars

             -- just a few days earlier, Bell had sold out the Boston Symphony Hall, with ordinary seats going for $100 – but today, people passed by without stopping – they heard him – they looked at him – but they didn’t recognize him [Modified from Gene Weingarten, "Pearls Before Breakfast," The Washington Post (4-10-07)]

 

 

            -- the same was true for Jesus – even His own disciples did not fully recognize Jesus as God or know Him for who He was until after His death and resurrection – they missed God in their midst because they were not looking for Him

            -- Arius did the same thing – he missed who Jesus was and assumed that Jesus was a created being who was sent to earth by the Father

            -- but the Bible makes it clear to us just who this Jesus is – He is the Word made flesh – the only begotten Son of God – God from God – Light from Light – true God from true God – of one being with the Father

            -- and, so, if we have seen Jesus – if we have known Jesus – we have known the Father – for they are One

 

            -- as we close this morning, let us remember who Jesus is – and let us affirm with the universal church the deity of Christ – and let us share the good news that Jesus is God and Jesus has come with all that we meet this week

            -- let us pray

 

 

 

SERMON: THE NICENE CREED #2: GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Jeremiah 10:10-16

 

Jeremiah 10:10-16

New International Version

 

10 But the Lord is the true God;

    he is the living God, the eternal King.

When he is angry, the earth trembles;

    the nations cannot endure his wrath.

 

11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”

 

12 But God made the earth by his power;

    he founded the world by his wisdom

    and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;

    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

 

14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;

    every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.

The images he makes are a fraud;

    they have no breath in them.

15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;

    when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,

    for he is the Maker of all things,

including Israel, the people of his inheritance—

    the Lord Almighty is his name.

 

            -- one day, this mother was walking through her living room and noticed her little girl intently engaged in drawing a picture on the floor -- she asked her what she was drawing -- the little girl said, "I'm drawing a picture of God" -- the mother said, "Honey, no one knows what God looks like" -- and the girl responded, "They will when I get done"

 

            -- this morning, we're continuing in our sermon series on the Nicene Creed – a synoptic look at who God is and what we believe as the people called by His name

 

            -- last week we talked about creeds -- about these statements of faith that the early church established for several purposes -- let me remind you what these major purposes were

            -- first, the creeds were definitive – creeds served to define who is a believer and who is not – by providing a concise statement of truths that the faith community agreed in, the creeds defined who and what the early church believed and stood for

            -- secondly, the creeds were confessional – by affirming that they believed the tenets of these creeds, the creeds became the standard of faith that all Christians and the church believed and adhered to -- these creeds provided the basic foundation of the church's faith and were unifying documents to confirm that all who belonged to that church believed in the same God and the same truths from Scripture

            -- and, finally, the creeds were normative -- they provided a framework for life -- One, it defines the faith by including what Christians believe and excluding what they do not -- Two, it establishes boundaries for conduct – giving individual Christians a reference and a standard, based on the Bible, that they could use to determine how they would live their lives in the midst of the pagan culture they found themselves in

            -- but, if you were to sum up these three purposes, the main reason these creeds were developed was for the same reason that little girl drew her picture -- the church wanted to show the world what God really looked like and to make sure they were not following the false gods presented by other religions or false teachers

 

            -- so, this morning, we’re going to look at the first section of the Nicene Creed – I printed it for you, so if you would follow along as I read that first section:

 

I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

 

II.  God the Father Almighty

            -- if you'll notice, this creed that defines who we are and what we believe begins with God – we see in this opening section the echo of the Shema, that we looked at last week and that we find in both the Old Testament and the New Testament – “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”

            -- any statement of faith must start where this one does – as Rick Warren wrote in his book, "The Purpose-Driven Life," -- "It All Starts with God" -- and the very first line of the book says, "It's not about you” – it’s about Him

            -- “For Christians there is one God, but the one God is made up of three distinct Persons.  Through Jesus Christ, the oneness of God is revealed differently than in Judaism and Islam.  God’s oneness has a three-ness about it.”¹

            -- so, the Nicene Creed begins with a definitive statement – “I believe in one God” – and then goes on to expound on our belief in a triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

 

            -- you know, a lot of times, our churches tend to be more than Jesus-centric -- they become Jesus-exclusive -- Jesus becomes the only One we talk about and sing about and preach about -- I have friends who never read the Old Testament and who never preach from the Old Testament because they think it is not relevant – a few years ago, Andy Stanley, the nationally known pastor from Atlanta, was criticized for saying just that and focusing only on the New Testament

            -- people who focus solely on Jesus to the exclusion of the Father and the Spirit will proclaim, "We're New Testament Christians -- We're just all about Jesus"

            -- and while Jesus is our redeemer and our Savior, we should never forget that God is Trinity -- three persons in one Godhead -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- and we need all three persons of the Godhead -- all three members of the Trinity -- in our lives today

            -- the thing I want you to remember this morning is that the Trinity was not an invention of the early church – the Trinity was and has always been God – the Trinity was there in the beginning and will be there throughout all eternity

            -- in fact, if you look at the Creation story in Genesis 1, you can see all three members of the Godhead present – the writer of Genesis recognized that – and for that reason, we see God referred to in the Old Testament in many places as Elohim, which is a plural form used to refer to the Godhead and the entirety of the Divinity

            -- the Jews may not have fully understood the Trinity as we do today, but their concept of God was larger than we give them credit for – and I believe they recognized the presence of God in multiple persons based on their descriptions of Him in the Old Testament Scriptures

             

            -- so, the creed begins with “I Believe in One God” and goes on to affirm that we believe in the “Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible” – in affirming this statement of belief in the creed, the Council of Nicaea was trying to convey to the church the need to worship and praise the Trinity, beginning with God the Father Almighty

-- as the Catholic Catechism teaches, “By calling God ‘Father,’ two main things are indicated:” that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children.”

-- so, He is our Father because He is our Creator and He is our Father because He loves us and cares for us and protects us

-- Jesus taught us to call God, “Our Father,” in the Lord’s prayer and He referred to God as His Father many times in the Scriptures – Jesus’ use of the term, “Father,” for God was not biological, but relational – He was not the Son because God was His biological Father – He was the Son in relation to God the Father Almighty in position

-- the Father is not older than the Son, for the Son was with God in the beginning and the Godhead has existed as three persons in One from infinity – so, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are relational terms that express how the Trinitarian Godhead exists and functions in relation to each other and to us

-- we’ll expand on this further in this study, when we get to the main reason why the Nicene Creed was formulated, which goes back to the Arian controversy I mentioned last week

 

            -- while we are certainly familiar with the concept of God the Father Almighty from Scripture, let's begin our study of the Nicene Creed by turning to this passage from Jeremiah where we read of the Father Almighty and His relationship to Israel and all Creation

-- just to give you the background of this passage, Jeremiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah right before it was taken into captivity to Babylon

            -- he began his ministry under the reign of King Josiah, the last good king of Judah -- and he watched as the nation began to backslide from the worship of One True God to the worship of idols

            -- the prophet Jeremiah came from a priestly line -- his father was actually Hilkiah, a High Priest -- but even though he came from this priestly line, God called Jeremiah to condemn the priests and the people of Judah because they had quit worshiping God with all their hearts and minds and soul and strength and were just giving Him lip-service – in fact, they had begun worshiping and putting their faith in idols more so than the God who created them and called them to be His chosen people

            -- so, God called Jeremiah to remind the people of Judah of who He was -- to remind them that He was their God -- their Father -- and their Creator – and that these idols they worshiped were nothing

 

            -- look back at verse 10-11

 

Jeremiah 10:10 But the Lord is the true God;

    he is the living God, the eternal King.

When he is angry, the earth trembles;

    the nations cannot endure his wrath.

 

11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”

 

 

            -- basically, what these verses are saying is “There is one true God – Yahweh – He is the living God – He is the eternal King – He is the Creator and Father of us all – He is the One and only God you should believe in”  

            -- ever since the death of King Josiah, the nation of Judah had started making and worshiping idols -- they had built altars to Baal throughout the land and on the high places -- and they had even gone so far as to sacrifice their children to these false Gods

            -- so, God is calling out to them through the prophet Jeremiah -- He is reminding them of who He is and warning them to come back to Him

            -- if you’ll notice, the word, “Lord,” in verse 10 is in all caps – that means that God is referring to Himself here as Yahweh, using the sacred name of God that He gave to Moses for the nation of Israel – so that, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt and into the Promised Land, they would know Him as their God and Father, and would worship Him as the One True God of Israel  

            -- He tells the people through Jeremiah, “I Am Yahweh, and these gods – these idols -- that you worship today are not real gods -- they didn't make the heavens and the earth -- they didn't bring you out of the land of Egypt with power -- they didn't make you into a great nation -- they will perish from the earth, but I will remain"

            -- He tells them that they have provoked His anger, for He is a jealous God who will not abide by anyone or anything taking the praise and glory and worship He deserves

            -- that is why Jeremiah mentions in the second part of verse 10 that when God is angry, the earth trembles – the nations cannot endure His wrath – as the Bible says, “it is fearsome thing to fall in the hands of the living God”

            -- the people in Israel had forgotten their most basic commandment – they had forgotten the Shema – they had forgotten God – and now He is reminding them of their unfaithfulness towards Him

 

            -- notice in verse 10 that it says that God is the true God -- Jesus said the same thing in the New Testament when He said, "I am the truth" -- if something is true, that means that it is fact -- it is the standard or ideal -- it is what all other things are measured against -- the opposite of truth is falsehood

            -- when God reminds the nation of Judah that He is the true God, He is reminding them that the idols that they have turned to and are worshiping are not real -- they are false -- they are the complete opposite of God and they can do nothing for the people

 

            -- this verse goes on to say that God is the living God -- He is alive -- He is not dead like the idols -- He wasn't made out of wood or hammered gold -- He is alive and the source of life -- as it says in Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live and move and have our being"

            -- finally, it says that He is the eternal King -- every single idol that was ever made has passed away -- every single idol that was ever made was made with perishable materials -- but God is not like an idol -- He was and is and ever shall be -- He was before time itself and has always existed and will always exist -- He is the true and living and eternal God – the Lord God Almighty

            -- with these verses, Jeremiah is calling the nation of Judah to come back to their faith -- Jeremiah says, "I believe in God" -- and calls them to do the same

 

            -- that is the purpose of the first clause of the Nicene Creed – to remind us of who God is and to lead us to affirm with the rest of the people of God that we believe in the One True God – the Father Almighty – Maker of Heaven and Earth

 

            -- verse 12

 

Jeremiah 10:12 But God made the earth by his power;

    he founded the world by his wisdom

    and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

 

            -- skip down to verse 16 [read vs. 16]

 

Jeremiah 10:16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,

    for he is the Maker of all things,

including Israel, the people of his inheritance—

    the Lord Almighty is his name.

 

            -- God's relationship to the people of Israel was unlike any relationship that the pagan nations around them had with their so-called gods -- for Israel, God wasn't just an impersonal god who resided in heaven and told them what to do and what not to do – a god who had to be placated and bargained with so it would work on their behalf and do good things for them and not send bad things their way

– that was not the God of Israel – that was not Yahweh – that was not how the nation of Israel knew Him – they knew God as their Father

 

            -- in 2 Samuel 7, God reminded David of this relationship that He planned for the nation of Israel -- "I will be his father, and he will be my son"

            -- and in Psalm 103 we read, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust"

            -- when we call God our Father, it is a reminder that God created us and loves us in a special way -- it is a reminder that we have a relationship with Him like no one else

            -- we owe Him our life and our love and our allegiance -- and He guides us and protects us and cares for us as an earthly father does the same for his children

 

            -- look back at verse 13-16

 

Jeremiah 10:13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;

    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

 

14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;

    every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.

The images he makes are a fraud;

    they have no breath in them.

15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;

    when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,

    for he is the Maker of all things,

including Israel, the people of his inheritance—

    the Lord Almighty is his name.

 

            -- when we affirm that we believe in the Father Almighty, our use of the descriptor, “Almighty,” refers to the power and majesty of God – literally, "Almighty," means "all powerful" -- and it is a reminder that not only is God true and living and eternal -- not only is He our Father -- but He is all powerful -- there is nothing that God cannot do -- and there is nothing that He will not do for us because we are His children

            -- speaking of God's almighty power here, Jeremiah uses the image of a thunderstorm -- the thunder and the lightning -- the rain and the clouds

-- if you've ever been caught out in a thunderstorm, you understand why Jeremiah used this picture to convey the awesome power of God the Father Almighty -- there is nothing more powerful and more frightening than an uncontrolled storm

 

            -- I remember one time when I was hunting in central Florida and an afternoon thunderstorm caught me unaware -- I was sitting in a metal tree stand about 15 feet off the ground, when all of a sudden, I saw a flash of light and thunder rolled through the trees -- lightning was popping all around me and the thunder was deafening and the sky got as dark as night

            -- and I remember thinking to myself -- if I don't get out of here, I'm going to get killed -- I shimmied down that tree as fast as I could and beat a path for the truck -- all the way the lightning was just hitting around me and the thunder was just rolling and I was in fear for my life

 

            -- that's what Jeremiah is reminding us of here – God’s power is like that of an uncontrolled storm – He is all powerful -- He is great and greatly to be feared -- He is not like those idols that are senseless and without knowledge or power

-- He is not worthless like them, but He is worthy of our praise and our worship for He is Creator -- He is our Father -- He is our God -- and He is all powerful -- the Lord God Almighty

            -- the creed says, "I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth" -- it was by God's great power that He made heaven and earth -- when God spoke, the world was formed -- when God spoke, light was created -- when God spoke, the seas rolled away and the land was formed -- when God spoke, life came into existence

            -- Jeremiah is reminding the people of Judah what they are doing by worshiping idols -- your idols have no power, he says -- they are worthless and useless and inanimate – they are senseless and without knowledge – they are objects of mockery, so why do you worship them?

-- Our God is the Father Almighty -- our God is all powerful -- He has the power to create and the power to judge -- and if you refuse to turn back to Him, He will pour out His wrath and judgment on you – when judgment comes, you will perish along with these worthless idols you worship

 

-- our God is not like these idols, for He is the Maker of all things – He made Israel – the people of His inheritance – and the Lord Almighty is His name

 

-- and this is what we affirm when we proclaim together the first clause in the Nicene Creed:

 

I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

 

III.  Closing

            -- I once heard a story about this man who always fell asleep during the preacher’s sermon -- well, his wife had had enough of this – so on this particular Sunday morning, she was going to make sure that he stayed awake

            -- when she went to church, she took a large hair pin with her and put it in her Bible with the idea that if her husband nodded off, she was going to stick him with it and wake him up

            -- and sure enough, right in the middle of the sermon, the man nodded off -- It was just at the time that the preacher was trying to make a point in his message -- he asked the congregation, "Now who was it that made the heavens and the earth?"

            -- and as soon as he said it, the woman jabbed her husband with the hairpin -- He jumped up out of the pew and screamed, "GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY" -- The pastor said, "That’s right, Brother, that’s right"

 

            -- that is the take-home message from this passage in Jeremiah and of the first section of the Nicene Creed – there is one God and one God alone – He is a good God -- He is our Lord -- our Father -- our Creator and our Maker -- He is almighty -- all powerful -- and a loving and good Father to us all

            -- sometimes we need a poke in the side to remind us of this – whether that’s from an angry wife or from a prophet like Jeremiah -- and sometimes we just need to sit down and remind ourselves of why we are here and of what we proclaim to believe as followers of Jesus

            -- I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth -- and I hope that you do, too

            -- let us pray

----------------------------------

1 The Faith For Beginners : Understanding the Creeds, by Stephen k. Ray and R. Dennis Walters, Catholic Answers