The Apostle's Creed

I recently wrote a paper on the Apostle's Creed for a required class that I took at the seminary called "The History of God and Christ in the Church". Legend says that each line was uttered by each of the twelve disciples (Matthias replaced Judas, of course post-resurrection). I got an 'A' on my paper. The creed really moved my heart and I though it might be good to blog about it. First, here's the creed:

Peter: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."
Andrew: "And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord."
James: "Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary."
John: "Was crucified, dead, and buried."
Thomas: "He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again."
James: "He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father."
Philip: "And will come again to judge the living and the dead."
Bartholomew: "I believe in the Holy Spirit."
Matthew: "The holy catholic church, the communion of saints."
Simon: "The forgiveness of sins."
Thaddeus: "The resurrection of the flesh."
Matthias: "Life everlasting."

Each line is a sermon in itself and very powerful!
The most powerful lines for me personally are the lines uttered by Bartholomew and Thaddeus:

"I believe in the Holy Spirit."

I was given questions to answer for each line of the creed. Here's what I wrote in response to Bartholomew's line:

Q> Many people fear the idea that Jesus will come again. Do you?

Why or why not? In what ways are you conscious of the Holy Spirit as your

advocate?

A> I do not fear the second coming of Jesus at all. I look forward to it with joy and expectation! I think that anyone who fears this is living under a religious spirit of fear that does not come from God. I also think that anyone who fears Jesus in any way probably doesn’t know Him very well. To me He is a dear friend and lover of my soul. The thought of being with Him thrills me. Jesus must return to fulfill the prophecy and further fulfill the will of God in the earth.

The question of my consciousness of the Holy Spirit as my advocate is a very personal one. I have seen the Holy Spirit act as my advocate on countless occasions. In some very dark hours, the Holy Spirit was there to guide me with knowledge beyond my understanding. St. Paul wrote about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, (NASB, 1 Corinthians 12:1-14:39), and I have asked God for those gifts. I believe that the Holy Spirit is a very active person of the God-head and that He has a personality and a vital role. I know that he advocated for me when I was suffering in silence persecutions within the church where I grew up. I know that He taught me how to dream and to imagine myself in a better place.

If I were to describe the Holy Spirit I would say that He is a man of glorious and fiery presence, (NASB, Acts 1:8), and that He only speaks truth from what He hears the Father speak, (NASB, John 1:13).

"The resurrection of the flesh."

Q> Does your belief in "the life everlasting" shape your present attitudes and actions? In what ways?

A>  I have many family members and dear friends who are in heaven including my dear Mother and Grandmother. To not believe in everlasting life would be depressing. To not believe in everlasting life is to ignore the biblical passages and prophecies that tell us that there is eternal life after death. My attitude towards life is always through the lens of the kingdom of God, which is eternal and otherworldly. I think about my every action and how it affects not only myself and the people around me, but the future in light of the kingdom of God.

I believe that the saints in heaven make intercession for us and that they are like cheerleaders who’ve gone on before us as the writer of Hebrews stated, (NASB, Hebrews 12:1). However, that does not give me license to do whatever I want with the world around me. I still believe in being good stewards of the earth, good stewards of what God has placed in our possession until the day we are taken up to be with Him in body and in soul.

So basically, with that last sentence I was clarifying that I am not a universalist like many of my theological colleagues at the seminary. I can prove the flaws in universalism biblically. However, this blog is not about that. I want to focus on the flesh of Christ for a moment.

The divinity of Jesus is just as important as His humanity. If he had not come in the flesh how could He identify with what I've gone through? If He had not be divine, how could He deliver me from sin and shame? You see, He was equally human and divine. Many theologians have tried to explain this and reason it out philosophically. Some have abandoned Christ's divinity, some abandoned His humanity. But some things need to remain a mystery. Jesus Christ was 100% divine and 100% human. To end this blog I want to remind you what the prophet Isaiah wrote:

'He has borne our griefs,

And He has carried our sorrows and pains;

Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,

Struck down by God and degraded and 

humiliated [by Him].

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our wickedness 

[our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];

The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,

And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.'

-Isaiah 53:4-5 Amplified Bible

Hallelujah and amen!