What We Believe

The Creed is our faith

The Creed is our faith, and it is essential for us to know our faith in order for it to be real and alive in us. Make the Creed part of your daily prayers and this will be a big help to you.

Our Creed — goes like this:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all worlds: Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, of one essence with the Father by Whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. And on the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead, Whose Kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets.

And I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This short statement of Faith is the essence of what we believe as Orthodox Christians and further, this statement of Faith is non-negotiable. In other words, if we don’t believe every part of this statement we cannot call ourselves Orthodox Christians; if we don’t believe every part of this statement we exclude ourselves from the worship the Church that has confessed this Faith for over 2000 years; if we don’t believe every part of this statement then we cannot approach the chalice to partake of communion.

In Ephesians 4.4–6 St Paul says: There is… one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all. In other words, this one faith that expresses what has been revealed to us by God is what we are baptized into and it is this unity of faith that we participate in and proclaim when we worship God and then partake of the Holy Eucharist. All of this is intimately connected. St Basil the Great says it like this: As we were baptized, so we profess our belief. As we profess our belief so also we offer praise (worship). As then baptism has been given us by the Savior, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, so, in accordance with our baptism, we make the confession of the creed, and our doxology (worship) in accordance with our creed.

One could say then, that if we deviate from the Creed we deviate from Christ but also that if we hold fast to the Creed we hold fast to our Lord Jesus Christ. Hold fast to the Creed beloved and so keep Christ in your heart.

Dogma and similarities

Often, I hear the comment (or something like it) — Do these dogmatic things really matter when it comes to our belief in Christ? Don’t most Christians believe the same thing generally? At first glance this objection seems to deserve consideration — do we really need to argue about who God is, what He has done for us and how we participate in that? Well, lets take a moment to think about this proposition — differences don’t really matter, its the similarities that are important.

Imagine that you are in pain and I have two small white pills in my hand and I tell you that one is arsenic (poison) and the other aspirin (pain killer) you would, no doubt, be very concerned with which was which… Sometimes, despite similarities, differences matter… Sometimes differences are life and death…

Now, does this mean that anyone who does not confess the Creed that we do as Orthodox Christians is going to hell. NO! As I have said many times — who goes to heaven and who goes to hell is up to God, not me and not you. So we return again to the question of why these dogmatic issues really matter. Take another example.

Imagine that you are sick, and the doctor tells you that you there are many medicines that you can take that might help you. Some are more potent than others but there is one medicine that is completely pure and guaranteed to heal you. Which medicine would you take? Obviously you would take the one that is guaranteed to heal you. Our Creed, that expresses our Orthodox Faith, is this pure medicine—guaranteed to heal us if we commit to it fully.

If we believe that the Church is Christ’s body (Col 1.18) then it would follow that the Church is the presence of Christ here on earth and it is our Lord Jesus Christ who heals us. We need Christ and the Orthodox Church is the fullest and truest expression—the most perfect presentation of Jesus Christ to humanity…This understanding is why the Church has always fought to preserve the teachings and dogma’s about who God is, what He has done for us in His Son and how we can participate in that. If the dogma’s about who Christ is and the doctrines that support those are not preserved in their fullness then the presence of Christ on earth is in jeopardy. Salvation—union with God—comes through Jesus Christ and He is made present to us through His body—the Church. How do we join ourselves to our Lord’s body? We begin with the first word(s) of the Creed.

When we utter the first two words of the Creed—I believe (one word in Greek—πιστεύω) —then we not only declare we understand and confess that something is true but we also open our hearts to that something—in the case of the Creed, we open our hearts to the God who we profess in the Creed. We can remember that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Rom 4.3). In other words, Abraham’s faith—his belief (the same root word in Greek)—opened him up to God’s transforming power. We also see that in so many of the healings that our Lord did that he asked the people if they believed He was able to do what they were asking—were their hearts opened to the transformative and healing power of God?

Remember this when you utter these words I believe—remember that you are opening yourself up to the transformative power of this God—the One True God—that you are confessing by saying this Creed and by participating in this holy liturgy that He has given us. This confession of belief is so that we can have real and true communion with Him for the healing of our souls and bodies.

One God, the Father Almighty

This week in our investigation of the Creed, after having established that we believe and that we open ourselves up to God and His transformative power—we declare that we believe in One God, the Father Almighty. The God that we believe in—is one God (Deut 6.4) Who is faithful and unique, Father (Mt 5.48, Jn 5.43) Who has a Son and is loving, and almighty (Ps 68.14) Who all-powerful and victor.

The oneness of God can be defined in two ways. First, in terms of number in relation to other things—there is one divine nature, one divine substance, one divine essence (there are many words that we can use to try to communicate this understanding)—there is only one God… there are no others (1 Chron 16.26, Ps 114.4, Is 2.8). Think about it this way—we all are human beings, there is no different king of human being that has a dog for a son or elephant for a father. Human beings give birth to human beings—in the same way there is only one kind of divinity. There are no other gods who can claim divinity—who can claim that they simply exist and are uncreated (Ex 3.14), that they are eternal (Deut 33.27), that they are creator (Is 40.28)—there is no equal to the God we believe in.

The second way that our God is one is in unity. Even though we believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—these three are united in their divinity, activity and will and these are unchanging. In other words it isn’t like paganism where one god wants one thing and another god wants something else and the stronger or more devious accomplishes what it wants—no—Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in their activity and will. So there is one God and He is united and single in His action and will so that we need no worry about God’s faithfulness or love for us.

Next, our God is Father (Ps 68.5, Ps 103.13, Prov 1.8, Is 9.6, Is 63.16, Jer 3.19, Jer 31.9, Mt 5.48, Mt 6.9, Jn 4.21, Jn 5.17, Jn 5.43). One of the biggest heretical challenges that the Church faced early on was the the challenge of arianism—which is, in short, the teaching that the Son and Logos of God was created. If this blasphemous teaching were true this would mean that there was a time when God was NOT Father—which of course is wrong. If God is Father from eternity, He has also had a Son from eternity.

The fact that our God is a Father also means He cares for us as a father cares for his own children (Ps 103.13). Part of this care means that he will correct us or discipline us as a father (Prov 3.12) and part of this care means that He will always welcome us home as the father welcomes the son home in the parable of the prodigal son (Lk 15.11–32). Calling God Father also means that our God is personal in the sense that we can relate to Him in this intimate way as a child to a parent and that within the Godhead itself there is a relational aspect— Father to Son, Son to Father, Father to Spirit, Spirit to Father and Son to Spirit and Spirit to Son.

Finally, for today, God is Almighty (Gen 17.1, Job 5.17, Ps 68.14, Ez 10.5). He is all-powerful and there is no-one or no thing that is greater or more powerful than Him. Our God has defeated death itself—the last enemy (Lk 24.6, Rev 1.18 and 20.14).

As we contemplate these first descriptions about who our God is we at once understand that our God loves us (He is a Father), that He is all-powerful (He is almighty), that there is no other and that He is steadfast and faithful (He is one). In short, everything will be made right. The question is—will we cooperate with the One God who is Father and Almighty?

Let there be light

It is a dogma (a non-negotiable tenet or belief) of the Church that God created out of nothing. The fancy way to say this is ex nihilo (literally from, or out of, nothing). Often you hear people say that the “Big Bang Theory” of science, and Christianity, are not compatible. In other words, you cannot believe in both of these things. Is that really true? Think about it, if God said let there be light (Gen 1.3) and there was never any light before, that would be the biggest explosion the universe has ever known…

Another reason we insist that God created from nothing is that there was a common belief in the ancient world that the universe—or cosmos, as used to be the common way to say it— was eternal. In other words, that—like we believe about God—the universe had always existed. Well, first that is problematic because if there was never a starting point we, who find ourselves in this world, could never make it to this present moment…try that for a mind bender! But take a moment and think, how can there ever be a progression along a line of time if there is no starting point? The next reason we don’t believe that the universe is eternal is because there can’t be two eternal all-powerful things—God and the universe. This would mean that the universe is divine in some way but we established last week that God is One—there is no other. We also established that God is Father, meaning that He is a person and therefore relational—unlike a non-personal universe.

So God, created everything that exists from nothing and not just the things here on earth but in heaven and, those things seen and unseen. And very importantly, He created these things good (Gen 1.31). Included in things unseen are the holy angels as well as the devil and the demons, who were created first as good angels of God. As strong as the devil is—he is still a creature of God…

Now, some will ask, why did God create the devil? A fair question, but behind this question is another question…why did God decide to create at all if He knew that evil would come? Well, that would mean that even the possibility of evil is so bad…and so strong that it could keep God from creating, which is nonsense! God chose to create and to create all things good because He is humble and loving—not proud and selfish. Humble people empty themselves, they go outside of themselves and so we see that the act of creation itself is a humble act by God because He goes outside Himself through creating and we see that the freedom God gives His creatures is a loving act because as I have said many times, there is no love without freedom.

So, for today, God is the only eternal one who is creator of all things—heaven, earth, things seen and things unseen. God, who we have established is Father, is the fountainhead of all things and all things were created good. Those things given rationality by God—angels and human beings—were also given this gift of freedom which is the ability to choose God or not. This great and terrible gift of freedom bestowed on God’s creatures shows that God is almighty to create and to weave any dissonance of freedom ill-used (evil) into His Song of salvation where all is resolved in the end.

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ

The “and” that our phrase from the creed that we are looking at today begins with is a continuation of the first two words of the creed that we spoke about—I believe. So the meaning, or the sense, is “and I believe in…”

The word Lord—kyrios in Greek—is used all throughout the Holy Scriptures. This word— Lord—is what is used in place of the name of God—Yahweh (which means “the existing one”)— in the Old Testament because that name was considered too holy to say aloud. In the creed then, we are identifying Jesus Christ as this Lord—as this existing one—along with Thomas who makes the astonishing declaration in the Gospel of John (Jn 20.28) that Jesus is Lord and God. It is not only Thomas who makes this declaration but the Great Apostle Paul who says that Jesus Christ is our Lord (just open almost anywhere in any epistle of Paul and you will find this phrase); the psalmist who says in Psalm 117.27, God is the Lord who has revealed himself to us (how has God been revealed?…Through His incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ); and the prophets the word of the Lord came to Isaiah (Is 38.4) etc. There are countless other references in the Scriptures of God being referred to as Lord as well as the identification of Jesus as this Lord God.

Now, it is true too that in the new testament times this word Lord, could be translated as Sir or Master and there are perhaps even times when people are using the word in this sense in the Gospels. However, the deeper meaning or level of understanding is that Jesus Christ is the Lord God of Israel. One simply needs to read the new testament only half paying attention and a person will understand this fact. A few places that Paul declares that Jesus is Lord and God are: Philippians 2:9-11, Romans 1:1-4 and Ephesians 1:20-22. In each of these three passages respectively, Paul declares that Jesus is God by affirming: worship is due to Jesus (Philippians passage), that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans passage) and that “all things have been put under His feet” (Eph 1.22), a clear reference to Moses’ vision of God in Exodus 24:10.

This last implicit reference to Exodus and all things being put under the feet of Christ is an important affirmation by Paul. This reference (his others too, but this one in particular) make a connection to the experiences of God in the Old Testament (Gen 3, 18 and 32, Ex 3, Ex 19 and 24, Jdg 13, Is 6, Ezk 1 and 10, Daniel 3 and 7 etc.) being understood as the Second person of the Trinity—the Word of God who became incarnate for us. In other words, these events in the Old Testament are God revealing Himself in the person of His “pre-incarnate Son.”

So this identification of Jesus as the LORD—the second person of the Trinity—is the declaration that we make in the creed and it is the same declaration that the Church has made from the beginning following Christ Himself (Jn 8 and Lk 24), then exemplified in the apostles St Thomas and St Paul and preserved and handed to us through the Fathers of the Church.

The Son of God

The last time we looked at the creed we looked at the words, and in one Lord Jesus Christ. Today we will look at the words the Son of God. As I pointed out last time, the word Lord is a title that identifies Jesus as Yahweh—the one who appeared to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Monoah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel etc. For today, the title Son of God is another way for us to declare in the creed who Jesus is.

Right from the beginning of the Scriptures we see that God is Trinity when we He says— Let Us make man in Our image (Gen 1.26). As I have said before, for us to call God Father (I believe in one God the Father almighty) He must have a Son from all-eternity. God has always been Father, therefore He has always had the Son.

Often, in the Old Testament Scriptures, the understanding of the three persons of the Godhead is not as explicit. It is not until our Lord comes in the flesh that we can understand the Old Testament with unveiled face (2 Cor 3.16). Nevertheless we still see, in passages like Proverbs 8:22, that Christ—who is the Wisdom of God—is said to have been with God before creation and then in Daniel 7.13–14, that there is one like the Son of man, who comes to the Ancient of Days and is given dominion.

The New Testament Scriptures, in explaining and fleshing out the Old Testament Scriptures, are replete with passages that identify Jesus as the Son of God: the archangel Gabriel identifies the one born of Mary as the Son of God (Lk 1.35); the centurion at the cross recognizes Jesus as the Son of God (Mk 15.39); in Matthew 16.16 we see that Peter identifies Jesus as—the Son of the living God; the Pharisee’s attest that one of the reasons they have handed Jesus over to Pilate is because he made Himself the Son of God (Jn 19.7); The demons even acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God (Mt 8.29, Mk 3.11); St Paul identifies Jesus as the Son of God (2 Cor 1.19); and Jesus Himself affirms that He is the Son of God (Lk 22.70).

Our declaration in the creed that Jesus is the Son of God is a declaration that God chooses to reveal Himself. We understand that when it comes to human children, a son is like his father, and a daughter like her mother in many ways. This understanding that a child reveals their parent or is “an image” of their parent applies here with Jesus as the Son of God, but in this case, the Son perfectly reveals the Father (Heb 1.3).

The very simple fact that God chooses to reveal Himself to us demonstrates that He is merciful, not leaving us without knowledge of Him. What a cause for great rejoicing—that we can know God through His Son.

Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages

This week we come to this term only-begotten in the creed. The phrase only-begotten is found in the gospel of John—most famously in John 3.16—For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that all who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. It is also found (among other places) in the book of Hebrews when St Paul makes the connection that Jesus’ death on the cross was prefigured when God asked Abraham to offer up Isaac (Heb 11.17). The verb form begat is more prevalent throughout the scriptures, as the scriptures speak often of sons and inheritance, especially when it comes to the kings of Judah and Israel (the books of Kings and Chronicles).

Historically speaking, it was very important for the kings to have a son so that the reign of the king could, in a certain sense, continue. God’s promise to King David (2 Ch 21.7) is that his kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom—meaning that one begotten of David would have an everlasting kingdom. Of course we know this is our Lord Jesus. It would make sense then, in speaking of Jesus as the Son of God, that this phrase that denotes connection and continuity—only-begotten—would be used in speaking about our Lord and His relationship to the Father, making clear that our Lord is that Son who reigns eternally as King.

As the term only-begotten describes the Son’s relationship to the Father as the one who comes forth from or is born from, someone might be quick to say—couldn’t that mean that the Son was born at a certain time? To guard against this teaching that gained force through the simpleton from Alexandria Arius, the phrase—begotten of the Father before all ages—was added to drive home the point that again there was no time when the Father was not a Father or was without his Word, or without His Reason or without His Wisdom—all words that we use to describe the Son. So if the Son was born at a specific time that would not only mean that there was a time when the Father was not a Father but also a time when the Father was mute, dumb and undiscerning. Hopefully you can see why I referred to Arius (perhaps too kindly?) as a simpleton. All one needs to do is think logically about his contention—that the Son was created—for 30 seconds and you can see that it breaks down rather quickly.

One of the things that sets Orthodox Christianity apart from other faiths is, in quoting St Athanasius, that we believe that “we become by grace what God is by nature.” In other words, we become sons of God through our union to Christ in His Body—the Church (John 1.12, Rom 8.14, Gal 4.6, Phil 2.15, 1 John 3.1–2)—and as sons of God we will inherit that which is Christ’s (Eph 1.18, Col 1.12, Col 3.24). With all this said, it is important to point out that Jesus is the only-begotten Son—the unique and eternal Son—who is one with His Father (Jn 17.11) while we are sons through adoption (Rom 8.15). We participate in the sonship of the Son through the good-pleasure of the Father.

Describing the relationship of the Son to the Father as, only-begotten and begotten of the Father before all ages, is essential. As we will see later in the creed—each person in the Holy Trinity has one attribute or characteristic that is uniquely theirs—in the case of the second person of the Trinity, it is His begotteness—the one who is born from the Father before all ages. To reiterate what I said last week, it is through His Son that God reveals Himself. Thanks be to God that He is the God who, in the only-begotten Son in whom He delights, not only reveals Himself, but unites Himself to us in Love.

Light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of one essence with the Father

Whenever we read the Holy Scriptures it is the proper understanding that we are after. If we always remain at the level of the words on the page, our understanding of the Scriptures will suffer greatly. Why? Because the words are the entry point into the Scripture but they are not the whole Scripture. We can think of the words of Scripture like the surface of the ocean—the surface of the ocean is certainly part of the ocean but only a fool thinks that that the surface of the ocean is the whole ocean.

This week in our look at the creed we come to another section of the creed that reiterates the divinity of Jesus in powerful language. In particular the words of one essence (homoousios in Greek) communicate a very strong point—Jesus is God. This greek word is not found in the Scriptures but we do see the understanding that it communicates. We see in the Holy Scriptures that Jesus refers to God as His Father (Mt 10.32, Mt 11.26, Mk 14.36, Lk 2.49, Lk 10.22 etc. etc. etc.) but there is one quote in particular that I will point out for today—John 5.18 explains that the Jews wanted to stone Jesus because He called God His Father which, the Jews explained—made Him equal with God. Why is this important? Well, when Jesus called God His Father the Jews (and we should understand this way too) understood this to mean that He was calling Himself divine—just like the cub of a lion is a lion and the the kid of a goat is a goat. In other words, when Jesus calls God His Father it means that He is of the same stuff, substance, makeup or essence as the Father. So when the creed says that Jesus is light of light, true God of true God and of one essence with the Father, this is the meaning—that Jesus is divine and of the same substance or essence as the Father.

Even though this is the understanding when reading the Scriptures this understanding was controversial at the time. There were those who wanted to say that Jesus was “like” the Father, or a created divinity, or a “face” of God but they were not willing to say that Jesus was of the same essence as the Father. Now, to be fair there was a heresy at that time called Modalism (or Sabellianism) that declared that God had different “faces” at different times— in the Old Testament He was Father, in the New Testament He was Son and after His ascension He was Holy Spirit. This heresy is wrong and some argued that declaring that Jesus was of one essence with the Father leaned toward this heretical understanding.

When it comes to our faith, we don’t want to veer off too far to one side or the other—in this case, Arianism on the one side or Modalism on the other—because our salvation is at stake. It is important that we understand our God in the proper way so as to guard the saving faith because if we join, or commit ourselves, to a lie we will not be saved. Think about taking the advice (joining or committing yourself to a lie) of a doctor who tells you that you can clear your blocked arteries by drinking a gallon of bacon grease every morning. That lie will not save you—in fact it will be your death! This approach to truth and falsehood is why correct theology—a correct relationship to God—matters. Our (the Church’s teaching) teaching about Jesus must be correct if we are to find salvation in Him. If the Church presents a false Christ to the world both the Church and the world will be led off the path to salvation. Thank God for the Fathers of the Church who fought to preserve this correct teaching.

By Whom all things were made

This week in our look at the creed we come to this line about Jesus that declares that He made all things. Now, you may be wondering—didn’t we say that about the Father already— that He is maker of heaven and earth? Well, yes the creed does say that just a few lines before. So how does this work—that the Father and the Son (and the Holy Spirit)—are all creator? As always, let us begin with the Holy Scriptures.

If we look in the book of Genesis we see that the opening lines are—in the beginning God made heaven and earth (Gen 1.1). We also see that God creates through speaking—then God said…let their be light…let the dry land appear…let the earth bring forth living creatures (Gen 1) and then we see that God says—let US make man in our image (Gen 1.26). These lines from Scripture demonstrate two very important things—that God is Creator and that God is unity in Trinity and Trinity in unity—then God SAID and let US make…

Someone might ask, how can we gather from these lines that God is Trinity? I have suggested before—in following some of the fathers of the Church—that we consider our make-up as human beings to help us try to conceptualize the Trinity. Each person consists of body, mind and spirit. I am not a person if I don’t have my breath—my spirit—and I am not a person if I don’t have my rational word—my mind. Both my spirit and my mind—my breath and my rationality—help make me who and what I am. In a similar manner, God is Father and He has a Rational Principle that perfectly expresses who He is as well as His invigorating and life-giving Spirit. So when God created through speaking—both a word (the Word) and breath (the Spirit) came out of His mouth. We can say then, that it is truly Father Who creates, truly Son who creates and truly Spirit who creates.

The historical considerations surrounding this statement that Jesus is the one by whom all things were made is important to point out. The heretical arians taught that Jesus, as God’s highest creature, was creator and this lines up to some extent with one of the philosophical ideas of the time, namely—that it is beneath God to create, that it would soil His perfection in some way. For us as Orthodox Christians though, God is Creator and this does not soil God but rather demonstrates His power, condescension and love. To make the statement then that Jesus—as the Son and Word of God—is Creator is to say that Jesus is God AND that He is our Savior. How does this follow?

We know that it is through His only-begotten Son that God the Father chooses to reveal Himself to us. Part of this revelation includes revealing Himself to us as Creator and Redeemer. If we, as His creation, have been damaged in our descent into death then it is the Creator—He who made all things—that has the power to fashion us anew through our union to Him in His holy Church. This refashioning is our eternal salvation. Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ!

Who for us men and our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate…

This week in our look at the creed we hear of the great and wonderful mystery of the incarnation and of what moved our Lord and God to become incarnate—to take on flesh and become a man. Our Lord takes on human flesh and dwells among us for our salvation. This news is baffling to the mind—to contemplate the extent of the love of God who desires that all be saved (1 Tim 2.4)—but at the same time it is perhaps an incorrect description to say that God was moved to do something He would otherwise not have done. In other words, our Lord’s incarnation is an expression, not of a change of God’s plan, but rather a fulfillment of His plan from the very beginning.

If we look to the Holy Scriptures we see many images of the incarnation. From the appearances of our Lord in the Old Testament (to Abraham at Mamre, to Jacob at Mahanaim, to Moses on Sinai, to Joshua, to Minoah, etc etc) to prophecies of the prophets (Is 53, Micah 5, Is 7, Ps 77 etc etc) our Lord’s coming incarnation is a theme. We also hear in the Holy Scriptures the accounts of His incarnation and His work on earth (in the Holy Gospels) along with an explanation—to the extent that we can understand—of why this incarnation took place (the law, the psalms, the prophets, the gospels, the epistles). A simple example—we hear in 1 John 4.8 that God is love and a definition of this love (not selfish and inward looking but giving and outward looking) in 1 Cor 13. And so we see from the Holy Scriptures that God became incarnate through His Son and that this incarnation was due to His love and desire for our salvation (remember salvation is union with God).

We see throughout ancient history that peoples and nations each had a way of trying to deal with the fallen condition as human beings—subject to death. There were many myths about dying gods who rose again or human beings who became gods. Sometimes people argue that because the existence of these myths predated Christianity it therefore proves that the Christian story is just another such myth among many. But we can also thing about it this way: the very fact that the idea of salvation from death needed to be accomplished by a god who could defeat death existed innate in human beings proves that we all experience this needs for a savior, put there by the Savior Himself, so of course there would be explanations of how this would happen. Glory to God that we live in a time where our Lord HAS come and HAS delivered us from death.

So our Lord became incarnate for our salvation. The very fact that the One God is three persons in a relationship of self-emptying love (perichoresis is how this is described in Greek —a beautiful dance where each has a part and perfectly knows it’s own movement as well as the movement of the other) illustrates one of the observable characteristics of God—love. We experience this characteristic of God in His incarnation—His becoming like one of us so that we can become like Him. It is God who has leapt over the chasm between uncreated to created—the only thing we need to do is not turn our backs.

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man

Last time I spoke about our Lord’s incarnation—that this was the plan from the beginning and that this plan was so that we could be united to our Lord (have salvation).

This week, I will talk a little bit about how that incarnation took place. The fact of the Virgin birth is foundational to our faith and like all aspects of the creed—non-negotiable. It is the means by which God accomplishes His full and complete entrance into His creation— not without the consent of His creature. Why did God become man? Because only God can save us. A creature, no matter how great, could not defeat death—only He who is Life itself could defeat death (John 14.6).

As has been the case case with much of the creed, affirming the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ is very important. This phrase, specifically—and became man—is another way for us to point to our Lord’s divinity. The second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, became man and it happened according to, and to fulfill, the prophecy from Isaiah 7.14—and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. This prophecy from Isaiah was fulfilled when Gabriel announced the good news to Mary that she would bear the Son of God.

As I said in the sermon last week, Mary is the best that humanity has to offer God. All of the Old Testament: the fall, the flood, the call of Abraham, the going down into Egypt, the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law, all the wars, all the lies, all the kings, all of that is so that humanity could produce this one person that would say yes to God so fully and completely that God would choose to dwell in her. The joining together of God and Man through the power of the Holy Spirit is a completion of the creation of Man. Now, do not misunderstand, Jesus is NOT merely a human body with a divine soul—a heresy that had many versions which included but was not limited to—Apollinarianism (Jesus is some third being, neither fully God nor fully man), Eutychianism (the divine in Jesus overshadows any human aspect to make the human aspects of no consequence), Monothelitism (Jesus did not have a human will). All of these heresies about Jesus were condemned. Jesus was and is fully God and fully man. The fully man part means that Jesus had a human will, feelings and soul. St Gregory the Theologian (4th Century) tells us that if Jesus did not have these features of humanity these features would not have been healed.

As I said above, the joining together of God and man through the incarnation completes the creation of Man in a way. When our Lord says from the cross—it is finished (Jn 19.30)—part of what He is saying is—the creation of man is finished. The perfect man is the God-man Jesus Christ, who stretches out His hands in love for all of creation on the cross. According to 2 Peter 1.4 we are called to become this kind of man through becoming partakers of the divine nature, or like Paul says, to become sons of God (Gal 4.5, Php 2.15). This call to each of us can be accomplished through joining ourselves to our Lord’s body the Church (Col 1.18) and the Grace offered in it through the holy mysteries, like baptism, communion, confession etc. It is truly good news that God became man because now—through God’s grace—man can, through his yes to God, unite himself to God and so find salvation.

and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate and suffered and was buried

It says in Deuteronomy 21.23 tells us that anyone hung on a tree is cursed by God…Paul tells us Jesus was made a curse for us (Gal 3.13). He became a curse that He could redeem us from the curse of the law (Deut 27.26, Dan 9.11, Gal 3.10-13). The death that our Lord died for us was at the hands of gentiles (under Pontius Pilate) and the most despicable death.

Crucifixion was saved by the romans for the worst criminals because of its brutality, intense suffering and public humiliation. The person was stripped, had nails driven through their wrists where the greatest number of nerves could be tortured with pain (right above the palm where the forearm meets the hand), and then suffocated (try hanging from a pull-up bar for as long as you can and see how quickly you run out of breath and then imagine that you are being held up because you hands are nailed to the bar…). Why did our Lord choose to suffer this kind of death?

There are many reasons, of which I will mention three: first it is important that His death be public and while he was still a young man so everyone could agree and understand that He died (and not of “natural casues”); second, being lifted up on the cross, in the air, showed that he conquered the demons of the air (Eph 6.12 and Jn 3.14); third, it was important that the curse of the tree (Gen 3.23) be reversed and that the fruit of the tree of life (Gen 3.22) be made available to all.

Another important feature of this line in the creed is that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate—the Roman governor of the province at that time. This detail sets the event of the crucifixion in a context outside of the small world of Judea and into the larger context of the Roman Empire—one of the largest, well administered, powerful and longest lasting empires the world has ever seen. This historical detail is important to again affirm that this event was public and well-attested. To go along with this element of the crucifixion happening at the hands of the Romans—the fact that when Jesus was buried a Roman guard was set at the tomb (Mt 27.62–66) is another detail that helps to affirm the death and subsequent resurrection…as it would be laughable to assert that the fearful disciples (Jn 20.19) would fight off Roman soldiers and then steal the body of Jesus.

The fact that our Lord was crucified, suffered and was buried in His love for us should move us to return that divine Love. How do you show our Lord Jesus Christ that you love Him in return?

and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures

This line from the creed might be the most comforting and joyful news that we can hear as human beings. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead—not by the power of anyone else— meaning that death could not hold Him, is the foundation on which the good news of our restored union with God is predicated. Additionally, the fact that this happened according to the Holy Scriptures means that this greatest event in human history happened how God said it would happen in His revelation to his chosen holy ones in the law, the psalms and the prophets. The examples of the prophecies of this most marvelous event are too numerous to enumerate from the scriptures. Our Lord explains to His disciples that all of the Holy Scriptures point to Him (Lk 24.27) but here are three examples of the prophetic shadow of our Lords resurrection:

Genesis chapters 39–50 where Joseph is imprisoned in Egypt only to rise to save his family from starvation.

The Book of Jonah where the prophet goes into the belly of the great sea monster but then rises up from the depths of the sea to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh.

Psalm 77/78 where the salvation history of God’s people is enumerated and we hear near the end of this beautiful psalm then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man drunk from wine; and he struck his enemies from behind (verses 65-66).

The fact that our Lord rose from the dead is why we desire to join ourselves to Him in becoming members of the Church through Holy Baptism. St Paul explains that if are united to the Lord in his death in baptism then we will rise with Him in His resurrection (Rom 6.5). If we do not join ourselves to the one who is Life itself we cannot have life everlasting with Him and reign with Him as sons (Gal 4.6, Php 2.15, 1 Jn 3.1). This understanding—that Jesus defeated death and trampled it down in victory—is why we say there is no salvation apart from Jesus. If anyone is saved—no matter if they are a Christian or not—it is through Jesus Christ because it is only He who has defeated death. Jesus’ victory is for the whole world.

People often ask—what if someone has not heard about Jesus? The Church’s answer to that is—that is between them and God and God does not hold people responsible for what they do not know—but for us that question is irrelevant because we DO know about Jesus and what He has done. Often, I think what is behind that question is something along the lines of—why do I have to live as a Christian if other people don’t have to…it’s not fair…I want to follow my passions because that is pleasurable and enjoyable. It may be pleasurable in the short term but do you really want to exchange eternal union with God for a few fleeting moments of pleasure? Ultimately our whole life is but a moment when compared to eternity.

Life here on earth is suffering because we have chosen this kind of life through our own choice. God desires so much for us to be united to Himself that He condescends to our choice and says—I will be with you in that suffering. Is this not one who deserves our praise, our thanks, our worship and our Love?

And ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father…

One of my favorite Christmas Carols is “Good King Wenceslaus.” In that carol we hear about how the good king saw a poor man—found out where he lived and brought him a feast during the Christmas season. The king asked his young page to help him and trudged out in the deep winter snow to the poor man’s house. The page—a young boy who otherwise would not have been able to make the trek in the deep snow—is able to follow the king by taking his steps in the same place where the king had stepped. This image is what I think of when I hear about my Lord and King ascending into heaven—He makes a way for me into paradise—to sit at the right hand of the Father. This path is passable or manageable for me by myself but if I stick to the tracks of my King I will find the way.

We hear in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (also by St Luke) that Jesus was taken up into heaven (Lk 24.51, Acts 1.9) and again in the book of Acts that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7.55).

The Ascension of Jesus—celebrated as one of the 12 major feasts of the Church year 40 days after Pascha—is a manifestation of the good pleasure of God. That the flesh and blood of man should be seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven is an astounding truth revealed through this great feast of Ascension. Why is this astounding?

This reality is astounding because it means that when we join ourselves to this human being —who is also fully God—we too are given this great honor of being at the right hand of the Father, as sons of the Father (Php 2.15, Gal 4.5). To be at the right hand of the Father means that we have favor with Him (3 Kings 2.19, Ps 17.35), that we reign with Him (2 Tim 2.12) and that all that He has is ours (Lk 15.31, Jn 15.15)…can you believe that?!

The Creed, as the foundational statement of our Faith, declares that the Incarnation, the Resurrection and the Ascension are all part of the mystery hidden even from the angels (Rom 16.25)—God has made a way to be united to man again.

So follow the footsteps of our King—they lead to the heavenly banquet in paradise.

And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead Whose kingdom shall have no end

In chapter 10 of the book of Acts we hear Peter sharing the good news of the resurrection with a Roman Centurion named Cornelius. In the midst of sharing that good news with Cornelius Peter says that Jesus will judge the living and the dead (10.42).

If we think about everything that has come before this line in the creed it makes sense that —the Creator, the one begotten of the Father, who became man, died on the cross and rose from the dead for our salvation—would be the judge of the living of and the dead.

The first coming of our Lord was in humility—so as not to overwhelm His creation and thereby still give us an opportunity to freely choose Him. The second coming will be in His glory and splendor as the risen Christ—He-Who-defeated-death. This One who is all- powerful, all-knowing and all-mighty will judge us and either admit us to or reject us from the kingdom that will never end—a very sobering thought.

On the other hand, remembering our Lord’s impending judgment on all those who have ever lived, can be a source of consolation. If we think about all the injustice, and sin, and sadness that has afflicted the world since The Fall, we can find consolation in the fact that those injustices will be made right, sins wiped away and sadness turned to joy—a great consolation indeed for when we see suffering in the world.

How often do we think about standing in judgment before our Lord? At the beginning of the Orthros (or Matins) service that we do every Friday morning and every Sunday morning before the Divine Liturgy, we say what are called—the Six Psalms (Psalms 3, 37, 62, 87, 102, 142). While we say these psalms we are to stand still and not move (not even make the sign of the cross) until they are done. The purpose is to place ourselves at our future judgment before God when we will not be able to defend ourselves with any excuses. Do we use our time here on earth to repent?

Repentance begins with becoming aware of our need to repent—the last thought that the devil wants to enter into our minds. The remembrance of our death and judgment should therefore be something we think about every day. Even if we don’t have the opportunity to come to Orthros, we can still pray the six psalms (or at least one of them every day) and remember our judgement before God. While some may think this is rather morbid—to remember our coming death and judgment—the Church encourages us in this practice so as to nudge us to live a life of repentance. Repentance is that truly blessed life that helps open up the gates of that never-ending paradise—to all who choose it.

In the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life

At this point we come to the end of the creed that was composed at the council of Nicea and the beginning of the part of the creed that was composed at the council of Constantinople. Just as the first council was called in response to the heresy of Arianism, the second council was called in response to the heresy of Macedonianism—or the teaching that the Holy Spirit was not God. In short this heresy was another form of Arianism—Arianism 2.0 if you will—again teaching that a member of the Holy Trinity was merely a creature. It is with these two councils in mind that the creed receives its full name of the Nicene/ Constantinopolitan Creed—a name often shortened to “Nicene Creed.”

The Church responds to this heresy in a similar way that it did to the heresy of Arianism, by including language in the creed that affirms the divinity of the Spirit. In the line that we look at today we hear that the Holy Spirit is Lord and giver of Life. Who else can be called Lord but God and who else can be said to give life but God? These affirmations are the first way that the Holy Spirit is affirmed as God in the Creed. St Gregory the Theologian in his Oration On the Holy Spirit tells us, [the Holy Spirit] makes us His temple, He deifies, He makes complete…all that God actively performs, He performs. The Holy Spirit enlivens us and sanctifies us so that we can be united to the Triune God, just like the Son makes a path for us to walk through this life to unity with the Father.

Some people might ask, why could God not accomplish His saving work without the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Son—why couldn’t the Spirit have just done it all? Part of the answer has to do with the importance of the physical creation—which had to made anew through the incarnation and resurrection and part of the answer has to do with the means by which we are united to God through being united to Christ and His Church.

St Irenaeus of Lyon tells us that the Son and the Spirit are like the two hands of God by which His work is accomplished in the world. It is with these two Hands of God that we can experience the loving embrace of God who is our Salvation. Unity with Life itself is made possible both through the work of the Son and the work of the Spirit. Glory to our God, who loves us with the tender love of a Father through His only-begotten Son and life- giving Spirit.

Who proceeds from the Father

This line from the creed has proved to be one of the most controversial points of contention between Orthodox Christians and Catholic Christians. The words who proceeds from the Father come from John 15.26 when Jesus is giving a long discourse to the disciples covering many topics. This line confirms the Father as the Fountainhead, or Source, of the Trinity. This identification of the Father as the Source is in keeping with the teaching of the Church—set forth by Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa among others—that each person of the Trinity has one feature that sets it apart from the others: the Father is the source, the Son is begotten and the Spirit proceeds. All other features, aspects, energies, activities or operations are shared.

This very important part of the creed was amended by adding the words and the Son (filioque in Latin)* by the western Church (I say western Church because at this point in history there was not a “Catholic Church” and “Orthodox Church”) in an effort to fight the heresy of Arianism that had reared its head again in the western potion of the Roman Empire in the people of the Goths who had been largely received into the Faith by Arian bishops. Now, some may argue that this is a perfectly legitimate reason to change the creed—to fight heresy. However there are several reasons why this change is inappropriate and uncalled for.

First, this change has repercussions for how the Holy Trinity is expressed and presented. With this addition, the Father and the Son share something that the Spirit does not (the procession of the Spirit), creating a kind of subordination within the Trinity itself. We can remember from above that each person of the Trinity has one distinguishing feature (hence how we can claim that there are 3 unique persons in the Godhead) while sharing every other aspect of the Godhead. Secondly, this move by the western Church to insert this “clarifying” word into the creed is inappropriate and uncalled for because this change to the creed was made without consulting the rest of the Church,—a departure from the conciliar model established from the earliest days of the Church when it comes to making dogmatic and doctrinal decisions of the Church (Acts 15). There are more reasons that this change to the creed was inappropriate that are a bit more theologically complicated. A final reason I want to point of why this change to the creed was inappropriate and uncalled for is that by introducing the word filioque into the creed something was brought into the creed that belongs not to the experience of worship and the scriptures but instead to a debate.

With this last point you may understandably object—isn’t the whole creed about a debate about Arianism and whether or not Jesus is a creature or God? This debate was indeed the impetus for the council and in explaining the creed over these last months I have presented the lines from the creed in this context, however it very important to point out that what is included in the creed is founded upon the experience of Christ, which happens in the life of the Church—through worship, through the reading, preaching and teaching of the Holy Scriptures and through our prayer and ascetical lives. So while it may sometimes appear that all of these dogmatic statements found in the creed are not related to our lives in any way there is actually nothing further from the Truth. What we say about God is directly related to our lived experience. In the life of the Church we try to line up our lived experience with the lived experience of the Church so that we can be joined to Christ who is the Truth (Jn 14.6)

Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified.

This line from the creed is the main way that the holy fathers of the second ecumenical council established the fact that the Holy Spirit is one of the Holy Trinity in the creed. Since worship is given to no one but God alone—Thou shalt worship no other God (Ex 34.14) and take heed to yourselves that your heart not be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them (Deut 11.16)—we can definitively say that the Holy Spirit is God and one of the Holy Trinity.

Earlier in this series I wrote about how the Son—the second person of the Trinity—is homoousios with the Father as a definitive and precise way to establish His true divinity. When the question about the divinity of the Spirit arose later in the 4th century some of the Fathers wanted to say that the Spirit was also homoousios with the Father. This tact was decided against because, according to St Basil the Great, it was more important to use language that would satisfy as many people as possible while at the same time communicating clearly that the Spirit is God.

In the same way that the Son had to become man because only God can unite us to Himself, the Spirit, as Divine, is the One who sanctifies, inspires to prayer, gives divine vision, makes possible divine revelation and preserves the Church. In the words of St Irenaeus of Lyon the Son and the Spirit are the two hands of God by which he draws us to Himself.

Who spoke by the prophets

What does it mean for someone to be a prophet? A prophet is one who has reality revealed to them in a more full way—they have a deeper glimpse into how things really are. For instance, when the prophet Micah says, but you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel (Micah 5.2) he expressed long before the time that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. This revelation is a kind of vision of reality that is not accessible to most people most of the time. It’s as if a light was turned on in a dark room that reveals more of the room—the room hasn’t changed but a light has been turned on so that you can see more.

If we keep with the metaphor of a light being turned on we can imagine how the light comes and goes, especially if we understand that light to be the Holy Spirit. Light, whether it comes from the sun, a candle, or an electric current does not remain. The Holy Spirit is not someone we control but the spirit blows where it wills (Jn 3.8) and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Jds 14.6) and I was taken up into the third heaven, whether out of the body or in the body I do not know (2 Cor 12.2). We understand then that the Spirit comes upon us at certain times when it hadn’t in the same way before and that we can be granted a more complete vision of reality but this vision does not remain.

That the prophets both from the old testament times and the prophets from current times (yes, there are still prophetic voices today) are speaking through the power of the Holy Spirit is a testament to the fact that God reveals Himself to us and desires us to know Him. Glory to our God who seeks to reveal Himself to us.

In one holy catholic and apostolic Church

This line from the creed can be understood in a twofold manner. The first is in continuity with the previous line that we looked at in speaking about the Holy Spirt which says—who spake by the prophets. In other words, the Holy Spirit—who spake by the prophets—also speaks in the Holy Church.

This point is exceedingly important. Sometimes people raise objections that the Holy Spirit is not still working in the world like He did in the beginning—in the book of Acts for instance. But the fact that the Holy Spirit speaks through the Church—in the hymns, in the preaching, in the iconography, in the Liturgy, in the writings of the fathers, in the saints, in her doctrine, in her sacraments—is a testament to how the Holy Spirit still works in the world today. The Church then is God’s saving work in the world made present. When the Church is understood in this way the adjectives—one, holy, catholic and apostolic—are set in stark relief and the second way that this line from the creed can be understood emerges.

We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church: We believe in this Church because this Church is one because Christ is one (1 Cor 8.6); we believe in this Church because it is holy because Christ is holy (1 Pet 1.16) and this Church is His body (Rom 12.5, Col 1.18, Eph 4.4 & 5.30); we believe in this Church because it is catholic (or universal)—this Church impacts all the world like leaven in loaf of bread (Lk 13.21); and we believe in this Church because it is apostolic—spread by the apostles (Mt 28.19).

Beloved, we join ourselves to the Church because in her we are able to find union with God, which is salvation.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins

In Matthew 28.19 our Lord says—Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the holy Church we believe that baptism is the beginning of our salvation—our entrance into the body of Christ. To put it another way, it is the beginning of our union with God because in our baptism we enter into the Lord’s death—as we enter into the water, and we rise with Him in new life as we emerge from the water (Rom 6.3–4).

In addition to this our baptism is a cleansing, washing renewal, healing and rebirth (Titus 3.5, Jn 3, Jn 5, Jn 9 etc) . This reality is prefigured in Naaman’s washing in the river that we see in 2 Kings chapter 5 and realized in our Lord’s baptism in the river Jordan—not for the remission of His sins but rather for the healing of the waters and all of creation. Put another way, His entrance into the water sanctifies the water and makes it a way for us to receive our Lord’s blessing when we literally enter into His saving work in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit (all of whom were made manifest at Jesus’ baptism). It is through this literal entering into God’s life and saving work that we are washed and cleansed. This washing, cleansing and renewal and new life must be preserved and guarded and this is where our life in the holy Church comes in—a life of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, confession and partaking of the holy Eucharist. We believe then that baptism is an entrance into the arena—not a pass to paradise.

For us as Orthodox Christians there is only one baptism (Eph 4.5). There is no such thing as “re-baptism” which some people speak about. If one has been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and with water, a person— even if they were not baptized in the Orthodox Church—does not need to be “re-baptized.” Their entrance into the Church would happen by holy Chrismation.

O Lord, thank you for making a path for us to be united to You. A path which is begun at holy Baptism.

I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

We have after many months come to the last line of the creed. Resurrection and life in the world to come are what we hope for as Christians. St Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians (15.19)—If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. We look for life with Christ and in Christ in the world to come. This life with and in Christ is something we are receiving a foretaste of now in our lives lived in the holy Church. When we partake of the Holy Eucharist we are gathered together in love, having forgiven everyone, and receiving the food of immortality—the food which gives our bodies life so that when they enter the ground, like a seed they will again sprout forth (1 Cor 15.42).

The belief in the resurrection of our bodies is why we as Orthodox Christians do not accept cremation as a viable option for burial. The body is to be shown honor as it is the temple of God (2 Cor 6.16). One place this is illustrated is in 2 Kings (13.21) when a dead man is thrown on Elisha’s bones and the man comes back to life. This teaching of caring for the bodies of the departed also speaks to the high place to which matter has been drawn in Christ. Jesus has taken a body up into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father and this is our inheritance as well if we choose to join ourselves to Him through His holy Church.

After affirming all that we believe in the creed up to this point we conclude with the important reminder that all things will be set right by God—there will be resurrection and there will be new life. God will indeed have the last word and all will be drawn to Christ (Jn 12.32).

Having placed our faith in God who is Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—having affirmed the saving work done for all of creation and having received a baptism unto the remission us sins, let us stand firm in the hope of the resurrection. Amen.