Creeds

July 14, 2021 (Wednesday)

 

The church as always loved their creeds. Creeds became catechisms and statements of faith. The idea of a creed is to define what is believed. While pointing the direction of belief, the can also be a source of contention and division. That said, they seem necessary.

 

A creed was not the idea of some church fathers to defend the faith. We see them in the New Testament. For instance, often missed is this gem from Romans 8:34, “Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” [NLT] I think this is missed because it’s tucked away in Romans 8, which is full of great theology. It occurs in context to who will condemn (or charge) us and who will separate us from Christ’s love.

 

Let’s take this creed apart. There are three parts, only the last one is explained. My suspicion is Paul has already made clear throughout the text of Romans what the first two mean in a practical way. It’s when he introduces a new concept that he adds and explanation.

 

First, “Jesus died.” To understand this point, we must have a grip on who Jesus was, is, and always will be. Notice, it’s all about Jesus and His significance to us. In Paul’s writings, he identifies Jesus as “Lord.” In other words, Paul identifies Jesus as “Yahweh” from the Old Testament. Paul clearly sees Jesus as the creator of all things. The general idea to absorb is Jesus is God. The stunning thing is the Jesus died. Please understand in Christian theology, death does not mean the end of existence. It is the end of this present physical existence that allow us to enter into our true forever existence.

 

The second point of Paul’s creed here is that Jesus “was raised to life.” This is a matter of proving the nature of Jesus. Paul stated, “and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Romans 1:4 NLT] Jesus never ceased to exist. Jesus never ceased to be God. Jesus never ceased to have our best interests in mind. Jesus laid down His life (He was not murdered, His life was not taken away) as a servant (see Philippians 2:6 – 11).

 

Paul’s third point is where and what Jesus is doing now. Jesus is “sitting… at God’s right hand.” For those who missed it, generally in the New Testament, when we read “God” then the writer is referring to “the Father.” We see this image of “the right hand” as a position of power. But Paul states that power and authority is used on our behalf.

 

Most of us, familiar with the text, will remember that Jesus is “interceding for us.” That image is often on of a lawyer, arguing our case. I like the image of “pleading” because it is pathetic. Pathetic is exactly what we are, and that is with Christ arguing our case. Without Christ, we are damned.

 

Here’s the point I draw from all of us. It doesn’t show up in other texts, which is why I chose the NLT. Okay, it’s there but not said. The thing that humbles me is that Jesus died, was raised from the dead, and sits at the right hand of the Father FOR US. This is personal.

 

It’s not some concept of God, untouched by the human condition, demanding obedience, and handing out punishment. This is God, personally involved in our salvation, standing between us and the justice (punishment) we deserve. Christ is actively pleading our case.

 

FOR US.