Christian, What Do You Believe?

Every Christian church or denomination has its own set of doctrines and beliefs.  Some denominations adhere to several confessions or catechisms as a general guide to what will be preached and taught in their churches.  Even if a particular church is not confessional to that extent they likely still have a public statement of beliefs.  Otherwise, there is no solid foundation for any teaching in the church.  With that being said there is no solid ground more stable than the word of God.  Regardless of what creeds or confessions we hold to, they must be rooted and grounded in scripture.  The purpose of a creed or confession is not to usurp the position of scripture as authoritative but rather to summarize the major doctrines of scripture.  A single creed can never fully plumb the depths of every doctrine taught in scripture but it can help establish a framework as we continue to study the bible and hear the preaching of the word.  With that said, the one creed that has stood the test of time is no doubt the Apostle’s Creed.  It has been held to for centuries by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists.  It is thoroughly trinitarian in nature and for the focus of this particular blog, I want to discuss the first line on God the Father. 

“I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth...”

God the Father Almighty

The Existence of God

So what do we confess when we say “I believe in God the Father almighty”?  First and foremost we are simply acknowledging the existence of God.  While this seems like an obvious statement it is a huge deal in a world that is becoming progressively more secular. There is radical skepticism at every turn trying to convince you that you cannot even confess the first half of the first sentence of the Apostle’s creed.  However, Scripture tells us that “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom 1:19).  While it should seem intuitive that everything had to come from something, people would rather believe that all matter is eternal or that a big bang brought everything into existence as opposed to believing in an eternal God who transcends time and space.  Paul tells us in Romans that in the things that have been made we see the creative order and design that God brought about in the creation of the universe.  We not only see this in things visible but also in the laws of nature that make scientific discovery possible in the first place.  Some theologians refer to this innate belief in God as the “seed of religion”.  Though skeptics know deep down that He exists they choose to suppress the truth instead.  

          Nature can only reveal so much about God.  But God did not leave us to our own devices.  He revealed Himself to us in His Word through the prophets, apostles, and ultimately through his son “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,” (Hebrews 1:1,2).  In talking about creation we are getting somewhat ahead of ourselves but this just goes to show how intertwined the existence of God is with creation.  My major point here is that creation and the revealed Word of God point us to Him.

God Almighty

          The primary characteristic of God the Father as defined in this creed is the word almighty.  Here is a sampling from Scripture that describes God as Almighty.

(Gen 17:1 ESV) “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless’”

(Ex 6:2-3) “God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.’”

(2 Corinthians 6:18) “and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

One interesting similarity in these verses is that it is God who refers to Himself as being Almighty.  Therefore, it is a characteristic of God that indeed deserves much attention and should come to no surprise that it appears in the Apostle’s creed.  So when we say that God the Father is “Almighty” we are confessing the absolute power and authority that God has over the universe.  This characteristic is also very much tied into creation since it would take an almighty being to bring the world, not to mention the entire universe, into existence.  Long before radical skepticism, there was idolatry.  In confessing God to be almighty we are saying what type of God we do believe in.  Following the existence of God in creation, Romans 1 continues:

(Romans 1:21-23) “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things”

Not only do we dishonor God by mere unbelief but we have also historically dishonored Him by worshiping idols made with our bare hands.  We will unpack this further from the prophet Isaiah.

(Isaiah 44:6-8) “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.’”  

This is not the description of a god that we can carve from wood or stone. God needs no such representation and even forbids it in the second commandment.  God is the first and the last, He absolutely is, and there are no other gods that exist before Him.  Part of what it means to be almighty is to be completely self-reliant and have no need outside oneself.  This is known as the doctrine of God’s aseity (Eyes Open Ministries has done a podcast on this topic).  Not only does God absolutely exist but He also upholds and governs the universe with complete authority.  God demonstrates this in the above passage by challenging those who believe in any other god.  He tells idol worshipers to enquire of their god the things of the future and see if it will happen.  This is a fool's errand since God knows He is the only one who can accomplish this and encourages us to “Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?”  Whenever God says something is going to happen, it is not because he looked into the future via foreknowledge and knows what is going to happen but rather He explicitly “declares” it.  The greatest example of this in scripture is the myriad of prophecies referring to Jesus and what He would accomplish hundreds to thousands of years before they came to pass (Acts 4:25-28).  This should give those in Christ great comfort.  God tells us to “fear not”.  Do not be afraid of the fake gods of wood and stone or any other power on earth. Look to Him and what He has brought about in scripture as an assurance of His promise to save us from our sins if we trust in Christ.  “And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” As His witnesses, we can confidently confess “I believe in God the Father almighty” as our only Rock of salvation.  

Creator of Heaven and Earth

As we discussed in the previous section, God’s self-existence and almighty power are tightly related to Him being the creator of heaven and earth.  Since we have already discussed this we will come at it from a different angle.  Genesis 1 is not a bad place to start for this topic but I want to turn our attention to John 1 instead.

(John 1:1-3) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

The Apostle’s creed contains a strong trinitarian theme.  Therefore, to connect the first line of the Apostle’s creed concerning God the Father with the second line concerning God the Son it is important to see the relationship they both have in creation.  If we confess that it is God the Father almighty who made the heavens and earth then Jesus, the Word, is also just as almighty to have created the heavens and earth in the beginning with the Father.  And let us not forget that the Spirit of God was there in creation as well “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”.  So while God the Father is particularly associated with creation, just as Christ is associated with salvation, and the Holy Spirit is associated as our comforter, the Son and the Holy Spirit are no less involved in creation as the Father is.  Let us return to Hebrew 1 to see this relationship more fully.

(Hebrews 1:1-3) “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Here we see clearly that through Christ, God created all things and even upholds the universe by the word of his power.  Not only did Christ create the world with the Father but He is also just as almighty and governs and upholds the universe with the Father.  God is not one to share his glory or attributes with another but Hebrews tells us that Christ is just as powerful as God the Father thus establishing His full deity as God the Son.  This is the trinitarian thread that runs through the Apostle’s Creed.  Though most of the creed refers to the work of Christ, it is getting across the point that all three persons of the trinity were involved in that work of salvation.  Just as God is the creator of the world He is the restorer of the fallen world as well in its re-creation.  

Conclusion

If your church does not recite the Apostles’ Creed every Sunday it is well worth your time to memorize it on your own. It will act as a concise summary of what you confess as a follower of Christ. Let it be a reminder of the God you believe in who is self-existent and with His almighty power created, governs, and upholds the world. This same God is the Rock of your salvation who in the three persons of the trinity are recreating the world and working out your salvation through spiritual rebirth and eventual resurrection from the dead. Just as Abraham was in the presence of God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Romans 4:17) we can have confidence that we too will be raised from the dead. As the Apostles’ Creed later confesses “I believe in the Holy Spirit….the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, Amen”.