The Apostles Creed #2
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I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, Our Lord
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, Our Lord
Today we are continuing through with our series in the Apostles Creed. Last week we began our series by diving into the first statement which was, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.” As we looked at that, we discovered what it meant that God is Father, Sovereign and Creator and what that has to do with our lives today.
And as we look into our next passage, we are going to consider God the Son, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will do that by exploring three facts. First, His name is more than a name. Second, He is more than a man. Third, His authority is more than a memory.
In Matthew 26:63-68 we read
63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” 64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! 66 What do you think?” They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.” 67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”
In this passage, Jesus is being interrogated by the Sanhedrin Council as they are trying to silence the One who has posed a threat to all the power they have gained over the Jewish people. As they do this, the leader asks Him to confess whether He is truly the Son of God. Not as though the man wanted to actually know and believe, but so he could condemn Christ on account of blasphemy and that’s what he does when Jesus affirms that He is the prophesied One. But how does He do that when all He says is ,”It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven.” What does that mean and how could that really be a confession that would result in condemnation by these men? Well, as we explore our points for today, we will also answer that question and we will begin this as we look at point one.
His Name is More Than a Name
His Name is More Than a Name
What does your name mean? It’s not something we really think about a lot in our culture today, but in the Hebrew culture, a name told a story. For instance, Noah’s name meant Rest as his father was tired of the hardness of this world and trusted that Noah would be one through whom rest was brought. But what about the name Jesus? Does it mean something or is it just 5 letters that we pronounce in referring to Him?
Well, the name Jesus would’ve been pronounce Yeshua in Hebrew which sounds very similar to the name Joshua in our language today and, as a matter of fact, that’s what it is the equivalent to. The name Joshua, in the Old Testament, means “He who saves” or “savior.” and when the Lord is in the womb of Mary, Joseph is told, in Matthew 1:21,
21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So, Jesus is more than a simple group of letters. It’s a sermon in a nutshell and it preaches that He to whom this name belongs is the Savior of His people. Acts 4:12 says
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
But what about the title Christ? Contrary to what we may have believed as little kids, Christ was not Jesus’s last name, but is a title. And if that’s the case, whats it for? Well, Cornelius P. Venema writes, “If the name Jesus describes our Lord as the only Savior, the title Christ describes the work He was called to do in order to be our Savior.”
The word “Christ” is equivalent to “Messiah” or “the Anointed One.” And when we say that He is Jesus Christ, we are stating that He is the Savior anointed by God for the task of saving us. When we say, “I believe in Jesus Christ.” We are “confessing that He was ordained by the Father and anointed by the Holy Spirit to a particular task.” At Jesus’s baptism, we see this happen as the Spirit rests on Him as a dove and the Father speaks from Heaven and says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
But what were the tasks that Christ had to complete for us? First, He had to be the Prophet that Adam failed to be. Meaning He came to declare the words of God which, in His message, are salvation being brought in Himself .Hebrews 1:1-4 tells us about this.
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Second, He had to be the Priest that no man could ever perfectly be as He made the sacrifice for the sin of His people that would satisfy the wrath of God. John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus yelled, in John 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Jesus was the Lamb who took away the sins of the world and He did this by offering Himself up to die for us on the cross. But this isn’t it. He reigns as the Eternal King. Mankind, in Adam, was supposed to be a people serving as prophets, priests and Kings, but we failed and in our sin are separated from God. But Jesus came and fulfilled these roles for us that we might through Him be saved. Matthew 28:18 shows us a glimpse of Jesus as King as He says,
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
So, what does it mean to say we believe in Jesus Christ? When we confess that we believe that Jesus is the Christ, we are saying that we truly believe that Jesus is the perfect One who did what no one else ever could do and in Him we place our faith that through His work, we will be made right with God.
What does this mean for us?
It means we should seriously read His word as the Prophet.
It means that we should rest in His sacrifice as Priest.
It means we should obey Him as the King.
But this isn’t all. Our second point is:
He is More Than a Mere Man
He is More Than a Mere Man
Do you remember going to the movies as a kid to watch the newest super hero show and how you’d walk out of the theater and wish that you were more powerful than you really are? Wishing that you had cool abilities too? Well, in Jesus we find not only a good man, we find some who is 100% man and 100% God.
Now, in Matthew 26:63-65 we read
63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” 64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!
But what does it mean to be the Son of God? Well, all throughout the Bible we find references to men as the son of Belial or the son of something they are bound to. It means their nature is similar to that thing. Well, when we say that Jesus is the Son of God, we aren’t claiming that God made Him, we are claiming that He is actually God. That He is of the same essence of the Father Himself. But, you might be thinking, If Jesus is the Son of God, why does He reply to them by calling Himself the Son of Man?”
And that takes us back to Daniel 7:13-14 which says
13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
Here is a prophesy that says that the Son of Man is going to be the perfect man who will have absolute power, glory and authority. That He will reign with God and will bring forth a kingdom that will never end. Well, what does Jesus say to this guy in Matthew 26:64
64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Jesus is prophesying that indeed they will kill Him, but after that He, who is the Son of Man, will ascend to Heaven and will sit at God’s right hand just like Daniel prophesied. This is recorded by eyewitnesses in Acts 1:9-11
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
So, when Jesus says that He is the Son of Man. He is telling this guy that He is the perfect man who will reign at the right hand of God and will bring forward a kingdom without end and because this is true. Because Jesus is the perfect prophet, priest and king. Because Jesus is the Son of God who reigns forever and ever, because He is the One who saves us from our sin, we can say with this old creed, “I believe in Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son, Our Lord.” And this leads us to our last, really short, point
His Glory is More Than a Memory
His Glory is More Than a Memory
Now, in our society today we don’t really use the word, “Lord” at all. So, what does it mean when we call Jesus our Lord? Well, it means that we “belong to Him because He has claimed and purchased us for Himself” (Venema, 37). And because of that, we are both at liberty because we are no longer bound to sin, but a free in Christ. And second, we are to be aware of how we live as Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 14:8
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.