The Apostle’s Creed: Jesus Christ
The Apostle’s Creed – Jesus Christ
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit;
Born of the Virgin Mary;
Suffered under Pontius Pilate;
Was crucified, dead and buried;
He descended into Hell;
The third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven;
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
We call ourselves Christians, so it should not be surprising that most of our Creed is about Jesus Christ.
Firstly, here is a clear statement about gender: we have God the Father and God the Son: God has revealed himself in the male gender. Female and/or gender neutral names and descriptions about God, or gender neutral “bibles” are wrong. He tells us who and what he is; we do not tell him.
Secondly, we have a clear statement regarding the dual nature, God/Human-ness of Jesus. Jesus is his human name, telling us he is a human being. Christ is his title, as God the Son. Jesus is Greek for the Hebrew name Joshua, and it means Savior. Christ is Greek for the Hebrew Messiah, which means anointed and sent one. Jesus is the one anointed and sent by the Father to be the Savior.
Thirdly, we have a clear statement that Jesus is the unique son of God, who came forth from God the Father, eternally proceeding from him, absolutely God in his own right. In that sense, he is the “only” Son of God. Here is what the Bible says about Jesus:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” Jhn 1:1-2
“Without question, great is the mystery of godliness: God was revealed in the flesh, …”
1Ti 3:16
“For in Him lives all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Col 2:9
Fourthly, we have a clear statement of his unique human origin, which also explains his dual nature. Regarding his divine nature, he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, which tells us he is God. God the Holy Spirit conceived the body of/for God the Son. Since the blood of bull and goats could not take away sin, God prepared a body for Jesus: “For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings you did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.” Heb 10:4-5 Joseph was not his father. How exactly this happened, we do not know, the bible simply says, “The angel answered her (Mary), the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore the Holy One who will be born will be called the Son of God.” Luk 1:35 The statements “Come upon” and “overshadow” refer to the creation/conception of his human body. Remember, his divine non-corporal person was from eternity, without beginning; his human body began existing at that moment in time; and since his father was not Joseph, who was a descendent of Adam, Jesus the man was is without sin. He was conceived of the “Holy Spirit”, not just of the “Spirit”, but of the “Holy Spirit”; this is why he is called the “Son of God.”
Fifthly, regarding his human nature, he was born of the Virgin Mary, which tells us about his humanity; he was fully man. After being conceived, his body grew in Mary’s womb, and then he was born, as a true human. This is why he is called the “Son of Man.” The Greeks could accept a god coming to live among men, but not a god who was man. To them matter was evil; the gods might mingle with men, but were not, nor would ever become human.
But Jesus took on a human body. When he did this, he did not put his Deity aside; he put his Deity into a human body. That is the whole point of his name Emmanuel, which means “God with us”. It is an improper understanding of the Greek word “κενόω” in Php 2:7 that causes some to say Jesus put aside his Deity. “But He emptied ( κενόω ) Himself, taking upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,” Think of it as “he emptied his Deity into a human body,” like we empty a bottle by pouring into a glass; it does not mean he “emptied it out” i.e. “put it aside”. Emptied into; not emptied out.
Regarding Mary being a virgin, because Hebrew word for virgin used in the prophecy of the virgin birth, Isa 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: The virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,” can mean simply a young woman, many say Mary was not a virgin, however, this is what Mary herself says, “Then Mary said to the angel, how can this be, since I do not know a man?” The miracle of the virgin birth and the purity of Jesus nature rest on Mary whether or not Mary was a virgin; her personal testimony was: I am a virgin!
Sixthly, we have a clear statement of his suffering and death. He suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried. The historic fact of Jesus death is confirmed, however the idea that the Deity would suffer the trial, and then the scourging, and then crucifixion was so contrary to what people expected, that Paul says 1Co 1:23 “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks.” The Jews were looking for a conquering king who would rescue them from Rome, not a carpenter who claimed to be God and was crucified; so they stumbled. The Greeks, thinking matter was evil, could not conceive that God would take on flesh and suffer and die, so they said “This is ridiculous!” Think about it, who would believe that a crucified Jewish carpenter is really the Eternal God?! But that is exactly what we Christians believe and verbally profess.
Seventhly, we have a clear statement of his defeat of Satan and his liberation of captive souls from Satan’s grip; he descended into Hell, but rose from there. Granted this is a difficult statement to understand; did he literally descend into hell, or is it figurative in some way; good men have various thoughts, but it obviously refers to the 3 days while he was in the tomb. The point is, death had no power to hold him, Satan had no power to hold him. He descended into hell, and rose; his body did not corrupt. Act 2:24 “For You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” Satan could not keep him; Jesus was victorious over death and hell and Satan at each and every point in the battle. The Roman god of the dead was Pluto (the Greeks called him Hades); Pluto/Hades could not hold our Jesus, so Jesus is stronger; this was a problem to the 1st century worshipper of those gods. He lead the captor, the jailer of death captive, he tied him up in chains, and lead him forth as his captive, the spoils of his victory over death, for public (universal) display, to their shame!
Eighthly, we have a clear statement of the resurrection. We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The same body that developed in Mary’s womb and was birthed by her, that worked with Joseph in the carpenter shop, that walked around for 3 years preaching, that hung on the cross, rose from the dead. When he appeared to the 11 in the upper room on that resurrection Sunday night, they thought they were seeing a ghost, a spirit, an apparition, but NO! “As they were saying this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be unto you.” They were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Feel Me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” When He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet disbelieved for joy and wondered, He said to them, “Do you have any food here?” They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate it before them.”
Luk 24: 36-43
He said and did those things so they would know it was his true body; the same body he always had, he continued to have, and that same body now sits on the throne of heaven.
Ninthly, we have a clear statement that Jesus went to heaven with this same body. He ascended into heaven.
“When He had spoken these things, while they looked, He was taken up. And a cloud received Him from their sight. While they looked intently toward heaven as He ascended, suddenly two men stood by them in white garments. They said, “Men of Galilee, a why stand looking toward heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you to heaven, will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Act 1:9-11
The bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven tells us that we will have bodies in heaven; a different type of body, but bodies none-the-less. Read 1Co 15 on this. It assures us that our bodies count; that is why Christians have generally not practiced cremation.
Tenthly, we have a clear statement regarding the exaltation and enthronement of Jesus. “And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” The right hand is the place of honor and power and authority. The risen Lord Jesus said this to his disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Mat 28:18
He is at the right hand of God Almighty, ruling over the nations of the world, and building his church, as he saves his people. All the residents of heaven, the 4 living creatures, the 24 elders, the angels, the Seraphim, the Cherubim, and the Christians who have already died, are worshipping Jesus Christ! He is at the “geographic” center of heaven; he is the focus of heaven. That is why this warning of Psa 2 is so weighty!
“Now then, you kings, be wise; be admonished, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear; tremble with trepidation! Kiss the son, a lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath kindles in a flash. Blessed are all who seek refuge in Him.”
Psa 2:10-12
And lastly, we have a clear statement that this all ends. “From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.” There is a last day. Once Jesus has saved the last of his people, he can roll things up; it is over; that’s it!
All that we see and think will last forever, is temporal. “For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2Co 4:18
There is a last day, a last minute, a last second. The trumpet will sound and it will be all over. We will then all stand before Jesus Christ himself to be judged.
He is the Judge.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. Before Him will be gathered all nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and come to You?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly I say to you, as you have done it for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you have done it for Me.’ Then He will say to those at the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve You?’ He will answer, ‘Truly I say to you, as you did it not for one of the least of these, you did it not for Me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Mat 25:31-46
Who are the sheep? The sheep of the people whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world, and because their names were written in that book, they were saved. They were given life by the Holy Spirit; their sins were washed away by Jesus blood; sinners though we are, we will not be condemned and sent to hell.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His face the earth and the heavens fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. Books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their works as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one by his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev 20:11-15
These are the basic truths which Christians have believed about Jesus for 2000 years.
They are true whether you believe them or not.
All of the warm and fuzzy rhetoric about Jesus sounds nice, but does not prepare people to meet the real Jesus.
I would encourage you to think about the clear statements that the Apostle’s Creed makes about the real Jesus.