M.R. Hyde - Exploring the Nicene Creed

Exploring the NiceneCreed

Copyright 2011 M.R.Hyde

Smashwords

Edition

Blog: http://thewordwwtw.blogspot.com/

Smashwords Edition, LicenseNotes

This ebook is licensed foryour personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold orgiven away to other people. If you would like to share this bookwith another person, please direct them to digital publishers wherethis book is available. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.

Portions of this book camefrom Who is Jesus ?A Devotional Journeythrough the Gospel of Matthew also by M.R.Hyde and available at e-book retailers.

Scripture taken from theHOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978,1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registeredin the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use ofeither trademark requires the permission of Biblica.

Contents

C hapter 1

What do you believe? Whatdo you believe about yourself? What do you believe about chairs orbuildings? What do you believe about God?

People gather often as theChurch because they either know God a little bit, want to know himmore, or wonder if there is a God. Perhaps it would be good to setabout the task of understanding what we believe in gatheringwhatwe really believe.

For centuries people of alldifferent kinds of religions have tried to put what they believeinto nutshells of all shapes and sizes. Its kind of what companiesdo, too. What is the latest McIntosh belief system? ThinkDifferent. I have flown on Southwest Airlines frequently and theyhave a statement of belief about their frequent flyerprogramSouthwest Airlines Rapid Rewards: A Symbol of Freedom.Wow! Look at what I get for my airfarefreedom!

In our minds and humansystems we are always trying to capture ideas and concepts and putthem into reliable and transferrable short forms. Our Muslimfriends have what is called The Five Pillars of Islam. These arethe basic guiding principles for every Muslim in the world. Ashumans we want to be able to tell others in a brief and excellentway exactly what we stand for, exactly what we believe aboutourselves, our organization, or our lives. Often we call thesestatements manifestos, doctrines or creeds.

So, Christians, beingreally no different than any other persons in the world, seek forways to explain their beliefs to others, and perhaps to themselves.If someone were to ask us what we believe we have perhaps twochoices out of many. Read the entire Bible to them from Genesis toRevelation (which should be done anyway, but over a long period oftime) or walk them through a much shorter version of theGospel.

Creeds also serve anotherpurpose. They give us a way to say out in full voice what webelieve, to testify to the truth that is within us. To testifymeans to make a statement based on personal knowledge or belief. Itmeans to bear witness. When confronted with an opposing force,there may be times that we will have to declare the truth of whatwe know. And greater still there is a spiritual truth found inRomans 10:8-13. Listen to how the Apostle Paul described what wasnecessary for every Christian. But whatdoes it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in yourheart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if youconfess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heartthat God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it iswith your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is withyour mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says,"Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there isno difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of alland richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls onthe name of the Lord will be saved.

It is when we say it withour mouths and mean it from our hearts that the transforming workof Christ continues. And when we match our mouth with our beliefsomething wonderful happenswe will never be put to shame. Whatgreater promise could you and I have than that God, through JesusChrist, will deliver us from sin and shame?! So, I want to be ableto say with my mouth and mean it from my heart that Jesus Christ isindeed my Lord!

There is a classic Britishstory of the Winslow family that might help us flesh this out abit. The story follows the lives of a banker and his family livingin the turn-of-the-century London. The youngest boy, Freddy, isaccused of forging a note and stealing money from another student.And on top of that Freddy is expelled from a prestigious school forthe matter.

When Freddys parentsdiscover their young son standing out in the rain in the back yardafraid to come in, the journey of defending him begins. Freddypleads his innocence to his family and they immediately believehim. Yet, the leadership of the school stands by theiraccusation.

Eventually the boys oldersister approaches a high profile, very influential lawyer, SirRobert Morton, seeking his assistance in the case. The sistercaptures the curiosity of this incredibly busy and important manand he begins to hear the boys case.

In a tense scene thescrutinizing lawyer hammers away at Freddy in front of his family,first accusing him then trying to trick him. The family becomesfrustrated and befuddled because they wanted the lawyer to defendthis child, but he only seemed to be attacking him. On the way outof his office, Sir Robert Morton quietly accepts the case, statingthat he believes the boy because his story neverchanged.

The Winslow story escalatesinto a national spectacle as Sir Robert Morton brings it before thenation. It becomes a fight for justice for the young and innocentand a fight for truth. As the legal proceedings gather momentum,the family is forced to sell off everything dad by day for the debtowed to the legal system. Why did they do all this? They do this toprove that they believe their young son. They knew Freddy to betruthful and stood by him. Their lives, the way they soldeverything to protect him, and Freddys own unmovable story proveto be the strength of the family in the end. Sir Robert Mortonpunches hole after hole in the falsehoods written and told aboutFreddy.

Freddys testimony wastrue. Nothing could move him from it because he knew it to be true.In the end the boy is released from the false accusation of guiltand the family expressed deep and abiding joy. Over and over in thestory Freddys testimony remains the same. Over and over the lawyerand the family remind the court and the public that to believe inthe truth is more important than status, wealth andfame.

This story is the story ofa type of creed. It is a simple, humanistic story, but one thathelps us to describe the necessity of how we remember what webelieve to be true.

One of the earliestChristian creeds was also known as a hymn of the church. It isfound in Philippians 2:5-11and it puts the Gospel in a profound andcompact form. Your attitude should be thesame as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, didnot consider equality with God something to be grasped, but madehimself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made inhuman likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbledhimself and became obedient to deatheven death on a cross.Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him thename that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every kneeshould bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and everytongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God theFather.

That is one of the mostbeautiful and concise renditions of the Gospel. And yet, a coupleof centuries later some folks felt like they needed to push it alittle further. In the face of much heresy and opposition they gavea more detailed explanation of what we as Christiansbelieve.