Credo (I believe)

Contents

Page.

I. Special Features of the Apostles' Creed . 9

II. God, the Father Almighty 23

II God, The Father Almighty

TEXT

Psalm 121

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

II

GOD, THE FATHEE ALMIGHTY

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." Thus reads the first article of our Creed ; and to it we shall devote two sermons. There have been times when this section was given preference, not merely in rotation but rather in significance. Some commentators even attempted to limit the entire Creed to this one article ; eliminating altogether the second section, on redemption, and the third, on sanctification. On the other hand, there are students even now who would make the second section of this Creed, the one on Jesus Christ, the sole article of their confession. By such scholars the first section is considered to be of comparatively small importance — the A, B, C, if you please, of religious faith. One opinion is as erroneous as the other. To be sure, the first article needs, for its supplement, proper illustration and full interpretation, also the second ; for it is only in the Son that we see the Father, and are thus enabled to believe in Him. Still as a factor in bringing about such a supplementing and illustrating of the first article, the second is exceedingly important, and also of great spiritual profit. The first article forms the basis of all cosmography; it gives one a correct idea of the universe. Besides, it instructs us respecting our needs and deficiencies, as Luther so beautifully expresses this idea in his explanation. Unfortunate is the man who fails to appreciate the teaching of the second article, and ignores Jesus Christ. Pitiable also is the condition of one who cannot testify with all his heart : "I believe in God, the Father." If such faith is lost because of life's hardships or from any difficulties of reason, all is lost. Superstition, a new heathenism, unbelief, and skepticism, all will find a solution of the great inner crises and turning points of life; while the first one enters into our daily life with all its strivings and cares, and there proves itself true.

I. — The Omnipotence of God

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." To get away from one's faith in the eternal, omnipotent God, is the most difficult thing in one's life. No wonder that it is so. God is the source of all power and life. To the unbiased eye He is revealed by the visible universe. The one hundred and twenty-first Psalm and the first chapter of Romans testify of Him. For one to avoid the feeling of omnipotence existing all around him, is absolutely impossible. The heathen with their many gods, are always conscious of the existence of a Supreme Being, or the Highest Spirit. The modern man, in his pride, denies the existence of God ; yet he bows down before the mere forces of nature, and makes room for a mere impersonal, controlling Power. Most surely, this submitting to some unknown, impersonal God, that, like a cloud hangs over our entire life, both physical and spiritual, over all our aspirations and pursuits, is the most unworthy, the most unsatisfactory and uncomfortable position for one to be in. Still it is true that, even in those countries where an Almighty personal God is believed in, and where the idea of omnipotence stands out prominently and becomes arbitrariness, belief in such a Deity, instead of having an elevating influence connected with it, becomes an oppression to the mind. Such is the case with Mohammedanism. In their way, the Mohammedans are a pious people. Their idea of Allah governs them, and you look in vain for atheists among these people. A full recognition of the divine omnipotence, submission without resentment, and patience in all the trials of life, prevail among them. What we miss, however, is that childlike intercourse with God, that quiet cheerfulness, which is so characteristic of the Christian believer. Also they seem to lack a sense of personal accountability and obligation. They have no real life-courage, no individual force ; since, apart from the idea of divine omnipotence, there is no room in their creed for human freedom. In the heart of Almighty Allah no love can be found.

II. — The Fatherhood of God.

How different our conception is of that Supreme Being with regard to whom we confess, "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." To us God is not merely the Almighty, ruling arbitrarily over our lives ; who, perhaps like an Attila or a Denghish Khan, might abuse his power, using it only for destruction and annihilation. He is our Father. How much wisdom, superiority of mind and heart, and especially how much love there is contained in that word Father! No one could express this idea more beautifully and majestically than the

Lord Jesus, in what He says about the sparrow, (Matt. 6:26-30), or in that other expression of His, "Take no thought for your life," (Matt. 6:25, 26). Here the Saviour — and this is very important — indicates some of the traces of divine love to be found in our own lives. And do we not find such evidence of omnipotence, of divine paternal love, of God's care for his creatures, in nature all around us? These divine qualities are manifest in the arrangement of law and order for the benefit of all God's creatures, and especially of man; also in the preservation and endowments of the different orders of creation, and in the wonderful uniformity of law of the entire universe, from the circulation of the blood to the courses of the planets. Heaven and earth, and all their hosts, are always ready to serve this omnipotent and loving Divinity. In this connection the one hundred and fourth Psalm might be read. It says : "These wait all upon thee that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather; thou openest thine hand, they are satisfied with good." There was a time when much thought and study were given to what was considered the perfection and the wise arrangement of things connected with our earth. With much fondness for the expression, this planet was called "the best of worlds." About that time the great earthquake at Lisbon occurred, hurling fifty thousand people into eternity. Then, like a hurricane, the question of God's goodness and wisdom swept through millions of superficial minds. It was the perplexing question of how such an occurrence, and the evil of the world in general, could be reconciled with the idea of God's paternal love. Similar calamities have since shaken our earth, such as the disappearance of the Island of Ischia, the eruption of Mount Pelee on the Island of Martinique; also of Mount Aetna, near Messina; the earthquake at San Francisco, and many other like events. In our own day we have the fearful scourge of the great worldwar. And what shall be said of the daily and hourly troubles that occur in the lives of individuals? There are thousands of woes affecting both the lower orders of creation and also humankind; and then there is death, the very climax of all evil. What a contrast is this age of ours, with its many hardships of life, to the days of over-sensitiveness and sentimentality mentioned above! The hideous and the sad things of life are now-a-days canvassed even upon the streets, and with bitter scorn and blasphemous scoffing, men point to "such a (rod of love" — as they say — to "such a Father of His creatures;" crying out, "show us, if you can, any trace of divine love connected with these calamities. Such evils without end, do they not rather indicate the existence of some Higher Powers endowed with attributes the very opposite to that of love?"

What answer shall we make? Only this: A mere study of nature and of the course of its events can never give one full joyous confidence in God the Father. Such study can as easily be the cause of doubt as of faith; besides leaving a riddle behind. That riddle can be fully solved, if without prejudice we will only listen to God's Word. God did indeed make all things good. He made man upright ; but it was human sin, man's revolt against a Holy God, that caused this great change in the order of things. Sin affected the perfection of God's works, and ruined the happiness of man. Yes, it was sin, most dreadful sin. God's judgment was provoked by it, and as a consequence the earth is now wrapped in dark clouds of affliction, and death spreads its wings over all creation. Still, notwithstanding the heinousness of sin, God's longsuffering and lovingkindness can be seen in a thousand different way-marks. A beaming light casts its rays into the darkness ; it is the royal testimony of God's unceasing love. Or, in other words, it is the revelation of God in His only begotten Son, the redemption of sinful man by the atonement. This which no study of nature, no researches made in Tiuman history could give you, will be effected by your looking, in the exercise of faith, toward Bethlehem and Golgotha. Should there be times in your experience when thoughts of God's omnipotence and holiness seem to oppress you, when doubts respecting His love haunt you, when even His very existence is clothed with darkness, go to Bethlehem, go to Golgotha. There you will find what no science can obscure. Jesus is the revelation of God in human flesh, — "he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father."

The subject of God's grace as manifested in Jesus Christ we will not enter upon to-day. Let that be reserved for our study of the second section of the Creed we are considering. This however we must yet show, in this connection, — how the first article naturally leads to the second, and how the second interprets and glorifies the first. Moreover, such study will show how Christians who in the Son have learned to see the Father, are thus enabled to confess: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty."

Mohammedans, or the confessors of Islam, believe, as we have already seen, in God ; but they stop at His omnipotence. Israel believed, and still believes, in a Holy God, and the fruitage of their so doing is a timid faith. To be sure, they believe, to a certain extent, in Jehovah as their Father, — that is, the Father of His chosen people. The chief manifestation however of God's paternal love, — His sending of the Messiah, — for this they are still looking and hoping. Consequently their belief in God's love does not have that joyous and immovable firmness which is so peculiar to the Christian's faith. We who are Christians, teach the fact of the Father's love manifested in the Son. Before this light, shining as it does over our world, the shadows flee away. Jesus is an inexhaustible source of life, light, and love, flowing into humanity. What an unspeakable blessing is this revelation of God's love! Here is the proof of that love : "If God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32). We have in Jesus Christ an overwhelming supply of evidence against all the doubts which may arise from different experiences and observations, and endanger our confidence in the Father's love. He who seeks and sees the way-marks of this divine love only in the works of God, kisses but the garment of the great King. But he who in Christ finds that love, looks into the very depths of the Father's heart, and, with Zinzendorf , is forced to exclaim :

"Hallelujah! Heights of glory!

Depths, unsounded, full of grace, Telling us the wondrous story: Jesus loved our sinful race."

A person who, being fully assured of this love of the Father, can thus exclaim, has a keen vision for all its evidences. Even in the dark and dire experiences of life he recognizes such way-marks. He rises to the conviction that "all things work together for good to them that love God." Day by day his appreciation of the first article of our Creed grows higher and stronger. With such a man this Creed is not merely a Sunday affair, a means of edification in the hours of special graces, a source from which overwhelming impressions of God's goodness may be derived; neither is it something to brood over. But it is with him a blessed foundation of faith, a real source of hope and joy to his soul.

III. — Personal Trust in God

Would that such might be in reality, and evermore remain, the case with each one of us. To believe in God, the Father Almighty, must not be understood as signifying merely a general acceptance of the doctrine of God's omnipotence and fatherly goodness, as of a world governing Power; it signifies rather that one believes he is always dependent upon God's omnipotence, and surrounded by His paternal love. With such an understanding of the idea, one can truthfully say, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty." Moreover, this personal belief must not be a part, nor even the principal part, of one's world-view, acquired intellectually or by some process of reasoning, a view superior only to mere pagan and materialistic misbelief and unbelief. But it must be rather the blissful reflex, the echo of real heart-experience, which has found the Father in the Son; and having which experience, one now professes before all the world : God is love, God is my Father.

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty." The faith of which we speak is not merely theoretical, or a conviction to which one's mind assents, and which with joyfnl lips he confesses even against modern unbelief. But it must be most decidedly a practical faith, a constant submitting of one's self humbly to God's omnipotence and a childlike trust in God's love. Also, it must be a source of humility and courage, of joyousness in life and readiness for death; but a source as well of childlike obedience due the Father and willingly rendered to Him, because of His benefits toward us. "A man without religion is lost." So said one standing high in the world. But whether we occupy the heights or the depths of human life, without God we are all lost ; lost in disobedience, lost in our needs, lost in death. To be sure, even if we know God as our Father, we may yet not be able to discover what His purposes are with regard to ourselves. His love often enough takes a different course from that expected by us, with our childish ideas and wishes; for His ways are as much higher than ours as heaven is above the earth. But this one thing we know. The Father will not suffer His children to be lost. His love is such that it wills that all men should be saved, and His omnipotence is able to save even to the uttermost. Let this, therefore, be the confession both of our hearts and lives : "I believe in God, the Father Almighty."

"Thy ways are little known To my weak, erring sight; Yet shall my soul, believing, own That all thy ways are right. "

Amen!

Ill

MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.

Ill

MAKEK OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

The subject of our discourse to-day brings before us some memorable words found in the teachings of two of Jesus' leading Apostles. They belong to Paul's great sermon on the Areopagus at Athens, and to Peter's impressive admonition to the strangers scattered abroad throughout Asia Minor. Both Scriptures have an intimate relation to our discussion of the first article of the Apostles' Creed. In our last sermon we discussed the first part of this section, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty." The remaining part, "Maker of Heaven and Earth," now comes before us for consideration.

"God who made the world and all things therein, He is Lord of heaven and earth," — thus Paul introduces to the men of Athens "The Unknown God" whom they had been worshiping. This subject which to them, in such light and certainty, was entirely new, we have been familiar with from the days of our childhood.

I. — Creation of the Material Universe

We all know about the story of Creation as it is recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. We remember about the six days' work of the Creator, how our earth that at the beginning was without form and void, was fashioned as we now have it ; the different changes and new creations appearing one after another, — first, the light ; then the atmosphere ; next the dividing of the water from the land, the bringing forth of grass and herbs ; and then the appearing of the two great lights in the firmament of heaven; the creating of fish and fowls ; and finally the appearance of man. Some of us do not know more about creation than is given in this Scriptural narrative ; moreover, this old story even by itself suffices us. We rejoice in this inspired record, in which God's omnipotence and goodness stand out so prominently ; since it is said of God's work, that after every day's achievement God saw that it was "good." What a splendid record, so entirely different from what might be said of our daily achievements, regarding which we are compelled to acknowledge, often with tears in our eyes, that they are not good.

There are persons, however, who are unable to abide in this simple faith touching the Biblical account of creation. They are deeply interested in the discoveries of science and the study of nature, to learn thus, if possible, about the origin of our earth and of the entire universe. To us who believe in the Word of God the so-called results of scientific research and of natural science, are only hypotheses. Considering however the interior structure of our globe, the different strata of rocks, the remains still existing of a previous animal and vegetable world, we do not deny that developments have taken place, and that evolution and revolution have occurred in the bowels of our planet. Even now we notice that great changes occur, caused often by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Whole complexes of things connected with the earth, are changed, disappear, or take on different forms. Nevertheless if some unbelievers, filled with the thought of these violent commotions, dare to assert in language like this : "There you see, God did not create our world, neither does He preserve and govern it; it is only the forces of nature that do all these things/' — such talk is mere idle prattle. The very operations of nature's forces and the final results they accomplish, prove the existence of a divine will and purpose ; and it is only to effect His purpose that God uses the forces of nature. "He walketh upon the wings of the wind;" "His ministers are flaming fire." And if some scholars undertake to refer you to the long periods of time that must have elapsed in bringing about the present conditions of our earth through so many stages of development, and then scornfully turn to the account of a creation perfected in six days, saying, "How could that be?" — by such language they only show how small is their conception of the word "day."

"A thousand years in thy sight is but as yesterday when it is past ;" sc says Peter, quoting from Moses in the ninetieth Psalm. As to the length of these creative days, some of which evidently began before the sun, which is our time-determiner as to days, set out on his course, we really know nothing at all. Some scientists interpret all these days of creation as long periods of time ; and then they try to arrange carefully, within this frame and its successive long periods, all that science has discovered respecting the developments of our earth up to its present stage. Still these matters are only details, things which we may, without any disturbance of mind, leave to the scientists. In such discussions no question of faith, no truths of any determining effect upon one's conscience and upon his general world-view, are involved. What however in this Biblical record is, and must remain, the most important considerations for us, are truths entirely independent of individual research and scientific discoveries. No science can shake these Biblical truths; and vice versa, these truths supplement all that the study of nature can achieve. It is a great truth that the world does not exist of itself ; also that it is not eternal, but is rather the work of a wise, almighty and beneficent Deity. And most certainly this is a fundamental truth ; contradicting, as it does, all that erroneous deification of nature which in these times is so prevalent, and being, moreover, directly opposed to the delusion against which Peter testifies in the Scripture we have referred to, namely, that this world would endure forever. Being only a created world, our earth with its surroundings is surely doomed to destruction at some day, so as to make room for the new and more glorious works of God, yet to appear.

II. — The Creation of Man

Moreover, this Biblical record of the six days' creation teaches that God did not by one act make use of His omnipotence in establishing the universe, or more particularly, our earth. Bather are we instructed that the world was made by degrees; the higher developments, that is, the more complicated forms of life, succeeding the simpler ones. In this method of procedure one can detect the work of a Great Artist, a pattern to be observed by all activity.

But now comes the third and most sublime part of this history of the creation. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him," (Gen. 1 :27) . In this statement can be seen the great and uplifting truth of man's singular dignity above all other created beings, his likeness to God. In his discourses on the Areopagus, Paul confirms this idea by quoting from Aratus, a Cecilian poet: "For we are also His offspring." In the same verse he had already quoted that poet as teaching this fact in its deepest significance : "For in Him we live and move and have our being." A consciousness of this divine likeness must have inspired the Psalmist in the highest degree, when, combining humility with self -consciousness, he wrote : "What is man that thou art mindful of him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor," (Ps. 8:4, 5).

Over against a wretched materialism, which, through the mere semblance of science, lowers man to the level of an animal; or, worse yet, over against practical materialism, which degrades man actually to an animal with its lust of the flesh and its savageness, thus rendering it utterly impossible to explain the momentous phenomena of human life, what a dignity, what a duty, what a responsibility rests upon us, in our consciousness of being like unto God! When one considers the physical and intellectual differences existing among men from blooming youth to tottering old age, from minds highly endowed to the dullness of a savage, what internal connection, what common dignity, is found in the fact of this divine likeness ! But how shall we understand this inspired Scripture? What does it mean by saying that "God made man in His own image?" A physical interpretation of these words, is of course excluded; for "God is a Spirit." Still, because of the close connection existing between body and soul, an inherent nobility must surely be the property of man's physical system ; thus rendering it a fit vessel, a true mirror, a real organ of the soul. This is simply a logical consequence. Unquestionably a reflection of the divine image emanates from the human body. That is apparent in various peculiarities belonging to man, such as his upright form, which indicates royal dignity ; his skillful hand, which enables him to force matter into the service of his mind ; and his wonderful gift of melodious speech, embodying as that does his inner life.

In conformity with its essence, though, the divine image in man does not consist of anything merely physical in its nature, but of that which is spiritual, something superior to the mere visible world. The spirit of man it is that, in its knowing capability, strives after divine omniscience ; and that, like a bird, wings its way through both the visible and the invisible universe, making all its own. The spirit it is that, sensitive to all kinds of impressions coming from the world, like an aeolian harp in the wind, gives forth various sounds, at times harmonious, at others shrill, or discordant; that always takes an internal attitude towards the affairs of the world, yes, builds up its own world either of joy or grief. The spirit it is that, in the exercise of will-power, takes the field for conquest and tries to subdue the world, or at least to impress its stamp upon some particular place. Still all these powers of knowing, feeling, and willing, are after all not the best properties conferred upon man at the time of his being created in the image of God. The best of all his gifts consisted in this, that man with his various powers of mind, or soul, was not only rooted in God, but was granted the privilege of full communion with his Maker. Such a relation imparted power and purity to man's spiritual life, or to his soul. Man's knowing capability sought God and found Him; his sense of feeling was permeated with happiness, because of his being adopted as a child of God; and his will-power submitted, for man's own good, in obedience to the will of his Creator.

III. — Man's Fall From His First Estate

But this crown of man's sacred fellowship with God fell from his brow, in that sad moment of his first disobedience. Because of sin he lost the best part of that divine image in which he was created. To the old question of the Catechism, "Do you still bear the image of God?" we have sorrowfully to reply, "Nay, we lost our first estate by the fall." To be sure, we have not in the full sense of the word lost our likeness to God, for we still retain the soul with its peculiar powers of knowing, feeling and willing. But the sweet fragrance, the celestial luster of this divine image is gone. Our communion with God has been broken, and as a consequence the purity of our soul-powers is lost, and their capability for achievement has been lessened. A dark cloud has spread over the human understanding. Evidence of that can be seen in the pagan world. The very best thing our human race has, its knowledge of God, is there perverted to heathenism.