I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord…
The Creeds go back centuries. In fact, the Nicene and the Apostles Creeds both go back well over a thousand years. They were written in a different time and place to settle some of the biggest questions the church was wrestling with at the time. Was God actually in Christ? Did Jesus really die on the cross or just pass out and then was taken down without being dead? Did Jesus really rise? Is his story over or does it continue on into the present?
These questions help us see why the creed emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ conception and the virginity of Mary. These affirm the church’s conviction that Jesus was God’s intentional choice to enter into creation. Likewise, the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus and the clear statement that he “descended to the dead” affirmed the church’s belief that the dead Jesus was really dead, just like all the rest of us will one day be. But the resurrection overturned his death and changes how we see our own death. So, he reigns with God in heaven and we expect and watch for him as he comes in the future – the story is not yet completed!
At the same time, their questions may not align with our questions. When new people come to church, they want to hear about who Jesus is. His life, teaching, preaching, healing, and other signs are often what intrigues people. And if Christ is risen and still involved in our world, we may be glad to know what happened in the past but we are even more curious about what is happening in the present. How is God in Christ at work in the world today?
When we use the creeds, we are connecting to the work of the church and to one chapter of how the church has shared the story of Jesus. The creeds do what they do but they don’t do everything. We continue to see them as one generation’s shorthand for what they thought was most important. They are foundational efforts in the work of the church to say what Jesus means to us.
At the same time, the creeds incompleteness reminds us that this is ongoing work. Who do we know Jesus to be in our time? What are the most important things we want to share about him? How will we talk about Jesus today – each of us as individuals and as a 21st century church?
