Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Nicene Creed: God the Father part 2

The ancient roots of the Christian faith reach all the way back to the creation of the world. Christianity is not a religion that just popped up out of nowhere but is the result of Divine revelation and activity to humanity. The Nicene Creed, and the earliest Creeds of the Christian faith, acknowledge God as the Creator and maker of all things. Drawing from the Hebrew Scriptures (Gen. 1; Ps. 19, 95; Jer. 32:17) and from the Apostles teachings (Rom. 1:20; John 1:1-3; Heb. 11:3; Rev. 4:11), the early church fathers identified the importance of recognizing God as our Creator. 


The Bible explicitly states that God created all of creation, both visible and invisible substances. As an ancient book, the Bible was written in a time before modern scientific advancements, and yet it speaks to God’s sovereignty over all of it. Sovereignty is God’s reign and dominion over the created world. It teaches us that God has a purpose and a plan for everyone and everything, there are no accidents with God. 


Modern “science” claims evolution began the natural world apart from a god. The universe, the solar system, the earth, and all living things just happened to exist after a “Big Bang” and millions (now billions) of years. These evolutionary theories are being accepted and taught as fact, yet they cannot be verified or established by the actual scientific method. Evolution removes the need for a god, but it also removes the meaning of life, love, and joy. It strips humanity of dignity and purpose. It is empty and leaves no reasons for existence. If you ask me, it takes more faith to believe in evolution than to believe an all power, all knowing, benevolent God created all things. 


The Cosmological argument for God’s existence declares that everything that exists has a cause, but what was the first cause? Identifying a first cause is not enough, for what caused that? Understanding the definition of God leads to identifying God as the “uncaused cause” or “uncaused first cause.” He is before all things and in him all things hold together. 


The Teleological argument for God’s existence is an argument from design. It states that as you look at the created world you will see intentionality and design in all of creation, leading one to understand that there is a Designer. 


Both of these arguments seek to give reasons for believing in God and are consistent with what God reveals about himself. He was before all things and spoke the world into existence. He had intention and design in his creative work. Ultimately, we see his design in the imago dei as he created humanity in his image (Gen. 1:26). 


Not only did he create man in his image, but he sent his Son to become human in order to save us (1 John 4:14). Colossians 1 teaches us about Jesus role in creation and salvation. God created our bodies and our souls. Jesus took on a human body and sacrificed it to save our souls. This shows that God cares about our physical bodies as well as our souls. When Jesus rose from the dead, he rose bodily. One day, when Jesus returns, the future resurrection will be a bodily resurrection. These teachings demonstrate the goodness of body and soul. Yes, our body and soul has been corrupted by sin (Rom. 3:23; Is. 53:6) but Jesus came to redeem us, both body and soul. Read Psalm 103 and Psalm 139. Reflect on how God views his creation, our formation, and our soul. 


No comments:

Post a Comment