I Believe . . . In Jesus Christ (Part I :: Christ's Divinity)
On Sunday, 19 September 2004, Mr. Hunter continued his series on The Apostles' Creed by considering the divinity of Christ: ". . . And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord . . .." (The sermon for 26 September 2004 will focus upon Christ's humanity.)
Pastor Hunter's goal in the sermon was to affirm Christ's fully divine nature. Providing some historical background, he explained how The Apostles' Creed contains the early Christians' understanding of Christ's divine nature.
Quoting several passages of scripture, Mr. Hunter showed how the earliest confessions of the disciples acknowledge Christ's divinity. The first of these confessions is Peter's:
[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" [14] And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." [15] He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" [16] Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mat 16:13-16)
One of the earliest symbols for the Christian church was the fish, which represented Christ. In later centuries, the Greek word for the fish (Ichthys) was used as an acronym that affirms Christ's divinity:
ΙΧΘΥΣ = Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior
The divine nature of Christ, concluded Mr. Hunter, sets him apart from other great men, prophets, moral leaders, and teachers through the ages, such as Buddha. When one believes in the divinity of Christ, then Christ's miracles in the Gospels present no logical impediments: what cannot God accomplish?
When Christ says to us--as he said to Thomas--". . . do not be faithless, but believing," may we answer as Thomas did, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:27-28).
No comments:
Post a Comment