The Apostles’ Creed

Sermon on the 2nd Chief Part of the Small Catechism

Isaiah 42:1-9  +  Colossians 1:12-23

The Second Chief Part in the Small Catechism is the Apostles’ Creed. A creed is a statement of faith, what a Christian should and does believe. The Apostles’ Creed wasn’t put together or approved by the apostles, or by a Church council. It was put together, starting in the second century, as far as we can tell, for practical reasons, as a way of teaching new converts the basics of the Christian faith, so that, when they were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, they knew the God into whose name they were being baptized.

So the Creed has three parts or “articles,” one for each Person of the Holy Trinity, each of whom is credited as having a primary role in certain aspects of our salvation.

In the first article, God the Father is emphasized. We believe in Him as the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. Implied in that belief is the acknowledgement that the account of creation in the book of Genesis is historical and true, that the whole universe, all things, visible and invisible, had a beginning and were created in six literal days, that all life, whether plant or animal or human (or angel!), comes from God, and that man is the crown of His creation, that the human race was (originally) made in His image, according to His likeness, with a rational soul and with a perfectly good and righteous character.

We also believe that God the Father preserves His massive creation, but all for the benefit of a single planet, the one we call “Earth.” (And yes, we say that, even knowing how vast the universe is. God’s creative focal point was always Earth.) He holds it all together and causes it to keep functioning according to the laws of physics that He wrote into His creation. God’s work of preservation includes providence, as He continues to provide for all His creatures the things that we need to sustain this body and life. It also includes protection, as the Father sends forth His angels to shield us from harm and to guard and protect us from all evil, not because we deserve it, but because our Father is good and kind toward all that He has made.

But when you say in the Creed, “I believe in God the Father,” you don’t just mean that you accept these facts as true. You’re saying, “I believe in this Father who has done all these things for His creatures, including me, and I recognize that I owe Him my thanks, and my praise, and my obedience.”

But, as we know, mankind has not been obedient. Mankind quickly turned away from thanking and praising and worshiping God, to seek out his own, sinful path. And so, instead of wiping us out or condemning us to an eternity in hell, God the Father is credited with something else: He planned already in eternity to send His beloved Son into the world to redeem fallen mankind, and then He carried out that redemption in time. That’s the theme of the Second Article of the Creed.

In the second article, God the Son is emphasized, who is both true God and true Man. True God, as we heard in the reading from Colossians, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Firstborn, not in the sense of being the first thing created, but in the sense of being “born,” not created,” the firstborn (or, as He’s called elsewhere, the “only-begotten” or “only Son”) of the Father, through whom and for whom all things were created. But to redeem fallen mankind, the Father sent His Son into human flesh, to be born of the virgin Mary. When you say in the second article that He is “our Lord,” you’re telling the world that you not only know who Jesus Christ is, but that you acknowledge Him to be your Lord and Master, whom you love, whom you serve, to whom you owe your undying allegiance, to whom you owe your very life.

And why do you love Him? And why do you owe Him your life? Because you know Him as your Redeemer, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, so that He might purchase and win you from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.

But, of course, your Redeemer didn’t stay dead. His state of humiliation ended with His burial. But then the Father exalted Him. He descended into hell to preach His victory to the spirits imprisoned there, and He rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven, and sat down at the Father’s right hand to reign over all things until He comes again in glory, at the end of the age, to judge the living and the dead.

And what was His goal in becoming your Redeemer? His goal wasn’t to set you free and then leave you be. No, He redeemed you that you should be His own, that you should live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from death, lives and reigns forever and ever.

But what is His kingdom, and how do you come into it, and where does it all lead? That’s the theme of the Third Article of the creed.

The Third Article focuses on the Holy Spirit and His work of sanctification. People are not automatically saved just because Jesus died for their sins and rose again. We’re saved by our faith-connection to Jesus Christ. But faith is something we’re born without. In fact, we’re incapable of it by nature. By our own reason and strength we are unable to believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him.

And so the Lord Jesus, as He reigns at the Father’s right hand, sends the Holy Spirit into His Church, to call people through the preaching of the Gospel: Repent! Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved! The Spirit is the One who enters our hearts through the word that’s preached, enlightening our eyes to see Jesus as our Savior from sin, death, and the devil. When that happens, the Spirit gives us new birth and sanctifies us, setting us apart from the sinful world and bringing us into Christ’s holy Church. He gathers all those whom He has enlightened and brought to faith into the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints throughout the world, where the Gospel is rightly preached, where the Sacraments are rightly administered, where, through the ministry of Word and Sacrament, He continues to enlighten us with His gifts, forgives us our sins richly and daily, keeps us with Jesus Christ in the one true faith, and abides with us to turn us into holy people who are progressively molded into the image of Christ, our Redeemer.

And where does it all lead? It leads to the Last Day, when our bodies will be raised from the dead and transformed into glorious bodies, like that of the risen Lord Jesus. And then we who have been sanctified by the Spirit in this life will go into the life everlasting, where we’ll live in the presence of our God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

These are the basics of our Christian faith. These are the things that every true Christian believes. These are the things that we stake our lives—our very souls—upon. So, with the catechism, let us always boldly and gladly confess the Creed, and, after each article add a heartfelt: This is most certainly true! Amen.