Reading With the People of God #13 Nicene Creed預覽

Focus of the Month: Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With Our Whole Heart

The prophet Elisha sent an unnamed servant to anoint Jehu, a commander in Israel’s army, as the next king of Israel. After the prophet’s proclamation, Jehu then staged a coup, eliminating all of the former wicked King Omri’s royal line, which included the recently killed King Ahab’s newly enthroned son, King Joram, and 70 potential heirs to Israel’s throne. Now Jehu was set to purge Israel of Baal worship, the blight that Omri’s son Ahab and his wife Jezebel brought to prevalence in Israel.

In reading this passage, you read of the ruse Jehu used to gather the priests of Baal to the main temple built to house the holy stone that supposedly contained the power and spirit of Baal that purportedly brought prosperity and fertility. Baal was worshiped as a god by many of the Middle Eastern countries that surrounded Israel. When Omri’s son, Ahab, married Jezebel, a Phoenician princess from Tyre, she brought with her the practice of Baal worship and introduced it to Israel, where it gained a strong foothold. She soon began killing off all of the prophets of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Elisha’s servant told Jehu he was to be the instrument of the LORD to avenge the blood of His prophets that Jezebel had killed. God’s prophets had been killed in the name of Baal. Now, the new king must rid Israel of the scourge of idol worship and all who propagated it. Our passage tells us how he systematically accomplished this cleansing in the name of the LORD.

All seems to go well until we get to verse 28. Jehu’s intentions were good; he wanted to give the people what they wanted, something tangible to worship, the thing that was meant to embody the power, strength, might, even the beauty of Jehovah; a golden calf. He placed one in the north of Israel and one in the south, with access for everyone. What could go wrong?

Verse 31 spells out the problem: Jehu was not careful to walk in the Law of the LORD with all his heart. Jehu left the orthodox worship God had required for the Jews, the only way they were allowed to worship Him, and went in a way that pleased men and seemed right to him. Jehu did not restore true worship to Israel and rid it of idol worship; he just changed the idol.

When we commit ourselves to God in Christ, we commit to His standards, His principles, and His rules. We are not free to add our own spin on how a Christian life should be lived. Jehu learned that God sets the standard, and anything short of that is a failure. Unlike Jehu, let it be said of us that we kept the Word of God with our whole heart and walked blameless before Him. Genesis 17:1

To Save Your Life, You Must Lose It

Here we see a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He is cutting back on His teaching of the crowds of people who flocked to Him and instead is leaning into the disciples and preparing them for the suffering and death that is ahead for Him. It is a hard teaching and rejected by those who love Him, especially Peter, who vocalized his horror at the thought.

Peter had just stated his belief that Jesus was the Messiah now he is horrified that Jesus is talking about being taken captive and killed. The disciples thought Jesus’ ministry was a teaching ministry. They had no concept of His purpose as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, yet to be fulfilled. There was no comprehension of the God-man as a sin offering. He had just talked about building His church, a blurry concept at best at this point, but death would destroy that.

Jesus scolded Peter and said he had the mind of men (and Satan), not of God. Now, instead of a rock to build on, he was a stumbling block. It must have taken so much courage for Jesus to walk toward Jerusalem knowing what lay ahead, He didn’t need His closest confidant trying to dissuade Him from the very reason He came to live among men.

When Jesus spoke of the cross, His followers must take up; Peter had no real way of understanding the meaning of dying to self, the end of the life lived in the flesh, as one takes up the new life lived for Christ. But he would “get it” on the day of Pentecost when he was filled with the very Spirit of Christ. From that day on, Peter and the disciples took up their crosses, denied themselves, and followed Christ, even to their own martyrdom. May we also have the courage to take up the cross and follow Him wholeheartedly.

* Primer contributed by Jinet Troost