I Believe in the Holy Spirit

I Believe in the Holy Spirit

 

We have been discussing the basic Christian beliefs and the Apostles’ Creed in these last few blogs. Today we will discuss a major Christian belief, the belief in the Holy Spirit. The Apostles’ Creed reads: “I believe in the Holy Spirit”.  Here below is another copy of the Apostles’ Creed.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty.

Creator of heaven and earth. 

 

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, died, and was buried:

He descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again:

He ascended into heaven,

And is seated at the right hand of the Father.

And will come again to judge the living and the dead.

 

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The holy catholic church,

The communion of saints,

The forgiveness of sins,

The resurrection of the body.

And the life everlasting. Amen.

 

When Jesus left the earth and went back to heaven He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem and He would send them the Holy Spirit.  These are Jesus’ words to His followers: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts l:8)

 

The disciples and over one hundred of Jesus’ followers were anxious to receive the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised, so they came together and prayed and waited for the Spirit.  For ten days they waited and prayed together in an upper room for the promised Holy Spirit. And Scripture describes what happened next: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” (Acts 2:1-4) 

 

Don’t you wish you could have been there? The Holy Spirit suddenly comes upon Jesus’ followers as a rushing, violent wind and settles as tongues of fire over each woman or man waiting there.  Wind and fire – Blow into our lives, Holy Spirit and fill us with your mighty power. Light our hearts with your fire that our love may burn forYou. 

 

Those early followers of Jesus at Pentecost who received that first infilling of the Holy Spirit were never the same again! When Jesus was crucified, all His disciples had deserted Him and run away terrified! But now after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, these same fearful disciples were changed! They are now bold and unafraid! They all begin to speak in tongues as the Spirit gives them the words!  And Peter preaches a sermon to the amazed onlooking crowd and more than three thousand people from the crowd become Christians that very morning.

 

 And after that, hundreds of people each day were drawn to Christ as they heard the good news of Christ being preached on the streets of Jerusalem. Those early spirit filled Christians deeply loved one another, forgave one another and shared everything with one another. Their numbers grew as so many more people accepted Christ and joined them.   

 

Peter and others went about healing the sick and performing miracles through the Holy Spirit’s power.  No one had ever seen anything like it!  The early Church had completely given themselves over to the power of the Holy Spirit! And Scripture says that they all worked together and took care of one another. Oh, that our churches today would love each other and forgive one another and totally open themselves to the power of the Holy Spirit!  Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit is for every believer.  Are we open and waiting for His guidance in our lives?  

 

I believe that many Christians live Spirit-deprived lives today.  Many have not been taught about the Holy Spirit or encouraged to seek the Spirit’s work in their lives.  We often try to live the Christian life in our own strength and wisdom.  How do we open our lives to the Holy Spirit?

 

First, we can pray and ask for more of the Holy Spirit’s power and continue to wait and pray for more as the early Christians did. We can listen for the voice of the Spirit and open ourselves to the Spirit’s work in our lives.  When the Spirit convicts us or quickens our conscience to wrong doing, we can repent and turn from hate or bad deeds.  We can ask the Holy Spirit to lead us and be ready to follow. He will often lead us through persistent nudges.  We can listen for His nudges and wait for His guidance in the decisions we make in life.

 

Scripture describes some of the Holy Spirit’s work and impact on our lives as the “fruit of the Spirit.”  Scripture says: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Also, the Holy Spirit gives us each gifts as He decides, so that we can be helpful as members in the body of Christ.  Some of the gifts the Spirit gives are prophecy, teaching, praying for miracles, healing, gifts of administration, gifts of wisdom or knowledge, and tongues.  (1 Corinthians 12:27-29)  

 

The Holy Spirit is part of the God head, the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  No one fully understands the Trinity, the Three in One. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  It is a mystery.  If we humans could understand God, then God wouldn’t be God. The Church down through the ages has had to fight for the basic orthodox Christian faith.  The Church fathers, with much prayer and fasting and trusting God to guide them, have held to the Biblical Christian position that God is One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

 

Scripture tells us that if you believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that He will give you the Holy Spirit to be at work in you, comforting, guiding, and empowering you.  The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit “seals” us for eternal life.  Here Scripture tells us: “Having believed, you were marked in Him (Jesus) with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possessions – to the praise of His glory! (Ephesians 1:14)

 

Jesus told His followers that:” If anyone is thirsty, let him or her come to Me and drink.  Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him/her.”  (John 7:27) And the next verse, John 7:38 says:” By this Jesus meant the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.”   This Gift that Jesus gives His followers is the Holy Spirit.  And when we open ourselves to this wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit, we will never be spiritually thirsty again!  We will never thirst again because Jesus says that streams of living water will flow out of us!  It doesn’t get any better than that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the Eucharist or Communion?

What is the Eucharist or Communion?

 

We have been discussing the basic Christian doctrines found in the Apostles’ Creed. The Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed both have much to say about Jesus, His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection from the dead. His ascension into heaven, and the fact that He is seated at the right hand of the Father and will come again to judge the living and the dead!  The Apostles’ Creed also speaks of the doctrine of the “forgiveness of sins”.  And that is the gift that Jesus gives us that changes everything for us! He forgives our sins.

 

Just before Jesus was crucified, He ate the Passover meal with His disciples. As they were eating together Jesus asked His disciples to remember Him and His death for us by eating bread and drinking wine.  Jesus told them that the bread is His body, broken for us and the wine is His blood, shed for us.  Today we call this meal the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist or Communion. Down through the ages all the Christian churches have observed this holy Communion meal remembering Jesus’ death.  Jesus called it the meal of the “New Covenant” or new promise.  The “Old” was about to be fulfilled by the “New,” since Jesus’ death on the cross would change everything!

 

The Jewish Passover meal represented the “Old Covenant” where each year a lamb was sacrificed by each Jewish family and eaten with unleavened bread.  Since leaven represented sin, there could be no leaven in the bread. On that first Passover in Egypt, the blood from the sacrificial lambs was sprinkled on the door of each Jewish home. And on that night, death came to every Egyptian home, but the angel of death “passed over” each Jewish home that was covered by the blood of these lambs.  The next day Pharaoh ordered the Israelites to leave Egypt. Finally, God was freeing Israel from slavery to the Egyptians.  (Exodus 12)

 

But now Jesus was announcing a “New Covenant” where the Lamb of God was sacrificed once and for all to free anyone who will come to Him from the slavery of sin.  All the lambs that were sacrificed before were pointing to Jesus, the future Lamb of God that is the ultimate Sacrifice, taking away our sin. By calling for us to eat the bread and drink the cup, Jesus leaves us a reminder of His willing sacrifice – the foundation for forgiveness of sins.  Christ said these words: “This is My blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)   

 

 The Bible says: “When Jesus had given thanks, He broke the bread and said; ‘Take and eat: this is My body which is broken for you.  Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper saying: ‘This cup is the New Covenant in My blood.  This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.  Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a person examine herself or himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For she/he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”  (1 Corinthians 11:24-29) 

 

The Catholic Church and all Protestant denominations and the Eastern Orthodox Churches obey Jesus’ call to remember His death with the meal of bread and wine.  We call it different names, the Eucharist or Communion or the Lord’s Supper.  Many Christian Churches teach that the Lord’s Supper or Communion is a Sacrament.

 

When we take holy Communion, we are participating in the sacrifice of Jesus’ death.  We are participating in the foretaste of the feast to come with our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He will not eat that meal – the bread and wine until He eats it with us in Glory.  (Matthew 26:29)  The Lord’s Supper not only reminds participants of the redeeming death of Jesus, but it looks forward to His return, when the memorial supper will give way to the festivities of the marriage feast of the Bridegroom and His Bride (us). 

 

We are not to take Communion lightly. We are to love Christ and to repent of our sins before we take Communion. And forgive our enemies. We do not want to eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, or not show humble respect the body and blood of Christ!

 

A Sacrament is a holy act where God imparts grace to us.  Baptism is also a Christian Sacrament. When we take Communion, we receive a blessing. We believe when we take Communion that we are nourished and strengthened in the Faith.  We are anointed by the Holy Spirit as we take the bread and the wine.  We come closer to Jesus Christ when we take His body and blood into ourselves. And we are looking forward to the Day when we will eat this Meal with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in heaven at the marriage feast of the Lamb. Communion is a beautiful holy mystery and we earthly humans are not able to take it all in.  Now we see through a glass darkly but then we will see Face to face.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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Jesus Christ and the Apostles' Creed

Jesus Christ and the Apostles’ Creed

 

For Christians, the beliefs expressed in the Apostles’ Creed are basic to the Christian faith. When we choose to believe the tenets expressed in the Apostles’ Creed, our lives are changed.  Here below is part of the Apostles’ Creed – the part that proclaims our beliefs about Jesus Christ:

I believe in Jesus Christ, Gods’ only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, died, and was buried:

He descended to the dead.

On the third day He rose again:

He ascended into heaven,

And is seated at the right hand of the Father,

And will come again to judge the living and the dead.

And I believe in the forgiveness of sins.  

 

What sets Christianity apart from all the other faiths is its’ specific beliefs about Jesus Christ.   But the most amazing thing is that the Christian faith is not just a set of beliefs or traditions, like other faiths. But the Christian faith is a “living” faith.  The “Word” which is a name for Christ is “alive.” (Hebrews 4:12) (John 1:1-4)

 

 Jesus Christ isn’t just a great Teacher and Savior who lived long ago, but He is Son of God who lives and walks right here in our world today. The Spirit of Christ “lives” in our hearts today when we believe.   Like a favorite Christian hymn goes, “And He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.”  And He brings us His peace and joy.

 

The early Christians set out their beliefs in The Apostles’ Creed not only because they wanted to pass down the true faith – originally given to them, but also because so many false teachers were attacking the true Christian faith by spreading heresie.  So many false Christs!  Most of the heresies and apostasies were leveled at Jesus Christ and who He is!  If Satan can keep people from believing in the real Jesus, and get them to believe in another Jesus, he will have done his job, since the real Jesus is the only One who redeems and saves us.    So, who is the real Jesus?  And why is it so important for us to know Him?   

 

These popular heresies all strike at Jesus Christ, trying to make Him appear to be so much less than who He is.  They create false pictures of Christ, and this keeps people from knowing the real Jesus Christ. One blasphemous and terrible heresy that is out there is that Jesus did not save us from our sins but instead He was just a great example of love.  That he died on the cross for no reason but just to show his beautiful love.  That there is no sin and no judgment – just love. God forgives us without Jesus paying the price for our sins because God can’t love and judge at the same time, so the lie goes. God would be mean to allow Jesus to go through such a terrible death on the cross.  And these unbelieving scoffers rave that anyone who is a believer “is not intelligent.”
  

This apostasy and several others like it are believed by many. These horrible lies take away the real Jesus and put a false Jesus in his place.  A fake Jesus who didn’t shed his precious blood for our sins and who isn’t really our Savior and Redeemer.  A fake Jesus who isn’t God, just a wise man or a super star! The Scriptures warn us to beware, that there will be these false teachers and poisonous heresies – aimed at taking our precious faith away.  We are in a spiritual war and we must put on our armor and hold fast to our Christian faith!  

 

In both Matthew and Luke, the Bible records the birth of Jesus with the details that Jesus was “conceived of the Holy Spirit” when Mary was a virgin.  Is it difficult to believe that God could bring Jesus into the world any way He wanted?  God created the rules of nature and He can by- pass or transcend them. Jesus was not like any other person ever born on earth. He was not born in sin like all humans are.  If He were sinful like us He couldn’t forgive our sins. Jesus is God and He is also human.  So, His birth was different from ours because Jesus is different from all of us.  

 

There is a story in Scripture about some good people carrying a paralyzed man on a bed to Jesus to be healed.  (Matthew 9:2-8)   Jesus spoke to the paralyzed man with these words: “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.”  A crowd had gathered and some of the religious leaders were there watching, and they thought that Jesus was blaspheming.  The Old Testament Scriptures teach that only God can forgive sins.  So, it would be blasphemy for a human to say that he could do what only God can do.  Scripture says that Jesus knew their thoughts. 

 

So, Jesus asked the religious leaders: “Is it easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you.’ Or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?  But so you will know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said: ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’.”  And the paralyzed man was healed and jumped up and walked away to his house.  Now all the of crowds seeing this marveled and they all glorified God.”  (Matthew 9:2-9) 

 

On another occasion Jesus was in a crowd healing and teaching, and there were religious leaders in the crowd criticizing Him as they so often did.  Jesus told the crowd: “If anyone keeps My word he/she shall never taste eternal death.” (John 8:52) The religious leaders immediately got upset and shouted back at Jesus these words: “Do you think you are greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are all dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?” 

 

Jesus answered that Abraham rejoiced to see Him, the promised Messiah. And the religious leaders answered back: “You are not yet fifty years old, so how could You have seen Abraham?”  And Jesus answered them: “Most surely, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.”  (John 8:58) Jesus was saying that before Abraham lived, He was there – eternal and timeless. That He is the “I Am” – the Jewish name for God. 

 

When the religious leaders heard that they picked up stones to throw at Jesus because they understood that Jesus was saying that He is the “I Am” – or that He is God the Son, and if that wasn’t true then it would have been blasphemy.  Several thousand years earlier Moses had asked God what the Jewish people should call Him, or what was God’s Name.  And God answered that His Name was “I Am”.  (Exodus 3:14) All of the Jewish people knew this.

 

Jesus is saying here in John 8:58 that He is eternal or timeless and that He is divine or is Son of God.  Skeptics will say that Jesus never claimed to be God.  But this passage, along with many others in the Bible say otherwise.  When we put our trust in the real Jesus, the “I Am”, we are in good Hands because He can and will forgive our sins.  He couldn’t do that if He was just a wise man.  But He is the true Son of God -  the “I Am”.    

 

 

  

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus Christ and the Apostles' Creed

Jesus Christ and the Apostles’ Creed

 

For Christians, the beliefs expressed in the Apostles’ Creed are basic to the Christian faith. When we choose to believe the tenets expressed in the Apostles’ Creed, our lives are changed.  Here below is part of the Apostles’ Creed – the part that proclaims our beliefs about Jesus Christ:

I believe in Jesus Christ, Gods’ only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, died, and was buried:

He descended to the dead.

On the third day He rose again:

He ascended into heaven,

And is seated at the right hand of the Father,

And will come again to judge the living and the dead.

And I believe in the forgiveness of sins.  

 

What sets Christianity apart from all the other faiths is its’ specific beliefs about Jesus Christ.   But the most amazing thing is that the Christian faith is not just a set of beliefs or traditions, like other faiths. But the Christian faith is a “living” faith.  The “Word” which is a name for Christ is “alive.” (Hebrews 4:12) (John 1:1-4)

 

 Jesus Christ isn’t just a great Teacher and Savior who lived long ago, but He is Son of God who lives and walks right here in our world today. The Spirit of Christ “lives” in our hearts today when we believe.   Like a favorite Christian hymn goes, “And He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.”  And He brings us His peace and joy.

 

The early Christians set out their beliefs in The Apostles’ Creed not only because they wanted to pass down the true faith – originally given to them, but also because so many false teachers were attacking the true Christian faith by spreading heresie.  So many false Christs!  Most of the heresies and apostasies were leveled at Jesus Christ and who He is!  If Satan can keep people from believing in the real Jesus, and get them to believe in another Jesus, he will have done his job, since the real Jesus is the only One who redeems and saves us.    So, who is the real Jesus?  And why is it so important for us to know Him?   

 

These popular heresies all strike at Jesus Christ, trying to make Him appear to be so much less than who He is.  They create false pictures of Christ, and this keeps people from knowing the real Jesus Christ. One blasphemous and terrible heresy that is out there is that Jesus did not save us from our sins but instead He was just a great example of love.  That he died on the cross for no reason but just to show his beautiful love.  That there is no sin and no judgment – just love. God forgives us without Jesus paying the price for our sins because God can’t love and judge at the same time, so the lie goes. God would be mean to allow Jesus to go through such a terrible death on the cross.  And these unbelieving scoffers rave that anyone who is a believer “is not intelligent.”
  

This apostasy and several others like it are believed by many. These horrible lies take away the real Jesus and put a false Jesus in his place.  A fake Jesus who didn’t shed his precious blood for our sins and who isn’t really our Savior and Redeemer.  A fake Jesus who isn’t God, just a wise man or a super star! The Scriptures warn us to beware, that there will be these false teachers and poisonous heresies – aimed at taking our precious faith away.  We are in a spiritual war and we must put on our armor and hold fast to our Christian faith!  

 

In both Matthew and Luke, the Bible records the birth of Jesus with the details that Jesus was “conceived of the Holy Spirit” when Mary was a virgin.  Is it difficult to believe that God could bring Jesus into the world any way He wanted?  God created the rules of nature and He can by- pass or transcend them. Jesus was not like any other person ever born on earth. He was not born in sin like all humans are.  If He were sinful like us He couldn’t forgive our sins. Jesus is God and He is also human.  So, His birth was different from ours because Jesus is different from all of us.  

 

There is a story in Scripture about some good people carrying a paralyzed man on a bed to Jesus to be healed.  (Matthew 9:2-8)   Jesus spoke to the paralyzed man with these words: “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.”  A crowd had gathered and some of the religious leaders were there watching, and they thought that Jesus was blaspheming.  The Old Testament Scriptures teach that only God can forgive sins.  So, it would be blasphemy for a human to say that he could do what only God can do.  Scripture says that Jesus knew their thoughts. 

 

So, Jesus asked the religious leaders: “Is it easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you.’ Or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?  But so you will know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said: ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’.”  And the paralyzed man was healed and jumped up and walked away to his house.  Now all the of crowds seeing this marveled and they all glorified God.”  (Matthew 9:2-9) 

 

On another occasion Jesus was in a crowd healing and teaching, and there were religious leaders in the crowd criticizing Him as they so often did.  Jesus told the crowd: “If anyone keeps My word he/she shall never taste eternal death.” (John 8:52) The religious leaders immediately got upset and shouted back at Jesus these words: “Do you think you are greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are all dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?” 

 

Jesus answered that Abraham rejoiced to see Him, the promised Messiah. And the religious leaders answered back: “You are not yet fifty years old, so how could You have seen Abraham?”  And Jesus answered them: “Most surely, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.”  (John 8:58) Jesus was saying that before Abraham lived, He was there – eternal and timeless. That He is the “I Am” – the Jewish name for God. 

 

When the religious leaders heard that they picked up stones to throw at Jesus because they understood that Jesus was saying that He is the “I Am” – or that He is God the Son, and if that wasn’t true then it would have been blasphemy.  Several thousand years earlier Moses had asked God what the Jewish people should call Him, or what was God’s Name.  And God answered that His Name was “I Am”.  (Exodus 3:14) All of the Jewish people knew this.

 

Jesus is saying here in John 8:58 that He is eternal or timeless and that He is divine or is Son of God.  Skeptics will say that Jesus never claimed to be God.  But this passage, along with many others in the Bible say otherwise.  When we put our trust in the real Jesus, the “I Am”, we are in good Hands because He can and will forgive our sins.  He couldn’t do that if He was just a wise man.  But He is the true Son of God -  the “I Am”.    

 

 

 

The Apostles' Creed

 

The Apostles’ Creed

 

Many Christian throughout the world recite either the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed regularly in their church services.  These creeds have been a standard of belief for most all of the Christian churches down through the ages and have been passed down to us by our Christian forefathers. 

 

It is believed that the Apostles’ Creed was originally developed by the early Christians in the first or second century and was influenced later by the Nicene Creed.  The earliest historical evidence of the Apostles’ Creed’s existence is in a letter written by the Council of Milan in 390 A.D.  Below is a copy of the Apostles’ Creed (English Language Liturgical Consultation). 

 

Apostles’ Creed

 

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, died, and was buried:

He descended to the dead.

On the third day He rose again:

He ascended into heaven.

He is seated at the right hand of the Father,

And He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The holy catholic Church,

The communion of saints,

The forgiveness of sins,

The resurrection of the body,

And the life everlasting. Amen

 

Let’s talk about what Christians believe, and why it matters. What difference does our Christian faith have in our lives?  The Apostles’ Creed begins with who Christians believe that God is.  We will discuss the other beliefs in the Apostles’ Creed in future blogs. But today we will discuss what the Apostle’s Creed says about our Father in heaven. “We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.”   We believe that God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1) And He created you and me. Our God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is a creating God and He calls us through His Son to work with Him.  

 

There are taught popular scientific theories teaching that the earth started out with a big bang and the stuff or matter that eventually evolved into humans, animals, birds, and plants came out of the big bang.  After that we humans evolved gradually over billions of years into what we are today!  Amoebas first then fish, then apes or monkeys and humans on all fours and finally humans the way we are today.   

 

What are the mathematical odds of all of us starting from nothing but a big bang?  Could our world and all that is in it have just put itself together without a Creator?  If life forms did gradually evolve, wouldn’t it make sense that an intelligent powerful Being was behind it all?  When we view a beautiful painting, we know that an artist painted it.  So, when we view our world and all that is in it, why can’t we recognize that Someone had to be responsible for it?

 

Do we ever think that a house could have just evolved, without any person planning it or working to build it?  The lumber and the glass window panes and the roofing and sheet rock and nails and cement foundation just all mystically coming together by themselves without a truck driver in his big rig bringing the supplies.  The house building itself without an architect designing it!  Or carpenters and masons building it, and roofers and foundation contractors doing their part. 

 

We know that behind every house, whether large or small, someone worked and planned and saved money to build it and make it happen.  It is easy to believe that the house was built by a real person or persons. So why is it not easy to believe that our world and all that is part of it, ourselves included -   came together with an intelligent powerful Being or Creator behind it all?   

 

Our holy Scriptures tell us that “In the “beginning”, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) The “beginning” in Genesis 1:1 could have been trillions and trillions of years ago! The first chapter of Genesis tells the story of creation and of how each “day” for six “days” God put together the heavens and the earth.  A “day” in the Bible wasn’t necessarily the twenty-four hour period that we are thinking of.   Scripture says that a day can be a thousand years – or longer.  A “day” in Scripture means “a period of time”.    

 

Many consider “God” to be a creative and powerful force.  But Christians believe He is much more than that.  Most Christians believe in the God of the Bible, a God who is personal, all powerful, all knowing, holy, pure, sinless, loving, just, merciful, good and much more. A God who loves us, is with us everywhere we go, talks to us through His Spirit, strengthens us and leads and guides us if we will allow Him! ( 1 John 4:8, Isaiah 41:10, John 3:16)   A heavenly Father who created us, His children in His likeness.(Genesis 1:27)

 

God our heavenly Father answers our prayers, promises to go with us throughout our lives, watches over us and helps and keeps us. God our Father gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who died for our sins. (Ephesians 2:8-9) And God, our heavenly Father draws us to Himself, but He allows us to reject Him, if we choose.   

 

Why does it matter that we believe that God is the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth?  Believing in God as both Creator and Father adds an additional layer of meaning and freedom to our lives. God the Father Almighty becomes our “dwelling place” and our “comfort”.  (Psalm 90, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5) We can rest in our Father’s arms. celebrate His love and rejoice in His goodness and mercy. (Psalm 23) Have peace about the struggles in our lives.  Cast all our cares on Him.  (1 Peter 5:7) Ask Him for anything that is good. (Matthew 7:7) Trust that He knows the way and is leading us. (Psalm 23)

 

When we walk through the entrance gate of believing in God as Father Almighty and Creator, a new door is opened to us.  We experience highs we never knew before.  And as we humbly walk along that straight and narrow path of believing, we find that our faith has caught the joyful sound. (Matthew 7:14, Phil. 4:4)   We receive grace when we believe.  Peace when we submit to His will.  Believing in our Christian faith changes us and makes us new persons in Christ.  (2 Corinthians 5:17) There is power in believing.