Christology- Lesson 1

Overview

Why Christology Matters

Christology is the careful study of the two natures of Christ—how Jesus is at the same time fully God and fully man. This is not abstract speculation; it stands at the very center of the gospel. As Paul writes, "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself" 2 Corinthians 5:19. If Jesus were not truly man, he could not stand in our place; if he were not truly God, his sacrifice could not avail for the sins of the world. Luther rightly said in the Large Catechism that "the entire gospel which we preach is based on this," and that this article of faith is "so rich and comprehensive that we never can learn it fully."

Why Creeds?

To guard and confess this truth, the Church has been given the creeds. A creed is simply a statement of belief, and even those who claim "deeds, not creeds" are stating a creed. The creeds serve several purposes: they teach the basics of the Christian faith, warn us against false statements that contradict Scripture, and unite the universal (catholic, with a little "c") Christian Church in a common confession. They are not Scripture, but every line is rooted in Scripture—so much so that to attack the creed is, in a sense, to attack the Word from which it springs. The earliest believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching" Acts 2:42, and the creeds preserve that apostolic deposit for us.

The Three Ecumenical Creeds

The Lutheran Church confesses three creeds, each developed for distinct reasons. The Apostles' Creed, though not actually written by the apostles, grew out of apostolic teaching and was used to prepare catechumens for baptism. It is concise, plainly stated, and serves as a "rule of faith"—a straight edge that does not bend, even when we do. The Nicene Creed was forged at the Council of Nicaea (325) and completed at Constantinople (381) to answer the heresy of Arius, who denied the deity of Christ. The whole controversy hinged on a single Greek letter—homoousios (same substance) versus homoiousios (similar substance)—and the Church confessed that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, "begotten, not made." The Athanasian Creed, written later for pastoral instruction, dives deeply into the mystery of the Trinity and the union of Christ's two natures: "He is God begotten before all worlds… and He is man born in the world… existing fully as God, and fully as man."

Pastoral Application

Each Sunday when we confess the creed, we are not reciting a relic; we are professing the very truth of the gospel together with the whole Church across time. These confessions equip us for daily life and witness. When a fellow believer drifts toward something "off," the creed is a faithful tool to walk through what Scripture teaches and why it matters. Take time this week to read the Apostles' Creed alongside the Scripture passages it summarizes—let it shape your devotions and your conversations. Above all, hold fast to the heart of Christology: Jesus has never been anything other than fully man and fully God, before his incarnation, during his earthly ministry, and forever after his ascension. On this our salvation rests.

Transcript

So today we are starting our study on Christ's Dology, 0s

which is figuring out how the two natures of Christ 6s

work and why both Jesus as truly man and truly God, 12s

100% man, 100% God, why that's true 18s

and why it's absolutely necessary for salvation, 23s

for him to be the accepted sacrifice for our forgiveness 28s

or for the forgiveness of our sin. 33s

So let us, so we're handing out, see I have handouts, 35s

this is exciting stuff today. 40s

So we're gonna finish that and then we're gonna open 43s

in prayer and start diving in. 46s

And if we need more handouts, I have, we have a copier, 51s

so it's, again, it's more for your use at home. 54s

Okay, we'll get you some. 59s

I'll promise. 61s

All right, we have a few leftover Sylvia. 66s

Okay, right over on this side. 69s

Thanks so much. 70s

All right, let's open in prayer. 72s

Lord, we thank you, we thank you for this church, 74s

we thank you for the consistency in your truths 78s

being preached and taught. 82s

We ask that you would use this time in adult education 85s

right now to speak more of your truth into our lives 89s

that we would learn and grow and be able to bring this, 93s

this new information into our witnessing opportunity 99s

that we would be able to keep your word of truth 103s

upon our lips at all times and in all circumstances. 105s

We thank you for this community of believers 110s

that you have called us into and we ask that we would 113s

continue to grow in faith and love with one another 117s

toward you as a community. 120s

We ask all of this through the blessed name 122s

of Jesus Christ. 124s

Amen. 126s

Okay, so in a book, Edward Hardy, who was an editor, 128s

he wrote, in Christ, this is from Second Corinthians, 133s

in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself. 135s

The central problem of Christology is how to maintain 139s

the true humanity of the Savior without obscuring 144s

the affirmation that God was indeed acting in Christ. 148s

Martin Luther in the large catechism 154s

said about the second article, 156s

the entire gospel which we preach is based on this 158s

that we properly understand this article 164s

is that upon which our salvation and all our happiness rest 167s

and which is so, it is so rich and comprehensive 171s

that we never can learn it fully. 174s

So as we study Christ to natures, 178s

we are going to be using the creeds of the church 182s

as our basis, as our kind of rule, 186s

which helps to explain or express in a concise manner 190s

what we confess as Christians in concerns to Christ 196s

and both his humanity and his deity, his divine nature. 201s

So today we're going to really dig into the creeds, 207s

kind of set that foundation of why we would even go to a creed. 210s

There are some churches you'll hear that say, 215s

deeds, not creeds, but even that is a creed. 217s

A creed is a statement of belief, right? 222s

And every week we have a confession 225s

or a profession of our beliefs through the apostles' creed. 228s

So why do we have creeds? 234s

Period, question mark, I guess, really. 238s

Why would we even have creeds? 240s

A, they teach the basics of the Christian faith. 243s

Of course, it's not hitting all aspects 248s

of what we believe or every doctrine of what we believe, 251s

but they're a basic written summary 255s

of what Scripture teaches about God 257s

and about what He does and continues to do for us. 260s

The creeds also warn us against what we don't believe. 265s

They help us to avoid faith statements 270s

that would actually be false that are not biblical. 273s

So we're rejecting untrue statements 277s

through the use of these creeds. 282s

They also serve to unite the entire 285s

or whole Christian church in a common confession of faith. 288s

In the apostles' creed, you'll note every week, 293s

we say that we believe in one holy Catholic 296s

and Apostolic church. 299s

And a lot of people, when they first hear that, 301s

if they don't understand what Catholic is, 304s

it kind of, what, what, what, we're not Catholic, 307s

we're Lutheran or what, how does this work? 310s

It's little C. 313s

So the denomination of Catholicism 314s

or the Roman Catholic church, that's a big C 318s

and that is a denomination. 320s

Little C Catholic means entire or universal. 322s

So when we're professing faith in the holy Catholic church, 326s

we are professing faith in the universal Christian church. 330s

So I think that's just important to clarify. 337s

So if there's a visitor ever and they kind of, 340s

what are we talking about? 344s

You can clarify that for them 346s

that we are not professing faith in the Roman Catholic church. 347s

We're professing faith in the universal whole Christian church. 350s

So each week we use the Apostles Creed in our liturgy, 356s

but there are three creeds that we in the Lutheran church 362s

hold as valid and true, which are the Apostles Creed, 366s

the nice scene Creed, and the Athenation Creed. 372s

And it was, I'm trying to remember, 376s

I just have this conversation, I'm trying to remember, 379s

I come first with a few people, 382s

but someone said, we're not gonna do the long one, right? 383s

That's the Athenation Creed. 387s

But right now we're gonna talk a little bit about each creed, 390s

how they came about, why they're necessary. 394s

And it's important to understand that each creed 397s

was actually developed for different reasons. 399s

They weren't without reason. 404s

So we're gonna start with the Apostles Creed. 406s

This is the one that we're most familiar with. 408s

We say it every week in catacism or in confirmation. 412s

This is what the kids examine and dig into 416s

and learn more about the Apostles Creed. 420s

So the origins of the Apostles Creed aren't clear. 423s

It's called the Apostles Creed, 427s

but we don't actually know who wrote it specifically. 429s

There was an early tradition that this creed 434s

was composed on Pentecost or shortly after Pentecost 437s

by the 12 Apostles and that each one contributed an article. 441s

But that has ultimately been proven false. 446s

It's been proven false, on the basis of the intrinsic 450s

improbability that there's no word of that in the scriptures. 455s

So scripture is silent on that. 460s

There's a silence from the early church fathers. 463s

This is before the council, before Nicaea. 466s

And then there are various forms of this creed 470s

that exist in the early church. 473s

So we do not hold to the tradition 477s

that the Apostles actually wrote it each. 481s

It was developed really as a basic faith statement 484s

based on the apostolic teachings 490s

that anyone who was preparing for baptism 493s

would be studying. 496s

And if you think about Acts 2, chapter 2, verse 42, 498s

it says they, that's the new believers, 502s

they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching 506s

and fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 509s

They were constantly sitting at the feet of the Apostles. 513s

They were learning from the people who had learned 517s

and walked with Christ. 520s

So they were taking all that the Apostles were teaching. 523s

They were devoting themselves to that. 527s

And that was forming the beginning of their faith statements. 530s

So as then the church progressed 535s

and people would prepare to be baptized, 539s

this was part of that preparation to study 542s

these basic tenets of faith that they had learned 546s

from the Apostles. 550s

On that handout you will find, 553s

and we're not gonna go through all of these currently, 556s

but this is a nice little reference for you. 560s

It's scriptural reference points 564s

throughout the Apostles creed. 566s

So you can see where this comes from. 568s

And there are other references that can be found for these, 571s

but these are just at least one scriptural reference 574s

per belief statement. 579s

So you can see we've got New Testament, 582s

Gospels which are in the New Testament, 586s

and Old Testament all represented here. 588s

So it's kind of nice to have this to go back to and say, 591s

okay, so we have this creed. 595s

We say this every week, I can study it 597s

in the small or large catechism, 599s

but where is it coming from, from the word of God? 602s

Here you go. 605s

Here is nice, nice scriptural references for you. 606s

So I encourage you to take this home, look it up. 609s

I think this actually would be a beautiful devotion time, right? 612s

To consider the statement of belief, 617s

to consider and read the scripture where it comes out of, 621s

and then to pray on that, consider that. 625s

How did the apostles, how did the early Christians come to this 628s

and really consider that? 633s

I hope you get use out of those references. 635s

Also, I will tell you that the Bibles that are children, 640s

this is a little side note, the Bibles are children 643s

receive here in third grade, 645s

has these scriptural references. 648s

So the kids can certainly be learning this as well 650s

or hopefully they are digging into the word. 655s

If you have children or grandchildren 659s

who have received one of these Bibles already, 661s

I encourage you to go to that page. 664s

It's right after Romans before 1 Corinthians 666s

to look through it with them and to study it with them. 669s

It's a nice addition to that Bible. 673s

Let's see here, for a long time, the creed, 678s

the apostles creed was actually memorized. 681s

It was not written down and it was explained 683s

the explanation of the creed was done right before 687s

the Catecumans were baptized. 692s

So they would be studying, studying, 695s

and then it would all be laid out right before 696s

they would be baptized. 700s

The creed was taught and it was used as a rule of faith. 702s

So if you think about a ruler, a straight edge, 707s

we can follow it. 711s

It's a wonderful guide. 713s

We can't stray. 715s

If we're straining, the rule doesn't change. 717s

The straight edge doesn't change. 721s

It's us that's leaving that. 723s

So it helps to guide and it helps to keep us 726s

in the rule of truth. 729s

We at this church use the apostles creed 732s

every single week in our liturgy. 735s

And when we're reciting this creed, 738s

we're stating our beliefs. 741s

We're professing our faith in a very concise manner 744s

and bringing it all culminating right there. 750s

Every single week, we are speaking and saying 755s

what we believe as Christians. 758s

Someone had written and I don't know who wrote this 761s

so I can't give credit, but it's not me. 765s

Someone had written that attacking this creed 768s

is tantamount to attacking scripture. 771s

I thought that was really interesting 775s

that to try to break down or deny 778s

the words of the apostles creed, not that it is scripture itself 782s

but that it is everything is based out of scripture. 788s

Everything ties right back to the Word of God. 793s

So trying to deny the statements of belief 795s

in the apostles creed is like attacking scripture itself. 799s

So then let's move to the Nicene creed. 805s

The Nicene creed was developed 808s

and we're probably somewhat familiar with this. 811s

I believe we use this in our liturgy a couple of times a year. 815s

The Nicene creed was developed with the purpose 821s

to articulate the faith in the face of what was rejected. 823s

So Constantine, one control of the Roman Empire in 312 830s

and as he gained control, he realized within the Christian church 836s

that there were a lot of fractures, 842s

a lot of different people preaching 844s

and teaching different things. 846s

And so he wanted to bring unity to the Christian church 848s

and so he called the council of Nicia in 325. 852s

I always forget that I can use this. 858s

So in 325 was the council of Nicia. 860s

And this was, let me find my notes what this was. 869s

Oh, so, sorry about that. 874s

Okay, so if you recall in Acts the 15th chapter, 877s

do you remember when we had that first church council? 881s

Do you remember that where they all came together 885s

and it was over the whole controversy 887s

of whether people are actually saved by grace 889s

through faith in Jesus Christ alone 893s

or if there was a plus, 895s

if they needed to be circumcised, 898s

if they needed to continue to follow the Jewish ceremonial law. 900s

So at the heart of the council of Nicia 905s

was the controversy over the deity of Christ. 908s

It was whether he was actually God or not. 913s

It was, this derived from the teachings of a man named Areas. 919s

He was a priest named Areas. 923s

Areanism is a heresy within the church 925s

that denies the deity of Jesus Christ. 930s

It was non-Tranitarian and it put forth the idea 934s

that Jesus was amongst the created of God. 938s

He was not a creator. 942s

So it put him not in line with God the Father. 945s

At the heart of this debate, 952s

I need to write this correctly here. 954s

At the heart of this debate, 956s

and I always thought this was really interesting, 958s

was this one word or two words? 960s

Okay, so we have homo-usia, 969s

my Greek pronunciation is not good. 972s

Homo-usius and then we have 975s

homo-usius. 984s

So you see this one little letter there. 986s

So homo-usius means same substance. 991s

Homo-usius means a similar substance. 996s

So there was a huge debate over Jesus being same substance 1002s

or similar substance as God. 1008s

And what the church fathers found and came to rest upon 1012s

was that he was indeed of the same substance of God. 1017s

What's really cool, this debate is where we get the idiom 1022s

of doesn't make one ayoda of a difference 1027s

or doesn't differ one ayoda 1033s

because this little letter here, 1035s

this in Greek is in ayoda. 1039s

And so that's where we, 1042s

and I thought that was fascinating, 1043s

but that's where the big debate centered. 1046s

So the council affirmed that the father, the son 1052s

and the Holy Spirit, that whole Godhead, 1055s

they are of the same substance indeed. 1058s

So with the final ratification of this nice in creed 1063s

and you'll see it, this is cool, 1067s

this little chart here, we have the council in 325 1070s

and then we have the council came back, 1076s

they reconvene under Constantinople 1078s

or in Constantinople in 381 1081s

because they needed to come back and go over the Holy Spirit. 1085s

So that's where that debate led in 381. 1091s

So with in 381, that is where we get our final nice, 1095s

scene creed. 1101s

This is the creed that has added 1102s

then the article on the Holy Spirit 1104s

and this is where, 1107s

this is the creed that we are familiar with 1109s

and that when you say it or when you hear it, 1112s

oh yeah, okay, that's the nice scene creed. 1114s

This is where it came from. 1116s

So I hope again, this is just another tool 1117s

that is very interesting, 1120s

I think it's interesting, I hope you do, 1124s

but I would encourage you to look over that 1126s

and see where the church fathers had come 1128s

and in that span of years. 1133s

So then we get to the Athenation creed. 1139s

So the Athenation creed gets into the nitty gritty, 1142s

it really describes in detail the relationship 1146s

between the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. 1150s

This creed, so we have the Apostles creed 1154s

which was used to teach the Catechic humans, 1158s

it's used in a liturgical sense, 1161s

then we had the nice scene creed 1164s

that was formulated in order to profess 1166s

in a concise manner what we believe in the face 1169s

of what we reject, right? 1172s

Then we have the Athenation creed 1176s

which was written for pastoral instruction and testing. 1178s

So it got into a deeper, deeper discussion 1184s

over the Trinity and how or what we believe as Christians, 1189s

it was not developed for liturgical purposes. 1195s

However, some Christian churches do recite the Athenation creed 1200s

about once a year on Trinity Sunday. 1204s

We're gonna go over a little bit of this in a second here. 1208s

So this creed was written toward the end of the fifth century 1211s

and it really delved into that mystery of the Trinity 1216s

like no creed, no other creed had done to that point or sense. 1220s

It's attributed originally to Athanasius, 1227s

the Athenation creed, who was an opponent of Areas 1231s

from the nice scene creed, right, 1234s

from the Council of Nicea, 1236s

but truly the author of this creed is anonymous. 1239s

It came out too late for it to actually have been written 1243s

by Athanasius. 1246s

So I have, we're gonna just go over, 1248s

we're not gonna read the whole thing, 1252s

but we're gonna look at the second article 1254s

because we are studying Christology 1256s

and we're using these statements of faith as our basis. 1260s

I'm gonna read the articles which speak what we confess 1265s

as Christians about Jesus. 1270s

So from the Apostles creed, we have the second article. 1275s

I believe in Jesus Christ. 1278s

You guys know this one, his only son, right, keep going. 1280s

Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, 1285s

was crucified, died, and was buried. 1288s

He descended into hell. 1291s

On the third day he rose again, 1293s

he ascended into heaven and is seated 1295s

at the right hand of the Father. 1297s

He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 1299s

Okay, all of that, you are professing everything 1303s

or the basis of what we believe Jesus Christ to be. 1307s

And we're gonna dig into this more, 1313s

but we have professed in those words that he was born 1316s

of a human woman, but that he was conceived 1321s

through the power of the Holy Spirit, right? 1324s

Just in those two, that one sentence, 1329s

we have just proclaimed Christ to be both man and God. 1332s

We're gonna keep going. 1337s

So in the Nicene creed, it says, 1338s

in one Lord Jesus Christ, 1340s

the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father 1343s

before all worlds, God of God, light of light, 1346s

very God of very God, begotten, not made. 1350s

There's that not created, not created. 1354s

Keep him on the same, in the same plane with the Father. 1357s

Being one of one substance with the Father 1363s

by whom all things were made, 1367s

who for us men and for our salvation 1369s

came down from heaven and was incarnate 1372s

by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man. 1374s

He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. 1379s

He suffered and was buried. 1382s

And the third day, he rose again, 1384s

according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven 1386s

and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 1388s

And he shall come again with glory to judge 1391s

both the living and the dead, 1393s

whose kingdom shall have no end. 1394s

You can hear a lot of similarities with the words 1397s

within the Apostles creed and the Nicene creed. 1401s

There are a lot of crossovers. 1404s

I grew up Catholic, so sometimes as I'm doing 1406s

the Apostles creed, all of a sudden, 1408s

I flip into the Nicene creed. 1410s

And I said, wait a second, I am in the wrong creed here. 1412s

But you can hear there are some similarities, 1416s

but it's a little more refined in the Nicene creed. 1419s

It's getting a little more into some finer points, 1423s

be gotten, not made, right, of the same substance 1428s

with the Father. 1431s

So there's where that goes. 1433s

And then we have the Athenation creed 1437s

where we're not gonna read this whole thing. 1440s

I'm gonna just, I have a few parts highlighted 1443s

that speak because it's a very continuous, 1447s

God the Father is this, Christ the Son is this, 1451s

the Holy Spirit is this, they're all separate, 1455s

but all one. 1458s

So I'm gonna read some of these. 1459s

It's a continuous Father-Sense spirit, Father-Sense spirit. 1461s

So we have, the Father is one person, the Son is another, 1465s

and the Spirit is still another, 1469s

but the deity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit 1471s

is one, equal and glory, co-eternal in majesty. 1473s

What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit. 1478s

Uncreated is the Father, uncreated is the Son, 1483s

uncreated is the Spirit. 1486s

Eternal is the Father, eternal is the Son, 1490s

eternal is the Spirit, and yet there are not three eternal beings, 1493s

but one who is eternal. 1498s

Do you hear that Trinitarian language? 1500s

It's the three in one. 1503s

The Son is God, the Son is Lord, 1507s

the Son was neither made nor created, 1511s

but was alone begotten of the Father. 1514s

There is one Father, not three fathers. 1517s

One Son, not three sons, one Holy Spirit, 1519s

not three spirits. 1522s

Our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son is both God and man. 1524s

He is God begotten before all worlds, 1529s

from the beginning of the Father, 1531s

and He is man born in the world, 1533s

from the beginning, from the being of His mother, 1536s

existing fully as God, and fully as man, 1539s

with a rational soul and a human body, 1543s

equal to the Father in divinity, 1546s

subordinate to the Father in humanity. 1548s

We will get to that in the coming weeks. 1551s

He is united because God has taken humanity into Himself. 1554s

He does not transform deity into humanity. 1558s

For as the rational soul and body are one person, 1562s

so the one Christ is God and man. 1565s

There it's holding those two natures together. 1569s

And that's at the crux of Christology, 1573s

that Jesus does not abandon His deity 1576s

because He was man, 1579s

but He does not abandon His humanity 1581s

once He was ascended. 1583s

He is always all the time, both fully man and fully God. 1586s

He suffered death for our salvation. 1593s

He descended into hell and rose again from the dead. 1595s

He ascended into heaven and is seated 1598s

at the right hand of the Father. 1600s

He will come again to judge the living in the dead. 1602s

At His coming, all people shall rise bodily 1605s

to give an account of their own deeds. 1608s

Those who have done good will enter eternal life. 1610s

Those who have done evil will enter eternal fire. 1612s

We'll talk more about that. 1615s

We talk about that every week. 1617s

But do you see how the Athenation creed? 1620s

That was just a snippet. 1623s

It really digs into the statements that God the Father is. 1625s

God the Son is, God the Holy Spirit is. 1630s

They are all, but they are all one. 1634s

Like they are all separate, but they are all one. 1637s

It's continuing to speak these truths. 1639s

So what we're gonna do is really dig into using these creeds 1643s

as our rule in norm because we know they are based out 1649s

of scripture, right? 1654s

They proclaim scriptural truth. 1656s

We're going to use these to formulate 1658s

how we can uphold both natures of Christ. 1661s

So I'm gonna come back to this. 1666s

So in the next four classes, 1670s

the next couple of weeks, 1673s

we're gonna look at the human nature of Jesus, right? 1675s

We're gonna look at how He was truly man. 1679s

We're gonna go to the creeds, go directly to scripture, 1681s

lay out how we can absolutely without doubt 1684s

profess the truth that Jesus Christ was is a man. 1688s

And then we're gonna look at why He had to be a man 1694s

in order to be the accepted sacrifice. 1699s

Then we're gonna look at the divine nature of Jesus, 1704s

that Jesus absolutely was is truly God. 1707s

Again, looking to the scriptures, looking to the creed, 1712s

formulating that absolute truth, 1715s

and then turning to why Jesus had to be God 1719s

in the accepted sacrifice. 1724s

That's how we're gonna break down our look through Christology. 1726s

I wanted to start with the creeds as the basis 1731s

because we speak these, we read these, 1734s

we say that we profess our faith through these words, 1739s

but to understand that it's not just some fun ideas 1743s

that some men a long time ago came up with, 1747s

but they are tied directly to scripture, 1749s

and they were inspired by the Holy Spirit 1752s

to work through the truths of scripture 1757s

and to formulate how we can bring this in a concise 1761s

and to the point manner. 1765s

We use the creeds all the time as a guide or a tool. 1769s

Someone shared with me a witnessing opportunity 1775s

that he had recently in the ministry of friends speak. 1779s

We had someone, a woman who had a few wonky ideas 1784s

that she had heard along the way. 1788s

She's a Christian, but she had some things 1790s

that were not quite on point or holding with biblical truth. 1792s

And he said, and the only thing I had was, 1798s

the only tool I had was the Apostles Creed. 1801s

And so I took her to that and we looked through that 1804s

and we talked and I could say, 1806s

well this is what I believe and this is why. 1808s

And it was a wonderful tool 1811s

because every bit of that, he can also bring right back 1813s

to scripture. 1818s

It is supported by the biblical truth. 1819s

So we're given the creeds in the Christian church 1821s

to use as that guide, as a tool of confessing 1825s

and professing our faith. 1830s

So we're gonna use these creeds, 1832s

we're gonna dig into scripture to look at that linchpin 1836s

of our faith that Jesus Christ had to be and was indeed, 1839s

both fully man, fully divine on his time in earth 1844s

before he was on earth and after he walked these lands. 1850s

So he has never been anything other than fully man 1855s

and fully God. 1860s

And so we're gonna continue with that, 1861s

but I wanted to take today to set that foundation 1864s

of how we can use these creeds and not sluff them off. 1867s

So, dare I ask any questions? 1874s

Okay. 1880s

And understand with the caveat that I am not a historian. 1881s

Yeah, Philip. 1887s

Oh, that's a great question. 1896s

Okay, so you're asking, he's asking why the Lutheran church 1897s

uses the apostles' creed predominantly 1900s

while the Catholic church uses the nice scene creed 1903s

and I just read this and I'm trying to remember what I read. 1906s

I believe it has something to do with mass, 1911s

with the communion because there are some Lutheran churches 1919s

that actually use the nice scene creed 1922s

and the liturgy when they take communion. 1925s

Let me look at that more. 1930s

I know that that's part of it, 1933s

but I wanna look into that a little bit better 1934s

so I can tell you exactly. 1937s

Yes. 1940s

Yes. 1943s

They do. 1948s

I know that the Missouri Center does use it 1949s

when they're having communion. 1951s

That's one of the Lutheran churches, but okay. 1953s

So I will find out why the apostles creed. 1958s

Okay. 1963s

See, you're giving me homework. 1966s

This is good. 1970s

You got a silly question? 1973s

So why are the Lutheran churches 1976s

and the creed you've lived last year 1977s

and that's even like Christmas? 1979s

Okay, so he's wondering why we at Living Word 1982s

use the nice scene creed just a couple of times a year. 1984s

I could be wrong, 1988s

but I'm thinking it is one of those matters of audiophora. 1990s

That the apostles creed is something 1995s

that everyone studies in the small catacasem. 1998s

It's one that Luther used to teach 2002s

and that families would teach their children. 2005s

It's very concise and it speaks plainly. 2008s

What we believe, the nice scene creed 2016s

does have more detail. 2017s

I could be wrong, but is it, 2019s

it's a matter of just, this is what we do. 2022s

So we're not commanded to speak a specific creed. 2025s

We're not commanded or forbidden 2028s

from doing the apostles creed instead of the nice scene. 2030s

Okay, it's not a silly question. 2035s

Yeah. 2037s

Oh good, a complicated question. 2041s

The academy class is done right now. 2044s

Also. 2047s

I don't know if you were an vapor adviser in California. 2049s

I just don't know either, 2055s

right, 2056s

because Monica andApplause are going to return to that washroom boyfriend 2057s

and 不是黑 dopo you know. 2059s

But I think you could... 2059s

Have you ever fazed fear at least three times already? 2060s

Has anybody heard of Arthur?! 2065s

Uh, I couldn't catch the last... 2068s

So... 2072s

the filio... 2072s

audience on Minister 2074s

Their 2083s

know what 2101s

I don't think it's just loud, but I don't know if it's somewhere in there. 2109s

Okay, I will also look up that because I remember reading something and I cannot remember what it was. 2114s

So I don't want to tell you something wrong. 2121s

My mind, I read a lot. 2125s

So I'm not remembering with clarity every single thing I read, but I will look at that. 2127s

So the two things I'm looking up, the nice scene and apostles, you know, with the Catholic and Lutheran Church, 2135s

why one is said over the other and then the filiqui controversy, right? 2141s

Okay. 2146s

All right. 2148s

I will look those up and we will, that's where we'll pick up next week as our kind of refresher 2150s

going into Christ. 2156s

Wait, don't leave you out, we're going to pray. 2158s

Let's pray. 2162s

Lord God, we thank You so much for giving us these creeds, for giving us a concise way of speaking biblical truth. 2164s

We ask that You would help us to use them as tools that we would look to whatever tools You have given us that speak truth 2172s

and that You would put them upon our lips. 2181s

We thank You for this time that we've spent together. 2184s

We ask that whatever seeds of interest and thought have been sparked that You would help us to dig in deeper and grow in our faith as we discover more about how Your church was formed and established through the ages. 2187s

We ask that regardless of what rabbit holes we go down, that we would continually come back to the very basic and true truth of Jesus Christ as our Savior. 2204s

We thank You and ask for You to continue to bless us this day and evermore. 2216s

We ask this through that blessed name of Christ, Amen. 2221s

Thank You. 2225s

Music 2250s