The Sunday before last Canon Bill started off this short sermon series on the Nicene Creed, reminding us that we are marking the 1700th anniversary of its use across the catholic or worldwide church. One helpful phrase Canon Bill used that has stuck with me was: ‘What the Bible says at length, the Creed says briefly’, which really tells us just how important a part of our liturgy the creed is, and why we stand to affirm it every Sunday.
As we know, the three sections relate directly to our trinitarian God, which led to Revd Lex preaching on the first section of the Creed itself last Sunday which starts: ‘We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty’. She talked of the importance of this being much more than a doctrine, she stated that, in fact, it’s a declaration of allegiance as she talked about how we can respond to God the Father as people made in his image. Therefore, not only do we stand to declare these words, but we need to respond in some way!
This week we explore the middle section of the Creed, which starts: ‘We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God’ – that term ‘Son of God’ appears 76 times in the gospels, 65 of these are said by Jesus himself. He also proclaims that God is his father 54 times, so we are left in no doubt whom this part of the creed refers to.
One reason for the formulation of the Nicene Creed in 325 AD was to answer the assertion, made seven years earlier by a presbyter named Arius, that Jesus couldn’t be God, but merely a servant of God. The Creed began to be formulated after a long and often passionate debate to lay out clearly that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine – it was important that the universal church was gathered around a shared understanding that the Father and the Son are an equal part of the Trinitarian God.
And we see this in the next few lines of the creed, as they state that Jesus is: ‘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’ – these statements make it clear just who Jesus is and reflect God’s nature exactly, demonstrating that God is utterly and irrevocably One!
The American author and evangelical lay minister, Samuel D. Gordon states: “Jesus was God spelling himself out in language humanity could understand.” How incredible for us, allowing us such understanding of, and accessibility to our wonderful Father!
This is further reinforced in Colossians, where Paul is trying to help the Colossian Christians understand the basics of faith – we read that the son of God is the same as God: ‘No one can see God, but the Son is exactly like God. He rules over everything that has been made.’ This explanation of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son, not only helped the Colossian Christians, but helps us today to understand our trinitarian God and helps build our faith, as we stand and proclaim the words of the Creed and begin to understand what they mean to us and as we work out how to respond.
The Creed moves on through the events of Jesus’ life in order. ‘For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven’, – he came directly from his Father, He’s not of this world, but came to be part of it.
‘He was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man.’ God became fully human in Jesus Christ; He became incarnate in the human form of Jesus, having been born of a virgin, through the power of the Holy Spirit – God coming to our earth to live as one of us, to experience life as we do, to know what it’s like to be human.
‘For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.’ Jesus suffered just as we do, God incarnate, experiencing pain as we do.
‘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.’
Just as Jesus died, so He rose from the dead three days later, and this is absolutely key to our Christian faith.
Believing in the resurrection and coming to know the resurrected Jesus personally, is what a lived relationship with God is all about. This tells us that he sits with His Father in heaven, right next to Him, equal in every way, no hierarchy, just relationship and love.
The last statement about the historical life of Jesus takes us into the future, we are a people in waiting – it places us, within the story of Jesus’ own life, past, present and future: ‘He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.’ His Kingdom will never be destroyed, we are part of it and it is our role to grow it, sharing our faith to ensure it persists.
What does it mean to live in God’s Kingdom – a Kingdom where God’s will is done on earth as in heaven – wow! Such hope for this world – and there is hope, we see it in the kindness of others, in the goodness being offered out in many places, not least here through our hub and other areas of outreach – are we called to be a part of that?
We certainly saw a good example of this in our gospel reading today. And it was the Samaritan, a person pushed to the fringes of society by the disdain of others, who not only stopped, but then cared for the person in need, rather than walking by on the other side. In doing so, they broke through all the barriers that the world sets up between us. Reaching out to help our enemies is what the kingdom of God is like. As we mark this 1700th anniversary of one of the most enduring statements of our faith, my hope is that as we unpick the meaning over these few brief weeks, it will allow each of us to stand with fresh understanding of the words we speak each Sunday and allow these to inspire us to live out what we believe.
Service: Revd Rebecca Yates, 13th July 2025. (St John’s Church Peterborough UK)
Reading: Luke 10:25-37