APOSTLES' CREED;
CREED:I Believe in ... THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING
I don't know where to begin this conclusion. The creed has already declared the belief in the resurrection of Jesus, and I have commented on that as being the very foundation of our faith. Now I must personalize the consequences of that resurrection and state what it means to me to believe that even as I believe Jesus had a physical resurrection, so I will also, and furthermore, having been resurrected bodily, the new life will be “everlasting.”
Am I taking a bigger leap of faith here than I did in accepting Jesus' resurrection? For His resurrection, I accept the testimony of Scripture, eyewitness reports of those who saw the body of Jesus. But when it comes to my own physical resurrection and life everlasting, do I have such “proof”? Scripture gives the example of Lazarus and a few others who were “raised” from the dead, but no “proof” that any body has been raised “incorruptible” and is now dwelling “in heaven”... (or will be, depending on your understanding of the chronological order of things.)
I guess this is where “I believe” takes on the idea of “I trust” more than anywhere else. I trust Jesus' words and I trust Paul's explanations. I can't explain any of the how or mechanics of the bodily resurrection but Paul saw the difficulty and the questions and gave an answer in 1 Corinthians 15. And because 1 Corinthians 15 does such a thorough job, why should I try to add anything? And considering that although it was given 2000 years ago, there is nothing in modern science or thought that could change the soundness of the logic and explanation.
Plain and simple. After all the rest of the Creed is declared, I conclude that I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, BECAUSE if I don't choose to believe this, then I don't want to believe anything else instead. As Paul concludes. If we are not right about this, we are of all beings and creatures most miserable. We will have believed a lie. And there is no hope, no reason to go on living. But the crux is not “Oh you mean if you can't believe that your body will be raised and you will live for ever there is no point living at all?” No, that is not the issue. Paul joins it together by saying simply, “If YOUR body isn't going to be raised, i.e. Because there is no such thing as resurrection THEN, Jesus wasn't raised, and everything you have believed about HIM is false. THAT is the reason we would be better off not living at all than to live without the Hope that the truth that Christ is the Saviour of the World, the Son of God brings to us.
A chapter heading in a novel I read years ago was. “Death by philosophy”. Simply it was a chapter of a person, who having had the emptiness of his worldly philosophy (I think it was actually a professed Buddhism) pointed out to him, rather than admitting his error and embracing the gospel of the kingdom as presented to him, committed suicide. Whenever I hear of a suicide of an unbeliever, I am never surprised. My surprise is how anyone NOT a believer would want to go on living in a world with no hope or no Purpose except some attempt to “make the world a better place”. A goal which hasn't come much closer to fulfillment since Abel and Cain.
Do you see your profession of faith as being that crucial? “Because HE lives I can face tomorrow”
Do you see the lack of faith on the part of every unbeliever as being that crucial? . If Jesus was not/ is not the Everliving Saviour then the only legitimate question is the deep pessimism of the song “Is that all there is?”
But I DO believe and boldly proclaim, I hope in my life as well as by my lips That:
I believe in God the Father Almighty
I believe He is the Maker 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, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose from the dead;
He ascended into heaven
And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence He shall come to judge the quick 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.
CREED:I Believe in ... THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING
I don't know where to begin this conclusion. The creed has already declared the belief in the resurrection of Jesus, and I have commented on that as being the very foundation of our faith. Now I must personalize the consequences of that resurrection and state what it means to me to believe that even as I believe Jesus had a physical resurrection, so I will also, and furthermore, having been resurrected bodily, the new life will be “everlasting.”
Am I taking a bigger leap of faith here than I did in accepting Jesus' resurrection? For His resurrection, I accept the testimony of Scripture, eyewitness reports of those who saw the body of Jesus. But when it comes to my own physical resurrection and life everlasting, do I have such “proof”? Scripture gives the example of Lazarus and a few others who were “raised” from the dead, but no “proof” that any body has been raised “incorruptible” and is now dwelling “in heaven”... (or will be, depending on your understanding of the chronological order of things.)
I guess this is where “I believe” takes on the idea of “I trust” more than anywhere else. I trust Jesus' words and I trust Paul's explanations. I can't explain any of the how or mechanics of the bodily resurrection but Paul saw the difficulty and the questions and gave an answer in 1 Corinthians 15. And because 1 Corinthians 15 does such a thorough job, why should I try to add anything? And considering that although it was given 2000 years ago, there is nothing in modern science or thought that could change the soundness of the logic and explanation.
Plain and simple. After all the rest of the Creed is declared, I conclude that I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, BECAUSE if I don't choose to believe this, then I don't want to believe anything else instead. As Paul concludes. If we are not right about this, we are of all beings and creatures most miserable. We will have believed a lie. And there is no hope, no reason to go on living. But the crux is not “Oh you mean if you can't believe that your body will be raised and you will live for ever there is no point living at all?” No, that is not the issue. Paul joins it together by saying simply, “If YOUR body isn't going to be raised, i.e. Because there is no such thing as resurrection THEN, Jesus wasn't raised, and everything you have believed about HIM is false. THAT is the reason we would be better off not living at all than to live without the Hope that the truth that Christ is the Saviour of the World, the Son of God brings to us.
A chapter heading in a novel I read years ago was. “Death by philosophy”. Simply it was a chapter of a person, who having had the emptiness of his worldly philosophy (I think it was actually a professed Buddhism) pointed out to him, rather than admitting his error and embracing the gospel of the kingdom as presented to him, committed suicide. Whenever I hear of a suicide of an unbeliever, I am never surprised. My surprise is how anyone NOT a believer would want to go on living in a world with no hope or no Purpose except some attempt to “make the world a better place”. A goal which hasn't come much closer to fulfillment since Abel and Cain.
Do you see your profession of faith as being that crucial? “Because HE lives I can face tomorrow”
Do you see the lack of faith on the part of every unbeliever as being that crucial? . If Jesus was not/ is not the Everliving Saviour then the only legitimate question is the deep pessimism of the song “Is that all there is?”
But I DO believe and boldly proclaim, I hope in my life as well as by my lips That:
I believe in God the Father Almighty
I believe He is the Maker 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, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose from the dead;
He ascended into heaven
And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence He shall come to judge the quick 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.
posted by Mister A Muses | 2:51 PM
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