Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

-On Wednesday nights we have begun studying truth to live by via the creeds and confessions of the past.

No matter how boring people might think it, doctrine matters to every aspect of life.

Pastor Ray Pritchard noted this when he said:

Christianity is a doctrinal faith.

It is not a [fill in the blank] that you can fill in with whatever content you desire.

Christianity is a life based on the doctrines of the Bible.

We must never say, “As long as you believe in Jesus, it doesn’t matter what else you believe.”

Unless the Jesus we believe in is the Christ of the Bible, he’s not the real Jesus at all.

This means that Christianity is more than a conversion experience.

To be a Christian means learning the doctrines of the Bible.

This does not come naturally to any of us.

There are things to learn and there are doctrines we are required to believe.

That’s why the Apostles’ Creed is so important in the history of the church.

Truth is not up for grabs.

And it is not decided by what we feel or by a majority vote or the latest opinion poll.

The Creed reminds us that truth comes from God, and that is where we must start in our spiritual journey.

-So, this is why we have started with the Apostle’s Creed.

We might say that it is minimalistic—this is the bare bones.

This is the minimum that you must believe to be a Christian, and the Apostle’s Creed does a wonderful job of explaining this.

Although we believe Scripture is the ultimate authority, we use creeds and confessions like the Apostle’s Creed to summarize the teachings of Scripture, therefore these are important documents.

Author Chuck Warnock explains why the Apostle’s Creed is needful.

He writes:

* We need the Apostles’ Creed because it is the oldest expression currently in use of the beliefs we hold in common as Christians.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed to connect us to the church of the first century, and to the faith of the Apostles themselves.

For even if the apostles did not write the creed, it was certainly what they proclaimed as they carried the Gospel to Jerusalem, and Judea, and the ends of the earth.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed to humble us, and remind us that we are not the first generation to have followed Christ.

There is a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, who have handed the faith off to us, and to whom we are responsible for its transmission to our generation.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed as a clear expression of what we believe when called to give account of our faith.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed to remind us of the whole counsel of God.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed to help us affirm the uniqueness of Christ.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed to remind us that the Holy Spirit is still with us.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed to remind us that we do indeed believe in the church, in an age in which the church is being attacked or ignored.

* We need the Apostles’ Creed to draw us into a new appreciation for the communion of saints, to make us newly thankful for the forgiveness of sins, and to remind us that there is indeed a life everlasting.

-The Apostle’s Creed has three different sections, each pointing to one member of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And so the Creed begins by saying:

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth.

-Last week I spoke about the importance of those first two words: I BELIEVE.

We are not merely assenting to the truth, although that is important.

But it means that the truth affects the way we live and the choices we make.

It is no mere head knowledge, but a complete trust that leads to a lifestyle.

But what is it that we believe in?

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth.

-This is the starting point—we believe that there is a God, there is a deity, there is a divine being.

If there is no God, there is no Christ, and there is no Christianity, and there is no hope and no salvation.

If there is no God then the world has no meaning and there is no hope for justice—it is just a purposeless, cruel existence.

And so it all starts with God.

We fully agree with the psalmist when he says:

-We are no fool, there is a God.

But what do we believe about this God?

This portion specifically focuses in on the Father of the Trinity.

But before starting on the designation of Father, I want to work backwards with the description as it is given.

So first I want to focus in on the fact that we proclaim that He is Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Everything that exists outside of God was created by God.

There was an existence before time and space where only God existed.

And then, we believe as the Bible begins:

-What this verse and creed statement tells us about God is aptly summarized by Al Mohler:

First, God is eternal, existing prior to creation.

Second, God is infinite, not bound by the heaven and the earth.

Third, God is omnipotent, speaking creation into existence.

Finally, God is independent, not relying on anything in creation.

-So, by recognizing that God is Maker of Heaven and Earth there are several truths that we are stating.

First, we are stating that there is a distinction between Creator and creation.

The creation is nothing like the Creator and cannot be equated with the Creator, and has no say in how the Creator does things.

-Imagine me building a model airplane or building some sort of Lego structure and the model airplane or Lego structure thinking that it is equal to me or greater than me, and they think they could do a whole lot better job about things than I did.

They wouldn’t exist and fulfill their purposes without me, so who would they be to judge me or tell me what to do.

The same with creation and Creator.

-Creation exists for the purpose of the Creator and for the glory and honor of the Creator.

-Second, it tells us that there is purpose and order to Creation, which can be observed.

Although many will deny it, the fact that science and mathematics works is proof that there is a Creator.

A randomly devised universe would not have the order that makes science and math possible.

The fact that there are observable scientific rules proves that someone put those rules there to begin with.

Without God having created and put in order everything like He did, there would be nothing but chaos.

Even science proves that the natural tendency of the universe is to move toward chaos.

But the truth that there is any order whatsoever shows that a Designer and Creator put it all together.

As one author stated it:

The universe is unspeakably great, but God is immeasurably greater.

Does the universe, in the complexity of its harmonies, display evidences of supreme wisdom on the part of its architect and builder?

By so much does it honor God, the maker of it all.

Does nature exhibit power, wonderful, sometimes appalling power?

How strikingly does this tell us of the still greater power of Him who fashioned it!

-Knowing these truths, we are without excuse to worship this God as He reveals Himself through what He has made.

-Third, only this truth is able to give and explain the value and dignity of humanity.

Why is this important?

As one author states:

If man is but an evolved atom, if there was no superior mind controlling the power, and the processes, by which man came to be, if there was no image from without stamped upon him, if there was no original, self-existent, personal being who gave somewhat of His own nature to man, then [man] is still but a thing of dust.

-So, God is Maker of heaven and earth and everything in them—whether visible or invisible, whether physical or spiritual.

But the Creed also tells us that He is God Almighty.

Almighty brings to mind several important ideas.

First, it speaks of His omnipotence and sovereignty.

We see verses like:

-God alone has the power and ability to do what He will and purposes to do, and there is no one who can stop Him.

The Bible then asks this question:

Genesis 18:14 (ESV)

14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?

-And the implied answer is no.

Now, God is limited by His character—meaning that God cannot go against who He is.

But anything within the realm of His character and His purpose and will is possible for Him.