“Amen” and Review

The 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       and born of the virgin Mary.       He suffered under Pontius Pilate,       was crucified, died, and was buried;       he descended to hell.       The third day he rose again from the dead.       He ascended to heaven       and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.       From there 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.

1. Creedo - Literally “I Believe”

2. I believe what?

Person

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

Work

Work of the Father

in Creation

in sending the Son

Work of the Son

Humiliation

Coming in a lowly estate

Suffering

Crucifixion, death, burial, remaining in the grave for a time

Exaltation

Resurrection (Rising from the dead)

Ascension (Going up into heaven)

Current position (Ruling and reigning at the right hand of the Father)

Coming Again (Judgment)

Work of the Holy Spirit

Uniting us to Christ (resulting in…)

Catholic Church

Communion of Saints

Forgiveness of sins

Resurrection of the body

Life Everlasting

Possibly Ephesians 1:3-14 here for Trinitarian person and work.

3. “Amen”

Amen is one of the few words that we have that hasn’t changed from Hebrew —> Greek —> English

“amen” (אָמֵן, amen)

“amen” (ἀμήν, amēn;)

An affirmation

OLD TESTAMENT

Affirmation of an oath or curse

Numbers 5:22 “22 May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’”

Affirmation of a blessing, prayer, song, or praise to God by the assembly of people together worshiping God.

The ark of the covenant brought back to Jerusalem…

1 Chronicles 16:36 “36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!” Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.”

Individual Affirmation

Benaiah “amen”s the appointment of King Solomon

1 Kings 1:36 “36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so.”

NEW TESTAMENT

The word appears 129 times in the NT, with Jesus speaking it 99 times.

Revelation:

Revelation 3:7 “7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.”

Revelation 3:14 “14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.”

Christ is the AMEN. He is the faithful and TRUE witness

So when we hear “Amen,” - truth is what is associated with that word

2 Corinthians 1:20 “20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

We could say it this way:

Every promise that God made about the coming of the Messiah were confirmed, or found their confirmation in Jesus Christ.

When we say, “Amen,” we experience and assent to the truth of who Jesus is. When we come to know Christ, we are saying “Amen” to all God has promised.

An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (The Apostle’s Defense against the Charge of Inconstancy vs. 12–24)

“…to say Amen,”… means simply to assent to, or to sanction. 1 Cor. 14:16. The apostles did not say Amen to the promises by preaching the gospel; but through their preaching men were brought to say Amen; that is, they were led to the joyful experience and avowal of faith in what God had promised. In Christ, therefore, the promises were fulfilled; and in him also men were brought, through the apostles, joyfully to assent to them…To receive God’s testimony concerning his Son, to say Amen, and to believe, all mean the same thing.

So when we are saying “Amen,” we are assenting to — agreeing with — aligning with what is being said.

But more specifically, we are agreeing with what has been declared by God.

This is why we say “Amen” at the end of prayers —

This is not an “I hope it’s true”

But it’s an affirmation that what has been spoken is absolutely true.

And saying “Amen” together is one of the things that unites us.

We pray for the sick, for the hurting, for those that have lost loved ones

We ask for God to be their source of strength and source of peace

We ask for God to be their hope in the midst of despair

And the one praying says, “And all God’s people said…”

Then we all, with one voice, say, “AMEN.”

Together, we are saying, “What has just been spoken is true. What has just been said is promised by God.”

And we are all affirming that together.

So we could say, that “AMEN” is in the right location of the Apostles’ Creed for 2 reasons.

It ends all that has been said and we assent to what was said

It is a work of the Holy Spirit who unites us to Christ and to one another