“The Creed”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Psalm 18:20-33 (NRSV)
The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His ordinances were before me, and His statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before Him, and I kept myself from guilt. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
With the loyal you show yourself loyal; with the blameless you show yourself blameless; with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd. For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. By you I can outrun a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—His way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock besides our God? The God who has girded me with strength and made my way safe. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.
Theme: Who Jesus was and what He is about and specifically the concept that we will have the same mind as Christ.
New Testament reading: Philippians 2:3-11 (NIV)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude (mind) should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Who was Jesus?
Jesus was God.
Jesus was God made in flesh.
He was fully human.
He was a servant to both Father and us.
God exalted Jesus to the highest place.
We are to have the same mind as Christ. The Bible allows us to see the mind of Christ in order to transform our minds and melt our hearts, to change us to be more like Him. The real purpose of having a mind of Christ is to change us. ~D. Moore
Jesus means that He is the essence of God (morph)
Jesus Christ is the very substance of God. ~D. Moore
Jesus Christ has the character of God
Jesus Christ is immortal
Jesus Christ is all powerful
Jesus Christ is omniscient
Jesus Christ is the very being of God
The Creed of the early church demonstrates that the early church was fully aware of the divinity of Christ. That is why they worshipped Him. ~D. Moore
John 14:9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say, ‘show us the father’?”
John 8:19 Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If you have Jesus as your Lord and savior but there isn’t a deep contentment and a joy, despite whatever circumstances, you aren’t thinking right. ~D. Moore
The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us. ~C. S. Lewis
God did not create in order to get love. God created in order to give love. God created to let us take in the richness and the overflow of the love He had with Himself in His relationship to the Son and the Spirit. ~D. Moore
If we are made in God’s image, then our love needs to be about giving too. Jesus came to serve us, so we are to serve others, we are simply doing what God created us in our lives to do. ~D. Moore
Colossians 2:9 (KJV) For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Jesus was both human and God, He understands us. He’s been hungry, lonely, faced death, He prayed to God and got a “no” from God. Jesus didn’t become human; He became a servant. He humbled Himself to the point of execution. He let go of equality with God. ~D. Moore
John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
We are called to trust God like Jesus did. Being a servant is powerful and impactful. One of the last things Jesus said was that we can do greater things than Him.
He could be thirsty because He was fully human, and He could walk on water because He was fully God.
God bless, have a great week. Believe all that Christ has given each of us, it is because of God’s love for each of us.