As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
The second Article of the Apostle's Creed focuses on the second part of the Trinity of God in Jesus the Christ, the Person given by the Father, whereby we must all be saved.
Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
But who is this Jesus? St. John tells us Who this Thought of God is.
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
This is the Person of Christ in the confession of Him, Who made all things, formed humanity, and by creating people, He was the Author of Redemption in the First Testament, as no one else could fulfill this role, as He was the Husband to the Congregation, the Church of God, who in body is the Spiritual Body of God, in the Spiritual Wife of God.
And 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, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.
This is most certainly true.
The Word or Spiritual Thought of God is of two natures, both God and man. The reason for the human addition is because a Spirit can not die. When humans rejected God, they were forever at enmity with God, until God immediately Promised a Savior would come.
From the Garden of Eden when rebellion against God entered the world in satan tempting Eve with the knowledge of good and evil, God Promised a redemption.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
This is thee entire message of the Bible. Those in the Old Testament were held right with God for believing Jesus would come. The Disciples were held right with God for believing Jesus was with them, and each person who believes Jesus came and will return, is made right with God too.
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Jesus actually appears several times in the Old Testament. He is called the Angel of the Lord. He appeared to Joshua outside of Jericho. We know this is Christ, because He accepts worship, and an Angel would not.
Joshua 5
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
15 And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
This Messenger of the Lord, is Who would become the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, born of a virgin by the work of the Holy Ghost in her, as a perfect sacrifice to redeem all humanity from sin.
In the first Covenant with Abraham, a lamb's death temporarily took away the sin, but a permanent payment was necessary which people could not break and animals could not fulfill, and this was Jesus, Who is called the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.
I John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
The Angel of the Lord created three offices in the Old Testament of Prophet Priest and King. It was the King of Salem as Melchizedek.
He would speak Himself into being to inherit the offices of Prophet, of High Priest and King as Spiritual Leader of the children of God.
Genesis 14:18
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Psalm 110:4
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
This is the Great Mystery of God which no one can fathom in His Thoughts are so much higher than His creation's thoughts, but the reality is what God created is perfection in the working, and that work is Redemption.
I Peter 2:24
Who His Own self bare our sins in His Own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed.
Christ was put to death in a state execution, so there would be a record of His death, so it would be certain, He was murdered by the state, so that when He arose from the dead, there would not be any denial, so that all would believe that Christ who had the power to take up His Life again, would raise the Faithful to Life eternal.
John 19:30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
After three days and nights as predicted in Scripture, Jesus rose from the dead, and fulfilled the role of Redemption.
Luke 24:5
And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
It is Faith by which Christ's Words thunder across the generations in His command of all He is:
John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection, and the Life: He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Christ is the Faith by which Adam and Eve were justified. By Faith were Abraham and Sarah justified. It is by Faith in which we are all justified and redeemed unto the Father again by the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ.
It is this sacrifice of the Christ, Who brought about the Promise that a Comforter would be sent in the Holy Ghost to Sanctify the Faithful as Spiritual children, which is the confession of the third Article in the Sanctification by the Holy Ghost of the Faithful.
Nuff Sai
agtG
