INTRODUCTION
There has recently been a flurry of emails on the FCC online discussion boards trying to define what FCC is a church. Jesus calls the Church a body of believers, but today, churches seem to be defined more by its beliefs, ideologies, cultures and traditions. As a result, in Singapore alone we have more than 450 registered churches with the National Council of Churches spanning across 190 denominations! All preaching the same message (hopefully), but all using different methods. The message should always be the same, the methods differ. So today, if you are not happy with your Church for whatever reason, all it takes is for you to walk out of the door and into the next building and volia, a new home, new family, your new Church.
This is unfortunately, a luxury that FCC doesn't have. Being thus far the only vocally, publicly inclusive Church in Singapore that accepts gay people, we have unique, much tougher challenge on our hands. Many of you are aware that we really started the Sunday service because a few people were asked to leave their Churches on account of their sexuality and had nowhere to go. Some, just felt uncomfortable in their church because they couldn't be themselves. So in the last two years, we have had many different people come through our doors from different backgrounds and Christian cultures - from traditional Catholics, to high Anglicans, to Pentecostal charismatics like myself, all assembling as a body of Christ we have come to know and love as FCC. And also, from across the theological continuum, from left-wing liberals all the way to right-wing legalists.
And as the body is growing, there's has been an increasing tension growing in the air as people bring their individual beliefs, cultures, and traditions into the church. And church as you know is quite different for someone from St. Andrew and someone who comes from City Harvest or New Creation. So what do we have to do to survive as a body and live together? We need to try and separate what are shared beliefs and what is just church culture or expressions of our faith. To try and separate what are the essentials , the non-negotiables and what is just plain tradition . Try and separate the message from the methods. And then give space and opportunities for individuals to express their faith - the method - on their own.
Last year, Rev Roy Clements came during our retreat and truly preached a Word in season, telling us in no uncertain terms that in order to be inclusive, it is important to know where the fences are so that we know who to include. As an inclusive church, we still need to know where the fences are. It is important not to confuse who we welcome (everyone), with what we preach and believe . Jesus, for example, welcomed everyone, from prostitute to Pharaisee, but He kept His Message consistent all throughout His ministry.
But today, it seems that there is much confusion what this Message is. So what is the Message of the Bible? What makes us Christians?
One of the first verses most Christians learn when they get saved is:
John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
And the purpose is told to us in the next verse:
John 3:17 (NIV)
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
So in the Apostle's Creed which we now studying, we declare in a single unbroken sentence, the basic tenants of our faith that makes us Christians – followers of Christ - individuals who have accepted salvation by grace through faith in Christ.
Let's read the Apostle's Creed and declare this together;
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, died and buried: He descended into Hell:
On the third day He rose again from the dead:
Where He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From where He shall come to judge the living and the dead:
I believe in the Holy Spirit:
I believe in the Holy catholic church: the communion of saints:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting:
Amen.
Do you believe in this declaration you just made? Not just know, but believe? The first two words of the Apostle's Creed starts off with the words " I believe ". Three times the words "I believe" appears in the Apostle's Creed. This is not a statement of beliefs just for fun, but as Christians, we need to know what we believe.
Two weeks ago, Anthony Yeo preached about our Father God and the Creator God and last week, Rev Yap dealt with Jesus as the Christ. Today we will be looking at the third line of the Apostle's Creed. But before we do that, let's back up to the first two words: "I believe".
FCC 2005 THEME - STRENGTH & BUILDING BRIDGES
At the beginning of the year, our chair-person Jean shared that the 2 visions for FCC in 2005 is to become a strong local Church that just isn't without walls, but seeks to actively build bridges to both Christian and non-Christian communities. So one of the key themes for the year is "strength", which is why we are starting the year right by looking at the foundations of our faith through the Apostle's Creed.
A strong foundation is important - we need to get our set of beliefs right. At the end of Jesus' greatest sermon - the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says:
Matthew 7:24-25 (NKJV)
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
I have seen too many people leave FCC because their faith isn't anchored. The moment they hear something challenging that causes them to have to stop and consider and evaluate their faith position, they leave. Then there are others, who come to FCC and stop coming after a while because after they hear that they are included in the Kingdom, they are quite happy on returning to their way of living and put their faith in a box on the shelf, never living the Christian life.
But Jesus calls us not to just listen to the Message, but to respond to it. And it is important to know not just what you believe, but why you believe what you believe if you want to have a good foundation for your faith. I personally don't know much about this post-modernism era that experts tell us we are living in except that the question " why " seems to be asked quite a lot.
So this morning, I am going to lay some good foundation and deal with the "why" we believe what we believe. You may have heard this many times, in many different forms, but I want to use this opportunity right at the start of the year to reiterate it, because this is the core Message of the Bible. I hope that as you go through this sermon series over the next 2 months, that you will know why you believe what you believe.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHY?
In our cell groups, we have recently completed or are in the middle of a study of the book of Ephesians. For those who can remember, we learned that Ephesians was an epistle or letter written by Paul to encourage the Church in Ephesus. Historically, some manuscripts were found that omitted “Ephesus”, and some scholars feel that it could have been used as a template to encourage not just the Ephesian church, but other churches as well. As such, today, we can read Ephesians as a letter of encouragement to us as well as a Church.
Now why was Ephesians written? We learnt in our study that we can find a clue in Paul's apostolic prayer in Ephesians 1:17-18:
Eph 1:17-18 (NIV)
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints."
Twice, the objective of the prayer is revealed - "so that we may know". Know what? One, know God better. Two, know the hope to which God has called us as His people.
There are two different Greek words used for the word "know" in the Bible. " Gnosis ", which is defined as abstract knowledge or objective facts about God - head knowledge. And " epignosis ", which is knowing God himself, experientially and intimately.
Paul in v17 and v18 refers to "epignosis". So here we see that we are called to not know God abstractly or using our intellect, but:
1. that God may give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (v17);
2. that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened (v18).
So knowing God is about God giving us the spirit of wisdom and revelation . Wisdom - God-given insight. Revelation - God's disclosure of a spiritual truth to us by the Holy Spirit. So knowing is about understanding the why, then letting it drop from our head (gnosis) into our heart (epignosis). To know what? The enlightenment concerning "the hope to which He has called you" (v18) - the Good News of Redemption through Salvation.
And the purpose of this, back to John 3:17 again, is:
John 3:17 (NIV)
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Save. So that where you get the word, " salvation ".
WHY DO WE NEED SALVATION?
So let's keep asking the "why" questions. Why is there a need for salvation?
Right after Paul's apostolic prayer in Eph 1 where he reveals his purpose for writing the letter, Paul mentions five tragic facts that characterize human beings without Christ in Eph 2:1-3:
Eph 2:1-3 (NIV)
[1] As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, [2] in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. [3] All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
1. Their life is characterized by spiritual death (v1)
2. They follow the way of the world (v2)
3. Unregenerate humanity is under the domain of Satan (v2)
4. They have a propensity of “gratifying the cravings of (their) sinful nature” (v3)
5. They are by nature the children of God's wrath (v3)
But in contrast, over the next 7 verses, Paul talks about the loving, redeeming action of God by making salvation by grace available through faith in Christ:
Eph 2:4-10 (NIV)
[4] But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. [6] And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, [7] in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. [8] For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- [9] not by works, so that no one can boast. [10] For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
" Salvation " in Greek is the word " soteria ", which means deliverance , and not just justification and forgiveness. So why salvation? Because we need deliverance from death in sin (Eph 2:1), the dominion of Satan (Eph 2:2), and the wrath of God (Eph 2:3).
So in verse 8, we see that salvation is by grace through faith . "Grace", is "charis" in Greek, where we get the word "charisma" from. "Charis" is God's merciful and loving initiative to provide for us and offer to us salvation in Christ as a free gift. "Faith", or "pistis" in the Greek, is firmly believing and humbly trusting in Christ as one's Redeemer and Deliverer. I learnt an acronym which summarizes what faith is. FAITH - "Forsaking All, I Trust Him".
So why salvation? Because we need to be delivered!
WHY DO WE NEED TO BE DELVERED?
So next question: why do we need to be delivered? Because of our corrupt Adamic nature, or what the Bible refers calls the "Old Man". And no, this Old Man does not refer to your father!
Eph 4:21-23 (NKJV)
[21] if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: [22] that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, [23] and be renewed in the spirit of your mind
Col 3:8-10 (NKJV)
[8] But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. [9] Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, [10] and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him
As humans, we all part of the Adamic race, descendents of the linage of Adam and Eve. We inherited our corrupt nature when sin entered the world through the fall of Adam in the garden of Eden. We need to be delivered because Adam sinned.
Rom 5:12 (NLT)
[12] When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Rom 5:18-19a (NLT)
[18] Yes, Adam's one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness makes all people right in God's sight and gives them life. [19] Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners.
WHY DID ADAM SIN?
So now that the Bible tells us why we need to be delivered from our Adamic nature, why did Adam sin? We need to ask ourselves, what made Adam sin in the first place?
To find the answer, let's look back in Genesis, at what happened in the garden of Eden:
Gen 3:1-5 (NLT)
[1] Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. "Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?" [2] "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. [3] "It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat . God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die." [4] "You won't die!" the serpent hissed. [5] "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God , knowing everything, both good and evil."
Gen 3:11-13 (NLT)
[11] "Who told you that you were naked?" the LORD God asked. "Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?" [12] "Yes," Adam admitted, " but it was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit, and I ate it." [13] Then the LORD God asked the woman, "How could you do such a thing?" "The serpent tricked me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."
Here we see the typical male reaction after Adam got found out when he made the mistake by eating the fruit. He blamed the woman and God and not himself! As we can see from the earlier passage, the sin of Adam was pride (Gen 3:5) and rebellion against God (Gen 3:3).
Most people end the story there, but let's take the post-modern approach and dig a little deeper and ask a few more questions:
WHY PUT A TREE THERE WITH THE ABILITY TO SIN?
Why did God put a tree there in the garden where Adam had the ability to sin?
We know that God created man to fellowship with Him, and in order to do that He had to give man the ability to choose – or this concept of freewill. One of themes of the recent Matrix trilogies was to deal with just that - freewill and predestination. We won't get into that today, but the concept is straightforward: without the ability to make a choice to do wrong, there is no real freewill.
And so God gave Adam just one command to demonstrate his obedience - don't eat the fruit of one particular tree.
WHY DID THE DEVIL WANT ADAM TO SIN?
Next question: so why did the devil want Adam to sin? Because the devil (Satan) hated God, and man being God's greatest creation, Satan wanted to destroy man. Why? So that man would be banished to the same fate as him.
And how do we know this?
Job 38-4:7 (NLT)
[4] "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. [5] Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying? [6] What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone [7] as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Here we see that the angels were there before the Earth was created, before "Day 1" of the creation story! When the earth was being created, they were praising God and shouting for joy because it was beautiful!
Nehemiah 9:6 also gives us the sequence to which the entire creation was put together:
Neh 9:6 (NLT)
[6] You alone are the LORD. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve and give life to everything, and all the angels of heaven worship you.
The heavens were created first, then the angels (stars), the earth, then living things.
Now let's look at the creation story at the beginning of Genesis:
Gen 1:1-2 (NKJV)
[1] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
So in the beginning, God " created ". In the original Hebrew, it reads as " Elohim bara ". God created. Here we already see something quite interesting. " Eloh " is the word for creator God in Hebrew in a singular form, and " Elohim " is the same word in plural. But "bara" is singular! So a plural God created in singular the heavens and the earth. Is this a grammatical contradiction? No! Right from the beginning God's nature is revealed as a plural God - the Trinity, operating in unity as one!
Now here's an interesting question: do you think Gen 1:2 happen at the same time as Gen 1:1? I'm going to show you why I think it didn't!
THE "RE"-CREATION STORY
We saw in Job 38:7 that when the Earth was created, the angels were rejoicing because the Earth was beautiful. But here in Gen 1:2, we see that the Earth was " without form and void ". The phrase "without form and void" in Hebrew is " tohu va bohu ", which is like a play of words. The closest equivalent in English would be something like "topsy turvy" or "upside down".
"Tohu va bohu" appears in several other places in the Bible, for example in Isa 34:11 when God was judging the land of Edom, and in Jer 4:22-23 when God was judging the wicked:
Jer 4:22-23 (NKJV)
[22] "For My people are foolish,
They have not known Me.
They are silly children,
And they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge."
[23] I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
So "tohu va bohu" means "total desolation brought about by God's judgment upon wickedness".
So the Job account says that the Earth was beautiful. The Genesis account says that the Earth was in utter chaos. Is this a contradiction?
We can find a clue to the Genesis story in Exo 20:11:
Exo 20:11 (NKJV)
[11] For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
In Gen 1:1, we see that the word "bara" which is translated into "created" was chosen. " Bara " means to " create something out of nothing ". But in Exo 20:11, we see that the word "made" was used instead, which is " asah " in Hebrew, meaning " to refine what was already created ".
So what happened? Why is there this distinction?
To answer that question, we need to look at the fall of Lucifer, before he became Satan. We can pick up the story in Eze 28:11-18:
Eze 28:11-28 (NKJV)
[11] Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [12] "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, "Thus says the Lord GOD:
"You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
[13] You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
[14] "You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
[15] You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
[16] "By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
[17] "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
[18] "You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
This is a story of Lucifer's fall. Although titled, "judgment against the King of Tyre", the King of Tyre was not a real physical King, but an angel as we can see in v14.
Before Lucifer fell, he was one of the most beautiful angels - the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty (v12). He was the original worship leader in heaven, leading the angels in songs of worship to God (v13-14). But Lucifer sinned and was cast out of heaven because of his "trading" (v16-18). Trading here does not mean buying and selling! It means to go up and down, slandering, gossiping to sow discord and discontent. This nature of Satan can also be seen in Job 2:1-2:
Job 2:1-2 (NKJV)
[1] Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. [2] And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?"
Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."
Lucifer got lifted up in pride and rebelled against God! He thought, "why do I keep bringing to angels to worship God, when they can worship me instead!" Lucifer managed to convince one-third of the angels of heaven to follow him and went to war against God. A massive battle ensues which ends up leaving the Earth in utter chaos and desolation. Of course the created being can never beat the creator, and so Lucifer was cast right out of heaven. In the book of Revelation, John records this:
Rev 12:3-4 (NKJV)
[3] And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. [4] His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth . And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:9 (NKJV)
[9] So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him .
Imagine that, if the angels who can see God be deceived, how much more us who can't see God in the natural! Lucifer promoted himself and got lifted up in pride and rebelled against God. The very same 2 sins that Lucifer tricked Adam into committing.
After Lucifer fell, in his hatred of God, especially man – God's shining creating created in God's own image, took revenge by causing Adam to commit the very same 2 sins, banishing the entire human race to the same fate as Adam. God, being a holy and just God, cannot absolve Adam of his sin while sentencing Lucifer into a Godless eternity.
So it is possible that Genesis 1:2 didn't happen right after Genesis 1:1. Not only did Genesis give us the creation story, but possibly the re-creation story of how the Earth was restored a second time as well!
CHRIST, OUR DELIVERER
So what did God do? Forseeing this in eternity, in His loving mercy and kindness for mankind, He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.
Rom 5:6-11 (NLT)
[6] When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. [7] Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. [8] But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. [9] And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's judgment. [10] For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. [11] So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God--all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.
When we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we become a " new creation " in Him. Literally no longer part of the human race with its fallen Adamic nature, but an entirely new creation, no longer subject to the same fate as the "old man". The Bible calls this the "new man". So why is Christ the only way that we may be saved?
Let's look back at the line of the Apostle's Creed we are studying today:
"Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary:"
Because our deliverer had to be 100% divine to take our sin - "conceived by the Holy Spirit".
Because our deliverer had to be also 100% human - "born of the Virgin Mary" - in order to be a suitable substitute and die for our sin.
Because, as we have seen in Eph 2, our deliverer had to suffer and die on our behalf so that we can be delivered from:
1. A life of spiritual death
2. A life that follows the way of the world
3. A life that is under the domain of Satan
4. A life with the propensity of gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature
5. A life that is subject to God's wrath
That is the Good News of the Bible. That's the Message . That's why we believe in Christ!
Christianity is not just a religion, or a set of rules or traditions to follow. It is a life and relationship with the ever-living God. And as a Church, we need to stop majoring on the minors and refocus on the Message and the reason why we believe.
Jesus Christ, our Deliverer, suffered and died for each and every one of us, so that we might be saved. We are called just to humbly accept this loving act of grace through faith. And not just head knowledge or gnosis alone. But to enter into a relationship with God where this truth leaves our head and drops into our heart.
Let's all declare this together: "I am saved by grace through faith"!
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