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For the next couple of weeks I am commenting on the articles of the Apostle’s Creed. This is for my benefit as much as anything. My remarks are organized only because they are following the outline of the creed. So while they are not systematic, I hope they are not rambling either! I’m giving myself a refresher course and you’re invited to come along. And as you do I trust these few words may contribute something to your understanding of what it is to have faith in the God of Jesus.

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The subjective danger in the Christian confession of faith is that God’s Word has meaning only if it has meaning for me. Or, to put it another way, God’s goal in salvation has been reached when the human is fulfilled.

This article of the creed pushes the envelope of salvation, the desire that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven, to include all things, including those beyond the capacity of natural reason. The work of salvation in Jesus Christ is for the sake of humanity. But it is not only for our sake. To confess the God who is Creator of heaven earth is to believe that salvation encompasses the whole of Creation and that reality the Word of God calls heaven, where we pray God’s will is done by other beings capable of doing God’s will. To confess God as “Creator of heaven and earth” is to say all things exist in an inescapable relationship to God.

This understanding lies behind those verses in the letter to the Philippians which speak of the human struggle against “principalities and powers.” The Almighty power of God is at work in this world and wherever His will is opposed. In this respect, this article of the creed prepares us for the next article, the confession of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and worlds unknown to us, in Whom “all things seen and unseen”, find their fulfillment and perfection.

Tomorrow: “And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord.”

“May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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