Genesis Church - Sermons

Do you have an early memory of watching the original cartoon version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? Based on the Dr. Suess book, and now having two full-length movies, this character is … “A mean one.” In the two movie versions, the Grinch is mean because he was a lonely, bullied orphan who felt ostracized by the Whos of Whoville, leading to emotional pain, anger, and bitterness. His meanness is a defense mechanism stemming from feelings of sadness and rejection, particularly his aversion to the sounds and joys of Christmas, which remind him of his painful past. But, something in the story of Christmas filled the longing to belong and gave the Grinch a family.

Like the Grinch, the desire to belong is a central human longing, yet, we can feel the weight of our own failures and rejection. We live in a time where people are more connected than ever, yet feel more and more lonely.

As Luke shares the great story of Christmas, he tells us about the angel Gabriel’s announcement to a virgin girl that she will be the one who bears the Son of God. As the true Son of God, Jesus was also despised, rejected, and cast off. However, as the Son of God, His death and resurrection have paved the way for all of us to be made His brothers, with God as Father, and a family of faith where we can be loved and accepted no matter how much of a mess we are.

Christmas movies are such a big part of the holiday season. Over the years there have been some great ones. While having different story- lines, the movies people love during December have a common theme. The main character expresses a deep longing of the human heart in the hopes that the wonder of Christmas just might be the answer. Of course, there are blown up Christmas trees, bandits, a clumsy angel, and a lot of inner turmoil get in the way. Yet, in the end, the true meaning of Christmas somehow fills the longing and provides answers. The truth is that there is a kernel of truth in these movies because in the manger and incarnation, God does fulfill the deep longings of the human heart. This Christmas season we will look at some of our favorite Christmas movies and show how the longings of the heart are answered in the wonder of Christmas and the beauty of the Gospel.

Buddy the Elf seems to have found something none of the other characters in his story understood. The longing to find Christmas cheer and a lasting happiness is the longing of every human heart. So why is it so elusive? Chaos, conflict, and confusion so easily disrupt any joy. But the larger problem is that our pursuit of happiness is generally tied to objects, people, and dreams that cannot fill the true longings of the heart. Yet, central to the Christmas message is the birth of a baby who is Immanuel, God with us. His name is an invitation to lift our eyes away from our measly attempts at find pleasure and discover that true Christmas cheer comes to us when we abandon our idols to find the only One who can truly make us happy.

We’ve spent the last couple months looking at a 1,700 year old creed, thinking about the core truths believed by Christians everywhere. But one might ask, what do these things mean for me?

Among other things, our belief in Jesus comes with the promise of our own empty grave and resurrected body. The Christian belief in the final resurrection has always been a doctrine that separates Christianity from almost all other world religions. In most belief systems, including the prominent spiritualities in ancient Rome, salvation was obtained when the spiritual part of one’s existence was freed from the evil of the material world. But Christianity tells a different story in which the whole of God’s creation is restored and those who follow Jesus in life will be resurrected from the dead, their bodies being redeemed.

When Paul wrote our text from Romans 8, his words were actually radical. Sadly, so many still believe in a bodyless heaven. But just as Jesus was raised from the grave, our hope is tied to our final resurrection as well, and the promise that one day God will make everything sad become untrue. While we may suffer in life, we join the rest of creation patiently waiting for the day when our bodies will be redeemed.

“We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.” Wait, we believe in the Catholic Church? I thought we were Protestant!

The Nicene Creed echoes the language of almost every creed in church history using this wording to confess belief in the doctrine of the church. If we interpret the word “catholic” as speaking of an institution, we do have a problem. But the church was never an institution—it was always the assembly of the redeemed people.

The word catholic means “universal”, the affirmation that in Christ, God has purchased a people for Himself. Our confession is that the church of Jesus is unified in the Gospel, global and diverse, and built on the foundation of the Apostles. Local churches are visible outposts of the universal church. In this light, we do believe in One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic church made up of those who have believed and been baptized for the forgiveness of sin.

This morning we will take a look at the doctrine of the church, and hopefully, come to realize the importance of participation in a local church for our spiritual well being.

As we’ve seen so far in our current series, 4th century theologians,worked very intentionally to ensure the Nicene Creed had a very clear, Biblical understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. But what do Christians believe about The Holy Spirit? Is The Holy Spirit a force or a person? Is The Holy Spirit God or a created being or some sort of entity? And what exactly does The Holy Spirit do?

Without a clear understanding of the person and work of The Holy Spirit, it can be difficult to see God at work in our lives. The Spirit’s importance cannot be understated. In fact, on His last night with the disciples, Jesus Himself taught a vast amount about The Holy Spirit, particularly that it was to the disciples’ advantage for Jesus to go away so that The Holy Spirit would come to them. Wrapped up in all of this is the mystery of The Trinity, that there is one God, in three persons: God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. They are distinct, yet all work together as one. Without The Holy Spirit, we could not see The Son. Without The Son, we could not,have a right relationship with The Father. The Holy Spirit also guides and strengthens us for the road ahead in this broken world as the believer seeks to follow hard after Jesus, living a life in which we,worship and glorify each member of The Trinity.

In our study of the Nicene Creed, we come to the line “Whose,Kingdom Shall Have No End.”

Why is this line included? We’ve learned about Jesus’ divinity,,His humanity, and His place in the Trinity, but if we mess up any,of those, we will have a Jesus who either isn’t truly king at all, or,He has a kingdom that will one day pass away.

Today in our study, we will see that Jesus is King forever, with a,kingdom that will never end or pass away. That is amazing,news for us, the people of His kingdom!

Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven.

If you have been with us the last few weeks in our exploration of the Nicene Creed, you might be asking, “Does all of this really matter?” We have discussed some pretty deep theological ideas. Seems like a lot to think about. Doesn’t doctrine like this divide? We might think that unity is more important than doctrinal clarity. But the bishops at Nicaea knew that the very truth of salvation was at stake.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners. God sent Jesus to be born to a virgin mother, live as a man, die at the hands of Pilate, be buried in a real tomb, and then rise again for this purpose, to rescue people. Paul proclaimed this salvation in his preaching, reminding people that Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. And there is salvation no where else and in no other name. To mistake Jesus’ identity and mission is to miss salvation. Furthermore, to have the right doctrine of Jesus, yet fail to authentically believe, is equally damning.

Our salvation is the reason Jesus came. Our invitation is to believe the good news and be rescued.

Sometimes the smallest things make earth-changing differences. At the Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago, the exclusion of a single “i” defined all Christian doctrine. There was much debate about whether Jesus was homoousios or homoiousios with God the Father. Sounds like a fun debate, right? Ousios is Greek for “substance or being.” Homo means “the same,” while Homoi means “similar.”

So, was Jesus the exact same substance as God the Father, or merely a similar substance to Him? While the “i” seems insignificant, for Christianity, this debate gets to the very heart of theology. The council and creed affirmed that Jesus is the full and same substance as God the Father. The Christian church went on to affirm the full deity of the Holy Spirit. God the Father, Son, and Spirit—one in substance and being, three in person.

As Christians, the doctrine of the Trinity is not just a philosophical formula, it is an invitation to know the God who is love. But, add the “i” and whatever you have, it is not the Christian faith handed down by Jesus and revealed in the Scriptures.

The central and glorious mystery that defines the Christian faith and separates it from all other paths is the miracle of the incarnation. God stepped into human flesh, became one of us. The One who was eternally begotten as the Son of God was born in human history, taking the likeness of men. This means that at one point God indwelt a zygote, was born a human baby, went through adolescence, and lived as a fully human man. He did not lay aside His deity; yet, He took on full humanity, “taking the form of a servant.” As a human being, He lived a righteous human life, died a human death, and was buried in a tomb. And, as a human, He rose again, the down payment for every human resurrection.

We cannot truly believe in Jesus without embracing this mystery—that God took on human flesh and dwelt among us. But, when we do embrace it, His humanity becomes the representative for ours, meaning that His death is for us and His resurrection guarantees yours and mine.

When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”, He was asking the single most important question that can be asked of every human. In 325 AD, that question became front and center for the early church. The core dispute at Nicaea involved the nature of Jesus Christ. If there is only one God, how could both the Father and Jesus the Son be truly divine? The group following the Biship named Arias did not believe Jesus was God in the same way and with the same substance as the Father. They believed the language about Jesus being begotten by God implied that he was the ultimate created being, but creature none the less. This group declared, “There was a time when he (Jesus) was not.” The church leaders at Nicaea boldly rejected this view, affirming the deity of Jesus. God of God, light of light, very God of very God! This deity of Jesus was not a new belief invented at this gathering; rather, it was the affirmation of three centuries of Christian doctrine taught in the New Testament and affirmed by the early church.

Today, the Scripture text will reveal that the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus, and that all things were created by, through, and for Him.