Teaching for today

"With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please." (Jeremiah 27:5) "His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No-one can hold back his hand or say to him: 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:34-35)

"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." (Genesis 17:7) "Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant." (Hebrews 7:22)

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." (Hebrews 11:3)

How is the Lord Jesus fully God and fully man? This controversy raged in the 5th Century and was answered at the Council of Chalcedon by addressing the two natures of Christ. His deity and humanity were declared to exist "without confusion, without change, without division, without separation". This not only helps us in our thinking about Christ but should also elevate our understanding of what it means to be human and teach us how we should live out our lives in the world.

The fall of Rome in 410 saw the world many people thought was unshakable, collapse. In light of this, Augine of Hippo wrote about the city that would never be destroyed – the City of God. In outlining human history as a conflict between the City of God and the City of the World, Augine presents the true church of Christ as being independent from any place or state. Civic peace in the earthly city can help to further the City of God. But even those who dwelt within the City of God would still face trials and tribulations, until the return of Christ.

Irenaeus is regarded by some as the founder of apologetics. He was a 2nd Century Bishop of Lyons and was the first great theologian of the patristic age. His most renowned work, Against Heresies, is a defence of the orthodox Christian faith and an attack on the heresies of the day. Irenaeus was resolute in his beliefs but in his style of reasoning he actively sought to persuade and convince people of the truth.

The tombstone of Athanasius read 'Athanasius contra mundum' – Athanasius against the world. Athanasius made a solitary stand in the 4th Century in defending the truth that Jesus Christ was fully God. As a result he was repeatedly exiled from the city of which he was bishop, but Athanasius continued to show remarkable faithfulness and perseverance in the face of almost total opposition.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17). Through his sacrifice on the cross, Christ's righteousness is imparted to the believer. Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law's demands on our behalf. Christ did not come to abolish the law. The law condemns the sinner, yet the law is good. It is a friend to all those who seek to live a Christ-like life in an increasingly hostile world.

We have available to us the inerrant, authoritative and complete Word of God, so of what benefit to us are church creeds? Many battles against error have been fought down through the ages of church history. These battles have often been resolved by the drawing up of statements of sound doctrine. But how should we approach and value these ancient creeds in the modern world, especially in relation to Scripture?

Throughout the course of salvation history God has progressively revealed more and more information about himself "at many times and in various ways" (Hebrews 1:1). This progressive revelation culminated in the person of Jesus Christ. He is God's final word to all mankind. There is no other name by which we must be saved.