Jesus – His Supremacy Series

Jesus – His Supremacy

Series: CREED: Truths that Unite

Brad Bailey - January 24, 2021

Intro...

A great big GOOD MORNING to each of you joining today...and a warm welcome to any who may be joining from afar or in the future.

This week our nation held the inauguration of it’s presidency... and once again many of us may have been struck by the enormity of such a role and various ways it is celebrated. President of the United States of America... is deemed among the most powerful titles that one can bear. Along with positions such as Prime Minister of Britain....or Chancellor of Germany. or President of the People's Republic of China... they represent the very highest of positions on earth.

Well today we are engaging what it means to recognize a role that transcends all forms of human power... one who has given the ultimate in sacrifice...and who bear the ultimate in authority.

These words of recognition we come to... are part of our new series entitled Creed: Truths that Unite. We are engaging the central truths captured in the Apostles Creed. As noted before... the Apostles Creed is the oldest known and most widely accepted Christian creed. It captures the central truths of the Scriptures which the apostles affirmed... and we are starting this year with these truths... because these truths can center us... form us...and unite us.

And this creed provides a brevity that allows us to easily enjoy declaring it together.

So each week, we are having different members first lead us in the creed... to which we can say aloud by following the words we will put up.

And today I welcome Matt and Emily Olivencia-Audet... who both bless me and humble me in their abilities and service to our community... from hosting to youth to care for those in need. It’s a privilege to welcome Matt and Emily. [1a]

[Creed read. See Note 1a]

Last week we began with the first statement of the creed.... “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” And today we engage the second,

“I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,”

These words recognize the one unique figure that unites the Creator with we the creation.

He is the most universally recognized figure in all of human history...whose identity defines life more than any other.... yet also the one whose identity itself is often the most avoided.

He himself would ask... “Who do you say I am?” ...knowing the answer to that question mattered more than any other.

So lets pause for a moment...and take a moment to open our minds and hearts to God in prayer.

[PRAYER....like those who have lost all reference points... that locates our position... the very position of our existence.... we ask that you help us to hear you speak... and to align our lives with what is true.]

Let’s consider these words of recognition. “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,”

Having just recognized God... as the Father Almighty... creator of heaven and earth... we come to the recognition of Jesus... as the Christ, his only Son, our Lord.... and this is followed by more statements that recognize essential truths about Jesus... how he was conceived... suffered...died... rose...and ascended. And we will engage each of these in the weeks ahead. ...because each of these additional statements are essential to understanding Jesus.

The Creed includes more statements about Jesus NOT because of some generic desire to make him more important... but because of two aspects about him that must be given the clearest of affirmation...and those are his NATURE...and his ROLE.

If we’ve grown up with any exposure to a Christian culture, we’ve heard many references to God as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”... or of Jesus being Savior and Lord...and we may not appreciate how radical these truths are. The unique nature of Jesus is profound...and the role he serves in our relationship to God is vital to understand. And that is why these statements about his incarnation,,, suffering... death...and ascension are going to be so rich to look at in the weeks ahead.

But today we begin with the how his most prominent nature and role are recognized in ... Christ... Son.. .and Lord.

Some of you may be old enough to remember how common it was to see the symbol of a fish used as a Christian symbol. During the Jesus Movement that emerged in the 1970s... the fish was seen on Bible covers ,,, T-Shirts...and bumper stickers. Some may wonder what the significance of this fish symbol is about.

It’s actually the most ancient of such symbols. It comes from an acrostic made up of 5 letters in the Greek alphabet that represent the first letter of the words that were most central to belief in Christ... these five letter represent the Greek words that translate into English as: "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."