The Nicene Creed

Growing up in the Lutheran Church, I learned to recite the Apostle's Creed at a young age, before it was even required. You know how kids pick up rote memorization. Have 'em quote some Napolean Dynamite for you; you'll get the idea.

After a time, to spice things up I guess, they switched to the Nicene Creed. To a kid, it's like learning Scripture memorization in a different version. No problem.

The Nicene Creed contains a statement about Jesus' return to the earth. Specifically:

He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end...

Honestly, I don't remember any teaching on that point. After teaching my Sunday school class last week on "End-Times" doctrine, I asked my mom, who happened to be in town, if she'd ever heard such things. "Never," she responded.

Maybe it's that 2000 years (almost) have passed since He rose into heaven, and we figured we must have gotten that one wrong. Maybe it's the fact that major denominations have so diluted their biblical teaching you'll find more substance from Jay Leno.

But if we read the prophecy in Scripture that has yet to be fulfilled the same way we read the prophecy in Scripture that has been fulfilled, we understand that within context, we can read that prophecy plainly.

Jesus will return. He said He would (Matthew 24:29-31). The angel's who spoke to the disciples following Jesus ascension said He would (Acts 1:10-11), that He would return just as He went, bodily, on the clouds and to the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem.

The time preceding His return will be a time of horrors like no time the world has ever known (Matthew 24:9-28), a time of God's wrath (yes, wrath) being poured out on those who have not accepted what God provided as a mean's of salvation (Revelation 6:15-17).

And that's the kicker. God has provided a solution to man's problem with rebellion. We are rebellious by nature. Romans 3:10-18 delivers that picture in Hi-Def detail.

“ There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
“ Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“ The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
“ Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known.”
“ There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We have a sin problem. No, we're not basically good. We are rebellious, and a holy God rightfully and righteously cannot tolerate sin. And because we cannot fix ourselves, He provided the solution.

"For He made Him who knew no sin (Jesus Christ) to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

While He walked the earth, Jesus told His disciples that He was the way, and the only way, to mend the chasm between God and man when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Christians get accused of being narrow-minded. If we were arguing the Best Picture of 1963, our adamance can be dismissed. But Jesus is coming back. And next time, He won't be cooing in the manger. And so we proclaim the solution, not our solution, not some Ponzi scheme, but the fix for the broken relationship between God and man.

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."" Romans 10:9-11 (v. 12 is good, too)

I don't know when Christ will return. But as the land He trod once again erupts in flames, I know for certain that it is far closer today than it was yesterday. What a blessing to know that I have been adopted into His family (Galatians 4:4-5).