12 15 i believe in jesus christ

the CRADLE, the CROSS & the CROWN

Scripture Reading : Matt 16:13-16

When Jesus came to the region of

Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,

"Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist;

others say Elijah; and still others,

Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" he asked.

"WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the

Christ, the Son of the living God."

I believe in God the Father

Almighty, Maker of heaven and

earth: And in Jesus Christ, his

only Son, our Lord: Who was

conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary:

Suffered under Pontius Pilate;

was crucified, dead and buried:

The third day he rose again

from the dead: He ascended

into heaven, and sits at the

right hand of God the Father

Almighty: From thence he

shall come to judge the quick

and the dead:

I believe in the Holy Spirit:

the holy catholic Church:

the communion of saints:

The forgiveness of sins:

The resurrection of the body:

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Recap to Apostles Creed

BAPTISMAL TRINITARIAN FORMULAE

I Believe in God the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven & earth ...

I Believe in the Holy Spirit ...

I Believe in Jesus Christ ...

62% (66/106) of the Creed

Q: WHO IS JESUS ?

Q: WHO IS JESUS TO YOU ?

Apostles Creed cont

I Believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son,

our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy

Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered

under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead

and buried: The third day he rose again

from the dead: He ascended into heaven,

and sits at the right hand of God the

Father Almighty: From thence he shall

come to judge the quick and the dead:

I Believe in Jesus Christ,

his only Son, our Lord:

WHO IS JESUS ? JESUS

CHRIST*

GOD’s SON*

LORD**

: ‘He who saves’ or ‘Savior’

: ‘the Anointed one’ or

‘the Messiah’

: ‘only begotten’,

‘absolutely unique’,

‘same nature as God’

: ‘kurios’/’kuros’ – absolute

ruler or master

I Believe in Jesus Christ,

his only Son, our Lord:

Paul’s Triumphal Declaration in Phil 2:9-11 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest

place and gave him the name that is above

every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee

should bow, in heaven and on earth and

under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ

is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I Believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord:

•Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary:

• Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was

crucified, dead and buried:

• The third day he rose again from the dead:

He ascended into heaven, and sits at the

right hand of God the Father Almighty:

From thence he shall come to judge the

quick and the dead:

CRADLE

CROSS

CROWN

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary:

1. CRADLE - His Birth : • Predicted 700yrs before in Isa 7:14 “... The

VIRGIN will be with child and will give birth

to a son, and will call him IMMANUEL.”

• Importance of the “Virgin Birth”

i. God’s direct intervention (Luke 1:35)

ii. No man was involved (John 1:13)

iii. Had a human mother but no human father

(Matt 1:20)

iv. Fully Human and Fully Divine (Phil 2:6-8a)

v. Born without SIN (1 John 3:5b)

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord: Who was

conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary:

His Virgin Birth results in ...

• His SINLESS Life

• Is the key to being our SAVIOR

‘Holy’ & ‘Sinless’ - qualified to pay the

penalty for the ‘sins of the whole world’

(1 Jn 2:2)

‘Fully Human’ – to understanding /

experience suffering & temptation

(Heb 4:15-16) as we do – yet did not sin.

‘Fully Divine’- he paid the infinite price

for man’s sin for all ages (eg John 20:31)

I Believe In Jesus Christ...

I Believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary:

Suffered under Pontius Pilate;

was crucified, dead and buried:

The third day he rose again from the dead:

He ascended into heaven,

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the

dead:

NOTHING ABOUT HIS 3 yrs of

TEACHINGS & MINISTRY ??

2. CROSS - His Death :

Suffered under Pontius Pilate;

was crucified, dead and buried: Q: Why mention Pontius Pilate ?

A: Historical Time & Space –

• Pontius Pilate: Roman governor

of Judaea from AD 26-36 :

• Betrayal, Trial & Crucifixion

• Truly & Fully suffered

(Ref Isa 53:4-6)

The Passion of The Christ

Q: Who is ultimately responsible for

the death of Jesus Christ ?

Answers :

A. Judas Iscariot - His betrayer?

B. The Jews esp. Caiphas the

High Priest ?

C. The Romans esp. Pontius

Pilate, the Governor ?

Question :

Who nailed

Jesus to the

Cross ?

Whose hand is this ?

“..all of us are responsible for Christ's death.”

Consider Isa 53:4-6

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and

carried our sorrows, yet we considered

him stricken by God, smitten by him, and

afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities; the

punishment that brought us peace was

upon him, and by his wounds we are

healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each

of us has turned to his own way; and the

Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Q: Who is ultimately responsible for

the death of Jesus Christ ?

Answers :

A. His betrayer - Judas Iscariot ?

B. The Jews incld Caiphas the

High Priest ?

C. The Romans incld Pontius

Pilate, the Governor ?

D. Sinful man - you and I ?

E. God & Jesus ?

Isa 53:10 “Yet it was THE LORD'S WILL to crush

him and cause him to suffer,...”

John 10:18 “No one takes it from me, but I LAY

IT DOWN of my own accord.”

Acts 4:27-28 "For truly against Your holy Servant

Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and

Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people

of Israel, were gathered together TO DO

WHATEVER YOUR HAND and YOUR PURPOSE

determined before to be done. NKJV

** TWENTY EIGHT Prophecies were fulfilled on

the day Jesus was crucified

Q: Who is ultimately responsible for

the death of Jesus Christ ?

QUOTE :

“No one killed Jesus against his will.

If God had not willed for his Son to die,

and if Jesus had not willingly laid down

his life,

all the armies of Rome could not have

killed him.”

Q: Who is ultimately responsible

for the death of Jesus Christ ?

? 1887

? 1901

How did

Abraham

Lincoln die ?

Good Friday

14th April 1865

2. CROSS – His Death

Suffered under Pontius Pilate;

was crucified, dead and buried:

However even till TODAY his

‘DEATH’ is questioned ?

2. CROSS - His Death

Christ’s death is very important & central

to the Christian faith

• NO DEATH = NO ATONEMENT 1 John 2:2 He is the ATONING

SACRIFICE for our sins, and ... the sins

of the whole world.

• NO DEATH = NO SALVATION

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins

once for all, the righteous for the

unrighteous, to bring you to God.

3. CROWN –

His Resurrection,

Ascension & Return:

The third day he rose again from the dead: He

ascended into heaven, and sits at the right

hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence

he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:

Why is his Resurrection important ?

Ref 1 Cor 15

1 Cor 15:13-19 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then

not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead....

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

v32 If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

3. CROWN -His Resurrection, Ascension & Return:

The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended

into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father

Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick

and the dead:

Ref 1 Peter 1:3

“In his great mercy he has given us ...

NEW BIRTH into a LIVING HOPE ...

through the resurrection of Jesus

Christ from the dead,”

He ascended into heaven, ...

His ASCENSION

Quote :

“Easter is incomplete,

Pentecost is impeded,

and the Second Coming is

impossible

without the ASCENSION” .

He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of

God the Father Almighty:

WHERE IS JESUS NOW ?

• At God’s RIGHT HAND :

(Acts 2:33, Eph 1:20, Col 3:1, Heb 1:3)

WHAT IS JESUS DOING NOW ?

• Rom 8:34 “...Christ Jesus, who died... who was

raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is

also INTERCEDING for us.”

• Heb 9:24 For Christ did not enter a man-made

sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he

entered heaven itself, now to APPEAR FOR US in

God's presence.

From thence he shall come to judge the

quick (living) and the dead:

SECOND COMING !

WILL JESUS RETURN ?

YES !

WHEN WILL JESUS RETURN ?

• Matt 24:36 "No one knows

about that day or hour,

not even the angels in

heaven, nor the Son, but

only the Father.”

From thence he shall come to judge the

quick (living) and the dead:

SECOND COMING :

WHY WILL JESUS RETURN ?

To Judge

• John 5:22 “Moreover, the

Father judges no one, but

has entrusted all

judgment to the Son,”

• Other Ref

• Rom 14:10-12

• Heb 9:27-28

Apostles Creed - Conclusion

A CREED is a concise, formal

and universally accepted

statement of faith.

Baptismal Trinitarian Formulae

The person of Jesus Christ

occupies a large part of the

Creed

Certain parts of the Life of

Jesus Christ are Key to his

ministry & purpose

CRADLE - CROSS - CROWN

Conclusion :

As 2013 draw to a close...

As we celebrate Christmas...

Whose birth are we celebrating ?

• JESUS, the CHRIST

From the CRADLE to the CROSS

• He DIED for you and me

He conquered death and is now in

Heaven – CROWNed in Glory

• And He is coming back to JUDGE...

• The same question that Jesus asked his

disciples in Matt 16:15, he is asking you

and I today – "WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?”

C. S. Lewis - The Trilemma :

' Lunatic, Liar, or Lord:

Quote : “People cannot logically say that

Jesus was "just a good man”. Jesus Christ

claimed to be God in the flesh - Good men do

not claim to be God.”

1.Jesus could have been- as we might

consider anyone making claims of divinity -

a raving lunatic.

2.He could have been the world's greatest

con-man, a liar.

3.He could have been who he claimed to be,

LORD.

• The same question that Jesus asked his

disciples in Matt 16:15, he is asking you

and I today – "WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?”

• Your answer to that One Question will

determine your FAITH, your LIFE, your

ALL