Trinity Sunday 6/19/11
Trinity Sunday
6/19/11
Text: Multiple text
Title “Athanasian Creed”
Today is Trinity Sunday, the Sunday when the Athanasian Creed is traditionally read. It is a longest of the Christian creeds thought to be written in the Fifth Century focusing on the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It is an important creed for the Christian Church, especially the liturgical churches which use the Trinitarian statement “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” in their worship services and different rites such as Baptism.
We are not going to read it today because it is such a long creed and so complex that to be honest with you most people’s eyes glaze over and the brain goes numb by the time they reach the end of it. What I would like to do though is for us to read together the first six lines, for they set out the importance of the creed for all true believing Christians. And then I will talk about the creed and its importance for Christianity.
Please open up your Lutheran Service Book to page 319 where we will read the first 6 lines. As we read please remember that the word “catholic” does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, but the Universal Christian Church.
Let’s read together. “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without a doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this. That we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons or dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.”
It continues to state in great detail the Christian belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and their relationship to each other, as one. While the creed appears at first glance to be about the Holy Trinity, it is really about Jesus and his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
I say that because it was written to correct a heresy that was starting to be taught in the Christian Church in the Fifth Century almost 1500 years or so before the Christian Church began to splinter into what has become so many different Christian denominations today. The heresy that was being taught was that Jesus was not equal to God, but was the first creature that God the Father created. In other words he was not truly God, as the Father is. Jehovah Witness’s today still believe and teach this false teaching.
Listen once more to the first of the Creed. “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without a doubt perish eternally.
That is some strong language. And it is definitely not politically correct today to say that believing in the Triune God is the only way a person can be saved. While it is true that many Christians keep silent lest they offend a person of another faith I think there are more people who consider themselves Christians that keep silent when talking about different religions because they believe deep down in their hearts that while the belief in the Trinity is their way to be saved God has other ways for other spiritually minded people to be saved.
This type of thinking is a cancer in Christianity, for it eats away at the heart of Christianity; the belief in the Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as being the only way to be saved. You might be thinking what difference does it make, if I believe in the Trinity or not, as long as I believe in Jesus as my Savior. Or, if you know some about your Bible, maybe you are thinking that the Bible does not even teach the Trinity.
That might even be what you are thinking, but it is wrong thinking, for as I was preparing for my sermon this morning on the Trinity, I was reminded of all the different passages in the Bible that states just what the Athanasian Creed says in its first six lines. Here is one, for John 3:16-18 says it the best. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."
Strong words aren’t they? But they are true words, for Jesus is saying them. And since Jesus is God while being human he cannot lie even if what he says makes us or anyone, for that matter uncomfortable. He is, as he says in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Some say that the doctrine of the Trinity is only a later development in Christianity, but is clearly taught in the Old Testament, especially in Genesis 1:1-3 which is made clear in John 1:1-3 where we learn of God and of the Spirit of God and of the Word of God Jesus, by whom all things were made. But even more importantly we hear Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. "
While the words Trinity or Triune are not mentioned in the Bible it is clearly taught, for God the Father is, as John 17:3 tells us, “the only true God” while at the same time being a person distinct from the Son, as we are told in Galatians 4:4, “God sent forth His Son”. He is distinct also from the Holy Spirit since we read in Acts 10:38 that he anointed “Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power”.
Jesus is also “the true God, and eternal life” as we read in 1 John 5:20 "we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
Paul says of Jesus in Romans 9:5 that He “is over all, God blessed forever”. Even though he is of the same essence of the Father Jesus is distinct from the Father, as we read in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Together with the Father he sends forth the Spirit of truth as we read in John 15:26 "But when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."
Which brings us to the Holy Spirit who is also God, as we learn in Acts 5:3-4 when Peter tells Ananias that, when he lied unto the Holy Spirit, he had lied unto God and in 1 Corinthians 3:16 Christians are called the temple of God, because the Holy Spirit dwells in them.
The Holy Spirit is true God while also being distinct from the Father and the Son, for in John 14:16 where Jesus is speaking, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (Holy Spirit), to be with you forever." Jesus clearly differentiates between himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
Thus we believe through faith, which we know from Heb 11:1, “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." that there are not three Gods or three different manifestations of God such as ice, steam, and water are different forms of water, but each is a different distinct person and each is the full and complete God. Thus the Father is the one and only God; the Son is the one and only God; the Holy Spirit is the one and only God. The three persons Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of equal rank and majesty, none to be preferred before the other, for while being distinct in person, they are one in essence; that is in their Godhood. That my dear brothers in sisters in Christ is why we believe and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is the only way to be saved. Amen
6/19/11
Text: Multiple text
Title “Athanasian Creed”
Today is Trinity Sunday, the Sunday when the Athanasian Creed is traditionally read. It is a longest of the Christian creeds thought to be written in the Fifth Century focusing on the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It is an important creed for the Christian Church, especially the liturgical churches which use the Trinitarian statement “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” in their worship services and different rites such as Baptism.
We are not going to read it today because it is such a long creed and so complex that to be honest with you most people’s eyes glaze over and the brain goes numb by the time they reach the end of it. What I would like to do though is for us to read together the first six lines, for they set out the importance of the creed for all true believing Christians. And then I will talk about the creed and its importance for Christianity.
Please open up your Lutheran Service Book to page 319 where we will read the first 6 lines. As we read please remember that the word “catholic” does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, but the Universal Christian Church.
Let’s read together. “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without a doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this. That we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons or dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.”
It continues to state in great detail the Christian belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and their relationship to each other, as one. While the creed appears at first glance to be about the Holy Trinity, it is really about Jesus and his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
I say that because it was written to correct a heresy that was starting to be taught in the Christian Church in the Fifth Century almost 1500 years or so before the Christian Church began to splinter into what has become so many different Christian denominations today. The heresy that was being taught was that Jesus was not equal to God, but was the first creature that God the Father created. In other words he was not truly God, as the Father is. Jehovah Witness’s today still believe and teach this false teaching.
Listen once more to the first of the Creed. “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without a doubt perish eternally.
That is some strong language. And it is definitely not politically correct today to say that believing in the Triune God is the only way a person can be saved. While it is true that many Christians keep silent lest they offend a person of another faith I think there are more people who consider themselves Christians that keep silent when talking about different religions because they believe deep down in their hearts that while the belief in the Trinity is their way to be saved God has other ways for other spiritually minded people to be saved.
This type of thinking is a cancer in Christianity, for it eats away at the heart of Christianity; the belief in the Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as being the only way to be saved. You might be thinking what difference does it make, if I believe in the Trinity or not, as long as I believe in Jesus as my Savior. Or, if you know some about your Bible, maybe you are thinking that the Bible does not even teach the Trinity.
That might even be what you are thinking, but it is wrong thinking, for as I was preparing for my sermon this morning on the Trinity, I was reminded of all the different passages in the Bible that states just what the Athanasian Creed says in its first six lines. Here is one, for John 3:16-18 says it the best. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."
Strong words aren’t they? But they are true words, for Jesus is saying them. And since Jesus is God while being human he cannot lie even if what he says makes us or anyone, for that matter uncomfortable. He is, as he says in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Some say that the doctrine of the Trinity is only a later development in Christianity, but is clearly taught in the Old Testament, especially in Genesis 1:1-3 which is made clear in John 1:1-3 where we learn of God and of the Spirit of God and of the Word of God Jesus, by whom all things were made. But even more importantly we hear Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. "
While the words Trinity or Triune are not mentioned in the Bible it is clearly taught, for God the Father is, as John 17:3 tells us, “the only true God” while at the same time being a person distinct from the Son, as we are told in Galatians 4:4, “God sent forth His Son”. He is distinct also from the Holy Spirit since we read in Acts 10:38 that he anointed “Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power”.
Jesus is also “the true God, and eternal life” as we read in 1 John 5:20 "we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
Paul says of Jesus in Romans 9:5 that He “is over all, God blessed forever”. Even though he is of the same essence of the Father Jesus is distinct from the Father, as we read in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Together with the Father he sends forth the Spirit of truth as we read in John 15:26 "But when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."
Which brings us to the Holy Spirit who is also God, as we learn in Acts 5:3-4 when Peter tells Ananias that, when he lied unto the Holy Spirit, he had lied unto God and in 1 Corinthians 3:16 Christians are called the temple of God, because the Holy Spirit dwells in them.
The Holy Spirit is true God while also being distinct from the Father and the Son, for in John 14:16 where Jesus is speaking, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (Holy Spirit), to be with you forever." Jesus clearly differentiates between himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
Thus we believe through faith, which we know from Heb 11:1, “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." that there are not three Gods or three different manifestations of God such as ice, steam, and water are different forms of water, but each is a different distinct person and each is the full and complete God. Thus the Father is the one and only God; the Son is the one and only God; the Holy Spirit is the one and only God. The three persons Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of equal rank and majesty, none to be preferred before the other, for while being distinct in person, they are one in essence; that is in their Godhood. That my dear brothers in sisters in Christ is why we believe and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is the only way to be saved. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 8:23 PM
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