In Search of the Old Paths

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7
NewTestament Reading: Acts 4:1-12

In Search of the Old Paths
“I Believe in Jesus Christ God’s Only Son, our Lord”
Romans 1:1-6

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

There is no historical evidence that the Apostles authored what we know as the Apostle’s Creed. However, the Apostle’s Creed simply reflects the nine core beliefs taught by the Apostles and then later by the pastors of the churches.

• The word “Creed” comes from the Latin word “Credo,” which means, “I believe.” While the old “Roman Creed” was developed and used in the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries, the current version of the Apostle’s Creed did not appear until the 4^th and 5^th centuries, and wasn’t widely used until the 7^th and 8^th
• “Christians must know at least something of the wealth of truth revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and they must know it with sufficient clarity to state it and defend it.” – A.W. Tozer
• The Bible is a large-scale map of God’s plan for our salvation, but the Apostles Creed is a street-map that shows the essential points of the Christian faith, i.e., that which a sinner must believe, confess, and profess to become a true Christian.” – J.I. Packer.

The Greek word translated in our English Bibles as “believe” means to trust the Lord and obey Him; to submit unto His Lordship, and to follow Him wholeheartedly.

• To believe in Jesus with all of our heart means we establish the Lord Jesus as the Master of our lives: the Core around which every facet of our lives revolves, for out of the heart flows every issue of life.
• To believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, means we accept the God who has revealed Himself in the Holy Scriptures as the Almighty, Omnipotent, Uncreated, Creator God; the uncaused Cause behind everything that has ever, or will ever exist, including the only plan for the redemption of lost man.
  • God, the Father made the plan, and He is the One who elects those who are to be saved.
  • God, the Son made the plan possible through His death on the cross, which means He is the One who justifies the sinner before God the Father .
  • God, the Holy Spirit, makes the plan work through His mighty power to sanctify those who are saved.
• While God the Father expects all people to enjoy the good things that He has provided for all people, regardless of their spiritual condition, He does expect those He redeems to glorify Him even more and to praise His name forever.
• This means, as Christians, we may have to give up some of our creature comforts and the enjoyments of life for the sake of God’s call upon our lives.
• This is what the Apostle Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 when he wrote: “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body.”
• Therefore, the goal of the Christian life is to glorify God the Father, who provided the only way for us to be redeemed from our sins, and to be restored in our relationship with Him, which should inspire us to worship Him, obey Him, and glorify His Holy Name.
• The main issue behind the cultural shifts we see today, including the definitions of man, family, and the roles and responsibilities of males and females, including what is being done in the area of bioethics in regards to cloning, robotics, and now artificial intelligence, is our concept of the doctrine of God.
• The current concept of God in the majority of churches today is beneath the dignity of the Most-High God. As God told the Israelites in Psalm 50:21: “These things you have done for you thought I was altogether just like you.”

1. Jesus Christ – Matthew 1:18-22 – Vss. 20-21 – “While he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is [g]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

• The name, “Jesus” is derived from the Hebrew word “Yeshua,” which is the short version of the name “Yehoshua,” which we pronounce as “Joshua,” which, in Hebrew means “The Lord Saves.”
• The Greek translation of the Hebrew name ‘Yeshua” is “Iesous,” or “Yayzuz,” which became the English name “Jesus.”
• Combining “Yahweh” with “Yeshua,” which is the root word for “Yasha,” which means to save or deliver, “Jesus” was the perfect name given to the One whom God sent to be our Savior.
• The term “Christ” is derived from the Greek word “Christos,” which is the equivalent of the Hebrew word, “Messiah,” or “Mashiach,” which means The Anointed One.
• Therefore, Jesus Christ means the Messiah, or the Anointed One.
  • As the Christ, Jesus is God’s promised, eternal, and anointed Prophet, which means He is God’s Word or spokesman.
  • As the Christ, Jesus is God’s promised Priest, the only One who reconciles sinful man with a Holy God.
  • As the Christ, Jesus is God’s King, the One who will soon rule the world with truth and grace and make the nations prove, the glories of God’s righteousness, and the wonders of God’s love.

2. God’s Only Son – John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

• When we say that Jesus is the Son of God, it means that He is God.
• “In Him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” – Colossians 2:9
• “Though He (Jesus) was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself.” – Philippians 2:6
• “In these last days, God has spoken to us by a Son.” – Hebrews 1:2-3
• Of the Son [God] he says, “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” – Hebrews 1:8-9
• “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.” – John 1:1, 14
• “For the Father sent His one and only divine Son so that He might have many human sons by adoption. We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” Romans 5:10
• “We live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.” – Galatians 2:20
• So, it was the coming and dying of God the Son that gave us the gift of adoption. Therefore, if we confess the Son, we have the Father also, and if we have the Son and the Father, we have everlasting life.

 3. Our Lord – Acts 2:36 – “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

• In the Old Testament there are two words which are translated lord:
  • Adonai, which means “master,” describes a person who bears a position of authority over others.
  • Yahweh, which is God’s personal name.
• When the New Testament refers to Jesus as Lord, it explicitly identifies him with the Lord of the Old Testament, i.e., He is worthy of all the love, obedience, and worship that is owed to God.
• So, when we make the statement that Jesus is Lord, we are saying that Jesus is God; that He has all authority in heaven and in earth; that He is our Sovereign Lord; that He is the Lord of Lords, and in saying that, we are committing ourselves to obey Him.
• So, a true confession of faith includes our faith in Jesus not only as our Savior, but also as our Lord.
• “If you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” – Romans 10:9
• To believe in and to confess Jesus as Lord is to yield the control of every facet of our lives unto His Lordship.
• “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” – Philippians 2:9-11

“The only way we can ever know the Father is if the Son
reveals Him to us; and the only way we can ever know
the Son is if the Father draws us to Him.”
John MacArthur