Reflections – 2024.05

The Apostles Creed (I Believe in Jesus)

For it stands in Scripture:
‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
A cornerstone chosen and precious,
And whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.’
–  I Peter 2:6

People believe in all kinds of things.  Some people believe in miracles.  Others believe there are no such things and that everything has a scientific explanation.  Some people believe that Elvis is not dead.  Others believe he is definitely dead.  Some people believe that they can pull themselves up by the bootstraps and that with a little bit of luck, things will start going their way.  Others believe that their life is falling apart and even today are wondering why they should even carry on.   Beliefs generally have some basis upon which they are built, an understanding of the world and people around us, and generally lead to action.

Which is why what you believe in is very important.  Because you will likely act on it.  Even a belief in a living Elvis could lead a person to spend endless hours trying to find his whereabouts or convincing unbelievers of the “real” truth and the reasons for the coverup.  So you need to ask yourself what or who you believe in.   And of course, the most important belief question concerns God.  If you don’t believe in God, there are so many consequences … because you will act on it.  Even so, the Apostles Creed doesn’t end with affirming our belief in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.  There is a second core belief of Christianity – and that is the belief in Jesus.

The Heidelberg Catechism notes that the name Jesus means savior, which is of course appropriate because “salvation cannot be found in anyone else; it is futile to look for any salvation elsewhere.”  People look for salvation elsewhere.  They start with a belief in following rules or in being good or in some other god or in their own wits.  These things will, they believe, get them through life and will, to the extent that there is a God, please Him enough that He will let them into heaven (if there is one).  The starting point is bad and so the actions that follow will have a self-justifying, empty-ish feel to them, because they will never be done for the glory of Jesus … because such a person does not believe in Him.

But the Christian believes in Jesus … places his or her faith in Him … and then lives accordingly.  And so life isn’t futile.  Life in Jesus begins and ends with salvation.  As Christians, the deeds we do will over the course of our lives reflect more and more our love for Jesus as the One who saved us, and we will repent when those deeds are shown to reflect a sinful belief that is still hanging around, a belief we must fight and which will one day be no more.   Believe in Jesus.  He is the great foundation, the great starting point of everything.  In Him we have all we need for our salvation.  In Him we have a solid rock upon which to build our lives.