A new series explaining the Nicene Creed step by step, line by line. A new segment will be added every week and sent out on Flocknote Friday. If you missed a segment or wish to review past segments, you can find all of them here.
“I believe in one God, the Father almighty…”
We start the creed by acknowledging the one God. The rest of the creed tells us the one God exists as a communion of three persons, a community of love. This is the mystery of the Trinity, but we can understand it better by the analogy of God as a family. God the Father is the head of this family. He is almighty, which means even when things seem broken and out of control, God still has all the power and is working all things for our good.
“I believe in one God… maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”
God is the creator of all things, the physical universe with all the things we can see and all the things we cannot see, like gravity and dark matter, but he is also the creator of the invisible spiritual beings, the angels. God creates all things ex nihilo, out of nothing, from a pure act of creative love and he declares all things good (Gen 1:31).
“I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ…”
We profess our belief in Jesus Christ. The name Jesus means “God saves” and Christ is Greek for the Hebrew word Messiah, which means “anointed one.” In ancient Israel, kings and priest were anointed with oil to signify that they were chosen by God. The prophets foretold of a future king, “the messiah” who would ascend to the thrown of David and rule as Lord of all the nations. We profess that Jesus is the long-awaited messiah and therefore the one Lord of all.
“I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.”
When we profess the Lordship of Jesus, we proclaim him as the messiah the Son of David, but we also proclaim his divinity as the Son of God. The Jewish people considered the name of God too holy to be spoken aloud so they referred to God as “Lord.” When we say Jesus is Lord, we say Jesus is God. He is the only begotten Son, he is not a creation of the Father, not a son by adoption, but a true and only Son. He is “born of the Father before all ages,” Jesus sonship is eternal. There never was a time when the Father and Son did not exist together.
“God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father…”
Jesus has a true divine nature which he receives from and shares with the Father. The truth of Jesus divinity is so important it is repeated here five times. Jesus is God from God, the Son from the Father, the Light from the Light. Jesus is begotten of the Father not made, he is not a creature like you and me but an emanation of the Father’s essence. Consubstantial means “one in substance or essence.” Jesus is true God.
Week 6 Dec 11th
“...through him all things were made.”
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things came to be through him…” (John 1:1-2). God the Father creates through his divine Word. The Greek word here is Logos, which can be translated as “word, reason, or mind.” Jesus is the reflection and emanation of the Father’s mind, Logos through which he creates all things. In the beginning of Genesis, God speaks, and things are created by his Word (Gen 1).
Week 7 Dec 18th
“For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”
Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, took upon himself our human nature in order to redeem us from our sins and reconcile us to the Father. Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. The Son, who was not a creature, entered into creation and became truly human like us in all things but sin. In honor of Jesus’ Incarnation, we bow our heads in reverence to the mystery of God made Man.
Week 8 Jan 8th
“For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
In these short verses, we recall the mystery of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. The story of Jesus death and resurrection was a real historic event, not a myth or legend. We testify to this by stating he was put to death by Pontius Pilate, setting the crucifixion in a particular time and place. We also declare that he rose again from the dead, as was foretold in the Scriptures the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus death and Resurrection (ex: Gen3:15, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53).
Week 9 Jan 15th
“He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
Through the Ascension, Jesus takes his glorified humanity into the divine glory, the fullness of life and happiness of the Father’s house. Jesus precedes us to “prepare a place for us” (John 14:2-3). In Jesus Ascension, we, the members of this body, have hope that our humanity will one day share in this glory and happiness forever. Jesus’ seat at the Father’s right hand symbolizes both Jesus priesthood and kingship, as he forever intercedes for us before the Father and reigns with the Father in the new kingdom just begun.
Week 10 Jan 22nd
“He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.”
By virtue of his death and resurrection Jesus is “Lord of both the dead and the living” (Rom 14:9). When Christ returns in his glory, he will judge each person according to his works and his acceptance or refusal of grace. Our acceptance in faith of grace and love will be revealed by how we have loved our neighbor. “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt 25:40). Those who accept Christ in faith lived out in love will reign with him in the everlasting kingdom.
Week 11 Jan 29th
“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life…”
The “Holy Spirit” is the proper name of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. Spirit (ruah in Hebrew) means breath, air, or wind, which expresses the invisible and lifegiving power of the Spirit. While the words “holy” and “spirit” can used to describe all the persons of the Trinity, the two words combined refer uniquely to the inexpressible person of the Holy Spirit. He is called “Lord” for He is truly divine, consubstantial with the Father and the Son. Creation and redemption are the work of the whole Trinity, that is why the Holy Spirit is called “the giver of life.” “When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath” (CCC, 689).
Week 12 Feb 5th
“...who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.”
We use the pronoun “who” for the Holy Spirit is truly a divine person and not just a divine power or force. Just as the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, so the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. As the Son is a perfect emanation of the Father’s self, the Spirit is an emanation of love between the Father and the Son, thus the Holy Spirit is the both the spirit of the Father and of the Son. Because of this, the Holy Spirit is consubstantial, of the same divine essence, with the Father and the Son and is rightfully worship as God. Though the centuries the Spirit spoke through the prophets, those who were inspired to write the Sacred Scriptures, and his voice continues to speak though the Church.
Week 13 Feb 12th
“I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.”
These are the four essential marks of the Church. The Church is one because her source is the one God, and her founder is the one Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed “that they may all be one” (John 17:21). The Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, but the Church longs to heal the wounds of division between her and separated Christians. The Church, which is made up of sinners, is sanctified by Christ’s sacrifice. The Church is imperfectly holy and thus constantly in need of purification through the Holy Spirt. The saints are witnesses to the Church’s holiness. The word “catholic” means universal. The Church is “catholic” firstly because the fullness of Christ and his salvation is present in her, and secondly because the mission of the Church is to all people. The church is apostolic because it is founded on the apostles, guided by their teachings, and governed by their successors, the bishops and the pope.
Week 14 Feb 19th
“I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.”
The Lord Jesus gave us Baptism to wash away our sins, this sacrament truly cleanses us of sin and makes us children of God. In baptism, we die with Christ and we rise with Christ. In this life we participate in Christ’s death and resurrection through the sacraments. Our soul, if we are faithful, goes to God at the moment of death, but we await the resurrection of the body, when our soul and body, now glorified like Christ’s body, will be reunited when Christ returns. When Christ returns, he will judge all according to their faith and love. He will bring the Kingdom of God to fulfillment, renewing both Heaven and Earth, and all the faithful will live and reign with him forever.
Week 15 Feb 25
Amen.
The creed ends with the Hebrew word “Amen.” In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word "believe." This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. And so we can understand why "Amen" may express both God's faithfulness towards us and our trust in him. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find the expression "God of truth" (literally "God of the Amen"), that is, the God who is faithful to his promises. Thus, the Creed's final "Amen" repeats and confirms its first words: "I believe." To believe is to say "Amen" to God's words, promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to him who is the "Amen" of infinite love and perfect faithfulness. The Christian's everyday life will then be the "Amen" to the "I believe" of our baptismal profession of faith (Taken from CCC, 1061-64).