The Christmas Creed

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon, everyone.

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It is Tuesday, December fourth, twenty twenty four. It is

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currently four to twenty nine pm Central Time, and I

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am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, I hope my

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introduction here does a little better than the last one.

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In the last live broadcast, my introduction kind it kind

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of was a little scattered, It wasn't really focused. I

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think I was somewhat distracted. And I know this from

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doing all of the years of public speaking that I

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have done, broadcasting public speaking, at least for me, when

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I'm listening to someone do public speaking or broadcasting, I

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can almost immediately tell, oh, something's going on, thing is

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distracting them. You could just tell for a second that

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they kind of like they're talking, but you can just

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kind of you can just kind of tell that something

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else is going on that's pulling them away, and just

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it's hard to describe what it sounds like, but you

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can tell if you've ever been doing years of public

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speaking and years of broadcasting. So there are times when

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you're sitting there and you're you're really trying to focus,

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but your brain is like pulling you away. Sometimes it's

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something you know around you that's distracting you. It can

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be a sound, it can be the it depends on

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it depends on the setting, it can be a million things.

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But you sometimes get distracted. So you're talking and then

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all of a sudden, once you get the distraction put aside,

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whether it's your mind going somewhere else and you try

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to pull it back in, you try to. Then you

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kind of like you almost have to kind of do

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a restart, like you almost kind of like, wait a minute,

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what just happened. I know I was saying these words,

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but I was thinking about this, and then all of

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a sudden, you got to get it back on track.

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That is frustrating when it happens, right, it's very frustrating.

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Sometimes as speakers, some pastors, some broadcasters will just acknowledge

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and tell everyone, look, this was happening, or this was happening.

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Sometimes you don't really know what it was that pulled you.

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Like you're talking, but your brain just starts going somewhere else.

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Sometimes it's hard to explain, and for the most part

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the people listening, they don't really care. They're just like,

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get to the point. Get to the point. That's all

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I care about. Just get to the point. I don't

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care about why you were distracted. Get to the point.

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And I understand that. So in the last one, I

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kind of got a little scattered in the introduction, but

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I think it worked out pretty good because it served

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as an illustration, or at least I turned it into

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an illustration about well not being perfect, being flawed, because

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inherently all of us are flawed. Inherently we none of

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us are perfect. We fall short of it all the time.

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We constantly fall into well sin okay, not just being perfect,

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we are sinners. So I utilized it kind of for

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a spiritual illustration. I hope it worked. I hope it

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was good. But I'm hoping for this I can be

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a little bit more precise. So it's Tuesday afternoon. Okay,

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nothing special about that. But it's Tuesday, December the twenty fourth.

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Now there's something a little special about that. It's Christmas Eve.

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It's Christmas Eve, so people are busy going here, going there.

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Maybe some people are running to the store. Maybe people

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are trying to get some last minute gifts purchased and

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delivered or going to pick them up and getting them wrapped.

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People are maybe traveling to see their family, maybe they're

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getting together at their house. There's all kinds of things

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going on on this Christmas Eve, and a lot of

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things are happening. I was watching the sermon's two point

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zero app and I knew that there was going to

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be a lot of services, you know, for Christmas Eve.

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I thought they were going to start maybe in an hour,

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maybe two hours. No, they've already started. There are a

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lot of them already going on. So a lot of

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people are at church, a lot is happening, A lot

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is happening. Which, of course, now I'm going to use

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my opening illustration, which can be distracting for all of us. Right,

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we can get scattered brain, we can get distracted and

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distracted from what. Well, we can get distracted for what

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we at least claim as Christians this is all about, right,

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we claim as Christians, Christmas Eve, Christmas, it's about Christ.

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We like to say, Jesus is the reason for the season,

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and all of those things. Right, it's Christmas. It's about Christ.

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It's about Christ. That's what we claim. And I think

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our intentions are good. I think when we say those things,

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I think there's a part of us that really means it. Theory,

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but we know theoretically, and theory is far different than practical, right,

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It's very you can have all the right ideas, but

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it's very difficult sometimes to live those ideas out any

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practical way. I think we really do believe, you know,

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that it's all about Jesus. We want it to be

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about Jesus, we really do. But I've said it so

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many times, as far as from a philological perspective, from

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a spiritual perspective, from a Christianity perspective, the worst thing

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that could have ever happened for Christmas being about Jesus

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is it becoming a federal holiday. The minute it became

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a federal holiday, then it just becomes about all these

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other things. Once the world got on board with the

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concept of Christmas, right, well, then gifts and shopping and

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then all the nostalgia and sentimentalism and all of these

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other feelings, and it just just it took over the

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entire culture. Well, I Christianity, as much as we like

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to believe it, somehow operates independently from the culture. It's

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greatly influenced by it. And you see that we talked

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about that already. I want a couple of broadcasts ago

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about Christmas sermons and how it borrows from that sentimentality,

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it borrows from the nostalgia, the warm feelings, that Hallmark idea.

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It almost tries to create its own Christian version of

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that because we are influenced by it. And guess what happens.

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As much as we're trying to stay focused, get well,

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get distracted, we become scatterbrand. I get I'm just using

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that term. I don't know if that's a good term

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to utilize, but we were our thoughts are here, and

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our thoughts are here and this and that, and we're like, oh,

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it's about Jesus, But really it becomes about the time

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with your family. You love that feeling, the decorations, all

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of that, the music, all of the things, and it's

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perfectly okay to enjoy all of that. I think sometimes

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as Christians we live in a never ending cycle of

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guilt shame because we're always we always know that we

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need to be more this, we need to do more

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of this, we need to be more of this, and

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we're always we get caught up in this kind of performance,

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you know, just trap, a performance trap. We're always trying

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to perform and do more and do more, and we

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know we never make it. We never can quite get there,

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just like I, you know, over, I mean, there's never

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been a broadcast where I say everything perfectly, I do

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everything perfectly. I don't repeat myself too much, I don't

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do this, I don't do that. There's never a broadcast

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where I've ever been perfect, but I'm always striving for

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it right well. And as Christians, I think we all

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would love that, you know, we're so spiritually minded. We

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set our affections on things above. We do not love

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this world, we or the things that are in the world.

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We love God and we love him with all our

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heart mind. So there's a part that's what we want,

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but we never get there, and we live in a

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perpetual state of knowing we always fall short. And Christmas

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is a great On one hand, we've got this whole,

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you know, it's about Jesus, the incarnation, you know, the

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Son of God being born of a virgin and all

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of the we've got all of the biblical elements. It's

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right there. And then we have this marked on a

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calendar that this is the day we can celebrate it.

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And it's like, great, we can't. But then we got

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all of these other things that come along going no, no, no, no,

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over here, look over here, Look look at the pretty lights,

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look at here, Look at the presents. Look look, look,

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look look your favorite foods, this your favorite drink? Oh look,

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Hallmark movies. Look, look the snow? What chestnuts roasting by

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the open? For all of these things and you and

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next thing, you know, you're like, well, it's about Jesus.

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But come on, You've got to be honest. Especially depending

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on your situation in life, you may have so many

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other things, and do you feel guilty that you get

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to enjoy all these other things? Do you try to

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balance it out? Sometimes I think we try to throw

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in a little Jesus so that we feel like, okay,

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we haven't forgotten Jesus. But then it becomes about all

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these other things. But should we feel guilty? Well, some

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people will say yes, you should put Jesus first, and

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you should remove all of these other things. And then

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it turns almost into a legalistic kind of thing. Should

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Christmas become a legalistic kind of thing? It should be

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just something that we can It shouldn't be all of this,

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but it turns into all of this. So using my

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imperfect intro, the last time you could call this one

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imperfect that talks about our imperfection, I think that's fine.

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My imperfection was being kind of scattered, brained or distracted.

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That fits perfectly with Christmas. So what do I want

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to do right now in the midst of everything going on?

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Because there's a lot going on right now. Yeah, and

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there's just there's so many broadcasts happening, people doing their

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Christmas Eve services, you know, all the things going on

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around you. Is there a way that we can just stop?

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And many of most people are not even going to

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hear this on Christmas Eve. They're not even going to

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hear I don't even know when you're gonna hear it.

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But guess what, whether Christmas it may be, it may

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be in twenty twenty five by the time you listen

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to this, because you're going to be busy from now

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till the new year. But I know this, in that

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new year, there's still going to be distractions and all

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the different things. And guess what, you're also going to

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be confronted with your own imperfections. But in the midst

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of all of that, what do I want to say? Well,

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I want to say, let's attempt, no matter if it's

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December the twenty fourth, December the twenty fifth, January twenty

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twenty five, April twenty twenty five, August twenty twenty five,

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no matter when it is, let's take a moment and

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try to grasp onto something we can really really focus on.

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And in the last broadcast, asked, I referred to it

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as the Christmas Creed, the Christmas Creed. Now, for now,

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we're going to call it the Christmas Creed. We may

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want to call it the twenty twenty five Creed, the

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twenty twenty six. We may give it different names depending

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on what season we find ourselves. But for today, we're

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gonna call it the Christmas Creed. And we were reviewing

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a sermon, kind of reviewing a sermon in the last broadcast,

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and the name of that sermon was a Christmas sermon,

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and the text for that was First Timothy, chapter one,

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verse fifteen, and I spoke of how this verse is

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really becoming more and more important to me because of well,

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just all of the craziness and Christianity and all the

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things that we've talked about throughout twenty twenty four. I

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won't try to put that all together with everything else.

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I'm trying to connect all the pieces here. But when

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the verse was read once again, just hit me one

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Timothy one to fifteen. This is a faithful saying and

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worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the

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world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And

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I refer to that as a creedal statement, that it

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takes the structure of an early creed. And I'm like, okay,

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and I broke the creed down into three parts, and

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I kind of gave you that creed. I want to

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do a little bit more work on that because I

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wanted to really challenge, Okay, is this really a creed?

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And that third part, because if we break it down

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into three parts, the creed itself, Christ Jesus came into

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the world. There's part one to save sinners, there's part two,

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Part three of whom I am Chief. I broke it

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into three parts. Now I knew is second. I said

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that that probably historically that last part of Whom I

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Am Chief, it would not be part of the Creed.

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But I'm like, there's got to be a way we

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can incorporate it, maybe into a modern creed. So we

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really could break it down into the following parts. You ready,

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Christ Jesus, there's Part one of the Creed. Part two

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Came into the World, Part three two Save Sinners? Part

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four of whom I Am Chief? Christ Jesus Came into

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the World two Save Sinners? Of whom I am Chief?

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I think we can break it into four parts of

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the Creed. Christ Jesus, you may want to write this

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down to Christmas Creed. Part one of the Creed, Christ Jesus.

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Part two Came into the World? Part three, two Save Sinners?

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Part four whom I Am Chief? Or I am Chief?

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Now I'm gonna break this down. I still think we

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could break it down into four parts. I have gone

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back and forth what we're going to do right now.

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I'll just try to get us thinking about this. In

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the middle of all your busyness, in the middle of

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all of your imperfection, and the middle of you being

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scattered brain, if you could just grab on and put

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this creed wherever and whenever things are going wrong or

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going right, you can grab on and go, Okay, I'm

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gonna focus on this right here. I'm gonna focus on

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this right here. So are you ready to do that?

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All right?

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So I did a little bit of research, and I

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wanted to ask this question. Was One Timothy one fifteen

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in early creed? Right? I believe it clearly takes on

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the creatle structure of early creeds, but I wanted to verify.

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So I did a little research and I found this

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First Timothy, chapter one, verse fifteen is widely regarded by

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scholars as an example of an early Christian creed or

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statement of faith. So One Timothy one point fifteen is

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an example of an early creed or an early statement

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of faith. The phrase is that first part of verse

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fifteen that really gives it away. And we discussed this

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last time. This is a faithful saying and worthy of

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all acceptance. This introduces kind of the formula that many

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believe reflect an early succinct confession of Christian belief. Such

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creeds are sayings. Such creeds or sayings, let me read correctly.

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We're likely used in the early Church for teaching, worship

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and catechises. So these early creedle statements had three parts

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for teaching, for worship itself, to recite it for everyone

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to so that everyone will remember it catechises. That was

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instruction basically for new believers, We're going to catechize them.

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And that's using question and answer said they would turn

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this creedal formula. You could break it into outlines for

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preaching or teaching right, you could recite it and worship,

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and then you could take it and then build questions

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and answers for your catechisis time? Oh? Is there evidence

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to support the creedal nature of for Timothy one to fifteen. Well,

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let's look at the basic evidence that this was a

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creed First, that introduction for Timothy one to fifteen, let

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me read it to you again. This is a faithful

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saying and worthy of all acceptance, that as a formulaic

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introduction that has the particular formula of an introduction for

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a creed. This phrase that some would translate trustworthy right

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is a hallmark of Creedle traditional sayings and the pastoral epistles.

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It appears five times in Paul's letter is one Timothy

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one to fifteen, Chapter three, verse one of First Timothy,

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Chapter four, verse nine of First Timothy Titus chapter three,

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verse eight, and two Timothy two eleven. So one Timothy

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one fifteen. That's that's the first place we have it, right, Firs, Timothy,

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this is a faithful saying or this is trustworthy. Right.

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We see it again in chapter three, verse one. This

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is a faithful saying or a trustworthy saying. We see

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it show up again in chapter four, verse nine, and

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this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.

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So Paul uses that formulaic introduction to basically a Creedle

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type statement or a statement of faith, something that's very succinct,

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very very simple for you to grab onto. So such

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introductions typically were signs that what followed was a well

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known and widely accepted truth in the early Christian community.

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So typically when whenever he would use that saying like

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one Timothy one and fifteen, again, this is a faithful

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saying worthy of all acceptance. This is like, hey, guys,

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this is a creedal statement that everyone seems to know,

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everyone accepts, everyone understands this all right. So it's the

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formulaic introduction is the first piece of evidence that this

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was an early Creedle statement. Second, it's conciseness and memorability.

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It's concise and easy to remember. You can put it

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that way. It's concise and easy to remember. Everyone should

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be able to remember. Right, the basic parts have now

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repeated it multiple times. Christ Jesus came into the world

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to save sinners. I am chief. The statement Christ Jesus

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came into the world to save sinners is concise and

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easy to memorize, fitting the characteristics of oral tradition. Early

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creeds were often brief and doctrinally rich to aid and

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instruction and recitation. Now, just remember the early Church. They

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didn't have physical copies that they could just hand out to everyone.

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So if you had, if you could break these things

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down into a creedal statement, everyone could memorize it then

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orally teaching, you could have people recite it. Then once

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you could then add questions and answers, and it could

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you could just build off of it without anyone having

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to have an actual physical copy of the Bible. So

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what is the evidence that this was a creed? It's

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formulaic introduction, it's how concise and how easy it is

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to remember. Number three, it's crystological focus or it's christological focus.

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Crystological focus. It's focused on Christ. I want to say

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chrystal logical so that you really catch on to what

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it's about. Christ's ological It's about Christ. This declaration is

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focused on Jesus, It's focused on his mission, and it's

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focused really on the core of the Gospel. It's about

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the salvation for sinners through Christ. This emphasis aligns with

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the foundational doctrines of the Early Church, similar to other

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Creedle statements such as found in other places. And we

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could get to some of the other early Creedle statements,

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but if we go that direction, then this is going

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to turn into a six month series. Now I talked

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about doing some kind of a series on the chrystological heresies.

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Now I'm going to use the term christ logical. Those

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are heresies about Christ. This is a Christological christallogical. I'm

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really emphasizing that about Christ and the early Church was

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facing a lot of these crystological heresies which denied certain

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things about Christ. While this is Christ Jesus. There's significance

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by putting those two together. Christ. We talked about it

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in the last episode in the sermon we were listening

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to Christ, the anointed One, Messiah Jesus that deals with

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salvation comes into the world. There's the incarnation two save sinners.

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There is death, Baryl resurrection and ascension of whom I

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am chief. They're all of the theoretical let me say,

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all of the theology of Christ, who he is, his character,

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his incarnation, and his death, Baryl resurrection. It all has

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significance to me because I'm a cheat, I'm the chief

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of sinners, and so are you? All right, So what

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is the proof that One Timothy one to fifteen is

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a Creed. It's formulaic introduction, how concise it is, and

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how easy it is to memorize. It's christological I'm getting

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I'm gonna state christ logical focus. And then it's universal relevance.

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The phrase deserving of all acceptance right there in One

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Timothy one fifteen. May read it to you again. This

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is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance. This suggests

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that this was not a localized teaching, but a statement

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intended for all Christians. Further indicated indicating that it was

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a universal creed or confession. This was for everyone, all right?

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So what is the proof? First Timothy one p. Fifteen

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is a Creed, formulaic introduction. It's concise, it's easy to remember.

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It has christological, christological focus, it has universal relevance. Number five,

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it seems to parallel with other early Church creeds, it seemed,

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or early Christian creeds. We could go that direction. It

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seems to be similar to early Christian creeds. And this

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includes First Corinthians fifteen three through four. Christ died for

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our sins in accordance with the scriptures that it was buried,

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it was raised the third day. One Corinthia's fifth three

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four is a cradle statement in the Early Church and

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in early Christianity Romans ten to nine. If we confess

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with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in

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your heart that God raised him from the dead, you

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will be saved. These are very short, they're doctrinally rich statements.

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They're central to the Christian message. And One Timothy one

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point fifteen fits the pattern perfectly. So it parallels with

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the other creedle statements. It's a cradle statement. It's a

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creed ladies and gentlemen. So those are one Let me

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go through those again. Why how do we know what

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is the evidence that One Timothy one p. Fifteen is

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a cradle statement. It's formulaic introduction, is how concise and

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easy it is to memorize, it's christological focus, it's universal relevance,

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and how it parallels with other cradle statements. Now, what

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was the purpose of the early Christian creeds? What was

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the purpose? Number one was doctrinal clarity. Creeds summarize the

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Gospel in a clear and authoritative way, providing a foundation

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for faith and practice. Doctrinal clarity, right, I think that's important. Look,

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as I started talking about being scattered brain or distracted

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by the holiday, sometimes, look, Christianity itself. Let me just

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state this way, Christianity itself. I know Christians don't like

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to believe this. Sometimes can feel like there's no clarity,

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there's no agreement, there's never ending fighting and arguing. Nobody

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can agree on how to interpret anything. It can Sometimes

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you can just feel like, look, I don't even know

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what to do anymore. I give up. I'm sick and

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tired of hearing the arguing and the fighting, and everyone

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thinks that their theology is right. Well, these little credle statements,

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in a sense, they summarize things in such a clear

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way that in the midst of the confusion, you can

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grab on to at least these clear statements, and I think, well,

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and they offer you something to grab onto to keep

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you from all of the distractions that happens in life.

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But doctrinal clarity is the main point. Number two, these

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creedle statements. What was the purpose for catechises. We've already

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talked about this, right, Early creeds were tools for teaching

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new believers the essentials of the faith, typically used to

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prepare them for baptism. Before someone could be baptized, they

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had to be catechized, right, They had to go through catechises.

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And you take these creedal statements, you can formulate that.

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You can take the creedal statement and then you can

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build questions and answers off the creedal statement. And we

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see this throughout church history. You have the Apostles Creed.

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You could formulate an entire catechism off the Apostles Creed.

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The Nicene Creed. You can formulate and entire catechises off

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the Nicene Creed, the Athenation Creed. You can do the

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same thing. The Creeds give you the all the content.

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Now you just turn it into a catechism, which is

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question and answer typically, So, what was the purpose of

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the Creeds, doctrinal clarity, catechises, defense against heresy the churches,

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especially in the Early Church and well throughout. I guess

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it's that it's not even accurate to say the Church

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has always faced challenges from false teaching. Concise creeds helped

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ensure theological consistency and orthodoxy. If you give people concise

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philological statements that can be memorized in a creedal form,

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it at least gives them something to hold on to

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when everyone's running around going no, it means this, no,

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this is interpreted this way. No, you're wrong. No, you're wrong,

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you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're right, And you

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can just you can just kind of, in a way,

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scream a spiritual shut up. I'm going to cling to

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these creedal statements and hold on to them. You guys

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can fight, leave me alone. Liturgical use these creatle statements

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were likely recited in worship within Christian liturgy. There, especially

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early Christian liturgy, there was a time to recite creedal statements,

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to recite the Apostles Creed, to recite the nice and Creed.

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You do it as a group, because as a group

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you may disagree on seventy five billion things because Christians

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disagree on seventy five billion things, and that's not even

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high perple. Okay, maybe a little hyph perpole, you get

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the idea. But if we can at least say, for

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three minutes, two minutes, one minute, as a collective body,

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we're going to recite this cretle statement. Christ Jesus came

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into the world to save sinners, and we all are

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the chief of sinners. If everyone can do that, there's

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at least some unity in that same thing with the

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early Church and having a public confessionist sin, Lord, God,

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we confess to you that we have sinned and thought

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word indeed, by what we have done and left undone

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with everyone confesses that. Then we are all acknowledging we

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are sinners. We are all acknowledging that we at least

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agree on this doctrinal statement, whichever creed would be confessed.

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So one Timothy one point fifteen seems to be a

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brief christ centered confession that encapsulates the Gospel's core message,

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its formulaic structure, doctrinal focus, and inclusion in a context

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emphasizing sound teaching strongly suggests that it function as an

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early Christian creed. This reflects the Church's effort to preserve

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and proclaim the essentials of the faith amidst a diverse

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and often hostile cultural environment. All right, so it seems

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to be clearly able. Does most scholars believe? And I

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think there's enough evidence to argue for Timothy one to

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fifteen was an early creed? All right, good, we've got

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that sold. Great. Now what well, remember, typically the way

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the creed would have actually been structured would have been

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Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Stop.

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Then Paul added of whom I am chief? Now to me,

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I want of whom I am chief? That I wish

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it would have been added originally to the Creedle statement.

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All right, now Paul adds it here. So scripture. So

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if we want to build a creed off that scripture,

468
00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:55.480
we've got all the elements. But I just want to

469
00:29:55.480 --> 00:29:59.839
be historically accurate that most likely the early Creedle statement

470
00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:02.359
is that went around did not include of whom I

471
00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:05.880
am chief? But it's right there in scripture. So if

472
00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:08.440
we want to build the creed out of this scripture,

473
00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:11.799
I would say we include all of those parts Christ

474
00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:16.039
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom

475
00:30:16.200 --> 00:30:18.839
I am chief, and then you make it personal. I

476
00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:21.720
am chief, just as Paul made it personal. We make

477
00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:25.559
it personal. But I wanted to do a little research

478
00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:27.559
in this case. I turned to AI, and I asked

479
00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:32.359
AI this question. Would it be acceptable to add that

480
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:37.119
I am chief to the creed, making the creed containing

481
00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:45.599
three specific elements declarations and confessions. AI responded with this,

482
00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:51.319
adding the phrase of whom I am chief, or of

483
00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:54.200
whom I am the foremost to the creed in one

484
00:30:54.200 --> 00:31:00.000
Timothy one point fifteen would be philologically significant and appropriate

485
00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:05.039
if the aim is to emphasize both doctrinal truth declaration

486
00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:11.920
and personal confession. However, the addition would change the focus slightly,

487
00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:16.599
expanding it to include a personal element that underscores humility

488
00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:20.960
and awareness of sin. Let's analyze this is what AI

489
00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:24.559
tells me to do. Analyze whether this addition aligns with

490
00:31:24.680 --> 00:31:28.519
creedal nature of the passage. So AI is going to

491
00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:30.759
get into an argument here whether it should or shouldn't

492
00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:33.359
be added to the creedal statement. Now again, scripturally, I

493
00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:35.359
can put it all together and we can make our

494
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:38.960
own creed, right as long as the creed comes from scripture,

495
00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:41.119
then we would be okay. But I just wanted to

496
00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:44.720
be historically accurate. If this was an early creedle statement

497
00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:48.680
going around at that time, I don't want to misrepresent

498
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:52.920
it as of whom I am chief, treat it as

499
00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:55.839
if that would have been added to the creedal statement historically.

500
00:31:55.839 --> 00:31:57.960
I don't think we could prove that right. And AI

501
00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:01.400
is going to at least make an argument here. So

502
00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:05.559
it goes through the creeds and their purposes. What were

503
00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:07.480
the purpose of the creeds. We've already talked about some

504
00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:14.720
of these doctrinal declaration, communal agreement, and liturgical use. So

505
00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:20.400
AI says creeds typically had three functions. Doctrinal declaration, Christ

506
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:23.599
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I think

507
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:26.640
that's all right there. They articulate cortruths about God, Christ

508
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:31.960
and salvation, communal agreement, they unify the church and shared beliefs.

509
00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:34.000
That's what I said just a little while ago the

510
00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:36.759
things about the creedal statements was, Hey, all of these

511
00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:40.279
things that just distract you and Christians fight about can

512
00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:43.119
we at least agree on this creedal statement. So I

513
00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:46.640
think communal agreement. Though see to me, Because there's three

514
00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:51.920
purposes for the Creeds. Doctrinal declaration. Christ Jesus came into

515
00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:55.400
the world to save sinners. There is a doctrinal declaration

516
00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:01.839
communal agreement. How much more power is the creed if

517
00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:07.200
it not only we all agree Christ Jesus, He's Christ, Jesus,

518
00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:11.200
Messiah Jesus. Okay, we put that together. Came into the

519
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:15.400
world in of the incarnation. All right, two save sinners,

520
00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:18.920
all right? Of whom we are chief or I am chief?

521
00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:23.000
How much more powerful is the communal agreement if we

522
00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:30.160
all agree that we're all sinners. There was a third

523
00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:35.680
use for the Creeds doctrinal declaration, communal agreement, liturgical use.

524
00:33:37.559 --> 00:33:42.119
The Creeds provided a framework for worship and confession, well

525
00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:44.880
for crying out loud. If that's the case of whom

526
00:33:44.920 --> 00:33:47.759
I am chief? Definitely makes it sounds like it's part

527
00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:50.960
of the Creed right because it fits in perfectly with

528
00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:56.920
the liturgical use. Now see this is where Ai, though disagrees,

529
00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:01.880
AI says adding I am chief enterduce is a personal confession, which,

530
00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:06.279
while valuable, is less common in traditional creeds. Creeds often

531
00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:10.039
focus on universal truths applicable to all believers rather than

532
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:15.000
individual perspectives. I do agree that it is more personal

533
00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:18.480
than creeds are. Creeds typically don't add a personal part.

534
00:34:18.679 --> 00:34:22.719
So I do agree that, at least historically, that would

535
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:26.039
argue that my inclusion of the phrase doesn't fit. I

536
00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:28.480
think now scripturally, I can make this a creed and

537
00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:31.880
it fits perfectly. I still think it fits perfectly because

538
00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:35.360
because if you look at the apostles creed, well, hang on,

539
00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:37.039
let me look at the Apostles creed really quick.

540
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:41.119
Let me look at the Apostles creed. Let me look

541
00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:43.360
at something here, because.

542
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:47.920
I'm gonna look at I'm gonna look at uh, give

543
00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:49.519
me a second here, I'm gonna look here at the

544
00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:50.400
Apostles creed.

545
00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:55.960
Because the apostles creed.

546
00:34:57.920 --> 00:35:03.639
I think it hasn't Yeah, okay, the Apostles creed does

547
00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:07.119
not say we believe. It says I believe in God,

548
00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:09.960
the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. It's it

549
00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:15.039
goes with these personal I believe. I believe, So I

550
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:18.400
think it can have a personal element. So I'm gonna

551
00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:25.599
argue that, yes, the creeds do have specific purposes, but

552
00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:30.199
I think that the the uh, I think it fits

553
00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:35.360
see a AI says, you are introducing a personal confession,

554
00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:38.400
which is valuable. It's less common and traditional creeds. It's

555
00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:42.159
not the Apostles Creed is the that is the traditional

556
00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:45.480
that is the original creed. And it's like, I believe, well,

557
00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:48.159
what what is it? What's the problem saying I am Chief?

558
00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:53.960
Then Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

559
00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:58.320
I am Chief. I think I think the personal part.

560
00:35:58.840 --> 00:36:02.360
I think it fits. I think it fits. It'd be

561
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:06.320
different if the Apostles Creed said we, but it says I.

562
00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:08.400
I'd have to verify that if that's how it was

563
00:36:09.639 --> 00:36:12.519
in the oldest documents manuscripts that we have. But okay,

564
00:36:13.960 --> 00:36:16.960
so AI provides us arguments for including I am Chief,

565
00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:20.280
I am Chief. They argue that if you wanted to

566
00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:22.840
make an argument that it should be included, that it

567
00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:28.519
does offer theological depth. Including I am Chief personalizes the Creed,

568
00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:32.199
highlighting humanity's shared sinfulness and need for grace, and reflect

569
00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:35.199
Paul's acknowledgement that the Gospel is not just theoretical but

570
00:36:35.280 --> 00:36:39.239
deeply personal. This would this addition would create a three

571
00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:44.079
part structure chrystological declaration. Christ Jesus came into the world,

572
00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:49.119
salvafic purpose, to save sinners, personal confession of whom I

573
00:36:49.159 --> 00:36:52.199
am chief. Now, I think you could break it down.

574
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:58.760
Christ Jesus, there's the crystological declaration right came into the world.

575
00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:03.519
There is the incarnation, and then to save sinners there's

576
00:37:03.559 --> 00:37:07.599
the salvation or soterrological and then personal confession of whom

577
00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:09.280
I am chief. I think you could break it down

578
00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:14.360
into four parts personally speaking, but it does offer theological depth.

579
00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:20.039
I agree the AI goes on it says a pastoral application.

580
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.639
This confession models humility, reminding believers that salvation is an

581
00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:26.199
act of grace, not merit. It encourages a posture of

582
00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:32.039
repentance and gratitude. And then there's scriptural precedent for adding it.

583
00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:35.000
They say that Paul's testimony in One Timothy one point

584
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:38.400
fifteen is personal, but it is meant to be universal.

585
00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:43.079
Every believer could adapt this confession as their own. I

586
00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:46.000
think that's the whole point. Paul is confessing his own,

587
00:37:46.199 --> 00:37:48.480
but it's to serve as a model for all of us,

588
00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:53.840
ladies and gentlemen. Christ Jesus, yes, Messiah, Jesus Savior all right,

589
00:37:54.079 --> 00:37:57.199
came to save his people from their sins came into

590
00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:05.079
the world incarnation two save centers of whom I am

591
00:38:05.159 --> 00:38:08.000
Chief it is? It's I think it's it's designed for

592
00:38:08.119 --> 00:38:10.719
all of us to confess it. So I think it

593
00:38:10.840 --> 00:38:13.239
does fit. I know, I don't know if I can

594
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:15.360
prove it historically, but AI is at least giving me

595
00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:24.679
some support from my perspective. It offers another idea, all right,

596
00:38:24.800 --> 00:38:28.039
So for some of the proof that are arguments for

597
00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:33.360
including it philological depth, pastoral application, scriptural precedent, and then

598
00:38:33.480 --> 00:38:37.159
incorporates a personal response. Creeds like the Nicene Creed or

599
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:42.679
the Apostles Creed primarily primarily declare philological truths. Adding I

600
00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:45.519
am Chief shifts the creed from a general declaration to

601
00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:51.400
a confessional prayer, blending doctrine with personal application. Right, So,

602
00:38:51.719 --> 00:38:54.519
AI at least says, here's some arguments for it. But

603
00:38:54.719 --> 00:38:57.480
AI did not stop there, said, wait a minute, here's

604
00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:03.039
some arguments against including it, all right. Number one, it

605
00:39:03.800 --> 00:39:08.760
deviates from universal application. A creed is meant to articulate

606
00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:12.320
truths acceptable to all believers. The phrase I am Chief

607
00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:16.119
reflects Paul's personal testimony. While all believers are sinners, they

608
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:19.039
may not see themselves as the foremost. But I think

609
00:39:19.079 --> 00:39:24.840
that I disagree with that argument. It is universe. Look,

610
00:39:25.599 --> 00:39:29.719
someone may not believe, someone may not understand Christ Jesus,

611
00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:32.320
but you're declaring the truth that he is the Christ.

612
00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:35.400
He is Jesus who saves these people from say who

613
00:39:35.440 --> 00:39:38.960
came into the world. Whether they understood the incarnation or not,

614
00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:43.320
they are declaring it okay to save sinners. Whether they

615
00:39:43.400 --> 00:39:46.199
understood it, you're declaring it of whom I am chief.

616
00:39:46.480 --> 00:39:50.039
Whether they see themselves that way or not is irrelevant.

617
00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:53.119
We need to confess that way when we confess our sins,

618
00:39:53.119 --> 00:39:57.039
and in historical Christianity as a general confession, a part

619
00:39:57.039 --> 00:40:00.960
of liturgy, Lord, I have sent against you and thought word. Indeed,

620
00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:04.199
you may not feel it, you may not even see it,

621
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.599
but you're confessing the truth of it is. It is

622
00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:12.559
personally applicable. It's universally applicable for every person to say

623
00:40:12.719 --> 00:40:15.400
I am the chief of sinners, because we all are,

624
00:40:15.559 --> 00:40:22.880
because we're all perpetually in a state of sin. But

625
00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:27.440
AI says if we add I am chief, we lose

626
00:40:27.519 --> 00:40:31.880
some doctrinal precision. I don't know about this. AI says,

627
00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:36.039
creeds aim to declare timeless, objective truths, including I am Chief,

628
00:40:36.119 --> 00:40:39.280
might shift the focus from Christ's work to an individual

629
00:40:39.559 --> 00:40:45.480
subjective experience. It's not a subjective say I disagree with AI.

630
00:40:45.920 --> 00:40:51.719
There's nothing There's nothing subjective at all about saying I

631
00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:54.599
am the chief of sinners. That's not subjective. That is

632
00:40:54.639 --> 00:41:00.199
a factual statement. We are all and AI even are

633
00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:04.400
at least acknowledged beforehand. There seems to be scriptural precedent

634
00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:07.159
that Paul is calling for all people to confess this

635
00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:10.800
and a since we are all the chief of sinners

636
00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:13.519
because we're all in it's for all of us to

637
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:16.360
be aware of how sinful we are. There's nothing subjective.

638
00:41:16.519 --> 00:41:20.559
It is a fact. God's Law says, be holy as

639
00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:22.719
He is holy. That means we are to be holy

640
00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:26.880
in thought, word, deed, desire action, and what we do

641
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:31.719
and don't do, and internally and externally nobody does that.

642
00:41:31.719 --> 00:41:33.599
That means we're in a perpetual state of sin. The

643
00:41:33.639 --> 00:41:35.960
Bible says, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

644
00:41:36.039 --> 00:41:38.360
No one does that, So we're in a perpetual state

645
00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:40.360
of sin. So it would be person it would be

646
00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:45.159
it would be universally applicable to say it, and it

647
00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:50.320
would be doctrinally precise to say it, it's not nothing

648
00:41:50.360 --> 00:41:56.639
subjective about it. Now, AI does make this argument, it

649
00:41:56.639 --> 00:42:00.480
would have an unfamiliar structure. Traditional creeds don't tip blend

650
00:42:00.559 --> 00:42:03.599
universal declarations with personal confessions. But see I would disagree

651
00:42:03.639 --> 00:42:07.039
the apostles creed starts with I believe that is a

652
00:42:07.039 --> 00:42:13.199
personal confession. So I don't necessarily agree with that, all right.

653
00:42:13.800 --> 00:42:17.960
So I was then okay that I if I can

654
00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:20.119
find this all right? So then I was like, okay,

655
00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:26.079
let's then try to build. Let's try to build in

656
00:42:26.119 --> 00:42:30.199
a sense kind of a study of the section as

657
00:42:30.280 --> 00:42:35.119
a creed. Right, So let's do that. Right, So let's

658
00:42:35.119 --> 00:42:37.480
take one Timothy one p. Fifteen. So there's kind of

659
00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:40.519
the proof that it's a creed. The kind of the

660
00:42:40.679 --> 00:42:44.559
argument about adding that part, I'm the chief of sinners

661
00:42:44.599 --> 00:42:49.119
to it. Look, no matter what they did historically biblically,

662
00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:52.280
I can take it and add it to a creed,

663
00:42:52.440 --> 00:42:55.199
because it would be a creed coming directly from the scriptures.

664
00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:58.320
That would not be doing any disservice to it. However,

665
00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:00.559
the early Church may have used it as a creed statement.

666
00:43:00.679 --> 00:43:03.480
Once it was placed in the Bible as inspired scripture,

667
00:43:03.639 --> 00:43:05.960
then I can build a creed off that, and it

668
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.679
would be it would be who cares if it follows

669
00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:11.639
the structure of how creeds were done. I'm not bound

670
00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:15.119
by creatle structure. I can create my own creed and

671
00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:22.639
it would come perfectly with this. All right. So if

672
00:43:22.719 --> 00:43:26.639
we see we could we let me. Let me do this,

673
00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:30.519
Let's do this, let's do this. So let's break it down,

674
00:43:31.199 --> 00:43:34.519
all right, let's break it down one Timothy one fifteen.

675
00:43:35.239 --> 00:43:38.599
All right, I broke it down, but I could have

676
00:43:38.639 --> 00:43:40.280
done it even a little more. So I could have

677
00:43:40.280 --> 00:43:43.599
done a little more. So, so this is a faithful

678
00:43:43.599 --> 00:43:46.400
saying and worthy of all acceptance. All right. So that

679
00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:50.360
tells us, Hey, this, this is trustworthy, This is worthy

680
00:43:50.599 --> 00:43:53.480
of all acceptance. We should grab onto this. This is

681
00:43:53.519 --> 00:43:57.599
a true statement. So in the midst of distraction, confusion, whatever,

682
00:43:57.719 --> 00:44:00.760
grab on to this, and I'm to break it down

683
00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:03.360
into these parts. You're ready, okay. I already told you

684
00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:05.280
to break it down numerous times. Now, if you want

685
00:44:05.320 --> 00:44:07.480
to just write it down again, even if you've already

686
00:44:07.480 --> 00:44:09.239
written it down, write it down one more time. We're

687
00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:10.920
going to break it down. I think we put down

688
00:44:11.039 --> 00:44:18.119
Christ Jesus. We put those two together Christ, Jesus, Christ Jesus.

689
00:44:19.599 --> 00:44:22.119
Then we need to understand the term Christ. We need

690
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:25.280
to understand the word Jesus, right, the word Christ, the

691
00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:28.239
word Jesus. We need to understand both words. So that's

692
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:31.760
the first part of the creed. We are confessing that

693
00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:36.960
Christ Jesus. That's identifying the person Christ Jesus. He is. Christ,

694
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:42.480
he is. Jesus came into the world. That's the incarnation,

695
00:44:44.920 --> 00:44:50.199
all right, that's the incarnation. Two save sinners, that's his

696
00:44:50.360 --> 00:44:54.760
salvafic purpose. That's the soteriological implications to save centers. Then

697
00:44:55.239 --> 00:44:58.039
the last part is of whom I am chief. That

698
00:44:58.159 --> 00:45:04.239
is the personal confession. So I think we should break

699
00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:07.280
it down. I think we should break it down into

700
00:45:07.360 --> 00:45:10.440
those parts, is what I think we should do. I

701
00:45:10.440 --> 00:45:18.280
think we should break it down into those parts, all right.

702
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:20.079
And in fact, I'm gonna go back here and look

703
00:45:20.079 --> 00:45:25.679
at my yeah, see, I yeah, I think that's how

704
00:45:25.679 --> 00:45:27.599
we should do it. So I'm gonna grab a piece

705
00:45:27.599 --> 00:45:29.719
of paper here. I'm gonna grab a piece of paper here,

706
00:45:31.239 --> 00:45:36.159
all right, So we're gonna do this.

707
00:45:39.559 --> 00:45:50.159
Christ Jesus came into the world one Timothy one.

708
00:45:50.000 --> 00:46:01.320
Point fifteen came, yeah, came into the world into the

709
00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:21.719
world two save centners. I am chief, all right, that's

710
00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:23.840
the way I think it should be broken down. That's

711
00:46:23.880 --> 00:46:25.800
the way I think it should be broken down. I'm

712
00:46:25.800 --> 00:46:32.000
just convinced of that. So Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna,

713
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:54.159
I'm gonna, I'm gonna type something out here. Okay, hang on, Okay,

714
00:46:54.199 --> 00:47:02.639
here we go. So number one is Christ Jesus. Number

715
00:47:02.719 --> 00:47:13.639
two came into the world. Number three to save sinners,

716
00:47:14.440 --> 00:47:22.559
and number four I am chief sinner. All right. Now,

717
00:47:22.639 --> 00:47:24.159
we're gonna break it down this way.

718
00:47:25.280 --> 00:47:27.360
I think this works, all right.

719
00:47:27.880 --> 00:47:30.679
So if we if we take the Creedle statement and

720
00:47:30.719 --> 00:47:32.719
break it down this way, I think this is what

721
00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:35.559
we get Christ Jesus. Now you ready to break it down?

722
00:47:35.639 --> 00:47:39.119
Just I'm gonna go through this quickly. We would get Christ.

723
00:47:40.039 --> 00:47:43.960
Now you could look up the definition right right, you

724
00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:45.840
could look up the that we could look up the

725
00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:49.119
Greek for Christ. Right if we go to first Timothy,

726
00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:52.760
if one fifteen. If we go to one Timothy one

727
00:47:52.840 --> 00:47:55.199
fifteen and the blue letter Bible app I think you

728
00:47:55.239 --> 00:47:57.880
already know the Greek word, but just so that you

729
00:47:58.039 --> 00:48:02.880
can hear it first the one fifteen. If we break

730
00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:09.159
this down all right. Christ is this Greek word, you

731
00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:16.480
know it Strongs G. Fifty five forty seven Christos Christas

732
00:48:18.119 --> 00:48:25.159
Christos Christos. Now it means anointed, the Messiah. It's Christ

733
00:48:25.159 --> 00:48:28.000
equals anointed. Christ was and is the Messiah, the son

734
00:48:28.039 --> 00:48:31.440
of God, the anointed one. All right. So when we

735
00:48:31.679 --> 00:48:35.639
when you're confessing this Christ, he is the Messiah, He's

736
00:48:35.679 --> 00:48:38.880
the anointed one. He's the one the Old Testament predicted

737
00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:42.320
and pointed to. All right, So let me go back

738
00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:46.400
to that, all right, So here we go. I'm gonna

739
00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:51.280
I'm gonna break this all down, all right. So there's Christos.

740
00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:56.280
Then we have Jesus. We have Jesus, which is you know,

741
00:48:56.400 --> 00:48:58.840
you know this one right, hang on, I got to

742
00:48:58.880 --> 00:49:02.800
go back here to one Timothy one point fifteen. So

743
00:49:02.840 --> 00:49:06.719
there's Christas. Then we have Jesus, which is you know

744
00:49:06.800 --> 00:49:11.039
it right, come on, everybody knows it strong G. Twenty four,

745
00:49:11.159 --> 00:49:19.159
twenty four. Jeseus a SEUs eya SEUs ya SEUs. Jeseus

746
00:49:19.400 --> 00:49:24.960
means basically, Jehovah is salvation. So we have Christ, the

747
00:49:25.039 --> 00:49:31.239
anointed Messiah, who is salvation. Christ, Jesus the Messiah, the

748
00:49:31.320 --> 00:49:35.199
anointed one, who is salvation. That's literally what it's saying.

749
00:49:35.400 --> 00:49:39.440
We have Christ, the Anointed Messiah who is salvation. Okay, great,

750
00:49:39.599 --> 00:49:43.079
we have Christ the Messiah who is salvation. Wonderful. That's

751
00:49:43.119 --> 00:49:45.519
all theoretical. But then we have the next part. We

752
00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:49.000
have the next part, which is even more important. Right,

753
00:49:49.480 --> 00:49:52.639
we have the next part. So I'm breaking this down

754
00:49:52.639 --> 00:49:55.079
in real time. I'm doing all of this in real time. Right.

755
00:49:55.760 --> 00:49:58.400
And if we wanted to look up some cross references, right,

756
00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:01.000
if we wanted to look at some chross, well, I'm

757
00:50:01.039 --> 00:50:02.800
not gonna I was gonna start trying to throw some

758
00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:05.519
cross references out, but you get the idea, all right.

759
00:50:05.880 --> 00:50:09.480
So Christ Jesus highlights the dual nature of his identity

760
00:50:09.519 --> 00:50:13.239
as the divine Savior and the incarnate son of God. Right,

761
00:50:13.440 --> 00:50:16.199
Because if you think about it this way, Christ, that's

762
00:50:16.239 --> 00:50:19.440
the Messiah, the anointed one. Jesus is the human name

763
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:22.440
given to the Son of God, meaning y'all way saves

764
00:50:22.639 --> 00:50:26.920
right together, Christ suffers. Christ Jesus affirms both his divine

765
00:50:26.960 --> 00:50:30.119
role as Savior and his humanity. Humanity and a sense

766
00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:35.320
Christ the anointed one. You kind of see God man, right,

767
00:50:35.679 --> 00:50:38.880
you see both the divine and the human already kind

768
00:50:38.880 --> 00:50:40.800
of taking place. We could probably flush that out a

769
00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:44.360
little bit more. No pun intended, right, But so it

770
00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:48.039
highlights the divine nature of his identity as the divine

771
00:50:48.079 --> 00:50:51.440
Savior and the incarnate son of God. He fulfills the

772
00:50:51.480 --> 00:50:54.639
messianic hope of Israel. It becomes the hope of all nations.

773
00:50:54.719 --> 00:50:58.239
Or you could say this the Anointed, the anointed One,

774
00:50:58.400 --> 00:51:05.039
the Messiah is Jesus, that's his human name. Becomes man,

775
00:51:05.280 --> 00:51:08.440
and he comes and already hinting at he's the one

776
00:51:08.440 --> 00:51:13.000
who saves. Jehovah saves in Jesus, who is the Christ.

777
00:51:13.280 --> 00:51:16.800
The anointed One came into the world. Now this is

778
00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:21.400
where it becomes even more important. This is the act

779
00:51:21.599 --> 00:51:24.679
of the eternal Son of God. This is we can

780
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:28.280
say it this way. This is the act of the Christ,

781
00:51:28.840 --> 00:51:34.079
the anointed One, becoming human flesh and entering human history.

782
00:51:34.239 --> 00:51:38.760
This is the incarnation. The emphasis this emphasizes the purposeful

783
00:51:38.800 --> 00:51:43.119
mission of God. Jesus did not merely exist. He actively

784
00:51:43.239 --> 00:51:47.639
came into the world. And we could use some cross references.

785
00:51:47.800 --> 00:51:51.920
The word became flesh and well among us Galatians four

786
00:51:51.960 --> 00:51:53.679
to four. But when the fullness of time had come,

787
00:51:53.760 --> 00:51:56.800
God sent forth his son born of a woman Hebrews

788
00:51:56.800 --> 00:51:59.960
two fourteen. Since the children share in flesh and blood,

789
00:52:00.119 --> 00:52:04.519
himself likewise partook of the same thing. So Jesus comes

790
00:52:04.559 --> 00:52:07.559
into the world shows the intentionality of God's plan. It

791
00:52:07.599 --> 00:52:10.559
affirms the pre existence and the divine initiative, and it

792
00:52:10.599 --> 00:52:14.679
demonstrates God's love and taking the initiative to save fallen man.

793
00:52:14.920 --> 00:52:19.920
So you have in this creedle statement, Christ Jesus, Christos,

794
00:52:20.039 --> 00:52:24.320
the anointed One. We have Jesus. So we have these

795
00:52:24.400 --> 00:52:27.079
all brought together Christ Jesus. So we could see it

796
00:52:27.119 --> 00:52:29.679
this way the diva are we could say this, the

797
00:52:30.440 --> 00:52:38.480
anointed Messiah is Jesus his human name. Who is Jehovah saves?

798
00:52:38.559 --> 00:52:44.199
Yahweh saves, the God saves. He is salvation. He's the

799
00:52:44.239 --> 00:52:47.599
Messiah who saves. He's the anointed one who saves. We

800
00:52:47.639 --> 00:52:51.159
could see it that way. Came into the world. He's

801
00:52:51.239 --> 00:52:56.480
just not a theoretical salvation. He literally came into the world.

802
00:52:56.679 --> 00:52:59.760
He entered into history. It's not a theoretical thing. It's

803
00:52:59.800 --> 00:53:05.000
now something real, tangible and fleshly becomes into the world. Now,

804
00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:07.840
why did he come into the world to save sinners,

805
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:13.480
to deliver us? Who did he come to deliver sinners,

806
00:53:14.400 --> 00:53:18.480
sinners or anyone who transgresses God's law or falls short

807
00:53:18.519 --> 00:53:25.760
of it. That's all of us. And then I am

808
00:53:26.039 --> 00:53:30.360
chief is the This is the idea of being foremost

809
00:53:30.480 --> 00:53:33.599
or first in rank or importance. Paul identifies himself as

810
00:53:33.599 --> 00:53:38.760
the worst sinner, recognizing the gravity of his sins. This

811
00:53:38.840 --> 00:53:44.480
is where we can all say, Christ Jesus, the Messiah,

812
00:53:44.079 --> 00:53:48.360
who is salvation, He is the salvation of God. Christ

813
00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:52.280
Christ Jesus, the Messiah, who is the salvation of God,

814
00:53:52.559 --> 00:53:56.920
came into the world the incarnation to save sinners. Okay,

815
00:53:56.960 --> 00:54:00.519
that's all great. And guess what, that's good news because

816
00:54:00.559 --> 00:54:09.880
I am the chief of sinners. Now if we wanted

817
00:54:09.880 --> 00:54:12.440
to well, we'll just stop right there. We'll just stop

818
00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:15.480
right there. Because I wanted to build I was going

819
00:54:15.559 --> 00:54:18.079
to try to build a catechism. I was going to

820
00:54:18.119 --> 00:54:20.079
try to build a catechism in real time. I guess

821
00:54:20.119 --> 00:54:22.920
if I try in real time, I could say, who

822
00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:27.559
is Christ Jesus? Why did Christ Jesus come into the world?

823
00:54:28.920 --> 00:54:31.960
Who are the sinners? Christ came to save? Now? What

824
00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:34.119
does it mean to say I am the chief sinner?

825
00:54:36.559 --> 00:54:40.480
How should we respond to the truth of one Timothy

826
00:54:40.480 --> 00:54:42.199
one to fifteen. I could probably come up with like

827
00:54:42.280 --> 00:54:50.599
five questions right there, So I think we should build

828
00:54:50.639 --> 00:54:58.719
a Creed one Timothy one, p. Fifteen. Christ Jesus came

829
00:54:58.760 --> 00:55:05.039
into the world. Christ again anointed Messiah, Jesus, God saves, Yeah,

830
00:55:05.039 --> 00:55:09.639
Wah saves. Jehovah saves came into the world. The Word

831
00:55:09.679 --> 00:55:12.880
became flesh and twelft among us, and the fullness of time,

832
00:55:12.920 --> 00:55:14.960
God sent his son. For God's so loved the world

833
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:16.760
that he gave his only begotten son, who believe that

834
00:55:16.760 --> 00:55:18.880
the nymn shall not perish, but have everlasting life. He

835
00:55:18.920 --> 00:55:23.000
took on human flesh. He came to save sinners. What

836
00:55:23.199 --> 00:55:26.360
is a sinner? He came to save. How did he

837
00:55:26.440 --> 00:55:28.760
come to save? That could be a question. How does

838
00:55:28.800 --> 00:55:32.599
he save sinners? Does he save sinners by infusing righteousness

839
00:55:32.679 --> 00:55:34.679
or imputing richness? We could get in there, and I

840
00:55:34.760 --> 00:55:40.400
am chief because of this we acknowledge our own sinfulness.

841
00:55:41.559 --> 00:55:43.920
He came to save sinners. If you don't acknowledge your sin,

842
00:55:44.159 --> 00:55:46.719
there can't be any salvation until you acknowledge you are

843
00:55:46.800 --> 00:55:49.159
a sinner and you are the chief of sin. You've

844
00:55:49.199 --> 00:55:51.599
got to see your sin, feel your sin, and You've

845
00:55:51.639 --> 00:55:54.119
got to see that sin not just before you're saved,

846
00:55:54.239 --> 00:55:58.519
you remain a sinner after you're saved. That is the

847
00:55:58.599 --> 00:56:11.320
Christmas Creed. There you go, Now, what's that perfect? No,

848
00:56:13.599 --> 00:56:16.559
some people are gonna say it's a little repetitive and

849
00:56:16.599 --> 00:56:18.360
you're gonna criticize it. And you know what, that's okay.

850
00:56:18.599 --> 00:56:21.719
I'm the chief of failures. I got no problem admitting it.

851
00:56:22.039 --> 00:56:24.280
But isn't it good to know that Christ Jesus came

852
00:56:24.280 --> 00:56:26.519
into the world to save those of us who can't

853
00:56:26.519 --> 00:56:29.440
do anything perfectly? And that is all of us? So

854
00:56:29.840 --> 00:56:32.840
as you move forward into this Christmas Eve evening or

855
00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:36.159
Christmas Day, or whenever you hear this, grab on to

856
00:56:36.280 --> 00:56:40.599
this creed. Memorize it, write it down, build it, flash

857
00:56:40.639 --> 00:56:44.280
it out, do cross referencing, make it look literally, turn

858
00:56:44.360 --> 00:56:46.400
this into Christ and they're write all kinds of things

859
00:56:46.440 --> 00:56:50.320
about Christ Jesus. Really build on this, come up with

860
00:56:50.320 --> 00:56:56.159
through your own Catechism questions. It's been handed to us.

861
00:56:56.400 --> 00:56:59.119
Now what are we gonna do with it? All right?

862
00:57:00.119 --> 00:57:04.119
To everyone, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve evening.

863
00:57:04.280 --> 00:57:11.280
I really do. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Day,

864
00:57:11.719 --> 00:57:15.079
all right, enjoy it. Don't get caught up in a performance. Remember,

865
00:57:15.159 --> 00:57:17.400
no matter whether you do things right or wrong, Christ

866
00:57:17.480 --> 00:57:20.599
Jesus came to save sinners, and that includes you because

867
00:57:20.599 --> 00:57:24.199
you are a sinner. Right, take rest in the fact

868
00:57:24.239 --> 00:57:26.679
that you are forgiven. I'm not saying that excuses any sin,

869
00:57:26.880 --> 00:57:28.559
but just rest in that. Don't turn this into a

870
00:57:28.599 --> 00:57:32.639
performance guilt based situation. Just enjoy everything you have. Be

871
00:57:32.719 --> 00:57:36.119
grateful to God. Thank God. If you are someone and

872
00:57:36.159 --> 00:57:40.719
you have all of the good things, be grateful for it. Right,

873
00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:43.039
be grateful if you have all of the good things.

874
00:57:43.039 --> 00:57:46.119
If you have it, I'll grab onto it, enjoy it

875
00:57:46.360 --> 00:57:50.960
and braise it. Be grateful for it. Okay, Now to

876
00:57:51.079 --> 00:57:54.039
those who I don't know where you are tonight, I

877
00:57:54.039 --> 00:57:58.960
don't know. You may be completely alone, house may be quiet,

878
00:57:59.280 --> 00:58:06.480
maybe dark. You may have bad memories of Christmas past.

879
00:58:07.719 --> 00:58:13.119
You may feel abandoned, lonely. You don't get it. You

880
00:58:13.159 --> 00:58:15.360
don't know how your life ended up where you are.

881
00:58:18.440 --> 00:58:25.840
This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance. Christ

882
00:58:26.239 --> 00:58:32.960
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's you

883
00:58:33.119 --> 00:58:37.480
and that's me. You may not have what everyone else has,

884
00:58:37.519 --> 00:58:39.719
and it may not make any sense. You may not

885
00:58:39.840 --> 00:58:42.199
know how you ended up where you've ended up. You

886
00:58:42.280 --> 00:58:46.000
may feel alone, abandoned, lonely. I don't know what you're feeling,

887
00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:49.079
but you know what, Christ Jesus came into the world

888
00:58:49.159 --> 00:58:52.639
to save you, and you can grab on to that

889
00:58:53.800 --> 00:58:55.719
and it doesn't take away all of those other feelings.

890
00:58:55.760 --> 00:58:57.639
And I was saying, you should ignore those feelings and

891
00:58:57.679 --> 00:58:59.679
you should just say, well, everything is wonderful. You can

892
00:58:59.679 --> 00:59:02.639
ignore those feelings and cry out and be confused because

893
00:59:02.679 --> 00:59:04.920
it may not make any sense. How come some people's

894
00:59:04.960 --> 00:59:07.800
life right now is so perfect and great, and you know,

895
00:59:07.880 --> 00:59:10.639
they're sitting there with a glass of eggnog and or

896
00:59:10.679 --> 00:59:13.079
you know whatever, they're drinking and they're having a great time,

897
00:59:13.119 --> 00:59:15.719
and everybody's singing and there's fun and there's laughter, and

898
00:59:15.320 --> 00:59:20.800
there's food and it's wonderful. And other people the life

899
00:59:20.960 --> 00:59:23.400
never makes any sense. Life isn't fair, It doesn't make

900
00:59:23.440 --> 00:59:25.440
any sense. And I don't have any answers for you.

901
00:59:26.519 --> 00:59:31.199
That's what makes this credal statement so important, because you're

902
00:59:31.239 --> 00:59:35.440
never going to get those answers. They're never going to

903
00:59:35.519 --> 00:59:41.840
get them. They're never going to get those answers. There's

904
00:59:41.880 --> 00:59:47.199
people suffering right now, there's people right now suffering. I

905
00:59:47.199 --> 00:59:49.840
don't have any answers for why. How come? I don't

906
00:59:49.880 --> 00:59:52.519
know when is it going to go away? Maybe never?

907
00:59:52.599 --> 00:59:57.519
In this life. It may actually get worse. But here's

908
00:59:57.559 --> 01:00:01.880
the faithful saying, Christ Jesus came into the world save sinners. Now.

909
01:00:02.760 --> 01:00:05.440
The good news is that saves us from the penalty

910
01:00:05.480 --> 01:00:07.400
of our sin, the condemnation of our sin, and it

911
01:00:07.440 --> 01:00:09.639
guarantees that. Hey, I don't know if this life's ever

912
01:00:09.679 --> 01:00:12.679
going to get better, but the good news is there's coming.

913
01:00:12.679 --> 01:00:14.639
At times, there's going to be no more pain, no

914
01:00:14.760 --> 01:00:18.719
more suffering, no more death, no more sin, And it's

915
01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:23.280
all an eternity of being better than it was. Maybe

916
01:00:23.280 --> 01:00:28.840
for your entire life filled with pain, suffering, misery, confusion, abandonment,

917
01:00:29.400 --> 01:00:41.480
being deceived, backstabbed, hurt, lied to. Just grab on to that.

918
01:00:42.199 --> 01:00:44.239
I wish I had better answers, but that's what I

919
01:00:44.280 --> 01:00:47.960
can offer. Thanks for listening. Everyone, have a great night.

920
01:00:50.199 --> 01:00:55.199
I hear all the families outside the studio. That's the neighbors.

921
01:00:55.239 --> 01:00:58.079
There's a whole bunch of them. They're outside laughing. They're

922
01:00:58.119 --> 01:01:04.400
having a good time. That's great. Whether it's a good time,

923
01:01:05.639 --> 01:01:09.280
whether it's a horrible knight. Christ Jesus came into the

924
01:01:09.280 --> 01:01:12.199
world to save sinners. And I am the Chief, and

925
01:01:12.280 --> 01:01:15.719
all of those things are factual, and my circumstances does

926
01:01:15.760 --> 01:01:21.800
not diminish or change them. In the slightest, God bless