Immanuel Lutheran Church

Understanding the Christian Faith

Who is Jesus?

For more than 2000 years people have asked the question, "Who is Jesus?" We were not present when Jesus lived on this earth, but others were. The apostles and some of the authors of New Testament books walked and talked with Jesus. Some of them stood at the foot of His cross or spoke with Him after His resurrection. All of their lives were changed by Jesus.  All of them spent the remainder of their earthly life preaching and teaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Bible records Jesus' birth, death on the cross, and resurrection. Study of the Bible, God's Word, enables us to learn of Jesus, all He has done for us, and how we can respond to such amazing love.

Jesus is God. Jesus is the Creator; indeed, He was present at creation! Everything in the Bible - the Word of God - is of Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it... The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-5; 14).

What if Jesus never came to earth?

If Christ had not come, human lives could not fulfill the very purpose for which they were created -- to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If Christ had not come, there would be no forgiveness of sin or freedom from guilt. If Christ had not come, there would be no hope for eternal life. Jesus said, "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!" (Revelation 1:18)  Jesus brought us an absolute certainty: "I am the resurrection and the life... Because I live, you also will live" (John 11:25; 14:19).

But Jesus did come and the world was transformed.

Jesus Christ, the greatest Man who ever lived, is God come to earth in human flesh. His coming virtually changed every aspect of human life. Jesus says in Revelation 21:5, "Behold, I make all things new!" Despite its humble origins, the Christian Church - believers in Jesus Christ - has made more changes on earth for the good than any other religion or power in history. Some of the positive contributions made to the world by Christianity include:

• High regard for human life because it is created and redeemed by God
• Rejection of racism (we are all members of one race: the human race)
• The abolition of slavery
• The practice of adoption and rejection of abortion
• Hospitals and hospice care (The "Good Samaritan" ethic)
• Literacy and education for everyone
• Representative government and the separation of political powers
• Civil liberties
• Modern science and inspiration for great works of art and music
• Respect for women
• Marriage and family as foundations for a thriving society
• Higher standards of justice

The list above gives testimony to what happens when Christianity is applied to daily living. Culture is changed for good! But, the ultimate and most important result of Christianity - belief in Jesus Christ - is the eternal salvation of countless souls!

Our Belief Is Expressed In the Apostle's Creed.

The First Article: Creation

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

What does this mean? I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.  He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protect me from all evil.  All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.  For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

The Second Article: Redemption

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

The Third Article: Sanctification

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.  In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.  This is most certainly true.

We Believe In the Ten Commandments for Every Day Use.

The Ten Commandments have been given to us by God to help us make choices that bring him the glory. But, we are sinful human beings who fail to live as we should.

Thanks be to God!  There is hope! 

God knew our need for a Savior from sin. That Savior is Jesus Christ - God in the form of Man - who descended from heaven to willingly pay the ultimate price for our sins. We are forgiven and set free to begin new each day.

Satan, our own flesh, and the world don't want us to bring glory to God. The old evil foe daily battles God for our very souls. But Jesus said:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep . . . I know My sheep and my sheep know Me. (John 10:10-11,14)

There is hope for those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Before He returned to heaven, Jesus promised to send to the believers a "counselor - the spirit of truth." He promised that he will never abandon us. He will teach us what we need to know. He will give us peace - not as the world gives, but as only he can give. And, because He lives, we shall live also. The prince of the world (Satan) has no hold on Jesus. (John 14:15-30)

We Believe That God's Creation Is the Foundation for Life.

Introduction

The first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible is foundational to all the rest of Scripture.  It is foundational to our understanding of our dignity and value in God's eyes and why the Bible was written for us.

If God, through His Son, Jesus Christ (see John 1:3), did not create "heaven and earth" in six, days, then the rest of Scripture is based upon a myth and has lost its credibility. If God did not create human life in His own image on the sixth day, then there is no ultimate source that gives intrinsic value and dignity to any hman being.  If everything came into existence through evolution, then "death" is the operative word.  The theory of evolution requires millions and millions of years of death to bring about life as we know it.  However, if everything came into existence through God's creative word, then "life" is the operative word.  God created everything to support and enhance human life. As Dr. David Menton writes, "Christians should be particularly careful how they treat Divine Creation because it's foundational to the whole Bible and Christianity" (The Lutheran Witness, vol. 117, no. 7, 1998).

Creation, Evolution & Jesus

The Bible focuses first and foremost on Jesus: Then [Jesus] began with Moses' Teachings and the Prophets to explain to them what was said about Him throughout the Scriptures (Luke 24:27).  Jesus was there in the beginning chapters of Genesis: In the beginning the Word [Jesus] already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). The need for Jesus and the rest of the Bible is revealed in the beginning chapters of Genesis: So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it (Genesis 3:6b). As the Bible also reveals, Since a man brought death, a man also brought life back from death. As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

Again, quoting Dr. Menton: "Most important, there is an integral relationship between Creation and our salvation. The first three or so pages of the Bible reveal both man's accountability to God through his Creation and man's subsequent fall into sin and death through his disobedience. All the remaining pages . . . deal directly or indirectly with God's solution to man's sin-problem documented in the first three pages."

As the Bible details, sin and death entered God's perfect Creation through the first Adam.  Prior to this there was no death. This creates a problem for Christians who try to hold to some form of evolution.  Evolution requires millions and millions of years of death. There had to be death before there were people according to evolution. The evolutionist would say that death is a natural part of the evolutionary process rather than something unnatural that resulted from sin. Such thinking eliminates the need for a Savior from sin and death. If no literal Adam sinned in Eden, that means there's no need for a second "Adam" born in Bethlehem. But Adam was real and his sin was real.  The reality of Adam and his sin foreshadowed the reality of God becoming man but without sin.  The reality of Adam's death foreshadowed the reality of Jesus' death on a cross but without remaining dead. Jesus' resurrection assures that everyone who believes in Him will live even if they die (John 11:25). The beginning chapters of Genesis are absolutely necessary to understanding the need for the rest of the Bible and for the One the rest of the Bible is about - Jesus.

Creation, Evolution & Human Life

The theory of evolution does not offer anything that gives inherent dignity and value to human life.  Consider some of evolution's main teachings about human life. Evolution says life is the result of a chance combination of chemicals in some primordial slime pit. In other words, life came from non-living things. This contradicts the scientific-principle of biogenesis that declares that life comes from life.

Evolutionists say that human life gradually evolved as the result of billions of years of random mutations of lower life forms. This hypothesis is held even though scientists know that mutations typically make things worse, not better. Interestingly, there's a scientific law called the Second Law of Thermodynamics which says that, left to themselves, things decay and move toward disorder.  (The two-week-old banana or the iron pot left in the rain are familiar examples.) The evolutionary claims that things have - over the course of billions of years - become more orderly and complex directly contradicts this law.

Evolution says one species evolved from another over billions of years. If there were so, we would think that the fossil record would reveal transitional forms - creatures that were half fish and half amphibian for example. But even evolutionists admit there is little evidence in the fossil record of such transitional stages.

Creation, however, offers quite a contrast to evolutionary theory! Creation says we are just a little lower than God Himself (Psalm 8:5)!  Because God created human life in His image in the beginning, human life still has value even though sin has corrupted that image (see Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). God gave special value to human life in the way humans were created. It was very "hands on." God formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). God made Eve from one of Adam's ribs (Genesis 2:22).

According to the Bible, God remains the hands-on creator of life. He knit us together in our mothers' wombs (Psalm 139:13). If we have something our grandma made by hand, it has special value even if it is worn and torn. Similarly, value is given by the hands that made us, and not by our stage of development or the condition of our health. The embryo in the Petri dish has as much value as the Olympian. Grandma with Alzheimer's has as much value as the neurologist who studies her disease. It is Who made us, not how well we function, that gives our life value!

Added value is given to human life because God sent His Son, Jesus, to reclaim what His hands had made after sin entered the world. When Jesus died, He paid the complete price for the forgiveness of sins for all people for all time. You were bought for a price (1 Corinthians 6:20) applies to every human being whether they believe it or not!  Every human life from the Petri dish to the nursing home bed is a life for whom Jesus died. For those who do believe in Jesus, there is the certain hope of everlasting life in perfect joy and peace.

Thus, the Bible's account of creation reveals that human life comes from God. It also details that in and through Christ, we will return to the God who created us. We do know where we are from and where we are going!  It follows that we can live our lives knowing that we do have purpose and meaning because we know that God promises to be at work in the lives of those He has created and reclaimed.

What a contrast to human theories! Evolution is about death and hopelessness. Creation is about life and a certain, confident, eternal hope!

(The above section on "Creation" by Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb is included as a commentary in God's Word for Life, Copyright 2005 by God's Word to the Nations and Lutherans For Life.)

Useful Links

• The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod                  
• Lutheran Family Service of Iowa  (LFS)
  Lutheran Family Service of Iowa has been caring for families since 1901.  LFS offers individual and family counseling, spiritual direction, pregnancy counseling, domestic and international adoption, support groups, and clergy consultation.
• Lutherans For Life (LFL)
  Lutherans For Life witnesses to the sanctity of human life through education based on the Word of God.
  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most positive and powerful For Life message in the universe!  LFL helps congregations connect his message to the life issues that God's people often face.
• The Lighthouse Center of Hope
  The Lighthouse is a caring pregnancy center located at 409 Washington in Iowa Falls, IA., that offers advocacy and care for both mother and child.  Services include free pregnancy testing, educational materials necessary to make healthy choices, parenting classes, help with skills for life, information on the adoption option, Bible study, the Baby Bucks program, networking with the medical community, and mentoring of Biblical manhood and womanhood.
• Titus 2 for Life
  Titus 2 for Life is a model for mentoring based on Titus 2:1-8 with the promise of Titus 2:11-14. Titus 2 for Life encourages Biblical manhood and womanhood in a culture that has lost its way. Titus 2 for Life contrasts the world with God's Word as it offers forgiveness and healing in Jesus Christ. Titus 2 for Life affects change and brings hope for generations to come!
• Word of Hope
  Word of Hope exists to bring the healing of Jesus Christ to those whose hearts are broken by abortion.
• Lutheran Hour Men's Network Ministry
  Men's Network is an internet ministry-building resource center offering easy-to-use materials to ignite and challenge the faith lives of men.  This Men's Network is an outreach of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
  "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17)
• Higher Things
  Higher Things dares Lutheran youth to be different from the world. Higher Things assists parents and congregations in cultivating and promoting Biblical, Lutheran identity among youth. Higher Things doesn't seek to create a "WOW" factor, but a Christ-focus!
• Issues, Etc
  A Christ-centered, Cross-focused Talk Radio!
• Book of Concord
  What does it mean to be Lutheran?  What are the Lutheran Confessions?
• Focus on the Family
  Focus on the Family cooperates with the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting Biblical truth worldwide.
• Answers In Genesis
  Answers in Genesis (AIG) is an apologetics ministry dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We focus particularly on providing answers to questions surrounding the most attacked book in Scripture, Genesis.  AIG provides resources with a Biblical worldview and train others to affect the culture with that worldview.
• The Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood
  The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) proclaims God's glorious design for men and women.
• Stand to Reason
  Stand to Reason is a ministry to help Christians defend their Biblical faith in the public arena.
• Exodus International
  This ministry seeks to help men and women who desire to be transformed by the love of Jesus Christ and leave a life of homosexuality behind. Exodus International provides a church network and resources for pastors and congregations.

 Looking for a Bible Verse?

Have nothing to do with

irreverent, silly myths,

rather train yourself

for godliness;

for while bodily training

is of some value,

godliness is of value

in every way,

as it holds promise for

the present life and

also for the life to come.

The saying is trustworthy and

deserving of full acceptance.

For to this end

we toil and strive,

because we have our hope

set on the living God,

who is the Savior

of all people,

especially of those

who believe.

1 TIMOTHY 4:7-10