I BELIEVE
THE MYSTERY OF GOD
DR. JIM DIXON
JOHN 17:15-16
JUNE 28, 2009
Fiddler on the Roof was the name of a movie that was made in 1971. Time passes quickly. Thirty-eight years ago, the movie Fiddler on the Roof was nominated for eight Academy Awards and received three Oscars. I know that many of you saw the movie and when you think of that movie, Fiddler on the Roof, perhaps you think of “If I Were a Rich Man,” but what you should think of when you think of that movie is the song “Tradition.”
Tradition. Tradition is what that movie was about. Tradition is foundational to Judaism and the Jewish world. Tradition is foundational to many cultures all over this earth, and indeed as Christians, tradition is so very, very important. However, we live in changing times. We live in a changing world, and today many Christians and many churches have forgotten tradition.
Now for hundreds of years, almost from the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ, Christians have recited the Apostles Creed. This has been Christian tradition for hundreds and hundreds of years and indeed for millennia Christians have recited the Apostles Creed. These are changing times. Many Christians today no longer know the Creed. Many churches never recite the Creed, but at this church, at least for these next three weeks, we’re going to look at tradition. We’re going to look at the Apostles Creed. We’re going to learn the Apostles Creed and we’re going to go through the Apostles Creed seeking to understand the message and the core that is at the heart of our Christian faith.
Now I want to share, to begin with, just a little bit of the history of the Apostles Creed. In the year 390 A.D., Ambrose wrote his Simbolum Apostolarum and in that same year, 390 A.D., Rufinus wrote his Apostolic Constitutions. Now both of these writings, the one by Rufinus and the one by Ambrose, both of them were all about the Apostles Creed. In the year 390, Ambrose and Rufinus were trying to explain the history of the Apostles Creed and how it came about and they both tell the same story. They both claim that 40 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and just after the ascension of Christ into heaven, the Holy Spirit descended. The Holy Spirit fell on the company of believers, on the 120, in the City of Jerusalem. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other languages.
Now this much we already knew from the Bible, we already knew from the book of Acts. But Ambrose and Rufinus go on. They tell us that the apostles and the disciples were so anointed and so filled by the Holy Spirit that they knew the languages of the world. They tell us that this was the purpose of God: that the Gospel might go forth to the nations of the earth, that the apostles could go to any nation and they were at home and it felt like home because they had been filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke all these languages. They didn’t need Berlitz they didn’t need Rosetta Stone; they didn’t need high school classes, college and university courses to learn these languages. This was the power of the Holy Spirit.
And then Ambrose and Rufinus tell us that before the apostles went forth, before they went to the nations, they got together and they said, “We want to make sure we’re all on the same page. Want to make sure that we’re all sharing the same message. Want to make sure that we agree on the core of the Gospel.” So, they sat down and they crafted the Apostles Creed: each of the twelve apostles contributing a twelfth of the content to the Creed. This is the story of Ambrose. This is the story of Rufinus. It’s tradition and some might debate that story, but I mean there are some who would say that the Apostles Creed was at least tweaked all the way up to the 8th century. But the substance of the Apostles Creed indeed does go back to the 1st century and to the Apostles.
We know that in the year 270, Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, quoted the Apostles Creed. We know, more incredibly, that in the year 120, shortly after the first century, that the Roman Creed was active and being used by Christian communities in baptism in the city of Rome. We have the Roman Creed, and here it is: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ his only son, Our Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried. The third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into Heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father. Thence he shall come to judge living and dead and in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Church, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh.” Incredible! I mean how close is that to the Apostles Creed? And that was the year 120. You see most scholars, most theologians, most historians acknowledge that at least the foundations of the Apostles Creed indeed do go back to the first century and to the time of the Apostles. This is very important. The early church understood how important it was to know what you believe, to know what the core of truth is, what the core of the Gospel is and to affirm it and to agree upon it.
You see in the Bible the beginning of creedal statements. You see this in 1 John 1 in the prologue to John’s Gospel, which I shared with you this morning. You see it in Colossians 1:15-20, there’s a Christological creed there. You see it in Philippians 2:6-11. You see it in 1 Peter 1 and 2. Those first two chapters of 1 Peter were used in a creedal way by the early church at baptism ceremonies. You see it in Hebrews 1:1-3, again a doctrinal core of the Christian faith being recited. You see it in the Bible and this has been important from the earliest times because the Bible tells us and the early church understood, you must fight, you must contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. So, we go through the Apostles Creed that we might contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.
What we are going to do is go through the Apostles Creed piecemeal, one phrase at a time. You’ll be happy to know we’re not going through the whole creed this morning. So, I’m going to begin with the first phrase, “I believe in God.” I believe in God. Now hopefully that’s true of you, hopefully you believe in God. There are people all over the world, indeed most people all over the world who can say, “I believe in God.” Throughout world history, many theologians and philosophers have tried to defend the existence of God and they’ve given many arguments. There is of course the ontological argument. Ontology has to do with “being,” with the “being” of God and the ontological argument is that we conceive of the “being” of God only because God exists. That’s why we can conceive of him. That’s why we think about him. That’s about why we reflect on him. That’s why we form ideas about him, because he really exists.
In the ontological argument there’s this Latin phrase “consensus gentium.” Consensus gentium simply means common consent. There’s a universal belief in God. We see the consensus gentium all over the earth. In fact, polls show that virtually 90% of the people around the world throughout history have believed in God. Ninety percent. You see there’s in the human heart, in the human soul, there’s this God-shaped hole. God made us for himself and it’s just built into the human soul, the human heart this need for God and this belief in God. That’s an ontological argument.
The second argument that has been used by philosophers and theologians is the cosmological argument. The cosmological argument has to do with the cosmos, it has to do with the universe, has to do with the multi-verse. This argument goes, “You look at the cosmos. You look at the universe and you see evidence of God’s existence. You see motion and that indicates that there is a prime mover. You look at the universe and you see effect and that indicates that there must be a first cause. There can’t be an effect without a cause. Can’t be motion without a mover.” And so, we see these evidences of God as prime mover, first cause, in the cosmos. According to the cosmological argument, atheism is ultimately irrational because it’s irrational to posit or to propose or to believe that matter could have spontaneously generated. That matter could have just spontaneously generated “ex nihilo,” out of nothing. That’s ludicrous and that’s irrational. So, that’s the cosmological argument, “For every effect there must be a cause. God is the first cause.”
Now another argument that has been used is the teleological argument. Teleological argument has been proposed by Paley who was an Enlightenment apologist, and by Aquinas, Anselm. Descartes, all these people have used these arguments. The teleological argument has to do with telas. Telas has to do with design. Telas literally means end, but it has to do with design or purpose. The argument of the teleological argument is that you look at the universe and you see telas. You look at the universe and you see design, you see complex, intricate, amazing design. You see this in the microcosm, when you look at the world of inter-space, and you see it in the macrocosm. When you look at the world of outer space, you see design and this indicates there must be a master architect.
This was the view of Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein was brilliant. Albert Einstein was one of the greatest scientists this world ever has known. He believed all of his life in the existence of God. And he always said that he could look at the universe, he could look at the cosmos and he could see God. He could see a Master Architect. He could see that it’s not capricious. It’s not arbitrary. It’s not happenstance. Clearly there is design and there is a designer.
I know that when Barb and I, and many of you traveled with us just a few weeks ago to Turkey, as we came out of the city of Ephesus, we saw a whole bunch of little shops. Wherever we went we saw a whole bunch of little shops, but as we were walking through these shops, there was one little shop that said, “Genuine fake watches.” I’m not sure what genuine fake watches are, but I know this, I know that watches whether they’re genuine or fake, only exist because somebody crafted them. You can look at a watch and you can see the design, you can see the complexity, you can see the purpose and it indicates there’s an architect, there’s a master designer, and that’s what the teleological argument says about the universe. You can see the Master Architect in the universe.
Now of course none of these arguments prove God’s existence. There is what theologians call evidentialism. Evidentialism simply means there’s evidence. There’s evidence for the existence of God. Not proof, but evidence. It’s rational. It’s reasonable to believe in God. Evidentialism: rational, reasonable. Not proof, but rational and reasonable. And so, most people in the world say, “I believe in God.” This is the beginning of the Apostles Creed.
Now nothing can trump personal experience. Moses came down from Mt. Sinai. Moses came down from Mt. Horeb. He had seen God and because he had seen God the face of Moses radiated the Shekinah, radiated the Divine Glory. He didn’t need a cosmological argument, didn’t need a teleological argument, didn’t need an ontological argument, he’d seen God. Personal experience. Same thing is true of Peter, James and John. They knew that Jesus was God because they had seen him transfigured on the Holy Mountain. Mt. Tabor, perhaps, or Mt. Hermon, but on the Holy Mountain. They saw Jesus Christ radiate light as the sun. They saw Jesus Christ in all of his heavenly glory. Personal experience. They didn’t need any of these arguments.
So, you read 2 Peter 1 and the words of Peter, “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we were eye witnesses to his majesty. When he received glory and honor from the divine glory, we heard this voice born from heaven when he said, “This is my beloved son. With him I am well pleased.” We heard those words because we were with him on the Holy Mountain. We have the prophetic word made more sure therefore you do well to pay attention to this until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart. Pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place. These are not myths. We saw this. We experienced this.” And so: personal experience.
Why do you send your kids to camp? You send your kids to camp because you want them to have a personal experience of God, some kind of a personal encounter. We sent Heather and Drew to camp, many camps, through the years, Christian camps. My mom and dad sent my brothers and I to Christian camps. Barb’s mom and dad sent her to Christian camps: prayerfully and hopefully that we might somehow experience God, not the cosmological or ontological or teleological argument, but that we might experience God. I thank God for those many Christian camps where they’re so anointed by the Holy Spirit. You send your kids, and yes, your kids do have some kind of a touch from God, some kind of an experience of Christ and they come back and for them that evidence is overwhelming. So, “I believe in God,” is the beginning of the Apostles Creed.
Then the next phrase is, “the Father Almighty.” “I believe in God, the Father Almighty,” and this is a beautiful and very complex definition of God. He is the Father Almighty. When we say that God is Father, biblically, we mean two things. First of all, we mean he is the creator. There’s a sense in which God is the Father because God is the creator of us all and there’s a sense in which all people are his children.
Occasionally, rarely, you see that concept in the Bible. You go to Acts 17 and you see the preaching of the Apostle Paul in the city of Athens before the Areopagus, the high council and Paul says these words, “Men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious. For as I walked along, observing the objects of your worship, I saw one alter with this inscription: To An Unknown God. What therefore you worship as unknown I declare to you. The God who made the universe and everything in it, being Lord of Heaven and Earth, does not live in buildings made by men. Nor is he served by human hands as though he has need of anything since he gives to all men life and breath and everything, for he didst make from one man all the nations of men that dwell upon the face of the earth, having determined their allotted boundaries and the periods of their habitation. That they might seek after him, that they might feel after him and find him for he is not far from any of us. As even your own poets have said, ‘We are indeed God’s offspring. We are indeed God’s children.’”
So, Paul is in Athens quoting Greek philosophers and poets who said that “God is our Father and we are his offspring, we are his children.” And Paul is in some sense agreeing with that. God is Father in the sense that God is Creator and you see that concept in the Bible, but normally in the Bible when it speaks of God as Father, it’s a little more exclusive. It’s not talking about God as Creator, it’s talking about God as Father of his own people, the Household of Faith.
In the New Testament as we read the words of Jesus, we understand that if we come to Jesus and we accept him as our Savior and we come to Jesus and we accept him as our Lord, his Father becomes our Father and we are born again, we are regenerated into his family and we become children of God. We become sons and daughters of God and we become brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the teaching of the New Testament. In the Apostles Creed this is the likely meaning, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty.” The Father of who? The Father of the redeemed, the Father of the church, the Father of all who believe, the Father of the sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. “I believe in God, the Father.” When you look at the words of Jesus, he tells all of us who believe in him that we can now call God Abba, and Abba doesn’t simply mean Father because it’s more intimate than that. It could be rendered Daddy. In the mind of Jesus, we who believe in him, we believe in God, the Daddy Almighty. Abba. Pretty amazing.
Now this word “almighty” describes the omnipotence of God. God is El Shaddai. God is El Gibbor. God is Jehovah Sabioth. He is the Lord of Hosts. He is God the Mighty. He is God the Great. He is omnipotent. And I think for all of us who are earthly dads, I feel like Dad the Impotent. I don’t know how you feel as an earthly dad. I often times feel so much like Dad the Impotent. I look at my kids and so often through the years there is so much that I wanted to do for them I could not do. I had not the power. Our son Drew has just graduated from his residency in ophthalmology. Four years ago, he got his MD, and now he’s graduating from his residency in ophthalmology, but this Tuesday Drew leaves to go back to Madison, Wisconsin, to begin a two-year fellowship in retina surgery. He’s going to be driving all night. Barb and I have a little concern, but I don’t have power. I’m Dad the Impotent. I don’t really have power to take care of that.
Drew is going to arrive there. He’s going to arrive there and he’s going to begin this two-year residency. He’s been told he gets five days’ vacation this year, and he has to work 100 hours a week. He can work seven 14-hour days each week, or six 17-hour days each week. I don’t know about you, but Drew never complains. For him it’s a call, so he approaches it with passion, but as a dad I’ve cognitive dissonance. I don’t understand this gauntlet that takes place in American medicine. I don’t understand this rite of passage that it seems young people, men and women, have to go through in order to practice medicine. Obviously, I want competent doctors, but I don’t get it all. I would love to change it, but I’m Dad the Impotent. I don’t have power to do a lot of that stuff.
Through the years as our daughter Heather was going to school so often Heather would come home from school and might have had a bad day. Not most days, but an occasional day, something went wrong at school, something went wrong in class, something went wrong with a teacher, something went wrong with a friend, something went wrong relationally, and many times all I could do was just listen to her and hold her, but not the power to solve her problems. I think all of us in this room, we earthly parents, understand these things, but we have a Father in Heaven in whom we believe. He is our Father and he loves us like a daddy and he’s omnipotent. What an amazing thought. He’s sovereign, so he doesn’t just do what we tell him to do, but it’s nice to know we’ve got a pretty powerful dad.
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty.” This is the beginning of the Apostles Creed, and then he is the, “Maker of heaven and earth.” “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” Star Trek was the name of a television series that was long lasting and took many forms. It’s produced many Hollywood movies the most recent of which is out in movie theaters and it’s widely acclaimed and seems to be pretty popular. I think as most people look back on the television series either they really like it or they really can’t stand it and you kind of see that polarity as people respond to the Star Trek series.
I remember the third movie in the Star Trek series was called The Wrath of Khan, and in that movie The Wrath of Khan there was this female scientist and this female scientist, along with a collegium of scientists, had developed this incredible invention they called The Genesis Device. The Genesis Project could produce the Genesis Effect, and what was the effect? It was the giving of life. It was this invention that could take a dead planet and bring it to life. It was this invention that even had the power to take the core of a planet and bring life to it. But I want to say, only God can cook. In the sense of creation, only God can cook. In the sense of creation ex nihilo, creation out of nothing, only God can cook.
I marvel that in our current American educational system, there’s such a controversy about intelligent design. Evolution is taught in classrooms all over America, I understand that, but I marvel that in public education and in many settings teachers are not even allowed to mention the possibility that God cooks, that God creates, that it all goes back to a Prime Mover and that it all goes back to a first cause. You can’t even mention it. And how far have we fallen. And it seems irrational to me.
Now of course God cooks. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, and there’s a lot of controversy in the Christian world as to how he did it. How do we take Genesis 1, 2 and 3? Heard so many questions through the years. Did God create in six literal 24-hour days? Is it possible that a day could be an age? That the Hebrew word yom could refer to six vast periods of time. The Hebrew word yom could refer to six vast periods of time, is that possible? Is Genesis 1, 2 and 3, is that historical narrative? Are there parabolic elements? Are there allegorical elements? Is the talking snake, magic trees and magic fruit, are those parabolic? Do symbolic names mean that you are dealing with an allegory? Why is the first man called man? Because that’s what “adam” means; it simply means man. Why is the woman called eve—life giver? Do these names mean that we’re dealing with an allegory?
Is it possible to explain the geological column and the fossil record? Is it possible that God created a world with apparent age when it was yet young? Could the fossil record and the geological column just represent apparent age? Maybe Adam and Eve had apparent age? Did they have belly buttons? And if they did, would that just be apparent age? Is radioactive dating reliable? Not just Carbon T4, but potassium-argon, or uranium lead? Are these dating methods accurate? Could the great flood, the deluge of Noah, could that have impacted the geological column around the earth, the sedimentary layers of the earth and the fossil record?
Where did Cain get his first wife? Where’s the Land of Nod? Is it possible that God could have created through evolution? Is that possible? Could God have put his hand on the whole process so that it wouldn’t be secular Darwinism because secular Darwinism is godless, but could God have put his hand on the whole process and seen the end from the beginning and foreknown and foreseen and even guided the result? Could have God have created that way? Could God have created through evolution and then at some point picked a special pair and breathed on them the divine breath, imparting the Imago Dei, in the image of God? A perspective that is sometimes taught in Catholic seminaries and universities. Lots of questions and of course the answer you give to a lot of those questions has to do with how you view Genesis 1, 2 and 3, and the literary genre there.
As Christians we believe this is the Word of God, but we acknowledge that God uses a variety of literary genres in the Bible. This is the beauty of God. So, God uses a variety of literary genres. God uses historical narrative. God in many places in the Bible uses historical narrative to communicate his truth. Other times God uses poetry in the Bible, a different literary genre. Sometimes in the Bible God uses allegory. Sometimes God uses parables so that there is parabolic literature in the Bible. Sometimes God uses apocalyptic literature, a different genre, as you see in Daniel and Revelation. So, what is God using in Genesis 1, 2 and 3? And you have this huge debate in the Christian church and in the Christian world – this massive debate. And there are those who view it as historical narrative, and then there are those who view it as parable or allegory, and there are those who view it as a combination of historical narrative with certain parabolic and allegoric elements, but all of them, if they really believe it’s the Word of God, know that it’s truth and nobody would deny the message of Genesis 1, 2 and 3. God is maker. God is creator. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. Only God cooks, and mankind is the crown of his creation. Male and female given the Imago Dei, the very crown of his creation, and we’re fallen and in desperate need of a savior. So, the Bible begins in Genesis and just moves through God’s plan of redemption. But we need to quit fighting. We just need to quit fighting. We need to make the main thing the main thing. We need to love Jesus and bring his Gospel to the world and to the nations. We need to affirm the core of the Gospel as we see in the Apostles Creed. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.”
“Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ.” That’s the next phrase, “And in Jesus Christ.” I hope that in this room today everybody believes in Jesus Christ. What a name, “Jesus.” It’s a Hebrew name. It comes from the word Yeshua, the root of which means “to save.” Jesus is the Savior. He’s the Savior. I hope you’ve come to the foot of the cross. And you can recite this creed. I hope you’ve come to the foot of the cross, and you’ve knelt there, and you’ve acknowledged that Jesus died for your sin as I know he died for mine. I know that you’ve invited him to be your Savior. I hope you’ve invited him to forgive you of your sin and to come and to be your Savior. He’s not just Savior. He’s not just Jesus. He’s not just Yeshua. He’s also the Christ. I believe in Jesus Christ and the name or title Christ comes from the Greek Christos, which comes from Creo, which means to anoint. He is the Anointed One. He is the Savior, the anointed one. Christos is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah, which comes from masah, which also means anointed. He is the Messiah. Jesus, Savior, Messiah, the anointed one, and he fulfills the three anointed offices of Israel. The Office of Prophet, because he is the Word of God, fulfills the office of priest because he is the sacrifice, the offering of God, and he fulfills the office of king, because he is the reign of God. The Christ, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. I believe.
“I believe in Jesus Christ, His only son.” This is an amazing statement in the Apostles Creed, “His only son.” We’ve already seen that there’s a sense in which all of us who believe have become sons and daughters of God. We are the children of God and God is our Father, God is our Daddy, Abba. The Bible says in Romans 8, ” … when we cry Abba, Father, it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are indeed children of God and his children and heirs. Heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” and so, we have this promise in Romans 8 that God is our Abba, he is our Daddy and we are his children and yet it says right here in the Apostles Creed, “Jesus is the only son.” He is the only son.
And what does that mean? That means we are children by adoption. We’re children of God by adoption, but what we have by adoption Jesus has by nature. Jesus is the only son of God by nature. He has the very genetics of the Father, so to speak. He shares one essence with the Father. One nature with the Father. He is the Son of God, and God the Son. This statement that we find in the Apostles Creed is foundational to all the ecclesiastical counsels from the Council of Nicaea to the Council of Chalcedon. From 325 to 451, these counsels met to look at the Godhead and the nature of God and they understood that there’s one God. The Bible is monotheistic, but they also understood that the Bible calls the Father God, the Bible calls the Son God, and the Bible calls the Holy Spirit God. Rightly, understandably, they came up with the doctrine of the Trinity that there’s one God in three persons.
There’s no denying what the Bible says. Our passage of Scripture for today from the Gospel of John, what does it say about Jesus? It calls him the Word. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. What does it say? What does it say in Hebrews 1, “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days God has spoken through his Son, whom he has appointed the heir of all things and through whom also he created the worlds. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his Word of Power. When he made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Father having become as much superior to the angels as the name which he has obtained is more excellent than theirs, for to what angel has God ever said, Thou art my beloved son. Today I have begotten thee. Or again let all the angels worship him.”
These are incredible passages in the Bible. Philippians 2 where we’re told that, “Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be clutched, but he emptied himself taking on the form of a servant being born in the likeness of man.” You have to deal with all these passages. That’s why this statement is so important in the Apostles Creed, “his only Son,” who shares his nature by nature, his essence by nature. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, Our Lord.”
We conclude with this today: “Our Lord.” He is our Lord. Do you know what that means? The New Testament word for Lord is the word “kurios.” This word refers to an absolute owner. All those who owned property were called lords. If you didn’t own property, you were not a lord, but you see when you call Jesus Christ Lord, what does that mean? That means you are acknowledging that he owns you. He’s your absolute owner. He’s the kurios. He’s the Lord. He not only owns you; he has the right to reign in your life because this word kurios was used in the ancient world for royalty. Every king, every queen, they were called lord, kurios. So, when you call Jesus Lord, you are acknowledging his right to reign over you.
Of course, in the Hebrew world, in the Hellenized Hebrew world, this word kurios was used to render the Hebrew rabbi. He’s your master and your rabbi, so Jesus is your owner. He is your king, royalty, who reigns over you and he is your master, teacher, rabbi, and he’s God. In the Septuagint, in the Hebrew Bible translated into the Greek, this word kurios is used to render not only Adonai, the Hebrew word for lord, but Yahweh, the name of God. We understand that Jesus is deity. These are amazing statements in the Apostles Creed. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.”
As we conclude, I want to just suggest to you that perhaps some of you have not taken him as Lord. Maybe you’ve asked him to be your Savior, maybe you had a moment somewhere sometime where you asked him to forgive you of your sins and you thanked him for his sacrifice on the cross, but you’ve never invited him to be your Lord. I hope you understand that a Christian is someone who believes in Jesus as Savior and Lord. I hope you understand that a disciple of Jesus Christ is one who has embraced him as Savior and Lord. That’s what it means to be his disciple. This is the fullness of the Gospel and so, this morning as we close, if you’ve never embraced Jesus Christ as your Lord, let this be the time. I promise you, if you take Jesus Christ as Lord, your obedience will not be perfect and Jesus knows that because we are sinners in need of grace. And we are saved only by grace through faith. This is the call of the Gospel—that we take him as Savior and Lord. So, let’s close with a word of prayer.