This is the third post in a series of communion mediations working through the Apostles’ Creed. You can read the creed here, and the first two installments here and here.
We believe in God the Father Almighty…
When we speak of God as God, one of the most important assumptions we ought to bring (but often don’t) is that he truly is Almighty. He is the Creator of all things, and thus more powerful than anything he has created. He is the source of all things, and thus not dependent upon anyone or anything. He is sovereign and powerful over all, and one day will bring all to account before him.
He is before all things, rules all things, and by his will they exist and were created. He is the God around whom seraphim cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, speaking to his utter otherness and distinction from creation. The whole earth is full of his glory, even as it is too small to contain his glory.
And this Almighty God, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Angel Armies, is the God against whom we have sinned. We deserve to eternally face his Almighty Wrath. His judgment. His Almighty Anger.
But God. But God, because of the great love with which he loved us, sent forth his Son. Born of a virgin, born under the law, the Son took on flesh as Jesus of Nazareth. He lived a perfect life and died a sufficient and substitutionary death in our place; that we who deserve to face the wrath of the Almighty could instead look to him as both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus: the Almighty Judge has become our Almighty Savior and Father, able to save to the uttermost the one who trusts in the Son. If you trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross, the wrath due to you has been borne away by him.
So this morning, as we remember what Jesus did for us, we also remember what the Father has done for us. He so loved the world, that he gave us his Son. Jesus is our Savior who died - in obedience to the will of the Father (“yet not as I will, but as you will”). The Father desired and designed our salvation, the Son accomplished our salvation by entering human history and taking on a human body and human nature and going to the cross in our place, and the Spirit sovereignly applies that salvation to all those who trust in Jesus. So, if you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your savior, this meal is for you. The Almighty has made you a member of the family and welcomes you to the table. If you do not yet know him, let the bread and the cup pass by. Consider, friend, your great need, the need we all share: salvation from your sins and the wrath of Almighty God. And consider the abundant provision made for the need by the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord.