CREED SERMON -2 "I BELIEVE"

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

                                                                                                    (Hebrews 11:  6)

A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's artwork. As she came to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. 
       
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

A Sunday school teacher was asking her students some questions after a series of lessons on God's omnipotence. She asked, "Is there anything God can't do?" All were silent. Finally, one boy held up his hand. 
       
The teacher, on seeing this, was disappointed that they had missed the point of the lesson. She sighed and asked, "Well, what is it you think God can't do?" The boy replied, "He can't please everybody."

Have you ever realized that the Bible declares God’s existence but it does not attempt to prove it. Certain things are so true that philosophers call them “properly basic.” They are so true that you can’t properly understand reality without them. From a biblical standpoint, the existence of God falls into that category. Either you believe in God or you don’t.

According to a recent Fox News poll, 92% of those surveyed say they believe in some sort of God. Other polls in recent years have returned the same overwhelming numbers. Nine out of ten Americans say they believe in God. There are some atheists out there, and their numbers may be growing, but they are still a tiny minority.

Most Americans believe in God, even if they can’t agree on what kind of God they believe in. If that’s true, then it may seem unnecessary to devote a sermon to the first phrase of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in God.”

This may seem like a kindergarten lesson, a truth we learned in Sunday School many years ago,  But I think it’s always dangerous to take our faith for granted, so we start at the beginning.

Let’s look at the phrase, “I believe in God,” and discuss five statements about it.

1. Basic Declaration: “God is” is the central fact of the universe. The very first verse of the Bible establishes this truth in these majestic and simple words: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1: 1). This is the start  of divine revelation. Everything God wants us to know starts right here. This verse is a declaration—not an argument. Once you get it settled in your heart that “God is,” a lot of other problems will be solved as well.

2. Logical Implication: All things owe their existence to God the Creator.

Because God is the Creator, he is also the owner of all things. If I make a toy boat, I can truly say, “This is mine. I made it and I own it.” Since God made us, he has the absolute right of ownership over us. He can do with us as he pleases.

That’s not a popular topic in contemporary American life. We want to do our own thing, go our own way, live the way we want, do whatever we feel like doing, whenever we want to do it, and no one has the right to tell us what to do. But if God created us, he owns us. If he owns us, then we are accountable to him for everything we say and do. That’s not a happy thought for many people.

3. Inescapable Revelation: The truth about God has been made known to everyone. This fact comes from Romans 1: 19-20. “Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

Twice in verse 19 Paul uses the word “plain” to describe God’s revelation of himself to all mankind. Then in verse 20 he adds that the truth about God is “clearly seen” in nature.

We can say it this way: If everyone knows there is a God, then the people who say they do not believe in God are deceiving themselves. God created all that we see around us. He created the sun and the stars and the moon and the planets. And God hung each one in space and calls each one by name.

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” Psalm 147: 4. No wonder Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

This world is God’s house. He’s left clues everywhere about what kind of God he is. When you stand at the Grand Canyon, you can’t help but be overwhelmed at the mighty power of God to create such magnificence.

God has left his fingerprints all over this world. Truly, Psalm 19 tells us: “This is my Father’s world,” and every rock, every twig, every river and every mountain bears his signature. He signed his name to everything he made. The earth is marked “Made By God” in letters so big that no one fails to see it. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

That’s the point of Romans 1: No one fails to see it. Everyone knows something about God! No one has ever lived who missed this revelation. It doesn’t matter whether they consciously thought about it or not. The truth IS there for all to see, so plainly laid out that no one could miss it.

It doesn’t matter whether you were a headhunter on some South Pacific island or an upscale yuppie in downtown Baltimore. No one can miss the truth about God and no one has ever missed it because God made the truth about himself as plain as day.

That’s why Paul says in verse 20, “They are without excuse.” He means the whole human race knows about God. No one can say, “I didn’t know.” Everyone knows. That explains why every culture on earth has some idea of a Supreme Being—however flawed that conception might be. Man was made to look for answers outside of himself. He is incurably religious by nature.

The French philosopher, Pascal, said that inside the heart of every man there is a “God-shaped vacuum.” Augustine said, “O Lord, you have made us for yourself. Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has put “eternity in the hearts of men,” meaning that the longing for ultimate answers comes from God himself.

Atheism is the most unnatural philosophy on the face of the earth. Idolatry is more natural than atheism because at least the idolater acknowledges a higher power outside of himself. For a man to be an atheist he must not only deny the truth about God that he sees in nature, he must also deliberately and repeatedly suppress the truth about God found in his own conscience.

4. Saving Manifestation: God revealed himself in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not left to ourselves to decide who God is. He revealed himself in nature, and he revealed himself in the human heart.

Christianity also declares that God supremely revealed himself in Jesus. If we want to know God, we must come on his terms—through his Son. Jesus said in John 14: 6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

That verse isn’t very popular today—but God’s truth isn’t determined by majority vote.

As Christians we can’t even consider backing down from the truth. In this day of theological compromise and evangelical weakness, we must proclaim again the message that God’s love is broad, reaching to the ends of the earth, so that anyone can be saved. But we must also tell the truth—that salvation comes through Jesus Christ and for those who will not come to God through Jesus, there is no other way.

If you reject Jesus, God has no other plan of salvation. And if you believe that then every progressive, inclusive, politically correct Christian in the world will condemn and loathe the Bible you read. That's just too bad.

5. Personal Transformation: Once we meet God, our lives are changed forever. We started at Hebrews 11: 6 which says very clearly: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

There is a hunger for God in our day that is insatiable. That’s why people read everything they can that supposedly gives them God’s secrets except the Bible.

But God’s grace is free but it is never cheap. We must seek and find the promise of Hebrews 11: 6.

The Creed begins with the words, “I believe in God,” for a good reason. It’s the biggest step of faith you’ll ever take.

God rewards those who truly seek him. It’s not an easy road, but there is gladness along the way and joy at the end of the journey. Start seeking God with all your heart and your life will never be the same. Amen.