Creed (Week 3): The Crux of Our Life in Christ
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, one holy Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
He was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead.
Crux: “The basic, central, or essential point or feature.” From Latin “crux” meaning “cross, wooden frame for execution”
1 Peter 1:18-20 NIV: 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Colossians 1: 19-20 NLT: For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
The resurrection of Christ goes hand-in-hand with the cross of Christ—and in these, we find death to our old lives, His work in our unseen places, and new life forever.
Colossians 2: 8-10; 12-15 NIV: Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 2 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. 13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
1 Corinthians 2:2 NIV: For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
