Last week in Sunday school I mentioned that the Creeds play a crucial role in forming us as a people. It shapes the way we think about the Christian world. In particular, the Nicene Creed was formed in a time of great trials. It has been written that when the Council of Nicea was convened to discuss the nature of Jesus Christ; to discuss whether Arius’ assertion that Jesus was a created being or whether, as Athanasius strongly affirmed that Jesus was God of God and Light of Lights, it was said that the bishops who appeared to discuss this important issue travelled from all over the world to this occasion. Some of them were blind, some of them could no longer hear, some of them bore the scars of their persecutors in their backs and faces. They were bruised and beaten, but yet it was their unshakable commitment to the deity of Jesus, that He was truly God of God, truly the Only Begotten, Not made, that made these men the heroes of our faith. This morning when we confess the Nicene Creed together, we are confessing our faith with the saints gone before us, men who literally gave their lives, so that biblical truth would prevail. We will declare this morning that there is no debate concerning Jesus. He is the eternal Son of God, our Light and our Salvation.
