Well, good morning. Good morning. So good to
see you here. Children get going to Treehouse.
My name is Alex, and I serve the youth here at
the house. I have been working, ministering to
the 6th through 12th graders since 2019, I think.
And what we affectionately call the shed, we
have the house. The church, the treehouse, and
the shed. And so we meet every morning at 10
o 'clock, and we have good time. This year our
theme is the good life. And so we are working
through the book of Acts and talking about the
foundation of the early church and what it means
to live the good life, what it means to follow
Jesus, and what it means to be the church in
today's day. And so I would also love to talk
about that with anyone, if anyone's curious.
Based off of our two -minute warning question,
anybody watch the sunrise recently? In your hands,
a couple. Not, yeah, that's kind of what I expected.
There was a few hands, but not a ton. I personally,
I love the sunrise. I get up to work, I go to
work by 6 .30, so I usually am up pretty early,
which is great because I love the sunrise. So
every fall and spring, I get to actually witness
the sunrise. As I drive to work, I head straight
east. It's great, the whole sky. So this September,
I actually rode my bike into work, and so I have
a picture here that I took. And if Liam could
put that up. This is on my bike ride. This was
towards the beginning of September. By the end
of September, it was kind of just dark blues
and purples. rode into the early October before
it got too cold for me, and it was just like
a thin line of dark purple and blue. So I had
my lights on to get to work. So I loved it. It
was a great way to start my day every day throughout
that month. But I had also heard that there were
some real effects of watching the sunrise, so
I decided to look those up, and I thought I'd
share them with you. So this is what I found.
20 to 30 minutes of morning sun, meaning like
the first two, two and a half hours of the day,
improves your sleep -wake cycle because it suppresses
the sleepy hormone, melatonin, and releases cortisol,
the wake -up hormone. And so some of you may
know this, but what color of light suppresses
melatonin? Blue light, yes. The sunrise has naturally
occurring blue light in an appropriate level
compared to the screens that we look at. It also
may decrease depressive symptoms on an average
of 40%. It may improve metabolic function by
regulating blood sugar. Improves your eye muscles
by gradually adjusting to the light levels. May
reduce inflammation in your body. So there is
some... Potentially real physical, biological
things happening in our bodies just from looking
at the sun rising. So for me, there's something
that's like both equal parts wonderful to look
at the sunrise, but also mysterious, like how
it works. Not only the physicalness of the sun
rising over the horizon, but how it affects our
real self. Like we can see the beauty of colors.
just like smeared together in just the right
order, right? But also if you're trained in light
optics, the physics of it, you may understand
there's different wavelengths for each color
of light, and that blue light, red light, or
blue light, purple light is small wavelength,
and red light, which is more as the sun rises,
is long wavelengths. And even if you do know
that, or you know much more than that, and how
it works, the order in which these things occur
still kind of remains a natural phenomenon. We
don't truly understand the knowledge of why it
is this way, why it was created this way. And
generally speaking, the more you increase your
knowledge in something, the more expertise you
have in something, the more you grow fonder of
it. And we really experience this in our professions,
in our hobbies. Your wonder of something, your
love for something, increases alongside your
knowledge. Well, why is it this way? Well, it's
natural. We pursue things we like. When we're
young and we're going through school and we like
something, we start to learn about it. And the
more we learn about it, the more we like it.
And it starts compounding in this cycle of love
and knowledge. And so I really want to keep this
illustration. in our minds today throughout my
sermon, just to draw our attention to not just
this kind of sunrise, but a different kind of
sunrise, because today we'll be talking about
Jesus, our Savior, as the risen Son of God. So
we are continuing our study in the Nicene Creed,
and the Creed really does engage our knowledge,
engage our minds of understanding by laying the
foundational beliefs of our faith. It grounds
us to the biblical or the historical faith of
the church, but it also engages our heart by
guiding the direction of our affection. So today,
I hope we can not just know these truths, but
also that we can stir up some affection and desire
and awe for them. Yeah? So I'm going to have
up here on the screen the section of the creed
that we'll be talking about today. This section
will reinforce kind of what we've already discussed
in the last couple of weeks, but right up here
it also gives us the why. So for us and our salvation,
he came down from heaven. By the power of the
Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin
Mary and was made man. For our sake, he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was
buried. On the third day, he rose again. So the
first week we heard about God as the creator,
the father, and the source of all things. Last
week we heard about the essence of Jesus Christ,
that he is one with the father, yet also fully
human, not a created being. And right at the
top here we get kind of the why, the for us and
our salvation. About halfway down it says, for
our sake he was crucified. We are the why. Humanity
is the why and is for our salvation. So this
section addresses the heresy that Jesus was not
fully human and therefore did not rise from the
dead. And if he did not rise from the dead, then
what do we make of this claim for salvation?
So we're going to quickly look back on a few
of the popular beliefs of the time. One belief
was Docetism, and it reasoned like this. Jesus
is fully God, but God cannot be limited by humanity,
temptation, or even physical death. That was
demeaning to think that he could die. Therefore,
his bodily presence must be an illusion. It's
temporary, although necessary. But kind of like
some of the angels we read in the scriptures,
they were not immediately even recognized as
heavenly beings. So in their view, Jesus came
not only to save us maybe from our sins, but
primarily to save us from this physical material
world to take us out of humanity. And so to think
that God would ever become part of it. And this
was their Jesus. Another belief was Apollinarianism.
It did accept the physical body of Jesus, but
reasoned that an all -knowing God cannot be restricted
to a human mind. So it rejected just an aspect
of Jesus' humanity, mainly a brain that learns.
There were still a few others, but they all essentially
challenged the humanness of Jesus. And therefore,
it resulted in a distorted view of salvation.
But the church leaders responded saying this,
What the Son of God has not taken to himself,
he has not sanctified. This is where Jesus' humanness
is essential to salvation. It is mandatory. And
the assembly of the church leaders in Nicaea
understood this. And why? Well... First, they
knew the scriptures. They knew what the scripture
said. It was necessary, not just because the
scriptures tell us so. Though it does do that,
they tell of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection
was the fulfillment of prophecy. We can go into
that, right? God said it was going to happen,
and it did. But there's also a secondary reason
that the logic of why is present. And so as Pastor
Jen reminded us in the first week, the creed
is not the thing we believe in. It is a tool
to point us to the thing that we believe in.
It is itself not scripture, though it reflects
the truths of scripture. So I would like us to
read some scripture today that speaks directly
to Jesus' humanity and salvation to help us make
sense of the why in the logic. To add to our
love with knowledge and to let our knowledge
spur on the love. So if you could open your Bibles,
we'll be in Hebrews today. We do have a tradition
here of giving the scriptures our full attention,
whatever is read in the context of a sermon.
So you can do that however you'd like, or you
can join me in standing. Hebrews chapter 2, starting
in verse 9. What we do see is Jesus, who for
a little while was given a position a little
lower than the angels. And because he suffered
death for us, he is now crowned with glory and
honor. Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted death
for everyone. God, for whom and through whom
everything was made, chose to bring many children
into glory. And it was only right that he should
make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect
leader. fit to bring them into their salvation.
So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have
the same father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed
to call them his brothers and sisters. Verse
14, because God's children are human beings made
of flesh and blood, the son also became flesh
and blood. For only as a human being could he
die, and only by dying could he break the power
of the devil who had the power of death. Only
in this way could he set free all who have lived
their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. We
also know that the son did not come to help angels.
He came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore,
it was necessary for him to be made in every
respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so
that he could be our merciful and faithful high
priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice
that would take away the sins of the people.
Because he himself has gone through suffering
and testing, he is able to help us when we are
being tested. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, God,
we thank you for this morning, and we pray over
our time today that you would stir up in us an
affection and a love for you that would help
us understand and grow in our knowledge and experience
of who you are. Lord, I pray for this community,
this church, that we would encourage each other.
as we have even just given that vow for our children
this morning. So, Lord, I pray that what we learn
will become a foundation of our faith, that it
would stick. Lord, and that you would be gracious
with us today. In your name we pray. Amen. So
what do we see in this scripture? That Jesus
came down from heaven, that he was human, that
is flesh and blood. He was tested, that he suffered.
He offered a sacrifice that is himself, that
he died, that he was buried, that he broke the
power of the devil through his own death, and
that he is not ashamed to call us brothers and
sisters, his family. This is the good news. This
is the gospel. And as early as 300 years after
the death of Jesus, new theories were being founded
on who Jesus was that had real implications to
this gospel, the for us and our salvation part.
And just to be sure, the scripture is not silent
on putting Jesus' full humanness on display.
So Jesus went hungry. He was exhausted from traveling
and asked for a drink. He was grieved and he
cried. He reasoned multiple times with the teachers
of the law over the meaning of the scriptures.
And even at the end, in his prayer in the Garden
of Gethsemane, he desired an easier path that
was his own will rather than God's, yet he still
submitted to him. And if we could, we could allow
our imagination to expand a little bit. It's
reasonable to believe that Jesus sneezed. He
probably got a few splinters as a woodworker.
Maybe even mispronounced some words as a toddler.
I know my kids say lello instead of yellow. They
call elevators alligators. Are these not human
things that we go through our lives? And yet
the theories of Docetism and Apollinarianism,
among others, undermined this mystery that is
the God -man. That Jesus can be fully God and
fully human. And what we experience in our world,
that is dominated by either or. You must choose
a side. It is difficult to comprehend something
that can be 100 % of two things. Because the
reasoning was that no human could be God, and
therefore no God could be human. But both of
them... Both of these positions can mostly be
reduced to this. If Jesus was not fully human
in body and in mind, if he did not suffer as
we suffer as we read in the Hebrews text, and
if he did not die as we die, as we experience
death, then his saving resurrection is not valid
for us. This is why the development of this section
of the creed needed to address the humanity of
Jesus and his physical body. That he became incarnate
from the Virgin Mary and was made man. That he
experienced what we experience. That he suffered
death. That his body was buried. Because scripture
tells us that Jesus needed to be human to do
the work that brings us salvation. Verse 14 says
that only by dying could he break the power of
death. The life of Jesus. The life of Jesus is
God's choosing to experience life as we know
it, so that we may choose to experience life
as he knows it. And in putting these lines in
the creed, the prominent beliefs of Docetism,
Apollinarianism, and others were determined heresy.
For the church to denounce these as heresy is
to say that we should too. And if you need...
more historical context, or if you just want
to learn more about that, there are resources.
Talk to Pastor Jen. Let me borrow a book. She's
got stuff for you. But heresy is, by definition,
any belief or theory that strongly opposes established
beliefs. Understandably, when I read that, I
thought, this is a pretty wide definition. In
fact, in Acts 24, we'll get to it later this
year in the shed, but the first Christians were
accused of heresy by the Jewish leaders for preaching
Christ crucified. But heresy just isn't just
a disagreement. It's not a differing opinion.
But we do know that heresy is divisive, often
intentionally for the sake of power, but primarily
we can... check heresy against biblical teaching.
And though it is possible, I don't think it's
a stretch to say these theories were not intentionally
looking to contradict the faith. Maybe they were,
but as we've seen by just reading the Hebrews
passage today, these positions definitely were
opposed to scriptural teaching and the greater
church understanding. And so by looking at even
these theological positions, we can find that
heresy most often involves safeguarding of one
truth at the expense of another. Because they
correctly held on to one truth. They correctly
held on to Jesus is God. But when faced with
another truth that Jesus is human, rather than
hold both of those beliefs, even when there was
tension or discomfort or lack of comprehension,
one truth was devalued. Because heresy safeguards
the one truth. for the sake of another. And if
you know me a little bit, you may have picked
up on that I generally have a way of doing things.
That way is called the right way. But you and
I all have a natural inclination to believe that
what we believe is right. Why would we not, right?
I may lean into that a little bit more strongly
than others. But sometimes what you believe is
right, you've believed for a long time. Or you
believe for very good reasons. And when you believe
what you believe so strongly, you start receiving
all new information through that one thing, through
that lens. And the challenge is determining if
that strongly held belief is something you should
be holding as tightly as you are. Because how
are we supposed to hold the realities of this
life, our understanding of scripture, the church's
understanding of scripture? The culture and society
of today around us that we participate in and
that we are creating for the next generation.
We're holding all of that and something that
claims to be truth. At some point, things are
going to start clashing. What about when you
have conversations with friends or family about
opposing views, differing perspectives, whether
they are... faith discussions or not, you have
to consider what truths are you molding to make
it fit around something you hold more tightly.
So two questions. Is it found in scriptures?
And is it found in the church? Because look,
we can look back on these theories and kind of
scoff like, did they really believe that? That
Jesus was an illusion? But really, these are
the same questions the church humanity is asking
today. Is Jesus real? Did he actually live? And
then two, did he rise from the dead? If he did
live, that might be a little bit easier for some
people to accept, but did he rise from the dead?
Because these heresies that this creed is addressing
came to life through exhaustive learning. theorizing.
I don't get the impression they're half -hearted
even, that they were founded on some spiritual
knowledge of God, or at least what they perceive
to be knowledge of God. So when we follow this
example and start to interpret everything through
one strongly held belief that may not even be
scriptural, or we're only trying to reason and
logic out everything, we end up reducing the
greatness of God to our personal mental capacity.
We say, what do I understand? Because if I don't
understand it, it can't be true. Gary said it
last week, it's like pouring an ocean into a
jar. We often seek rationalization over mystery.
And so the other option is to allow the gracious
mystery of God to sit and to marinate and to
pull our hearts and to pull our minds, to lead
our hands and our feet into doing the good works
prepared for us to do. All with eyes lifted high
saying, Jesus, help me understand. I want to
know you, God. I want to seek you with my heart
and my mind and my soul and my strength. Or perhaps
my faith is not founded upon a full understanding
or a proof of everything that you have for me.
But I will be faithful in what you have revealed
to me. This is... One of the tensions I'm learning
to hold right now. Because our salvation is not
dependent upon our knowledge or mental competency.
But it is also somehow spurred on by it. That
the writer of Hebrews says the power of the devil
is the power of death. Have you ever thought
about that? That God used the devil's greatest
power. His greatest instrument to take people
away from God. God used that very thing for the
salvation of all people. This is the victory
we claim in the pursuit of knowing Jesus, the
risen son of God. The writer of Hebrews also
says that only in the humanity of Jesus, in his
life, his death, his resurrection, can be free
from the fear of death. Because death... has
been defeated, we no longer have anything to
fear in facing death. And when we talk about
salvation in our cultural and societal climate,
right, we talk about salvation in reference mainly
to the final act of judgment, when we die or
when Jesus returns again. Yet for Israel, the
people at the time, their discussion on salvation
wasn't just an absolute finite occurrence. Salvation
was continuous. It was the freedom from fear
that is ongoing. And many of the Psalms are written
with this understanding. Like Psalms 51 .12 says,
Restore me to your salvation and grant me a willing
spirit to sustain me. This salvation is ongoing.
It restores. It sustains. This salvation is the
deliverance from the power of sin in us and in
you. It doesn't have to be fully complete to
be life -giving because it is ongoing. It's being
able to say, I was once filled with rage, but
now I'm free. Or these thoughts of hate or lust
used to fill my head, but now I'm free. It's
saying I'm paralyzed of fear and anxiety, but
God, you are my rock, so please restore me. It
is this continuous... ongoing salvation that
we're being called by the grace of God through
faith in Jesus, the risen Son of God. Because
there's healing in the name of Jesus. There's
peace in the name of Jesus. There's contentment
in the name of Jesus. There's boldness in the
name of Jesus. And all this life is just a foretaste
of what is to come when we pursue the risen Son.
Know God. And so I want to... To close today
with something practical. What do I really mean
by pursue the risen God? The risen son. What
does it look like? Well, here's just one encouragement
because there's a lot of things. But here's one
encouragement. Adjust your schedule to read the
scriptures. Pursuing the risen son means ordering
your life around him. But because this isn't
a do better or be better kind of faith. Just
remember as you go, because I'm a father of four.
They're young and don't even have organized activities
yet, and the days are full. So I get it. Be gracious
with yourself. I'm not asking to create a law
in which you have to read at this time or God
won't show up or your whole day will be thrown
off. But adjusting your schedule is about creating
a guideline of how to pursue Jesus daily, as
sure as the sunrise. As sure as the sunrise.
And it's meant to happen as you go. Even the
Great Commission to go and make disciples could
be better translated as you go. Incorporate it
into your life. 2 Peter 1, 5 -8 helps me understand
this. It says, for this very reason, make every
effort to add to your faith goodness, to goodness
knowledge, and to knowledge self -control, and
to self -control, perseverance. To perseverance,
godliness. And to godliness, mutual affection.
And to mutual affection, love. For if you possess
these qualities in increasing measure, they will
keep you from being ineffective and unproductive
in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Give
yourself to the pursuit of God. Explore the depths
of who God is. And when there is tension, When
things don't make sense, whether in your mind
or your body, your heart, chase the risen son.
Know God and allow this knowledge to stir up
in you an increased love for our Lord and Savior.
So every time you see the sunrise, every time
you see the sunrise, think, pursue the risen
son. Pursue the risen son. The hope and light
and salvation of all people. It was for us and
our salvation that he became man. For our sake
he was crucified, suffering death as we know
it to bring us life as he knows it. Amen.