InPerspective

Harry Reeder: So someone comes up to you, and as they come up to you, it's obvious they're curious, they're seeking, and they've got a question for you. And the question is this. You know, I've been looking around and I'm considering religions. Something's missing in my life, something's wrong, something's out of kilter. So I wanted to ask you a question. Do you believe in God?

So what would be your answer if someone asked you a question, do you believe in God? What would be your answer?

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Harry Reeder: Putting life in biblical perspective with Dr. Harry L. Reeder. This is InPerspective, a radio and Internet ministry of The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

There is a striking ignorance in professing Christendom about who God is. His essential nature, his character, his attributes. Jesus's high priestly prayer in John 17 teaches us that eternal life is knowing the true and living God, as He has revealed Himself in Holy Scripture, and experiencing a personal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Stay with us now as we continue our study of the Apostles' Creed and Dr. Reeder takes us to Romans Chapter 1 verses 16 through 23. We come to today's teaching, Part 1 of the message, I believe in God, the Father Almighty.

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Harry Reeder: Romans Chapter 1. If you'll turn there with me and follow along with me in verses 16 through 23.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made, so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish heart was darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

And they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."

The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our God abides forever. By His grace and mercy may His word be preached for you.

So, so someone comes up to you, and as they come up to you, it's obvious they're curious, they're seeking, and they've got a question for you. And the question is this.

You know, I've been looking around and I'm considering religions. Something's missing in my life, something's wrong, something's out of kilter. So I wanted to ask you a question. Do you believe in God?

So what would be your answer if someone asked you a question, do you believe in God? What would be your answer?

Harry Reeder: Wonderful, I have five saved people in this congregation. Your answer would be what?

Audience: Yes!

Harry Reeder: Amen. We got some more saved. It only took 30 seconds. Praise the Lord. But then they turn to you and say, you know, I've been asking a lot of people. And I went to a fellow that like you, he says he's a Christian. And he's a member of this Jehovah Witness. I asked him if he believed in God and he said yes, and you told me that you believed in God, you said yes. So I guess the God you believe in is the same God that he believes in. Would that be right? And your answer would be?

Audience: No.

Harry Reeder: No. Very good. He then says to you, well, you know, I not only talked to the Jehovah's Witness. Let me tell you, I talked to, I think it's called Church of the Latter-day Saints. They said they're Christian also, just like you say you are. I ask him if he believed in God, and I think they call Mormons. They said, yes, I believe in God, and you say you believe in God. So do y'all believe in the same God?

Harry Reeder: Y'all were a little hesitant there. Go ahead, you can say it. No. No. Well, okay.

You know, I was studying other religions and I was talking with a guy in Islam and he explained to me that in Farsi, Allah just means God. So he says he believes in Allah, God. And you say you believe in God. So do y'all believe in the same God? I mean, what would you say?

Audience: No.

Harry Reeder: Well, then he goes another step. He says, oh, so you say your God is different than their God. Well, would you explain to me your God?

Harry Reeder: No, what would you say? Are you ready? The early church was concerned that you would be ready. So their first article of affirmation in the Second Century developed instrument called the Apostles' Creed. Not because the apostles wrote it. That's why the apostrophe is at the end of the S. The apostles didn't write it. It is a creed declaring the faith once and for all delivered to the saints through the apostles.

Like every other creed, there are biblical, there are creeds in the Bible. And then there are creeds that were developed by the church from the Bible. And most of them are developed to answer a heresy or a theological error on the doctrine of God or the doctrine of Christ or the doctrine of salvation. You see, a creed does three things. It's an instrument of discipleship as it gathers biblical truth around a particular issue. Or it is a confession. And a confession works two ways. It proclaims what you believe in worship and to the world in witness. And it protects what you believe to the doctrines of demons that would adulterate the teaching of God's word. And the church, it's an instrument of protection against false teaching. Almost all of the early creeds were developed for that, but not the Apostles' Creed.

By the way, the third use of a creed is to promote biblical unity. Not unity for unity's sake, but biblical unity. How can two walk together unless they are agreed? But by the way, when we are agreed, what should we do? Walk together in so far as we are agreed that we can function together. But the Apostles' Creed was not written to answer an error, although it does and can and has been used to answer errors. It was used for discipleship and the prevailing use of it, the prevailing use of it, was once a person made a profession of faith, the pastor would take the Apostles' Creed, which started to be developed and was developed in its pretty close to its present form in the Second Century, but was edited over the next two to three centuries with edits from time to time, as it was attempting to flesh it out as a discipleship instrument for new believers over the essentials.

You know, when I met R.C. Sproul, first I met him as my professor, and then he became a mentor, and then we became friends in many ways. And one of the first books I ever bought, I've got a bunch of them. But one of the first books I ever bought was his book, his first series of sermons on the Apostles' Creed. Do you know what he entitled the book that was the collection of those sermons? He entitled it Basic Training.

Now, I remember in March of 1969, and I went to get my test and my physical, and then I came home to Cindy, we had just been married a couple of months, and I said, well, they said I should be getting my orders and a bus ticket. I'll be going to Beaufort, South Carolina, a place called Paris Island, and it's called in the Marine Corps, Boot Camp. It's when they do basic training to teach you. Here are the essentials of what it means to be a Marine.

A couple of years later, I'm working for UPS. And, boy, they were really proud of this organization. And before we ever got to be a UPS package car driver, I had to go to their basic training school and learn by the book. And that's what they did with the Apostles' Creed. Now, not all of the essentials of the faith are in the Apostles' Creed. All Christians believe more than what you find in the Apostles' Creed, but they don't believe less.

And they pulled together these essential truths in order to teach them to God's people. And the prevailing use of it was like basic training. When somebody professed faith, the pastor would take the Apostles' Creed and go to work with them in the coming days and weeks, and then bring them to the baptismal font for baptism. In other words, they would disciple them from the profession of faith to their baptism using the Apostles' Creed. It was of the essentials. That's what its purpose was.

And the first article of affirmation of what we believe. Credo, today, I believe in God, the Father Almighty. And in those few words, the distinctive of the God of glory and grace, the one true and living God, are affirmed and declared, upon which the rest of the creed is built, and upon which our life is built.

Do I believe the doctrine of God is important? Yes, I do, because I heard what Jesus say in John 17:3. This is eternal life, that you know God. I can never know Him exhaustively. In fact, all of eternity I'll be learning about Him. But I can know Him accurately. I can know Him personally. I can know Him intimately.

And what is it of the distinctives of the God of glory and grace, the one true and living God, are marked out in that very first affirmation? Let me give you five of them that when he says, tell me about your God, you can start talking to him. Here's the first one. This God is known by divine revelation, not by human imagination. This God is known by divine revelation, not by human imagination. Everything we believe about God, we only know it because God has revealed it.

Let me put it this way, and I'm not trying to be picky, but I just to try to get the point across. For a Christian, a Christian would never say, thinkingly, would never say, after at least some discipleship, would not say, oh, well, I think God is. Those words would not cross our lips.

I think God is because who God is is not based upon what we think and our imagination. It is based upon what God says, divine revelation. We know who God is because of the Word of God. Now, you can know the Word of God and not know the God of the Word, but you can't know the God of the Word without the Word of God. God must reveal himself to you. Now, praise God, God's attribute is what? Light. God reveals himself.

And God reveals himself accurately and inerrantly. Well, how does God reveal himself to us? Now, folks, just do a little dive. We're not going in eight feet deep. Just go to four feet with me just for a moment. And that's this, God reveals himself two ways to you. Divine revelation comes in what we call general revelation and in what we call special revelation.

So you don't know who God is by imagination. You know who God is by revelation. Do you remember the law of God when God gave us the Ten Commandments? The first commandment affirms the worship of God. "You shall have no other gods before me." What does the second commandment affirm? It affirms how you know the God whom you worship with a negative. "Do not make for yourself any graven images." Hear a word there? Imagination. You do not create the God to worship from imagination and fabrication. You go to the Word of God and divine revelation to find out who he is.

Now, how does God do that? First of all, in what we call general revelation. General revelation means it's available to everybody. It doesn't matter who you are. When you are born into this world, you have general revelation. And general revelation comes by way of two means. Mean number one is creation. Did you hear what I just read in Romans 1? That what is to be known of God is evident, for God has shown it, revealed himself to us in what has been made. So that his divine nature, his eternal power, his everlasting attributes, they are seen through what has been made.

Psalm 19. Psalm 119. The heavens declare the glory of God. The creation shouts, day after day, the speech of God's glory pours forth out of the creation. Let everything that has breath and everything that exists do so to the glory of God. The creation reveals the God of glory. Not only does the creation reveal him, but there's another mechanism. Please, all of this deserves so much more treatment, but we're on the essentials, so I'm going to stay at 20,000.

So here's the second mechanism of general revelation, your conscience. You're made in God's image. I mean, hasn't your conscience been wrestling through the things you've seen on television this week? You're always working through what? Well, that's not right. Or that's wrong. We got issues of justice in our minds. Well, folks, let me assure you, that Cocker Spaniel that you have at home is having none of those questions.

I mean, you can sit him in front of the television and let him watch the same programs you are, and they're not working through that. That's not what they're working through. But you are. Imago Dei. You're made in the image of God on purpose, with purpose, and God's stamp is on you. He has placed His law in your heart, and the sanctities of His law in your heart. Therefore, you begin to process those things.

So we know by general revelation. But, listen, we can't fully know God savingly. Why? Well, when general revelation comes, creation and conscience, we got a problem. We, because of our sin nature, suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What is plain, we complicate and obscure because of our sinful heart.

But God is gracious. He doesn't stop with general revelation that holds us accountable. He sends special revelation. And just like general revelation, creation and conscience, special revelation comes through two means as well. Number one, special revelation is the incarnate Christ, the Savior, the Son of God. Hebrews Chapter 1. He, the incarnate Christ, is the exact representation of the Father.

When you've seen me, you have seen the Father. The Father has revealed himself in his Son. Hail the incarnate deity. Here is Christ, veiled in flesh, the Godhead, the Godhead seen. Hail the incarnate deity. But He not only reveals Himself specially through the incarnate Christ and His redeeming work, He reveals Himself specially with the inscripturated word, the Word of God itself. That God's Word is that which begins to open our eyes and our hearts and our minds.

The Word of God not only reveals Him. Now watch, the Word of God reveals to us Him. Let me work through it just for a moment. How does it start? I believe in. How do you believe? Where did your faith come from? From God. Why? By grace. Faith comes. This is the work of God, that you believe. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

And how does faith get to you? By grace, through the Spirit of God and the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing. So how can I know God? By divine revelation. How can I believe in what I know? By divine revelation. The Word of God in the hands of Spirit of God opens my eyes so that I will believe and embrace what has been revealed to me in creation, conscience, infallibly and inerrantly, in His Word that declares the majesty of the incarnate Christ.

That's how God reveals us. One more thing. God reveals Himself in His Word progressively. So you open up the Bible. In the beginning, God. Here's El, then Eloi, then Elohim, and plurality within the Godhead is accomplished. And then comes Yahweh. I am that I am. Then comes Jehovah Jireh. I will provide. God gives names to tell us who He is, and He's progressively unfolding Himself so that He is revealing to us exactly who He is, so that we would know who He is.

And then He comes to the glorious distillation and comprehensive revelation of who He is in His Son Jesus and the revelation of the New Covenant in the New Testament to us. That's how we know God. I spent a little bit of time on that, but I've got to do it because that's how you know God. Your knowledge of God must be rooted in the Word of God. It's not a God we imagine or feel about. It's a God who reveals Himself that we know.

And we can't know exhaustively, but intimately, personally, and accurately, and we feel deeply Him who loves us deeply. Let me give you a second thing, when you begin to go to the Bible, you find out that this is one God who dwells in three persons, and that's the way He reveals Himself. But isn't it interesting, even when He reveals Himself as one God as He is, one God, in the Old Testament, He begins to anticipate, accommodate, and initiate the doctrine of the Trinity for our understanding.

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is" but the word is Echad. Echad means a single with plurality. It doesn't say what plurality, but with plurality. That's why you use it to speak of a grape. The cluster, but a grape in singular. Echad. Or you go to the creation account. "In the beginning, God," singular, "created the heavens of the earth." And then it says, "God said, 'Let us make man in our image.'"

Now, there's not the doctrine of the Trinity articulated, but anticipated and accommodated as it begins to unfold in the Old Testament for us step by step, through the names of God, the acts of God, until you get to the full declaration of it in the New Testament. And as it comes forth in the New Testament, we find out with abundant clarity that we can see it in the Old Testament, in the shadows and types and promises and precepts and symbols. Now we see it in its articulation and declaration in the New Testament, that there is one God in three persons.

One God, that's His being. God is God. One God in being who exists in His singular being in three persons. You are made in His image. You are a being with one person. God is a being in three persons. We are a being with one person and have multiple dynamics in our life. For instance, I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm a parent, I am a pastor, I am a citizen, and constantly talking about these things that I am in my roles and responsibilities and acts of life, as one being made in the image of God with personhood.

God exists as one being, three persons, and multiple acts: Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, Judge, Completer.

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Harry Reeder: You are listening to InPerspective, featuring the teaching of Dr. Harry L. Reeder. Visit inperspective.org for additional Bible teaching by Dr. Reeder. We appreciate your prayers and financial support. Both of which enable us to continue sharing Dr. Reeder's insights from the Bible. Make a single contribution or, better yet, become a monthly donor. Call 1-800-488-1888 or visit inperspective.org.

InPerspective is a listener-supported ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. The Alliance is a coalition of believers that hold to the historic creeds and confessions of the Reformed faith, and who proclaim biblical doctrine in order to foster a Reformed awakening in today's church. To learn more about the Alliance, select the appropriate link at inperspective.org or write to us at 600 Eden Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601. Join us again next time as we turn back to the scriptures to put life in biblical perspective.

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