The Weekend Word

What did you teach?

What did you learn?

Did you hear the Gospel?

This is the church that, according to the Nicene Creed, every Christian should believe in: that is, should recognize and confess as real, according to the Word of God.

The creed uses four adjectives to describe it: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

One declares that the church is a single global community in, through, and under Jesus Christ its Lord; a community in which social, racial, creedal, and cultural differences between human individuals and groups are transcended, just as Paul says in Galatians 3: 26– 28.

Holy points to the church’s consecration and commitment to the worship, obedience, and service of God, which is the central dimension of the active image of Christ, the Son of God, in all his disciples.

Catholic means, not Roman Catholic, but simply worldwide. The word is there as a reminder that the church is in the world for the world, with a mission to the world; and thus the word stands as a roadblock against all forms of sectarianism and social or racial exclusiveness, or anything less than a global outlook. Also, increasingly in recent years “catholic” has been understood qualitatively, to signify holding to the fullness of the faith, as well as to the fullness of the mission; and this is as it should  be.

Apostolic asserts authenticity of belief and purpose. On the one hand, it announces that the church holds to the doctrine taught by the apostles, and that bodies based on different beliefs (e.g., the unitarian churches, or the Mormon community, which styles itself the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are no part of Christ’s church, despite the fact that they claim the name. On the other hand, it declares that the church’s abiding goal is to disciple all the nations according to the Great Commission that the risen Lord gave the apostles (Matt. 28: 19– 20). Such is the church as God sees and knows it, and as it is set forth in the New Testament for us to see and know in this way too. It is the centerpiece of God’s plan to display his mind-boggling wisdom and goodness to all the angelic powers (see Eph. 3: 8– 11), and it ought to be the central focus of our own thoughts as we seek to fulfill our vocation of glorifying God (that is, honoring, praising, and thanking him for his praiseworthiness) when we contemplate the blessings of our creation, preservation, and salvation. It needs to be said that Christians who do not recognize that the Christ-centeredness of their calling requires of them church-centeredness as a habit of mind are at that point really substandard.

Packer, J. I. (2013-02-28). Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need to Know. Crossway. Kindle Edition.