Friday, January 24, 2020

The First Article of the Apostles' Creed

In the Small Catechism, we divide the Creed into three major parts (called "articles").  The First Article of the Apostles' Creed is: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."

What does this mean?  

When I confess these words (that is, say them because I believe them), I am saying that "I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my sense, and still takes care of them.

"He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have.  He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

"He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.

"All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.  For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

"This is most certainly true."

Now we've already covered the first part (a couple times!): God created everything, and that includes you. Yes, He used your parents to do it, but He got it done. And that includes everything! Not just your eyes, ears, hair, moles, etc., it also includes your reason.

But you might be wondering what we mean by "and still takes care of them", right? We'll, we're going to spend a few days on the meaning of this first article. And we'll look at "and still takes care of them" in the next post.

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