Faith
While somewhat “outside the box” of most presentations of this nature, we believe that this narrative form of our statement of faith is most easily translated into the cultures of our day.
GOD
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, whom Jesus called Abba and to whom Jesus taught us to pray saying, “Our Father in heaven…” God is holy and God is love, perfectly and utterly: He is light and in Him is no darkness at all; He is completely sovereign over the universe – Lord over human history and the entire cosmos: not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from His eyes, and He has the very hairs of our head numbered.
We believe in God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, very God of very God, true Light from true Light, uncreated and eternal, forever existing with God as God, begotten, not made. In Jesus Christ the Maker of the universe entered into the world He made, Creator made creation, taking on human flesh for the redemption of the cosmos, fully God and fully human in the mystery of salvation.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus called the Comforter, the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth who would be with us and in us, leading us in all truth. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, reproves and instructs us in righteousness. It is by the Spirit that we are sanctified, empowered for holy life and sealed unto the day of redemption.
Thus does the true God reveal himself as one in substance and yet distinct in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, by whom all things, visible and invisible, were created and through whom all creation will be restored.
CREATION
We believe that God created humans in His own image. To our first parents, Adam and Eve, man and woman, God gave ‘wisdom, lordship, justice, free will, and self-consciousness, so that in their whole nature no imperfection could be found.’
FALL
We believe that both man and woman fell from this state of perfection; ‘the woman being deceived by the serpent and man obeying the voice of the woman, both conspiring against the sovereign majesty of God, who in clear words had previously threatened death if they presumed to eat of the forbidden tree.’
In this fall, commonly called original sin, the image of God in humans became utterly defaced – human will entered bondage and all children of man were bound over to sin and brokenness, living as enemies of God in hostility to His good plan.
CALL
We believe that God did not leave His humans without hope, but He began to call out to His children, seeking their redemption. God promised Adam and Eve that the ‘seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent,’ that from her lineage would come One who would crush the serpent for all time.
Likewise, God began to move upon humans, renewing those who related to Him in spirit and truth. Enoch, seventh from Adam, walked with God as a friend, and Noah listened to God in a world full of evil, preserving humankind from the first destruction of water.
It then pleased God to choose a People who would reflect His calling to the world. God called Abram and Sara from their home country, asking them to cross the desert, and journey unto a land which He would show them. Through long years of waiting, God gave them new names – Abraham and Sarah – and granted them the covenant son Isaac, in miracle birth.
COVENANT
We believe that in the line of Isaac, the children of Abraham became the People of God. God chose this People not because they were greater or higher than other peoples, but so that through them He might make His redemptive love known. He set His favor upon them so that those who blessed them would be blessed and those who cursed them would be cursed. Through them would come the One who would set all nations free…
In the divine plan, this People sojourned in Egypt, where Joseph helped them escape famine; but they entered slavery when they prospered too greatly – for almost 400 years they languished under hard taskmasters, yet God heard their cry. In the fullness of time, God brought them up out of Egypt with a mighty hand, sending Moses to speak for Him, leading His people through the Sea and in the wilderness, with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
For 40 years they wandered in the wilderness, beset by trial and sin. But even then, God was faithful: He did not let their feet swell or garments decay, and fed them with manna day by day. At the end of their wandering, Joshua led them across the Jordan River and into the Land – the Land flowing with milk and honey, promised by God alone!
PROPHECY
We believe that God began to raise up men and women who would speak for Him; these prophets visioned a future hope, looking to a day when a holy Son would descend in human time and lighten human darkness: ‘I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star will rise from Jacob’s house, a Scepter out of Israel!’ ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.’
SAVIOR
We believe that in the fullness of time, that Light came, ‘born of a woman and born under the Law.’ A young Jewish virgin heard the heavenly call in the night: ‘Mary, that which is to be born of you is to be called the Son of the Most High God!’ Mary responded in faith: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord!’ ‘I am the Lord’s handmaiden.’ In her obedience, there conceived in her the Holy One of God, by the Holy Spirit. The Word became flesh. This Word, the One who was with God in the beginning, the One who was ever God from all beginnings, so conceived in her: The child was born, and they ‘called Him Jesus, for He would save His people from their sins.’
In this child, God took on fallen human nature, yet was without sin: Jesus, the Christ, the eternal Son! By entering our nature, with sinless life, holy death and bodily resurrection, Christ redeemed it from the chaotic powers. By His cross and risen life, Christ conquered the forces that enslaved humans and shattered human relations. ‘By death He tore down death’ and gave His creation the Door to eternal life. This Jesus, whom the world crucified, ‘became both Lord and Savior.’
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, where He ‘ever lives to make intercession,’ until all things are made new. Yet He did not leave believers comfortless, promising the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth that would be with us and in us, sealing us in baptism of water and spirit, convincing the world of sin, reproving, correcting and instructing us in righteousness.
CHURCH
We believe that on Pentecost this Spirit descended. The curse of Babel reversed. Believers spoke with unity the language of the Spirit; they proclaimed the risen Word and shared all things in common; they confirmed the promise of the New Covenant: Forgiven humans now share the Bread of Heaven, elect into the very Body of Christ, proclaiming His life until He comes again – uniting with all who are in Christ, from the beginning of the world until the end of time.
Humans, once separated from God, now enter into the very life of God, through Christ and in the Spirit. In worship of this Christ Jesus, redeemed humans tell the world its meaning and live out kingdom hope.
Yet this hope is still lived in the human realm. The redemption of Christ is both ‘now and not yet,’ for the final consummation is yet to come. God now chooses to work out His will in us: We are the hands and feet of Christ until He comes again. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and ‘we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers and presence of darkness in high places.’ Thus we put in the full armor of God and fight the good fight of faith until that final day.
This gives each life infinite meaning, but also great responsibility: we are called to die daily and to be raised in newness of life, sharing with others the redemption that Christ gives us. We are called to live at enmity with the spirit of the age, to resist the natural self and discover our true self in Christ, always reaching out to the least among us. Thus does the light of Christ shine in human time!
RESTORATION
We believe in the consummation of the kingdom, when our Lord Jesus Christ will again stand on the Mount of Olives. At the last trump, the dead in Christ will rise and meet Him in the air. He will establish a new heavens and new earth, and will bind that great dragon, the serpent, the deceiver of the nations, and cast him into the bottomless pit.
The Lord Jesus Christ will wipe every tear from our eyes, and all sorrow and sighing shall flee away!
The end will reveal what our lives now proclaim: ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ!’
And even higher than the beginning, He will say, “It is good. It is very good!
- If you would like to see our beliefs in a usual Westernized list form, accompanied by The Apostles’ Creed, please CLICK HERE
- Download this narrative in .pdf form
