I Believe in one Lord Jesus Christ. 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,the Only Begotten Son of God,born of the Father before all ages.God from God, Light from Light,true God from true God,begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;through him all things were made.For us men and for our salvationhe came down from heaven,and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,and became man.For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,he suffered death and was buried,and rose again on the third dayin accordance with the Scriptures.He ascended into heavenand is seated at the right hand of the Father.He will come again in gloryto judge the living and the deadand his kingdom will have no end.

This year, 2025, marks an important anniversary - a 1700^th anniversary. 1700 years ago, in the year 325AD, a meeting was held which was of great significance, and still is, for us today. In the year 325AD, the Council of Nicaea was held.

We recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday. It remains the benchmark for what we believe – most especially, what we believe about Jesus.

The Council was called at a significant moment in history. The Roman Empire had just legalised Christianity. Constantine was the first Emperor to be baptised. It’s hard to imagine now, but before his reign, being a practicing Christian was a treasonable act. Hence all those horrendous stories of Christians being thrown to the lions.

But back in the year 325AD, it wasn’t all plain sailing – when has it ever been?  There were heresies around – teachings about Jesus that deviated from mainstream faith. Some people said that Jesus was just a good man, a good example to follow, but not really God; others said that if Jesus was God, then he couldn’t possibly have been human as well – that was just not possible. He was just a God who pretended to look like a human.

It's hard for us to imagine now, because we have centuries of Christian teaching to draw upon, and we’ve been to Alpha Courses and Confirmation courses, and have had lots of teaching about it, but back in the year 325, they had none of that. The young church had to work out precisely what it did believe about the person of Jesus Christ. Constantine was the man for the job. He wanted the church to come up with a definitive statement of belief, and so he convened a committee meeting – the Council of Nicaea -  bishops from all over the Roman Empire – came together to define a succinct statement of Christian truth.

Of course, it took more than one meeting - 76 years in fact - this is the church we’re talking about - but the process was begun, and the Council of Nicaea provides the basis of our understanding of who Jesus Christ is, and what he’s done for us. Still today, we declare the Nicene Creed every Sunday.

So what does the creed actually say to us? There’s a little bit about God; then at the end a little bit about the Holy Spirit, and a line about the church, but most of the Creed is about Jesus. It was then, and it is still today, essential that we get our understanding of who Jesus is correct. In short, how can Jesus be completely 100% human, whilst also being completely 100% divine? Jesus: fully God and fully human and certainly not schizophrenic. In Jesus, divinity is made human; humanity is raised up to divinity.

So: the creed seeks to answer two questions:   

Where did Jesus come from?

What did Jesus do?

To do this, it skips straight to the important bits. It talks a lot about Jesus’ birth, then it jumps straight to his death and resurrection. Lots of what we might call the middle bit, say between the age of about 2 hours old and the day of his crucifixion, doesn’t even get a mention.

Where did Jesus come from? From God. “Eternally begotten of the Father. God from God, Light from Light, very God of very God.” Does that sound a bit heavy? Come back on Christmas Eve. We’ll sing those words as we share in the wonder of the Incarnation. The creed makes it very clear: when we talk about Jesus, we are talking about God. But then, “he came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the virgin Mary and became man.” 

Incarnate literally means, “he became human”. The amazing truth of Christianity is that God freely and willingly became human, with all that that entails. He was born a perfectly normal human baby. Mary went full term with her pregnancy and had labour pains and contractions just like every other mother whose ever-given birth. Jesus was born a helpless baby, grew up as a boy, worked in his family firm, until he reached adulthood. He was completely human.  

But his origin was far from normal. He was conceived “by the power of the Holy Spirit”. We celebrate Christmas, but really – the Anunciation is the event that really marks his arrival in the world of humanity. God willed it. His parentage is human and divine. Completely human and completely divine. That is important because it authenticates Jesus – as we will see in a moment.

And then the other question – what did Jesus do? What was the purpose of his coming to earth? The Nicene Creed cuts straight to the chase. It goes straight from his birth to his death. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and he died. This is where his human/divine nature becomes essential. Had Jesus just been a man who died, he would have been just another martyred hero, well remembered, but no lasting significance.  Had Jesus just been God who died, his death would not have served as a ransom for the sake of the human race. He had to suffer as a man. To explain all this, only the proper word will suffice.

Jesus was a propitiation for our sins.

Propitiation.

This word literally means: a payment or sacrifice to cover the cost of our sins. It has a similar meaning to the word “atonement”, but whilst atonement means a covering over of sin, propitiation adds to that the idea of God’s loathing of sin being deflected away.

Only Jesus, who is both human and divine can be the propitiation for our sin: the One who covers over our sin, and satisfies God that it is dealt with. “No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in Him is mine.” God Himself accepts the price of our sin and pays for it.

In this wonderful truth of Jesus, the divine human being, we are confronted by the overwhelming wonder of God’s love for us.

What can we do in response? Kneel down and worship Him as Saviour and Lord.

And that’s what this creed tells us. Jesus died on the cross, “for us and for our salvation”. Jesus is God’s megaphone to the world. Only the death of Jesus - the cross - creates the possibility of a restoration: a new relationship between God and the world.  

St. Paul tells the Colossians that the cross has bought peace to a troubled world (1:20); and to the Ephesians he says that ‘those who were far off have been brought near’ (2:13). Then to the Galatians he says, ‘Far be it for me to glory in anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’.

God became human so that we may meet with God.

But the cross is not the end of the story. The creed goes on to talk about the resurrection of Jesus. And this is also essential. We worship a crucified and risen Saviour. Paul talks about Christ as being “the first fruits” of those who rise from the dead. His resurrection is an assurance of our resurrection.

So where does all this lead us?  

He came to bring us salvation.

He died so that our sins may be forgiven.

He came back to life as living proof that resurrection is available to all who believe in him.

And…. because of His death and resurrection, he alone is qualified to sit in judgement upon us – a judgement we have no need to fear because Christ the Judge is the same Christ who is Christ the Propitiation for our sins.

Propitiation is a long word, but you need to remember it.

The message of the Nicene Creed can be summed up in one Bible verse:

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No-one comes to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6)

Gracious God,you call us to fullness of life:

deliver us from unbeliefand banish our anxieties

with the liberating love of

Jesus Christ our Lord. ​Amen