By Rev Dr Edward Goh
“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth . . .”
As you recite the Apostles Creed each month, have you wondered why the creed starts with ‘I’ and not ‘we’? What does it mean to ‘believe’ in God? Who is the God of the creed whom I believe in?
To say I ‘believe’ is a personal declaration and praise of the God you worship, done corporately with the rest of the church. It is to entrust your life fully to Him as the One who claims to be who He is in the Bible. To believe is to respond to His command for people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). It is to hear and obey His written word, to receive His Son as your personal Saviour and Lord.
He is unlike any other gods. He is the Trinitarian God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is also the Father of those who come to believe in the Son He has sent. They become His adopted children, to share in the intimacy the Son enjoys with Him in all eternity.
To believe in Him is also to know Him as the almighty sovereign ruler and king over all things in the universe. Being all-powerful, He is able and will bring to pass all that He intends. Not one atom in the universe is out of His control. Therein lies the assurance of those who believe in Him that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate them from His love” (Rom. 8:38-39). In fact, He will eventually conform all His beloved children to the likeness of His Son, as He saves them forever (Rom. 8:29). Nonetheless, He does so without ever violating their will while accomplishing all His sovereign purposes.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth, we are His creatures, made to enjoy and steward all that He has created and to reflect His glory. We are not our own masters. We are His masterpiece, made in His image, created for good works He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10). It is in knowing Him that we find our true selves, and in returning to Him that we find our true home. Hence, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.