Who I believe in…

Statements of belief are common to all organizations and institutions. Statements of faith are common to spiritual organizations. Every Christian denomination has one… most churches do too. But I think it is important that I also be able to express my own confession of faith, not because it is better but because it is personal. Birthed from my own encounters with God and doubtlessly and gratefully shaped by God’s people, the Church, over time and place…

This short statement is more than a creed; it is a celebration of new life given by God that I cherish and endeavor to live by. My faith defines me, and my faith inspires me.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.. (Hebrews 13.8)

I believe in Jesus Christ!
   I receive Him as our Savior;
      I worship Him as Lord; and
         I await His promised return.

I worship Him with many titles because no single attribution is sufficient to describe His presence, power, promise, and personality. Therefore I call Him:
   Savior and Lord
      Son of God and Son of Man
         Lamb of God and Good Shepherd
            King of Kings and Prince of Peace
               Our Ransom and Redeemer
                  Healer and Deliverer
                     Suffering Servant and Mighty God.

I recognize that Jesus exceeds our attempts to describe Him because while He was simply a man He was also nothing less than wholly God. This most wonderful of mysteries is not intended to confuse us; it is intended to compel us to bow before an awesome God who would cross the frontier of our sin and brokenness to reconcile, redeem, and restore us to Himself.

In Jesus, I see the Creator who has become a Creature
   The One in whom all things hold together and
      The One by Whom and for Whom I was made.
In Jesus, I behold the face of God and learn that God is a Father
   Who freely gives up His one and only Son so that
      He might adopt and endow countless more as His own children.
In Jesus, I recognize that all the promises of God find their fulfillment in Him.
   Therefore I regard the Bible, the written Word, to be the completely
      trustworthy testimony, without error, to the Living Word, Jesus.
In Jesus, I witness the power of God
   That heals the sick
      That breaks down strongholds of evil
         That delivers the afflicted.

Through Jesus, I can enjoy lives filled, flooded, and baptized with the living water of the Holy Spirit,
   given by the Father through the Son
      to advocate, counsel, comfort, assure, anoint, empower, and gift
         every life surrendered to Him.
Through Jesus, God assures and the Spirit testifies
   that I am His child in life and through death
      unto the forever life with Him that I long and live for.

© Mark Slomka 2023