God the Father (The Creed)

I believe in one God,

The Father Almighty

Maker of Heaven and Earth

Of all things visible and invisible.

The Nicene Creed begins with our most essential belief. We believe in God. One God. Our faith rejects the senseless abyss of atheism and the pantheon of foolish gods. We believe in a Creator God, a God who existed when “the earth was void and empty,” (Genesis 1:2) a God who willed the Universe into existence, the Architect “of all things visible and invisible.

Furthermore, we do not believe in the impotent Watchmaker of Deism. God does not sit back and watch human history as if it were a soap opera, He takes an active role. “Are not my words as a fire, saith the Lord: as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29)

The work of God began with Creation, which culminated in the making of man. “”God created man to his own image.” (Genesis 1:27) We owe to God every breath that we take, knowing that it is His will that sustains us.

God saved Noah from the flood. He established the covenant with Abraham, “I will make my covenant with thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly,” (Genesis 17:2) and He established the Law with Moses, “I will give thee tables of stone, and the law, and the commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” (Exodus 24:12)

These mighty deeds were in the aspect of the First Person of the Holy Trinity, which is affirmed in the Creed. God the Father is truly almighty: “Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength.” (Exodus 15:2) This was the prayer of the Israelites after being delivered from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians by the parting and then the returning waters of the Red Sea.

I think that the Father portion of the Trinity is overlooked too easily today. We prefer Jesus, the social justice worker, to Jesus, Son of the Father. We have overlooked the Lord who “is a jealous God.” (Nahum 1:2)

The first commandment given to Moses affirmed the identity of God. “I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3) The Creed tells us that we believe in “one God.” As I have written many times, idolatry is one of the most prevalent sins. We like to think that the worshipping of idols is a sin that only the ancients committed. Just because only the few and the insane worship statues of Beelzebub or Baal, does not mean that we do not have our own “graven images.”  How many have set up altars to their own popularity, iPhones, careers, relationships or bodies? Anything that you love more than God is an idol. It is not a question of time, but rather of priority. If you would deny God or reject the teachings of the Church for the sake of the things of the world, you are engaged in idolatry. This is not without its consequences. God the Father loves his people so much that he is “jealous” with his love. He cannot stand anything coming between us and His love.

“And I will throw down your altars, and your idols shall be broken in pieces.” (Ezekiel 6:4)

God punished the people of Israel for their fickleness. Their hearts were divided (Hosea 10:2) between the covenant God made with Abraham and the popularity of local gods. In His infinite justice, He exiled them from their promised land, forcing them to live among strangers. “Our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers.” (Lamentations 5:1)  All of this was to show them the wrongness of their way.

One of the characteristics of the Father is His justice, the justice that brought the Flood, the justice that alienated the Israelites from their home, the justice that merited the Death of the Son on a Cross.

The Father is also majestic. He appeared to Moses in burning flame as “the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” (Exodus 3:6) as “I am who am.” (Exodus 3:14). The majesty of the Father was such that “Moses hid his face.”

Like Moses, we need to bow down in humility before our Lord. The Creed begins where it ought to, with the First Person of the Trinity. Our human nature is at once eclipsed by God the Father’s might, by He who “is with me as a strong warrior.” (Jeremiah 20:11)

DEUS VOLT!