by Dr. Leroy Pepper, Adult Sunday School Teacher
Join his class any Sunday at 9am at Venice Church of the Nazarene.

Every so often it’s a good idea for Christ followers to be reminded of the essentials of our faith. I am convinced that the bedrock of Christianity is our understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Most traditional theologians begin their thinking about God as the Bible does, with God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth. But I recently read the thoughts of one who argues, as I believe, that Christian thinking should begin with the Incarnation—the self-revelation of God the Father in His Son, Jesus Christ (Samuel M. Powell, The Trinity. Kansas City, MO: The Foundry Publishing, 2020).

The Bible is the Source and supreme authority for what Christians believe. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin mother. He lived and walked in the Middle East around 2000 years ago, for approximately 33 years, until he died on a Roman cross outside the city of Jerusalem. Given the unique circumstances of his conception and birth, Jesus was both “fully God” and “fully man,” as the ancient Christian creeds proclaim. As Thomas declared his faith when the risen Christ appeared to his Disciples one week after his Resurrection, “My Lord and my God!” Any teaching that denies either Jesus’ full deity or his full humanity we understand to be false and heretical.

Christians believe that Jesus is the prophesied and long-expected Jewish Messiah, or “Anointed One.” As proof of his authority, on the third day after his crucifixion God raised him from the dead. The Resurrection of Jesus is the most distinctive foundation of the Christian faith. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

When Jesus died on the cross he provided Atonement for us; he became the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice for our sins. The English word “Atonement,” a word apparently coined in the early 16th century by either St. Thomas More or by William Tyndale, means literally “at-one-ment.” It is used to describe the reconciliation with God the Father provided for us by Jesus in his death on the cross. As John declared in Revelation 13:8, Jesus was “the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.”

Christians believe, as our Bible tells us that, after appearing among his followers for forty days following his Resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven where, according to Hebrews 1:3-4, “…he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven…superior to the angels.” The same writer tells us that, “…because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he ever lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25). As our Great High Priest, “Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence” (Hebrews 9:24). And, as Jesus himself told his followers, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 4:3b). What a wonderful Savior!