Credo 7 – We believe in one Lord …
Whilst the first part of the creed deals with God as Father, one, creator and almighty, the second part now presents us, with an abrupt transition, a human being: Jesus. The first part was in a sense ‘impersonal’ but with the confession of Jesus as Lord, we are giving a visage to God. God reveals himself in a human being.
Therefore, whilst other religions could profess the same God of the first part of the creed —God is also professed as creator and almighty by other religions—, we are now faced with a statement of Christian belief. Similar to our Jewish brothers and sisters, we confess that God is Father, maker of heaven and earth and almighty. Nevertheless, in the difference, we believe that God has become one of us: human and that the Holy one has become incarnate. Like our Muslim brothers and sisters, we confess that God is almighty, perfect and immortal. With mutual respect, we nonetheless confess that the Almighty has accepted to be fragile, and that the ‘Perfection’ bore our imperfections. As with other monotheistic religions, we confess only ‘one God’ but Christians confess that God’s oneness is not destroyed by our confession of the Trinitarian dogma. In a nutshell, we say that God, the Unknowable, has made himself known and has spoken. He took flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord, some two thousands years ago. This is the Christian teaching and the leap of the Christian faith! This is the reason why the transition between the first and the second part of the creed states ‘we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ.’
This title has a dual meaning. On the one hand, ‘Lord’ is a human title. Jesus, fully human, is confessed by Christians as being the most perfect authority and a revelation of what humanity can attain. But on the other hand, ‘Lord’ is also a divine title. This was the word used in the Old Testament by the Hebrews and the people of Israel to speak about God.
Therefore, by applying the title Lord to Jesus, the creed is confessing Jesus’ divinity. In that respect, to confess Jesus as Lord underlines a deep mystery of the incarnation: God reveals himself in our humanity while also transcending it and all its titles accordingly.
