Page 10 - Outline of Our Christian Faith

3.14 How did Jesus Christ fulfill the office of king?
Jesus was the Lord who took the form of a servant; perfecting royal power in temporal weakness.
With no sword but the sword of righteousness, and no power but the power of God’s holy love,
Christ defeated sin, evil and death by reigning from the cross. He continues to reign at God’s right
hand. He is Lord over all authorities and powers whether earthly or heavenly, natural or human,
private or political. (John 19:19; Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Cor. 1:25; John 12:32)

3.15 What does the Creed affirm in saying that Jesus "was crucified under Pontius Pilate"?
First, that Jesus was rejected and abused by the religious and secular rulers of his day. His lordship
was a threat to all evil powers and authorities since his righteousness exposed their injustice. Jesus’
death at the hands of these authorities provided a display that exposed the guilt of all humanity in all
times and places. Second, and even more importantly, though innocent, Jesus submitted to
condemnation by an earthly judge so that through him we, though guilty, might be acquitted before
our just heavenly Judge. (Luke 18:32; Is. 53:3; Ps. 9:9; Luke 1:52; 2 Cor. 5:21; 2 Tim. 4:8)

3.16 What does the Creed affirm in saying that Jesus “suffered death and was buried"?
That Jesus died, just like we do, showing that there is no sorrow he has not known, no grief he has
not borne, and no price he was unwilling to pay to reconcile us to God. Jesus’ real death (confirmed
by his burial) shows that he has taken on the ultimate consequence of sin, which is death. Rather
than shrinking back, he endured death in order to overcome it. There is nothing we go through, not
even death, that Jesus cannot redeem. (Matt. 26:38-39; Is. 53:5; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 2:9; 2 Cor. 5:19)

3.17 Why did Jesus have to suffer as he did?
Because grace is more abundant, and sin more serious, than we suppose. However cruelly we may
treat one another, all sin is primarily against God. God condemns sin, yet never judges apart from
grace. In giving Jesus to die for us, God took the burden of our sin into himself, where he judged it
and removed it once and for all. The cross in all its severity reveals an abyss of sin endured and
swallowed up by the suffering of divine love. Undoing sin and its consequences involves great cost
to God—the price Jesus paid to make all things right, a price he willingly paid “for the joy that was
set before him.” (Ps. 51:4; Rom. 8:1, 3-4; 1 Cor. 1:18; 5:8; Col. 1:20; James 2:13; Heb. 12:2)

3.18 What does the Creed affirm in saying about Jesus that "on the third day he rose again"?
That our Lord could not be held by evil and the power of death. Through his life, death and
resurrection, Jesus overcame all evil and its ultimate consequence, renewing and restoring human
nature to reach God’s intended purposes for all human beings. Jesus rose triumphant from the grave
in a new, exalted kind of human life. In showing his followers the scars on his hands, feet and side,
the one who was crucified revealed himself to them as the living Lord and Savior of the world.
(Acts 2:24; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Luke 24:36-40; John 20:15-18; 1 Cor. 15:5-8; John 20:27)

3.19 What does the Creed affirm in saying that Christ "ascended into heaven and is seated at
the right hand of the Father" and that he will “come again in glory”?
Forty days after his bodily resurrection, Jesus was taken up bodily and visibly into heaven to be
with the Father. He did not leave his human nature behind, but remains fully human, though now
glorified. One with us and with the Father, Jesus is the one mediator between human beings and
God. As one of us, he continues his intercessions on our behalf. Though now visibly hidden from
us, Jesus is not cut off from us in the remote past, nor is he in a place from which he cannot reach
us. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is present to us by grace. From heaven he reigns with the
authority of the Father, protecting us, guiding us, and interceding for us until he returns visibly and
bodily to earth in glory. We now live between the times of his first and second advents, awaiting his
return. (Acts 1:6-11; Col. 3:1, 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25)
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