I grew up in Earlysville, about fifteen minutes down the road from the church. My parents still live in the house that somehow managed to survive my childhood. In fact, almost all of my extended family is within an hour of here. Family roots like that mean that a lot of people know me by my relationships. They know my mom or dad or they know my grandparents. We’ve never met before, but once they know I’m my father’s son (and in fact look a lot like him), they’ve learned something important about me. Relationships can be telling like that.

Our current blog series is a walk through the Apostles’ Creed and the next line deserves some pause. It’s an important line – because it introduces us to Jesus Christ. And what exactly does the creed have to say about him? We believe in the Father “and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.” Do you see what the creed is doing here? It tells us about Jesus by telling us how he relates to others. These two relationships are telling.

First, we learn how Jesus relates to the Father. He’s the one and only Son of God. Just as I resemble my father, so Jesus resembles his Father. The Son’s sinless life reflects his Father’s moral perfection. His compassion toward sinners displays his Father’s grace. And on and on the list goes. Jesus Christ reflects his Father perfectly because Jesus Christ himself is God.

Because Jesus is the Son, we can know God. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” We believe in God the Father, who created all things and God the Son makes him known. In Jesus Christ, the invisible God becomes visible. We don’t have to wonder what God is like. We can actually know him.

The creed also draws our attention to a second relationship. How does Jesus relate to us? He’s our Lord. A lord is a leader with many responsibilities. He rules over his people, which is probably what we think of first. But a good lord also protects and provides for his people – and no lord is better than the Lord Jesus. He discloses the will of God to us and guides us on the path that leads to everlasting life.

Being a Christian means we follow Jesus. To put it another way, being a Christian means that Jesus is Lord. It means his word carries more weight in our life than any other. We live to please Jesus more than anybody else.

These two relationships underline what’s important about Jesus. He’s not just another teacher. He’s the Son of God and our Lord. This is what we mean when we say we believe in Jesus.