I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and
earth.
This portrays and sets forth most briefly what is
the essence, will, activity, and work of God the Father. For since the Ten
Commandments have taught that we are to have not more than one God, the
question might be asked, What kind of a person is God? What does He do? How can
we praise or portray and describe Him, that He may be known? Now, that is
taught in this and in the following article, so that the Creed is nothing else
than the answer and confession of Christians arranged with respect to the First
Commandment. As if you were to ask a little child: My dear, what sort of a God
have you? What do you know of Him? he could say: This is my God: first, the
Father, who has created heaven and earth; besides this only One I regard
nothing else as God; for there is no one else who could create heaven and
earth.
But for the learned, and those who are somewhat
advanced [have acquired some Scriptural knowledge], these three articles may
all be expanded and divided into as many parts as there are words. But now for
young scholars let it suffice to indicate the most necessary points, namely, as
we have said, that this article refers to the Creation: that we emphasize the
words: Creator of heaven and earth But what is the force of this, or what do
you mean by these words: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker, etc.?
Answer: This is what I mean and believe, that I am a creature of God; that is,
that He has given and constantly preserves to me my body, soul, and life,
members great and small, all my senses, reason, and understanding, and so on,
food and drink, clothing and support, wife and children, domestics, house and
home, etc. Besides, He causes all creatures to serve for the uses and
necessities of life -- sun, moon and stars in the firmament, day and night,
air, fire, water, earth, and whatever it bears and produces, birds and fishes,
beasts, grain, and all kinds of produce, and whatever else there is of bodily
and temporal goods, good government, peace, security. Thus we learn from this
article that none of us has of himself, nor can preserve, his life nor anything
that is here enumerated or can be enumerated, however small and unimportant a
thing it might be, for all is comprehended in the word Creator.
Moreover, we also confess that God the Father has
not only given us all that we have and see before our eyes, but daily preserves
and defends us against all evil and misfortune, averts all sorts of danger and
calamity; and that He does all this out of pure love and goodness, without our
merit, as a benevolent Father, who cares for us that no evil befall us. But to
speak more of this belongs in the other two parts of this article, where we
say: Father Almighty
Now, since: all that we possess, and, moreover,
whatever, in addition, is in heaven and upon the earth, is daily given,
preserved, and kept for us by God, it is readily inferred and concluded that it
is our duty to love, praise, and thank Him for it without ceasing, and, in
short, to serve Him with all these things as He demands and has enjoined in the
Ten Commandments.
Here we could say much if we were to expatiate,
how few there are that believe this article. For we all pass over it, hear it
and say it, but neither see nor consider what the words teach us. For if we
believed it with the heart, we would also act accordingly, and not stalk about
proudly, act defiantly, and boast as though we had life, riches, power, and
honor, etc., of ourselves, so that others must fear and serve us, as is the
practise of the wretched, perverse world, which is drowned in blindness, and
abuses all the good things and gifts of God only for its own pride, avarice,
lust, and luxury, and never once regards God, so as to thank Him or acknowledge
Him as Lord and Creator.
Therefore, this article ought to humble and
terrify us all, if we believed it. For we sin daily with eyes, ears, hands,
body and soul, money and possessions, and with everything we have, especially
those who even fight against the Word of God. Yet Christians have this
advantage, that they acknowledge themselves in duty bound to serve God for all
these things, and to be obedient to Him [which the world knows not how to
do].
We ought, therefore, daily to practise this
article, impress it upon our mind, and to remember it in all that meets our
eyes, and in all good that falls to our lot, and wherever we escape from
calamity or danger, that it is God who gives and does all these things, that
therein we sense and see His paternal heart and His transcendent love toward
us. Thereby the heart would be warmed and kindled to be thankful, and to employ
all such good things to the honor and praise of God.
Thus we have most briefly presented the meaning
of this article, as much as is at first necessary for the most simple to learn,
both as to what we have and receive from God, and what we owe in return, which
is a most excellent knowledge, but a far greater treasure. For here we see how
the Father has given Himself to us, together with all creatures, and has most
richly provided for us in this life, besides that He has overwhelmed us with
unspeakable, eternal treasures by His Son and the Holy Ghost, as we shall
hear.