"I believe in Jesus Christ"

The Creed moves on to a new section, with the focus now on Jesus Christ. It’s the person of Jesus who is at the centre of Christianity, not just as its honoured founder but as one who is himself worshipped as God. Christians believe that Jesus came from God and is one with God and therefore uniquely able to reveal God to us (John 1:1-3,14,18).

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The name Jesus means Saviour and was given to him before he was born in recognition that “he would save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21; Luke 19:10). Christ is not really his name but his title, the equivalent word in Greek to the Hebrew word Messiah, referring to the long-awaited deliverer promised by God in the Old Testament (John 1:41; Matthew 16:16).

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So the Creed affirms that Christian faith rests on a real historical figure who came to save us. But it does much more than that, going on to state a number of key beliefs which show why he matters so much to Christians and why we believe that he is alive and present with us. Our response to Jesus as a living person is at the heart of Christian faith and experience. There is no one else who can bring us to God (John 14:6). He is “the Holy One of God” who uniquely has the words of eternal life (John 6:68-69).

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