Series: The Creed

Title: Fully God, Fully Human

Text: Acts 15:6–11

Pastor John Joiner

 

Big Idea

We might not fully understand how Jesus can be both God and human at the same time, but we don’t want to ignore one over the other just to make Him easier to explain.

 

1. Spirit-led clarity amid confusion

• In Acts 15, church leaders gathered to discern God's will in a moment of disagreement.

• Peter reminds them that God gave the Holy Spirit to Gentile believers just like He did to Jews.

• The Spirit often brings clarity through community, prayer, and trusted leadership.

• Church councils aren’t about power, they’re about protecting and proclaiming the truth together.

 

2. Arianism and the Council of Nicaea

• In 325 AD, Arius taught that Jesus was created by God and not divine.

• The Council of Nicaea gathered to reject this heresy and affirm the full divinity of Jesus.

• The Nicene Creed says that Jesus is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father.”

• This wasn’t a new idea. It affirmed what early Christians already believed and practiced.

 

3. Why this matters today

• If Jesus is only divine, we lose His ability to relate to us in our struggles.

• If He is only human, we lose His power to save us.

• Holding both truths, His full divinity and full humanity, protects the gospel and keeps our faith grounded.

• Simplifying Jesus to fit our comfort or understanding compromises who He truly is.

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Application Point

Scripture can’t mean for us today, what it didn’t mean for the 1st Century. 

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Reflection and Response

• We live in a culture full of speculation, fiction, and conspiracy, especially about Jesus and the church.

• Like the early church, we are called to anchor our faith in truth, not convenience or myth.

• As we study the Nicene Creed, we choose to trust the Spirit, the Scriptures, and the historic witness of the Church.

• Let’s follow Jesus as both fully God and fully human, and submit to the mystery of His identity with humility.

• Don’t shrink the Savior to fit your story!