Faith Is Knowing My Existence Matters to God

So while walking the dogs, I had a spiritual insight�"well, two actually, but I’m only going to write about one.

As I’m walking along with my dog, Kaiser, I was reciting the Apostles Creed, which goes (according to my translation):

I trust in God, the all-governing Father, who made heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, his unique Son, our Lord. The one who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; the one who was born of Mary, the virgin; the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate; the one who was crucified, died and was buried; the one who went down to the lower places; the one who got up again from the dead on the third day; the one who went up to heaven; the one who sits at the right hand of God, the Father who is able to do all things, from there he is coming to judge the living and the dead.

I trust in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the fellowship of the holy ones, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and eternal life. Amen.

I actually said it twice. The second time I changed the “I trust” to “I have faith in.” I’m not a fan of the traditional translation which says “I believe,” not because it’s an inaccurate translation, but because audiences today misunderstand the translation. So many read the “I believe” as an assent to God’s existence, which isn’t the point at all. When the Creed was written, the debate wasn’t does or does not God exist; the debate was over what kind of God, or which God is followed. So in keeping with historical context, I feel the best way to render the phrase is “I trust in” or “I have faith in” which is clearly more about character than about existence.

But none of this has to do with the spiritual insight. After Creed, I recited the Lord’s Prayer (a.k.a. the Our Father in Catholic circles) and I was using modern language because I have this silly notion of meaning and understanding what I’m praying. So I’m saying something like:

    Heavenly Father,
    Make your name holy!
    Establish your Kingdom!
    Make what you want to happen,
    Happen on the earth, exactly like it happens in heaven!
    Give us, this day, the bread we need for today!
    And forgive our debts,
    In the same way that we forgave our debtors!
    And don’t bring hard times upon us!
    But keep us safe from the evil one!

And I added the doxology:

    For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory belong to you, now and forever.

And it hit me. Through Jesus Christ, I belong to God. And since the Kingdom, the power and the glory belong to God, and I belong to God, I am a part of that Kingdom, power, and glory.

The God’s Kingdom is expressed through me. God’s power is expressed through me. God’s glory is expressed through me. And that is why my behavior matters to God. God doesn’t make ethical demands so he can punish us when we fail. God is attempting to form a partnership with us�"a partnership in which God acts through us.

My behavior is important because through it I can stifle God’s Kingdom, power, and glory, and by so doing, actually oppose God while claiming to serve God. How different would life be for all of us if we just said “Today God’s Kingdom, power, and glory will me made known through me”? How much would that change our lives? How much would it change the lives of those around us?

It comes down to understanding that faith isn’t believing that God exists, it’s believing that God’s existence matters. And more importantly than that, it’s believing that my existence matters to God; therefore, all that I do and all that I say matters to God, because all that I do and say either supports or supplants, assists or abolishes, helps or hinders, God’s Kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory.

Reviews

[Mingi]

"It comes down to understanding that faith isn’t believing that God exists, it’s believing that God’s existence matters. And more importantly than that, it’s believing that my existence matters to God; therefore, all that I do and all that I say matters to God, because all that I do and say either supports or supplants, assists or abolishes, helps or hinders, God’s Kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory." I shared that on my facebook. Powerful words, and a powerful revelation. I have no doubt it was divined through the Holy Spirit. Overall I'm not here to critique you're writing. It was wonderful. Fantastic. Look forward to hearing more from your walks. I have two dogs of my own, and I love walking with them. If I pray before walking with them, sometimes the walks are eye-openers for all three of us.