Clayton Howard Ford

Lesson 12

10. The Resurrection of the Dead

We have seen that the central doctrine of Christianity is the resurrection of Christ.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor. 15:17). If Christ did not in fact rise from the dead, there is no Christianity. But Paul also says, “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen” (1 Cor. 15:16). So, to believe in the resurrection of Christ, one must also believe in the resurrection of the dead.

The resurrection of the dead includes both the believers and the unbelievers (John 5:24-29).

We are not resurrected as spirit only, but as spirit, soul, and body. However, the body that we will receive at our resurrection is different from the one we have now (1 Cor. 15:35-58).

All of the examples Paul cites have a physical body. So, too, our resurrected bodies will be physical. However, they are called spiritual bodies because they will be free from sin. Our spirits will finally control our bodies instead of the other way around.

In short, our resurrected bodies will be just like the resurrected body of Christ (Phil. 3:17-21).

Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). Jesus said that his resurrected body consisted of flesh and bones (Luke 24:36-39). His resurrected body did not have blood because he had shed it for us. So, too, our resurrected bodies will not have blood. In this sinful body, the life resides in the blood (Lev. 17:11). But now Christ is our life (Col. 3:1-4), so we will no longer need blood to sustain us. That is how we can be resurrected with physical bodies and still inherit the kingdom of God.

The unbeliever, however, will not be resurrected with an incorruptible, spiritual body. He or she will be given back his or her sinful, natural body, which is why he or she cannot inherit the kingdom of God and why he or she will suffer forever in the lake of fire.

11. Eternal Judgment

In Matt. 25:31-46, Jesus makes two things perfectly clear:

1. Only two fates await everybody.
2. Jesus will decide what everyone’s fate will be.

Jesus makes the same two points in John 5:21-30, but adds one more point: those who believe are not under judgment.

Only the unbelievers will actually stand before God and Jesus on Judgment Day. This Day is depicted in Rev. 20:1-15. It is known as the Great White Throne Judgment because God sits on a great white throne when he judges the people. Eternity for unbelievers is determined by their works, and all of their works are found wanting. So all of them are cast into the lake of fire, where they will be punished for eternity.

Eternity for believers, however, is not determined by their works. Believers are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). But the works of the believers do determine their rewards.

Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 3:6-17 that our works will be subjected to fire. He pictures our works as components to a building. What is that building? The Church. What will be tested, therefore, is how well we contributed to building up the Church. If we did well, we will receive a reward. If not, we will suffer loss.

That is why Paul says that each of us must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, “that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:9-10). In the Greek, this judgment seat is called the bema, which is why this judgment is called the bema seat judgment. The Roman proconsuls would sit on the bema when they acted as judges. Jesus will sit on the bema in heaven when he judges our works. It is a judgment only for Christians and it does not determine our eternity, only our rewards.

Lesson 11

9. Salvation by Grace through Faith

This doctrine is unique to Christianity. All other religions teach that you get to heaven (if there is a heaven) and have a relationship with God (if there is a relationship) by doing enough good works. Christianity alone teaches that you can never be good enough to get into heaven or have a relationship with God, that the only way to get into heaven and have a relationship with God is by putting your faith in Jesus Christ, the only person who has lived a life that is good enough.

The Scripture that teaches this most clearly is Eph. 2:8-10. It says that we are saved by grace through faith. It also says that we are not saved by works.

Why are we not saved by works? Verse 9 tells us why: if we were saved by works, we would boast about our accomplishment. Rom. 4:1-4 says that if Abraham had been justified by works, he would have something to boast about. It also says that if salvation came by works, then God would be in debt to us instead of us in debt to God.

In other words, salvation by works would put us above God and all other men. It would make us proud. And is that not why we sin in the first place?

Rom. 3:20-28 – Salvation must come by grace through faith because we cannot do enough good works in the first place and it excludes boasting.

Does this mean that we are no longer required to do the good works? Of course not (Eph. 2:10).

James 2:14-26 says that we show our faith by our works. Just as a lamp produces both heat and light, true faith produces both salvation and good works.

Lesson 10

8. The Resurrection of Christ

The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is absolutely paramount to the Christian faith. In fact, Paul says that if the resurrection did not happen, then our faith is futile (1 Cor. 15:17). In other words, if there is no resurrection, there is no Christianity.

We know that the resurrection happened because his disciples testified to seeing him after his crucifixion. All four Gospels record the resurrection. Luke gives the most details (Luke 24:1-12, 36-48).

Christ did not rise from the dead as just a spirit (like the Jehovah’s Witnesses contend) but as a full person: spirit, soul, and body.

In fact, Jesus said that he would raise his own body (John 2:18-21). Christ’s resurrection was a physical resurrection.

In 1 Cor. 15:1-8, Paul says that the Gospel consists of three events.

First, Christ died. John’s account of Jesus’ death includes the detail that blood and water came out of Jesus’ body after a soldier pierced his side with a spear (John 19:34). This proves that Jesus died when his heart ruptured. This also proves that Jesus really died (not just passed out), for no one survives a ruptured heart.

Second, Christ was buried. Following the customs of the time, he was placed in a cave, the opening of which was then covered by a large stone. Given the necessary size of the opening and the kind of material in that area, the stone probably weighed 1.5 to 2 tons. This means that if Jesus had been buried alive (and if he were a mere man), he would not have been able to move the stone by himself.

Third, Christ rose again on the third day.

Paul then cites the testimony of witnesses to prove that the resurrection did occur. How reliable were these witnesses?

First, in their written testimony, they pointed out their failures, including their unbelief. If they had made up the story of the resurrection, they would have made themselves look good.

Second, most of them died for their testimony. They were told they could live if they simply stopped proclaiming the resurrection of Christ. But they chose to die anyway because they knew they were telling the truth. People do not willingly die for a story which they made up.

Third, their testimony was confirmed by other witnesses, both friendly and hostile. Paul says that 500 people saw the risen Christ at the same time. This proves that the disciples were not hallucinating, for no two people have the same hallucination, let alone 500. The hostile witnesses include the priests, who bribed the guards into saying that the disciples had stolen the body. In other words, even the hostile witnesses admitted that the grave was now empty!

Fourth, and perhaps the best reason for believing the reliability of the disciples’ testimony, is that they first preached the resurrection in Jerusalem. They made their first public announcement of the resurrection within walking distance of the tomb itself. Anybody in the audience could have gone to the tomb to check it out for themselves. If the disciples had started preaching in Athens or Rome, no one could have verified it. But they began in Jerusalem because they knew that no one could prove them wrong.

All the enemies of Christianity had to do to stop it in its tracks when the disciples began to preach the resurrection was to produce the body. The fact that they never did is proof that the body was no longer in the grave.

The resurrection of Christ is the central belief of Christianity. We know that Christianity is correct because we know that Christ rose from the grave.

Lesson 9

6. The Virgin Birth

Why is it necessary to believe in the virgin birth of Christ? Because the Scriptures teach it. This doctrine is taught by all of the Christian denominations and until recently, the only people who denied it were outside of the Church.

Those who deny the virgin birth are actually attacking the Deity of Christ. They are trying to say that he was an ordinary man, born like any other man.

The Scriptures clearly teach the virgin birth. It was predicted by Isaiah over 700 years before it happened (Is. 7:14). Some people would argue that the Hebrew word for “virgin” really means “young woman.” However, a young woman giving birth to a son is an everyday occurrence. How could an everyday occurrence be a “sign” from the Lord? The sign had to be something highly unusual. When Matthew quotes this verse (Matt. 1:23), he uses the Greek word for “virgin.”

The two birth narratives in the Gospels (Matt. 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-35, 2:1-7) clearly state that Mary was a virgin at the time Jesus was conceived and born.

 7. The Atonement of Christ

The word “atonement” is used in the King James Version of the New Testament in Rom. 5:11 –

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

The NKJV uses the word “reconciliation” instead of “atonement.” Reconciliation is the final result of the atonement. The English word “atonement” actually comes from the phrase “at one.” It signifies that the purpose of Christ’s death was to help us become “at one” with God once again.

To fully understand what the atoning work of Christ accomplished, we must first understand what sin did to us and to our relationship with God the Father.

Is. 59:2 says that our sins separated us from God the Father. Sin also made us enemies of God (Rom. 5:6-11).

As such we deserved God’s wrath. Our punishment should have been death (Rom. 6:23), that is, we should have been eternally separated from God and suffering in the lake of fire forever.

But because God loved us, he had a different plan for us (Eph. 2:4-7).

His love for us made him want to live with us forever, but his justice could not simply ignore our sins. His justice demanded that someone pay the penalty for our sins. Someone had to shed blood because of our sins, for “without shedding of blood, there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22).

He chose to send his only begotten Son to pay our penalty for us.

God foretold the sacrifice of his Son by having the Israelites celebrate the Day of Atonement every year. On that day, a perfect animal was sacrificed to make atonement for the nation of Israel and to cleanse them from their sins (Lev. 16:30).

So, too, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. He was the only man who had no sin. And his sacrifice made atonement for us and cleansed us from our sins (Rev. 1:5).

By dying on the cross, he took our punishment for us and appeased God’s wrath:

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:2).

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10).

“Propitiation” means “that which propitiates.” Propitiate means “to make favorably inclined, to appease.”

His death overcame our separation from God the Father and reconciled us to him (Rom. 5:6-11). We can now live forever with God the Father, not because of what we have done, but because of the atoning work of Christ. That is what we mean when we speak of the atonement.

The message of the atonement is the message we must carry to the lost (2 Cor. 5:18-21).

When I taught this series to my home group, I gave this chart to the members as a reference.

There is only one God

The first step is to establish how many Gods exist: one! Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 14, 18, 21,22; 46:9; 47:8; John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Gal. 4:8-9

• “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God,” (Isaiah 45:5).
• “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me,” (Isaiah 44:6).
• “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God,” (Isaiah 55:5).

Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity is arrived at by looking at the whole of scripture, not in a single verse. It is the doctrine that there is only one God, not three, and that the one God exists in three persons:  Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  An analogy would be time.  Time is past, present, and future.  But, there are not three times, only one. (https://carm.org/trinity)

The Athanasian Creed is named after Athanasius, who defended the doctrine of the Trinity against the Arians. He did not write the creed, nor was it written by a Church Council. In fact, we do not know who wrote it. It first appeared in the sixth century and was soon adopted as a statement of faith by the Roman Catholic Church and later by some Protestant churches because it is a simple yet eloquent exposition on the doctrines of the Trinity and of Christ. Again, the word “catholic” means “universal” and does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church.

The Athanasian Creed

Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.

Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith:

That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.

The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.

And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty being.

Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.

Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.

Just as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.

The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.

So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.

Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.

But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.

Now this is the true faith:

That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
is both God and human, equally.

He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.

Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God’s taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.

He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father’s right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.

 © 1987, CRC Publications, Grand Rapids MI. www.crcna.org. Reprinted with permission.

Lesson 8

5. The Trinity

We have seen that the Scriptures teach that the Father is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and the Son is God. But we have also seen that the Scriptures teach that there is only one God. How do we reconcile these Scriptures?

The Church has consistently taught that these Scriptures are reconciled by the doctrine of the Trinity. The word “trinity” is a combination of the words “tri” and “unity.” Hence it means three in one. It is true that the word “trinity” does not appear anywhere in the Scriptures. The word is simply our name for the doctrine which is clearly taught by the Scriptures.

The doctrine of the Trinity states that there is only one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are equal in nature, power, and eternity. Each person is fully God, yet they are united in such a way that there is only one God.

The doctrine is not explicitly stated in the Old Testament, though there are hints of it.

Gen. 1:26-27, Gen. 11:5-9, and Is. 6:8 all have something in common: the Lord refers to “us” when he is clearly referring to himself.

Some verses mention all three persons:

Is. 48:16 (The Lord God [the Father] and His Spirit have sent Me [the Son])

Ps. 33:6 (The Word is the Son, the Hebrew word for “breath” is also the Hebrew word for the Spirit)

Exod. 33:18-20 – God tells Moses that no man can see God and live. John 1:18 tells us that no man has seen God, meaning the Father, at any time.

Yet God appeared to several people in the Old Testament (for example, Gen. 17:1 and Gen. 32:24-30). These people saw God, but did not die. The best explanation is that they did not see the Father but did see the Son.

The doctrine is explicit in the New Testament. The New Testament also affirms that there is only one God, but it also talks about the three persons and often mentions all three in the same passage:

Matt. 3:16-17
Matt. 28:19
John 14:16-17
Rom. 8:11
1 Cor. 6:1
1 Cor. 12:4-6
Gal. 3:11-14
Heb. 10:29
1 Pet. 1:1-2

1 John 5:7 states the doctrine in no uncertain terms. However, you should be aware that it appears in only a few manuscripts and those are quite young.

The doctrine of the Trinity is admittedly difficult to understand. Nowadays, most people in our culture do not believe in polytheism so they are not likely to split the persons into three gods. However, many people emphasize their unity so much that they often blur the persons. The Scriptures clearly teach that each person is distinct from the other. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father.

Each person also has a distinct role:

• God the Father’s role is to generate things. Things originate with him and flow from him. God the Father is equal with the Son and the Holy Spirit, but things start with him. The Father sent both the Son (John 3:16-17) and Holy Spirit (John 14:26) into the world.
• God the Son’s role is to pay for our sins with his blood, which he did on the cross (Romans 5:9). The Son also acts as a lawyer for us before God, acting as a “mediator” between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5), and speaking “to the Father in our defense” (1 John 2:1).
• God the Holy Spirit has many roles. The Spirit helps us pray (Romans 8:26-27). He gives us new life (John 3:3-6). He is our Comforter, and he helps us understand God’s word (John 14:26). He lifts up Christ (John 15:26). He convicts us of sin (John 16:7-11). He helps us to live holy lives (Romans 15:16). He gives us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). He helps us share our faith (Acts 1:8). And he lives inside us (Romans 8:11). (http://www.christianitytoday.com/iyf/advice/faithdoubt/what-is-trinity.html)

Each person in the Godhead is distinct from each other and yet they are one. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be one with each other and him just as he is one with the Father. Perhaps we do not understand how three persons can still be one God because we still do not understand how to be one with each other.

Lesson 7

Some objections to the Deity of Christ

John 10:30-39 – Jesus referred to other people as “gods” (v. 34). So Jesus is also a “god” in the same sense.

Jesus is quoting Ps. 82:6. The Hebrew word for “gods” is elohim, which is most often translated as God or gods, but it literally means “mighty ones.” One can be mighty because he is a “god,” or because he is physically strong, or because he holds a position of authority. Therefore, what this word means depends on context. In Ps. 82, the “gods” are in fact the judges of Israel, who are expected to judge righteously, like God does. Elohim is also translated as judges in Exod. 21:5-6 and 22:7-9.

So Jesus is saying that if the judges, who are mere men, can be called “gods” because they hold positions of authority, why do you object when I, who has been set apart and sent here by the Father himself and is therefore of greater authority than the judges, say that I am the Son of God? Jesus is not saying that he is a “god,” but is above these so-called “gods” because he is the Son of God and therefore has the same divine nature as God the Father. The Jews understood this immediately, for they tried to stone him for blasphemy.

John 1:1 – In the Greek, the definite article (“the”) appears before the first use of “God” but not before the second use. This implies that there is a distinction between the first God (“the God,” meaning the Father) and the second god (“a god,” meaning the Son).

Actually, Greek is very careless with the definite article. Sometimes it uses it, sometimes it does not. For example, Greek often uses the definite article before proper names, but not always. In John 1:47, the article appears before the name Jesus but in John 1:50, it does not. Does this imply that there are two Jesuses? Of course not.

The definite article does not always appear before God even though the Father is clearly meant. For example, in John 1:18, “God” clearly refers to the Father, but the definite article is not used. The objection, therefore, is definitely pointless.

John 1:18 – Jesus is called “the only begotten,” meaning that he had a beginning. Therefore, he can be a “god,” but not God.

The Greek word for “only begotten,” monogenēs, can also mean “unique.” It is used in Heb. 11:17 of Isaac, who is obviously not Abraham’s only begotten son but is his unique son. Therefore, when monogenēs is used of Jesus, it refers to his unique status as the only Son of God.

The Nicene Creed affirms that Jesus was “begotten, not made,” and the Creed of Chalcedon explicitly says that Jesus was “begotten of his Father before the worlds according to his Godhead.” What these Creeds are trying to say is that the word “begotten” actually confirms the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Just as humans beget humans, so, too, God begets God. This is not to imply that Jesus had a beginning. It means that his Sonship differs from everyone else. Believers are the sons of God (John 1:12) by adoption but Jesus is the only Son of God by nature. When monogenēs is used of Jesus, therefore, it refers to his unique status as the only Son who has the same nature as the Father.

John 14:28 – Jesus said that his Father is greater than he is, so Jesus cannot be equal in nature to God.

This objection does not take into account the difference between nature and authority. If my son and I were working at the same corporation and he were the janitor and I were the CEO, I would have more authority than he would (thus, I would be greater than him), but we would still have the same nature. The Father has more authority than the Son, which makes him greater than Jesus, but they still have the same divine nature.

1 Cor. 8:5-6 – Paul says that there is only one God and that God is the Father. Therefore, Jesus cannot be God.

Paul also says that there is only one Lord and that Lord is Jesus Christ. So, if the objection were legitimate, that would mean that the Father and the Holy Spirit cannot also be Lord. Yet, Paul calls the Father Lord in 2 Cor. 6:17-18 and he calls the Holy Spirit Lord in 2 Cor. 3:17.

Paul is drawing a contrast between the world and us. In the world, there are many so-called gods and lords, but for us there is only one God and one Lord.

Lesson 6

After the Council of Constantinople affirmed that Jesus is in fact both God and man, the problem became, “How can Jesus be both at the same time? How do the two natures interact with each other?”

To most people, the divine nature and the human nature cannot be reconciled because in many ways they are opposite of each other. According to the Scriptures themselves:

God                                                                            Jesus

Does not sleep – Ps. 121:3-4                                 Slept – Matt. 8:24
Is invisible – 1 Tim. 1:17                                        Was seen – 1 John 1:1-3
Is immortal – 1 Tim. 1:17                                      Died – John 19:33
Is infinite – Jer. 23:24, Ps. 139                           Is finite

How, then, do we reconcile these two natures?

Apollinaris was the bishop of Laodicea in Syria. He died in 390 AD. He said that Jesus was a man except that he did not have a human soul or spirit. God the Son was his spirit. So Jesus was fully God but not fully human. He believed that Jesus had 1 body and was 1 person who had 2 natures, but one of those natures was not complete. This teaching was condemned by the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD.

Nestorius was the archbishop of Constantinople from 428 AD to 431 AD, when he was exiled for his teaching. He acknowledged the complete manhood of Jesus but said that his human nature was separate from his divine nature so that Jesus had 1 body but was 2 persons, one that was human and one that was divine. This teaching was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD.

In reaction to Nestorius, Eutyches, who was an elder in Constantinople, went to the other extreme. He taught that the human nature of Jesus was so united to the divine nature that it was absorbed by the divine nature, so that even though Jesus had the same substance as the Father, he did not have the same substance as the rest of humanity. He believed that Jesus had 1 body and was 1 person who had only 1 nature. This teaching was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD.

The Council of Chalcedon issued this Creed:

Following the holy Fathers we teach with one voice that the Son [of God] and our Lord Jesus Christ is to be confessed as one and the same [Person], that he is perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, very God and very man, of a reasonable soul and [human] body consisting, consubstantial with the Father as touching his Godhead, and consubstantial with us as touching his manhood; made in all things like unto us, sin only excepted; begotten of his Father before the worlds according to his Godhead; but in these last days for us men and for our salvation born [into the world] of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God according to his manhood.  This one and the same Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son [of God] must be confessed to be in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably [united], and that without the distinction of natures being taken away by such union, but rather the peculiar property of each nature being preserved and being united in one Person and subsistence, not separated or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and only-begotten, God the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Prophets of old time have spoken concerning him, and as the Lord Jesus Christ hath taught us, and as the Creed of the Fathers hath delivered to us.

The Creed affirms that Jesus has 1 body and is 1 person who has 2 natures. It does not explain how the two natures work together because in actuality we do not know how they work. That is one of the mysteries of God that we do not understand, so the Church leaders who wrote this Creed were wise to not even attempt to explain how they work together. They simply did what the Scriptures do: they affirm that Jesus is both God and man but never try to explain how he could be both at the same time.

Other Scriptures that show the Deity of Jesus Christ:

Matt. 1:23
Matt. 28:17
John 5:17-18
John 10:30-33
John 20:28
Acts 20:28
Phil. 2:6
1 Tim. 3:16
Tit. 2:13
Heb. 1:1-3
Heb. 1:8
1 John 5:20
Is. 44:6 with Rev. 22:13
Is. 45:22-23 with Phil. 2:10