I. OF GOD AND THE CREATION OF ALL THINGS.
Since we find it testified that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that he that would come to God must believe that there is a God, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him: therefore, we confess with the mouth, and believe with the heart, with all the pious, according to the holy Scriptures, in one eternal, almighty, and incomprehensible God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and in none more, nor in any other; before whom no God was made or existed, nor shall there be any after him: for of him, and through him, and in him, are all things; to him be praise and honor forever and ever, Amen. Heb. 11:6; Deut. 6:4; Gen. 17:1; Is. 46:8; 1 John 5:7; Rom. 11:36.
Of this same one God, who worketh all in all, we believe and confess that he is the Creator of all things visible and invisible; that he, in six days, created, made, and prepared, heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; and that he still governs and upholds the same and all his works through his wisdom, might, and the word of his power. 1 Cor. 12:6; Gen. 1; Acts 14:15.
And when he had finished his works, and had ordained and prepared them, each in its nature and properties, good and upright, according to his pleasure, he created the first man, the father of us all, Adam; whom he formed of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, created by God in his own image and likeness, in righteousness and holiness, unto eternal life. He regarded him above all other creatures, endowed him with many high and glorious gifts, placed him in the pleasure garden or paradise, and gave him a command and prohibition; afterwards he took a rib from Adam, made a woman therefrom, and brought her to him, joining and giving her to him for a helpmate, companion and wife; and in consequence of this he also caused, that from this first[45] man Adam, all men that dwell upon the whole earth have descended. Gen. 1:27; 2:7,17,18,22.
II. OF THE FALL OF MAN.
We believe and confess, according to the holy Scriptures, that these our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not continue long in this glorious state in which they were created, but that they, seduced by the subtlety and deceit of the serpent, and the envy of the devil, transgressed the high commandment of God and became disobedient to their Creator; through which disobedience sin has come into the world, and death by sin, which has thus passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, and, hence, brought upon themselves the wrath of God, and condemnation; for which reason they were of God driven out of paradise, or the pleasure garden, to till the earth, in sorrow to eat of it, and to eat their bread in the sweat of their face, till they should return to the earth, from which they were taken; and that they, therefore, through this one sin, became so ruined, separated, and estranged from God, that they, neither through themselves, nor through any of their descendants, nor through angels, nor men, nor any other creature in heaven or on earth, could be raised up, redeemed, or reconciled to God, but would have had to be eternally lost, had not God, in compassion for his creatures, made provision for it, and interposed with his love and mercy. Gen. 3:6; 4 Esdr. 3:7; Rom. 5:12,18; Gen. 3:23; Ps. 49:8; Rev. 5:9; John 3:16.
III. OF THE RESTORATION OF MAN THROUGH THE PROMISE OF THE COMING CHRIST.
Concerning the restoration of the first man and his posterity we confess and believe, that God, notwithstanding their fall, transgression, and sin, and their utter inability, was nevertheless not willing to cast them off entirely, or to let them be forever lost; but that he called them again to him, comforted them, and showed them that with him there was yet a means for their reconciliation, namely, the immaculate Lamb, the Son of God, who had been foreordained thereto before the foundation of the world, and was promised them while they were yet in paradise, for consolation, redemption and salvation, for themselves as well as for their posterity; yea, who through faith, had, from that time on, been given them as their own; for whom all the pious patriarchs, unto whom this promise was frequently renewed, longed and inquired, and to whom, through faith, they looked forward from afar, waiting for the fulfillment, that he by his coming, would redeem, liberate, and raise the fallen race of man from their sin, guilt and unrighteousness. John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:19; Gen. 3:15; 1 John 3:8; 2:1; Heb. 11:13,39; Gal. 4:4.
IV. OF THE COMING OF CHRIST INTO THIS WORLD, AND THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH HE CAME.
We believe and confess further, that when the time of the promise, for which all the pious forefathers had so much longed and waited, had come and was fulfilled, this previously promised Messiah, Redeemer, and Savior, proceeded from God, was sent, and, according to the prediction of the prophets, and the testimony of the evangelists, came into the world, yea into the flesh, was made manifest, and the Word himself became flesh and man; that he was conceived in the virgin Mary, who was espoused to a man named Joseph, of the house of David; and that she brought him forth as her firstborn son, at Bethlehem, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. John 4:25; 16:28; 1 Tim. 3:16; John 1:14; Matt. 1:23; Luke 2:7.