"Through Him All Things Were Made" again emphasizes the equal status of the Son by placing him as the agent and Logos of creation-he is the locus of the Father's interaction with the cosmos, including its genesis.
"For Us Men and for Our Salvation, He Came Down from Heaven" echoes Christ's assertions of ascending and descending; in this case, descending originally from heaven- the incarnation does not mean that Christ's origin lies with this world. The idea is more fully developed in the famous kenosis passage of Philippians.
"By the Power of the Holy Spirit, He was Born of the Virgin Mary and Became Man" describes the Christ as wholly and fully human, originating in a womb. By establishing God as Father and mother Mary as a pure servant of God, this marks the first reconciliation of God and cosmos- the human family and the divine are no longer necessarily separated by sin.
"For Our Sake He Was Crucified Under Pontius Pilate; He Suffered, Died and Was Buried" relates the essential sacrificial tale of Christ's life and marks the purest historical claim of the Creed. That Christ suffered continues God's passion for humanity and denotes the full humanity of Christ.
"On the Third Day He Rose Again in Fulfillment of the Scriptures," obviously relates the triumphal moment of Christian doctrine and squares it promptly with Biblical prophecy, as in the mouth of Christ himself beforehand and by implication in the texts of the Old Testament.
"He Ascended Into Heaven and Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father," reverses the earlier descent of Logos into the world and repeats the notion of heaven as heavenward-up, a common conception of the time. This in some sense marks Christ's reunion with the Father and presages our own similar fate.
Yet "He Will Come Again in Glory to Judge the Living and the Dead and His Kingdom Will Have No End" tells us that something will happen first: Christ must again descend from Heaven with the full authority imparted by the Father and establish the Kingdom of God, which will never end.
"We Believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life" introduces the Helper promised by Christ and denied by the early Macedonians. This clause establishes the Spirit also as Lord as thus equally sovereign with the Father and the Son.
"Who Proceeds from the Father (and the Son)" presents us with one of the most controversial of the Creed's clauses, as it describes Son and Father as co-originators of the Spirit, yet John's Gospel clearly states the the Spirit "proceeds from the Father" and adds no more. This clause was added after the originating council, without the consent of all parties, and marked the first division between the Eastern and Western Orthodox Churches. Though there are other theological and Scriptural reasons for adding the clause, the Creed remains essentially complete without it, and the Episcopal church recently approved a version removing the added phrase.
"With the Father and Son, He is Worshiped and Glorified" elevates the Spirit to the same level of worthiness as the Father and Son, equally God.
"He Has Spoken Through the Prophets" emphasizes the Spirit's inspiration and communicative role, most evident in the prophetic elements of the Old Testament and in the later Christian Pentecost.
"We Believe in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" affirms the continuance of faith from the original apostles of Christ to the time of writing (and today). It also, clearly, establishes that all the churches represented by the council and agreeing to the creed are one Church in that faith.
"We Acknowledge One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins" establishes Baptism as the mark of Christian forgiveness and the means of its conveyance. Baptism symbolically parallels death and rebirth (going down and coming up) and the ancient system of sacrificial cleansing (separation from the community, isolation, and restoration to the group). Early Christian Baptisms were all done by immersion.
"We Look for the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Life of the World to Come," reiterates the verbal and existential promise of Christ for Christians individually and the world at large. Christian believe this to be the point toward which history inevitably moves.
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