The Humanists are advertising now...ho hum...

One of two things are true.  Either the economy is so robust right now that a group of humanists has spare cash on hand to spend on humanist advertisements, or humanists believe so strongly in their cause that they will sacrificially give toward its promotion even when things aren't going so well.

I speak facetiously, but you can check it out for yourself: Humanists launch huge godless ad campaign

What to make of it?  Is it going to convince anyone?  Unlikely, but it is revealing that when humanism attacks Christianity (it also attacks Judaism and Islam in this case, but they can speak for themselves), it usually makes some kind of moral argument.  The message in this case is loud and clear: picking and choosing passages from the Bible that depict God acting and/or speaking immorally and contrasting those passages with quotations from 'humanists' that show a higher morality gives credence to the idea that belief in God is not the morally superior option.

There are plenty of responses available to Christians.  Some would be tempted to respond to the accusations directly, perhaps trying to justify God's words or actions based on the specifics of the situation or the bigger picture of God's unquestionable justice.  That's a lot of work, and even if it's true, it doesn't address the major issues we should have with the image of Christianity that these advertisements address.  Others might posit that the humanists employ a flawed hermeneutical formula (interpretive lens) when it comes to Scripture.  Still others could ask probing questions about the presuppositional bias of the humanists themselves.  What is the basis for the employed standard of morality?  How is it possible to approve the conduct or attitude of one over another in the absence of an absolute and unchanging moral standard?  Is an unchanging, absolute moral standard even possible apart from a supreme authority who gives and upholds it?  Even still, though, it all avoids bringing the discussion to the proper place.

The point of Christianity is not that we live moral lives.  It is not that we work to improve our moral conduct throughout our life.  It is not even to have the perfect moral code nor is it to attain moral perfection. 

We have an enormous problem called sin.  We cannot conquer our sinfulness nor can we perfectly keep it from expressing itself in sinful deeds.  We all fail in light of God's moral code (which is, incidentally, perfect - because it is from God).  We are all the hypocrites we are accused of being in that we hold up one moral standard and our actions fall short. 

The point of Christianity is for you to live with God forever.  How is this possible?  Not by having a perfect moral code nor by living perfectly morally, but by faith.  The Father, in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus of Nazareth, forgives the moral failings of the world.  They are ascribed to Jesus and on account of them Jesus suffered and died.  The Son of God did not stay dead, however; death has no dominion over him.  Jesus rose from the dead to the glory of God the Father to demonstrate to all his power over sin, death, and the devil.  By the power of the Holy Spirit we are called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified in the one, holy, Christian and apostolic Church.  God mercifully forgives our sins and graciously gives us everlasting life.

So do the Humanists have a point?  Do they really show people the fallacy of faith in Christ with their advertising and self-promotion?  Of course not.  What they uphold is utterly pathetic in light of what true Christianity proclaims and teaches.  The point of Christianity is everlasting life, and God grants this by forgiving immoral humanity on account of his perfect Son. 

What humanistic teaching can compare with this?  When a humanist fails (and they most surely do), they become just as hypocritical as the failed Christian.  Then what?  Is he or she excommunicated from humanism?  Are they no longer permitted to be humanists?  Of course not - humanism will usually rewrite its moral code to encompass this now 'enlightened' conduct and justify it to the world.  It gets old and tiring.  With God, the moral code does not change even when everyone fails to uphold it.  We all want to uphold it, and we even hope to improve our conduct throughout our lives, but at the same time we acknowledge our human limitations.  The problem is not with the Law, but with the failing people.  Thankfully with God, the remedy to cure failing humanity also never changes - forgiveness from the Father is ours through the death and resurrection of Christ, which is delivered to us through the Means of Grace by the Holy Spirit!

Last Sunday of the Church Year Sermon 2010

With thanks to the Rev. Rick Stuckwisch for helping with the end!

Do Not Weep for Me

Luke 23:27-43

26th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 29 C, 2010)

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. Luke which you just heard read.

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!”’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

‘Do not weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed.’ Is this that day, dear brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we cry out for the mountains to fall on us, or for the hills to cover us?

Today is the last Sunday of the church year – the Sunday of the Fulfillment. Often on this Sunday we have heard the parable of the wise and foolish virgins – they are the basis for the sermon hymn. Today’s text is quite different. When Jesus taught the parables of the fig tree, of the wise and foolish virgins, and of the sheep and the goats, he was already in Jerusalem, but there was much more to take place before his betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. When our Lord speaks today, he is trudging along the path toward Golgotha; Simon of Cyrene is already carrying his cross. He is bleeding, wounded, and dying. The scourging torture he suffered at the hands of Herod’s men had sapped him of the strength to carry his own cross. He did not have much time to tell a dramatic parable.

His chosen 12 had all but abandoned him. John alone is said to have been with Jesus at the cross. At this point of our Lord’s life he was speaking to crowds of followers, but not the apostles. It is unlikely that they would have heard many of his teachings or parables before. Not only was his time short, but the hearers were unfamiliar. There were women among the multitudes lamenting him and mourning for him.

‘Do not weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem.’ It sounds comforting, but our Lord is not trying to comfort them – far from it. This is a warning, a dire warning, to a people oblivious to the signs around them. ‘Weep for yourselves and for your children.’ On the surface, things are well. The condemnation of Jesus actually made friends of King Herod and Pontius Pilate, and even the temple was being rebuilt. Things were not well, however. That which drove the Son of Man to Golgotha was also at work in every man, woman and child; as surely as Jesus would meet his death later that day upon the cross, the same end was in store for all of the people. It could not be avoided.

‘Behold,’ Jesus said, ‘the days are coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!” Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us,” and to the hills, “Cover us.” For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’ These are chilling words from Christ, and they are not spoken in fear or spite; he is simply foretelling what humanity can expect.

Have we reached those days? Do we cry out to the mountains and hills to smother us? Do we wish, for fear of what is to come for our children and grandchildren, that they had never been born?

Maybe not. Life is good. How many of us actually want for food or shelter? Maybe we wish we ate better and lived in homes that are bigger or nicer, but we are not starving or freezing to death. For the most part, our health is certainly acceptable too. Again, many of us would probably like to shed some pounds, or overcome this or that physical ailment, but we are not dying where we sit, either? Or are we?

That is an uncomfortable question, is it not? We like to believe that we have some measure of control over our lifestyle and life expectancy, but as Christians we must acknowledge that this is not, ultimately, in our hands. God alone numbers our days. We live as long he gives us, and no more.

It is a sobering thought, indeed, but the warning our Lord gave was about more than death. His own experience would be an icon of what could be expected for his followers. ‘If they do these things while the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’

Green wood is newer wood, freshly cut. As it ages it dries. The older it gets, usually the drier it becomes. Green wood does not burn well, and if you try to build something with it, there is a good chance that the project will warp. Green branches and twigs are malleable; they flex when you bend them and spring back into shape. Dry branches are stiff and brittle; they will snap in two when you bend them. The one clear advantage green wood has over dry wood is that it is less likely to split when you drive a nail through it.

When Jesus is still preaching and teaching, the wood is green. The lessons and miracles are fresh. Many who witnessed his earthly ministry were still alive, and could testify to the magnificent healings, feedings, and actions he had done before them. It was one thing for him to claim to be God’s Son, but it was another to make that claim and then perform all those miracles.

If the wood was green before Jesus’ death, it quickly dried after. What could his followers expect? Better lives? Peaceful coexistence with the surrounding peoples? Three weeks ago, as we celebrated the festival of the Reformation, 58 Christians were slaughtered in Bagdad, Iraq by gunmen who called them infidels. Among the victims were men, women – some pregnant, and children. 70 others were injured. It would be an outrage were it to happen in this country, but it is the sad reality of life under the cross for our brothers and sisters in Christ in many places around the world. We live in relative peace here, where some of the worst things that will happen are vandals attacking our facilities, or the media making light of our beliefs, but we are living in a fantasy world if we believe that we have a privileged status in this land or anywhere in the world.

As long as sinful humanity populates the earth, the Gospel and its adherents will always be under attack. Not all attacks are physical; some are intellectual, or social. All attacks are spiritual, though, and the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh will never give us a break. If they do these things while the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

It gives new meaning to Jesus’ words. Do not weep for him; weep for yourselves. The days are coming when they will say, ‘blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ We pray that we would be delivered from such evil, but the answer to that prayer is only completed when Jesus returns in glory. We do see a glimpse of it, however, later on in this reading. Our Lord’s crucifixion is ordinarily accounted to us during Lent, but it is relevant every day of our lives.

In the reading we heard first about the weepers and the mourners. These people Jesus warned with the words I have repeated for you several times already. Next came the scoffers, the rulers, and one of the thieves crucified beside him. They ridiculed him, challenged him to take himself off the cross, and cast lots to divide his garments. He responded to them, too, praying on their behalf. ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ The last person we hear about is the other thief. He rebuked the first thief, ‘Do you not fear God, sin you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And then he said to Jesus, ‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus’ final response answers the thief’s prayer, and it provides the answer to our prayers as well. ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’

Jesus died shortly thereafter to fulfill that promise. Three days later he would rise from the dead to show that he was truly the Son of God as he had claimed all along. It is doubtful that many would have been weeping or mourning for the thief like they did for Jesus, but that does not matter; Jesus did not need the weeping or mourning either. He warned them because he knew what would follow his death. He came to establish a kingdom of forgiveness, and the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins is a scandal to the world. Your ancestry is not important in this kingdom, and your wealth is immaterial. Only the faith given by the Holy Spirit brings you into that kingdom and receives the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation that are freely given by Christ. Not because you are faithful, but He is.

As he did for the thief, Jesus also remembers you as he comes to you in and with his kingdom. He remembers you with his word of peace, his gospel of forgiveness. He remembers you with his Body and Blood, given and poured out for you to eat and drink.

Truly, he is with you, and today you are with him in Paradise. That is his word and promise to the poor miserable sinner who was crucified and died with him; and that is his word and promise to you, who have been crucified and died with him in Holy Baptism. So surely are you also raised with him in his resurrection.

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.

All Saints' Sermon 2010

For All the Saints

Matthew 5:1-12

All Saints’ Sunday, 2010

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this All Saints’ Sunday is the Gospel reading from St. Matthew.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and when he was seated his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if we were to make a list of the most important days of the year, what would they be? The top three for Christians would most likely be Christmas, Easter, and Good Friday, but putting them in any kind of order of highest importance would prove difficult; each upholds and depends on the others. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus; the triumph of the Son of God over sin, death, and the devil. There would be no resurrection from the dead, however, without his death, which came on Good Friday. On Good Friday, God the Father gave up his only-begotten Son to die on the cross for us and pay the price for our sins and sinfulness. Still, before Jesus Christ could die, the Word first had to take on flesh in the incarnation and be born of the Virgin Mary on the very first Christmas. And the real significance behind Christmas was the purpose for which the baby in Bethlehem was born – to die for our forgiveness on Good Friday and to rise from the dead for us on Easter Sunday. Each of those days is as important as the next.
While it is not the most important holiday of the year by any means – it doesn’t even come close to those three obvious ones – my favorite day of the church year is the one we are celebrating today; All Saints’ Day.
It was not always this way, and it is not a day without its complications, but it has become the Sunday I look forward to more than any other every year. Today, everything about the faith we have in God and the life we live in this world all comes together, and gives me great comfort. It’s not a joyous day like Easter or Christmas, and it’s not as somber a day as Good Friday; but it is the one Sunday when the worst things about living in this world are held up against the greatest promise of all – everlasting life in the midst of the whole company of heaven.

All Saints’ is the day we commemorate those, who, by their lives and deaths, confess the faith to which we hold and, even now, live forever in paradise. The longer we live, though, the more complex today becomes. Death is mostly abstract until it begins to take away those you love and those who love you, and days like today tend to bring them to mind. It is easy, and the temptation is there when those memories rise up, to forget the comfort and peace our Lord gives us in the Means of Grace.

That’s why it is so important that we remember this when we confess in the creed that we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. We are speaking of the communion of Saints. When we say that we believe in the communion of Saints, we are saying two equally important things at the same time. First, we confess that there is a community of the faithful on earth and in heaven that consists of all who believe in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sin. Second, we say that this body of the faithful, both the living and the dead, is eternally bound together by this communion they share in Christ.

When we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ here on earth, it is nothing less than a foretaste of the heavenly feast where the Saints are forever in the joyful presence of God and served by him. In the Offertory we will sing today, we sing the following words, which speak of the same thing. They are found in Psalm 116. “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all his people.” When we speak of the ‘presence of all God’s people,’ it could be understood as all his Saints or it could simply mean the congregation gathered together at that particular service. I believe that it is the former, and it is because of the remaining words of this Psalm that I believe that. The Psalmist goes on to say, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.”

Those last words tell us that something significant is happening when we take up the cup of salvation in the Lord’s house and call on the name of the Lord in the presence of all his people. In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. This makes no sense if we think that the Psalmist is talking about a city in Israel, halfway around the world. But it does make sense when we understand that he is speaking about the company of the saints, whose death is precious in the Lord’s sight, in whose fellowship we live as Christians, and whose communion we share in the cup of salvation. We do not see the Saints triumphant with our eyes, but we are among them by faith. They are with us, if you will, on the other side of this communion rail, sharing with us in the same glorious feast where God serves all of us and binds us all together.

It may not seem like a big deal, but it means a lot to say that you believe in the communion of Saints, especially as we commemorate All Saints’ Day. It means that our hope in the face of the challenges we face in this life rests on God and not upon ourselves. No matter how much we would like to be prepared for everything that will ever happen to us, major or minor, this is how God teaches us to trust in him and to hope in him. The creation will continue to groan under the weight of sin and death, but God has forgiven all of our sins through the Holy Spirit he has delivered to us everlasting life. Believing in the communion of Saints means that we live with a hope that conquers all sadness and grief, and that looks forward, above all else, to the life everlasting with Christ that he promises us.

So it is not that today is more important than Christmas, Easter, or Good Friday. It is not that I have a fascination with death or dying. On All Saints’ Day, God speaks so plainly to the one thing – death as the final wages of sin – that has caused me the most sadness and fear in my life, and at the same time has given us a glimpse of the everlasting comfort and rest that awaits all who live and die in the faith. It is as our Lord spoke in the words of the Gospel, ‘Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.’ He is speaking of our greatest accusers – the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. These things want us to fear without hope; they want us to turn from God on account of their reviling and persecuting and lies. But Jesus tells us to, ‘Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’ The greatest of those prophets was Jesus himself; our prophet, priest, and King, whose resurrection seals for us the real and lasting hope we have in eternal life.

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.

December 2010 Newsletter Article

‘Christ Jesus brought this gift to me,

My faithful Savior,

Whom You have made my eyes to see

By Your favor,

Now I know He is my life,

My friend when I am dying.’

In Peace and Joy I Now Depart - Luther

Lutheran Service Book Hymn 938

Brothers and sisters in Christ, without beating around the bush, I want you to take a moment and consider death. More specifically, I want you to consider your death. Admittedly, it is not a comfortable subject, but after attending the Good Shepherd Institute at the seminary in Fort Wayne last week with one of our organists I am convinced more than ever that we make the most powerful confession of our faith in how we face death.

The conference topic – The Theology of the Christian’s Death in Rite and Song – was obviously a big draw; more people attended this year’s conference than any other in ten years. It should come as no surprise. I do not raise this issue to bring specific instances to mind, but if you have attended many funerals for friends or family outside of our congregation, you have surely experienced a wide spectrum of practices. Have you been to a funeral lately? What was spoken about Christ in the service? Was the service in the funeral home or in the church? What did you see? What was said? What was sung?

Christian funerals are celebrations of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the forgiveness, life, and salvation he gives to us by grace, through faith. It looks forward with great anticipation to the resurrection of the dead promised by Christ at his return and at the same time it is a stark reminder to everyone in attendance of their own mortality. Much of the world has a paralyzing fear of death, however, and strives with all its might to guard against it, mask it, euphemize it, and cover it up. One of the most common things seen at funerals somewhere is the poem, ‘Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there, I do not sleep,’ and goes on to end, ‘Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there, I did not die.’ It was written to comfort the bereaved, but it fails because it attempts by turn of phrase to deny what is plainly visible – that a beloved person has died.

A Christian funeral is uncomfortable for the world because it is honest about life and death. Death is the wages of sin. It is last attack of the Old Adam against us and it is inevitable for all of us. There is only one cure for death, and that is resurrection from the dead, and that cure is not complete until Christ returns. This is what we, by the grace of God, believe in life, and this is what we confess in the face of death. Consider the poetry of the hymn, ‘Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart.’ (LSB 708) The third stanza reads,

‘And in its narrow chamber keep
My body safe in peaceful sleep
Until Thy reappearing.
And then from death awaken me,
That these mine eyes with joy may see,
O Son of God, Thy glorious face,
My Savior and my fount of grace.’

Instead of avoiding death, this hymn confronts it. Instead of telling the grieving how to feel, it tells them of the hope of resurrection from the dead in Christ. The hymnal is one of our greatest treasures when it comes to comfort in the face of death; in many ways it is a teacher for all of us about how to die. Death is the wrong end to our lives; it was not God’s plan. Death is horrible, and when we face it in others and ourselves, Jesus alone is our cry!

For the sake of brevity, please consider the following: you are encouraged by the world to prearrange with a funeral home before you die. If that is an important way of taking care of your loved ones at a stressful time, how much more helpful would it be to speak to your pastors about your funeral before you die? As Luther writes in the hymn above, Christ alone is our friend when we are dying. Consider planning ahead so that He is confessed to your loved ones as He has been confessed to you!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

October 2010 Newsletter Article

For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.

John 12:49-50

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we think of commands from God, we usually think of the Ten Commandments. You shall not steal, you shall not misuse the name of the Lord, honor your father and mother, do not commit adultery, do not give false testimony against your neighbor, etc. When God gives commands, he definitely knows what he is doing. When Jesus tells us that his Father has given him a command, we might expect something along the same lines. Strangely, though, the command the Father has given to Jesus is much different – his command is everlasting life.

Everlasting life. To us, that is our highest and truest aspiration – we all hope to cheat death. It is a universal desire, to be sure – even non-Christians who believe that there is nothing after death will at least hope for their own death to be a painless experience.

Everlasting life. It is a wonderful thing, but how can it be a command? That is like telling the computer to turn itself on, instructing the leaves to stay on the trees, or directing water in a river to stay where it is. A computer only does what you tell it, leaves cannot be kept on their trees, and water in a river flows from higher to lower ground – if it stayed in place it would be a lake or pond, not a river. Likewise to us, life is not something over which we have sovereign authority. If someone were to tell you that their command for you is to have three arms, you might laugh at them, you might stare blankly at them, or you might try to explain to them that what they are asking you to do is outside of your control. The last thing you would expect is for your shoulder to sprout another arm. Telling us to live forever is going to do as much good as telling the sky to fall.

Still, our Lord does not balk or laugh when his command is everlasting life. Instead, he goes about speaking and saying it to the world. To him, it is as if nothing could be more proper. The other commandments, the ones written on our heart that we still need to hear all the time, are not mentioned. Jesus, the one who keeps every commandment, doesn’t receive them as commands from the Father – the author already knows what he wrote. Instead, he receives the command of everlasting life, the command that would have been given to us as well had our first parents not fallen in the Garden of Eden. He receives that command and he keeps it, even to the point of laying down his life and rising from the dead!

Jesus lives forever, and he does it not out of obedience, but out of love for us. Those who are in Christ by virtue of their baptism share all things with Jesus – suffering on account of sin, temptation to sin, and ultimately the wages of sin; death. He takes all these things upon himself and keeps the Father’s command to him of everlasting life, granting it likewise to all who live and believe in the Son. The command of everlasting life is the Father’s instruction to the Son, but to us it is the gift of salvation that is ours through the forgiveness of sins!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.