“Redeemed in Christ for
Holiness”
By Dr. John R. Wilch
A 94-year-old widower of Resurrection congregation in St. Catharines
is suffering greatly from arthritis—lots of pain and rather crippled. He often says that he wishes his life here with all its suffering would end.
Yes,
how much better it would be for him to leave this “vale of tears” and
enter
into the glorious life of heavenly bliss, free from all pain and sorrow!
Well,
indeed, would that prospect not be a wonderful option for all of us?
Even
if we are enjoying relatively good health, we still probably have great
struggles
in our family, or at work, or trying to make ends meet financially.
Life
here on this earth can surely be a depressing hassle! And, on the other
hand,
we certainly have the sure hope of life after death with God.
We
generally think of anyone who dies before the age of 80—or at least
before
65—as having an “early death.” However,
for a Christian, there is
no
such thing. No matter how old or young
we are, whether over 90 or
less
than 9, death can never come too early.
It is never too early to go to
heaven
to our everlasting inheritance. It is
never too early to leave this world of struggle, pain and disappointment.
There is a tendency today in advertisements to say:
“You deserve this!” Biblically
speaking, however, that is all wrong.
Instead, we do not deserve anything, least of all everlasting life with
God. Why not? Because, we are sinners—every one of us. We keep making mistakes—making
wrong
choices—aggravating other people.
Hardly a day goes by without my wife having to criticize me for some
failing or neglect.
One
of Canada’s most celebrated authors today is Margaret Atwood, who has written a
number of books of fine literary quality.
She was described as having “an overriding faith in humanity.” Well, I am sorry, Ms. Atwood—that faith may
help sell your books here, but it will not begin to get you anywhere in the
hereafter. Sure, humanity sometimes
makes improvements, but the daily news prove how we repeatedly mess up our
world.
No,
never put your faith in humanity, in fact, never believe in any person,
for
we are all imperfect, and you will soon be disappointed.
We
are all basically selfish and unloving, and so we deserve nothing good.
We cannot even trust any of the great religious
leaders—not even Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, or the Dalai Lama, who can only
urge us to live good lives. For, our
own experience proves to us that we cannot be good enough. However, the Apostle Paul holds out a great
hope for us:
God
has redeemed us in Christ! Jesus Christ
has paid for the whole guilt of all the sins of each one of us by His
self-sacrifice on the Cross. Because He
was not only a man who could suffer and die, but also almighty God, He was able
to pay off the sinful debt of every human being of all time. This payment—this redemption—belongs to each
one of us who, first, admit our human failings and that the one thing we
deserve is the judgment and punishment of God.
But, secondly, we have Christ’s redemption if we believe in His
salvation for us and put our trust in Him alone.
Is
that not marvelous?
Here is where the crunch comes: Am I really willing to put all my trust in
God alone? Investment counselors tell
us not to put all our eggs in one basket.
We should spread out the investments in several areas, so that a loss in
one area does not bring total ruin. So,
many nominally religious people retain their church membership and attend a
worship service once in a long while, just in case it might pay off in the
end—a kind of “heaven insurance.” Really, they rely not on God, but on their
own abilities for a successful life.
So, they enjoy much of life now, but they have no everlasting security.
How about you?
What do you trust in? What gives
you your joy in life?—intelligence—talents—money—pleasure—family—friends? Remember, that once you die, all this is
gone, for you cannot take it with you.
On the other hand, note again what St. Paul tells us that already
belongs to everyone who believes in Christ:
“every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” (v. 3), “adopted as children of God” (v. 5), “knowing the mystery of God’s will” (v.
9), “an [everlasting] inheritance” (v.
11), and “sealed in Christ with the promised Holy Spirit” (v. 13). What glorious gifts! No one and nothing here on earth can ever
begin to give us such wonderful things—they are extraterrestrial, heavenly,
divine, in the literal sense. We may at
first think, well, when I get to heaven, I’ll enjoy all that.
But,
no, God graciously bestows all this on us now already—on each one of
us
who has surrendered himself completely to Christ and trusts in Him
alone. Yes, as He promised, Jesus Christ sends to
us the Holy Spirit with
His
spiritual gifts, “as the deposit guaranteeing our [everlasting] inheritance”
(v. 14). Maybe you are disappointed
that your parents were not wealthy and so could not leave you a big
inheritance. If you had gotten that,
you could be financially well off now without any worries. Yes, that might have made
life
somewhat easier for you physically now.
But, with it would come more
temptations
to rely on your possessions, besides the worry of retaining them
and
not losing them—instead of trusting only in Jesus your Saviour—thus,
more
security now, but none for eternity.
However, Jesus gives us the
inheritance
of infinite value for ever. And this is
ours now already!
Through our faith in Christ—through His
redemption—through the gifts of the Holy Spirit—we now already experience joy
and happiness every day, which overcomes any pain and sadness that life in this
world brings—
because
we have the certain hope of everlasting life.
The Holy Spirit gives
us
now already satisfaction and contentment despite all suffering and
difficulties,
because He provides us with the inner spiritual strength that
enables
us to bear every hurt and burden the world can pit against us.
The health of a 94-year-old widow became weak, so
that she had to give up her own home and move into a nursing home. Her pastor
thought that she would be greatly depressed.
But, she joyfully exclaimed: “Pastor, we have it good, even when we have
it bad!” Yes, the Holy Spirit gives us
“the peace that surpasses all understanding,” because no suffering or grief can
overcome us. For, we rather overcome it
with His almighty power!
Of course, the purpose of God’s saving us from all
our sinful guilt and from the evils and suffering of this world and from death,
is not just to give us joy and peace, but it is “to the praise of His glory (v.
12). And, it should have a lasting
effect on our life here. It is that “we
should be holy and blameless before God in love” (v. 4). To be holy and blameless in heaven, yes, but
to be holy and blameless here already is a tall order! Yes, indeed, but, of course, it does not
depend on our own doing, but on “every spiritual
blessing
in the heavenly realms” that God gives us through the Holy Spirit. For Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, rose
triumphantly from death as the Victor
over
Satan, evil and death. He has ascended
to heaven with all authority and
power
over all the universe and heaven. And
we are united with Him through faith and through Holy Baptism and His Holy
Supper. Therefore, as God already promised
through the prophet Isaiah, “He shall divide the booty with the numerous”
(53:12). Christ already shares the
eternal, divine blessings that He won in His great Victory with all of us who
belong to Him—with us, whom God already “chose before the creation of the
world” (v. 4). Even before He created
the universe, God had already planned out our salvation through His Son,
Jesus. He knew then already who would
hear and receive His Gospel and believe in Jesus for salvation from sin and
death.
Thus,
it is no hard thing for Jesus to share His heavenly booty, His divine
treasures,
with us already: joy, contentment,
love, peace, everlasting life—
yes,
and even a holy life. That is, He
enables us to live a God-pleasing life
in
word and deed. Of course, this is
not easy, since we necessarily must spend so much of our energies and time in
coping with all the necessities and problems of life in this world. But, we experience the Holy Spirit’s help
not aside from our daily life, but
precisely in it. “We have it good,
even when we have it bad!”
The Christian life of holiness is not just the one
hour Sunday morning. We live it every
hour of every day. When we are at work,
the Holy Spirit guides our thoughts, energy and talents to do good, useful work.
Thus, whether we earn much or little, we receive satisfaction and fulfillment
in our work. In our family, the Holy
Spirit guides us to give good leadership and advice to our children and to
provide for their welfare in the best way possible. Thus, whether we have many possessions and possibilities or few,
we have full enjoyment with each other.
In all our contacts with other people, the Holy Spirit helps us to say
helpful words and to do helpful things, so that others can see that our God is
the God of love and salvation.
Besides,
we gladly support the work of mission societies, such as
Hospitality
Ministry, Lutheran Bible Translators, Haiti Lutheran Mission
Society,
and Concordia Lutheran Mission Society, so that the Gospel will be spread
throughout the world to those who need the opportunity to believe
in
Jesus Christ for their present and everlasting salvation.
And,
we invite friends and strangers to our church services, where they, too, can
hear the Good News of salvation and come to saving faith.
That is a holy life—trusting completely in Jesus our
Saviour, who overcomes every obstacle for us and gives us the spiritual
strength to carry every suffering.
“We have it good, even when we have it bad!”
And,
He leads us and enables us to demonstrate in all that we do,
the
love of God the Father who created and chose us,
and
the love of God the Son who sacrificed Himself for us,
and
the love of the Holy Spirit who guides and enables us in our holy life!
Therefore: Admit your guilt—trust in Christ alone—let
the Holy Spirit
guide
you in holy living! Amen.