Title: The Father’s love restores us.
Luther’s Small Catechism the Apostles Creed First article w/explanation
Text: Psalm 80:1-7
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us! 3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved! 4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. 6 You make us an object of contention for our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves. 7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
The Creed
AS THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY SHOULD TEACH IT IN A SIMPLE WAY TO HIS HOUSEHOLD
The First Article
CREATION
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
What does this mean?
I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given
me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.
He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.
He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.
All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.
This is most certainly true
"I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here: and this idea of a creating hand refers to God."
http://atheism-analyzed.blogspot.com/2012/07/sartres-conversion.html
These are the words of French philosopher, author, playwright and atheist John-Paul Sartre near the end of his life. He was reviled by his mistress and fellow atheist as a senile traitor.
As we wait in anticipation this Advent season for the coming of the Christ child, we look to our loving Father who created us in his image. Who with his all powerful word brought forth all things and who commands us:
That you shall have no other Gods in the 1st commandment.
In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther writes that if you were to ask a child:
“My dear what sort of God do you have? What do you know about him? The child would say, “This is my God: first, the Father, who created heaven and earth. Besides this One only, I regard nothing else as God; for there is no one else who could create heaven and earth.”
Readers Ed. The Book of Concord pg 399 CPH
To this God the psalmist cries: 80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel.
Here, the shepherd of the flock of God’s people who created them and all things is called upon. As the shepherd of the flock God, he himself cares and leads his people Israel.
You [heavenly Father] who lead Joseph [who truly are all of your children who trust in you] like a flock [just as a shepherd leads].
But what God created perfect, and what he saw as good, and what after his work of creating he rested from, that same work has been broken. It is this break and fall into sin from our first parents Adam and Eve that the psalmist calls to the one true God who is:
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, [and calling him to] shine forth.
Just as in the benediction we call upon God to make his face shine on us and to be gracious unto us.To once again bring forth the rescue needed for fallen man and to make a way where there is no way. 3 Restore us, O God; [with the original righteousness that was given to us in creation to] let your face shine, [which is your gracious favor upon us once again] that we, who are broken by sin, may be saved!
Who among you doesn’t know the falleness of man? Who among you has not seen the broken creation and its effects on their own life and the lives of their loved ones as Paul says in Romans 6 vs. 23:
23 For the wages of sin is death,
Who among you knows that this death is not normal, not ordained by God, and not in his plan?
For this creation has been broken by sin, just as a river which is polluted has no part of it which is not affected, broken and polluted, so too you and this life we share is lost to the corruption that has fallen upon it.
O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure.
A storekeeper in Maine refused to buy a salesman's wares. "You must remember, young fellow," he said, "that in this part of the country every want ain't a need."
Source Unknown.
The wants of this created world can be many. The desires that we seek can point us all away from the need that is of most importance. The condition of our standing before God and whether we stand condemned or restored is what the joy of Advent brings.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
The Father’s love does indeed restore us.
So we cry forth with the psalmist:
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
The shinning face of the Father is turned towards his children in Jesus Christ our Lord who he sends to bring about our redemption. The restoration of life, in this babe in a manger, is what we wait for, and it is this love that the Father has for us … that he gives and showers upon us.
And while the wages of sin is death, as the Law of God condemns you and me, the good news is made clear in the second half of Romans 6:23:
But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Author and evangelist Dr. J. Allen Peterson tells a story about a small boy who was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever.
His mother met him at the door and said nothing. At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father's full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed.
The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy's plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son. When that boy grew to be a man, he said, "All my life I've known what God is like by what my father did that night."
J. Allan Peterson.
The Father sends the son to restore the world broken by sin. He in love comes in the person of the Christ child in a manger to be a substitute for what man could not do. He comes to make right what had been made wrong by sin and to 3 restore us, O God.
There is a wonderful story about Katherine and Martin Luther:
At family devotions one morning, Luther read Genesis 22 and talked about Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac:
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
[As he finished, his wife Katherine said,]“I do not believe it! God would not have treated his son like that.”
"But, Katie," Luther quietly replied, "He did."
50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants by By Warren W. Wiersbe pg. 14
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment