The Image of God

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. -Colossians 1:15

It is nothing short of astonishing that, if one wants to know what God looks like, he need look no further than Christ Jesus, Who in His human body laid down His life for poor sinners.

If any man wishes to become the man whom God intends for him to be, let him turn away from his own fallen desires and instead turn to Christ Jesus to receive His baptism, body, blood, and absolution.

Only in Christ Jesus - the Son of the Father Who is God in human flesh, also created in your image - is there life, light, and salvation; only in Him is there a way to be lifted up above one's own passions and desires that would lead away from God.

He is not a God who is afar off, but the only God, Who has drawn near to make Himself available where His Word and teaching are purely administered, through which He is given in full measure with all His benefits.

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Fearfully Made

"I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made . . ." -Psalm 139:14

True and proper self-awareness begins and ends with Christ Jesus who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Therefore, those who are baptized into, and taught by His name are also given to express that they are creatures formed by a care so deep and special that the fear of God and wonder at His works is an ever present reality.

To be fearfully made is to be created in such a way that no part of the Creator was left uncaring or unaware of the process, so that without His ever-present care and protection life would cease, and only darkness would fill the void.

At no time are Christ Jesus or His disciples given to live carelessly as if God were off in some nether land. No. They live and confess in the full knowledge that all they are, and all they have, depend solely upon the Creator from one moment to the next.

Science and medicine in all their totality have not begun to fathom how it happens that body, soul, and spirit arise from the mother's womb as a whole person, capable of self-awareness, creativity, and all that it means to be human. This happens not because of the inventiveness of man, but because of the Almighty, unstoppable will of God.

In each and every instance where a living human walks this earth, there the fearful hand of God has been active in creating an entity that exceeds human understanding. And yet, for the children of God, it has been revealed precisely where they came from, so that they continually pray, praise, and give thanks to the Creator as their very being is incorporated into the Body of Christ Jesus.

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Armor of Light

"Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 8:12b

At first glance it seems rather nonsensical to use the words "armor" and "light" in connection with the same thing. The former is solid and heavy as can be. The latter is, as far as physicists can derive, either a wave or a particle in any case less than solid.

In this case, however, the Apostle is enjoining you to be adorned with the light which is Christ; the same Christ who spoke with the Father at creation and said "let there be light" and Who is now risen from the dead having made atonement for your sin.

He serves as armor because He preserves you in the Faith, keeping you from entertaining and acting upon thoughts that would draw you away from Him who loves you with an everlasting love. This Christ, Who is the Light of the World, has no other business than to save you from the darkness of sin and death.

For this reason, His righteousness, applied to you in every way He bespeaks it, serves as protection against evil lusts and their consequences. It even absolves you as the life of repentant faith carries on from one day to the next.

Repentant faith does not take up the deeds of darkness, but rejects them and lays them aside. At the same time, it is mindful of how Christ Jesus is going the full measure from start to finish, by way of His passion and resurrection and preaching, to bring you into a blessed eternity.

The Apostle calls upon you with urgency to do this, because the work of redemption for all of creation in Christ Jesus has taken place precisely as God foretold through the prophets: by the Seed of the Woman who defeats sin, death, and the devil.

How are you going to put on this armor of light? By daily contrition and faith, all wrought by your Creator who has baptized you into His Name and very being.

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All Things Through and For Christ

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.

What are you chasing after? Why are you chasing it? What are you trying to earn? Who are you trying to impress?

Stop and consider for a moment how everything — literally everything — has been created through and for Christ Jesus. There is no object of creation that is outside or beyond His domain. He is both the agent and recipient of all that exists. There is no place to hide either from Him or from His creation.

If anything, this ought to put into sure and clear perspective whatever it is you are trying to do in this life. Your place is not to chase after things, or to impress others. Not even God is impressed with your efforts.

Upon closer examination, however, consider that this same Christ Jesus has taken your nature upon Himself so that He might also receive you and thereby save you from all that would harm you both now and forever. That means your place is to live under Him in His kingdom, serving your neighbor with all you are and have while giving thanks to Him at all times and in all places.

Yet your place in life is often full of hurt and sorrow. These, too, are under His domain, created through Him and for Him, not because He enjoys hurt and sorrow, but He is the beginning and the end of these things, too. These He has taken fully upon Himself, just as He has the sin of the world.

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Peace, False and True

"They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace."

This can be said of anyone who does not apprehend and preach the Word of God in its truth and purity, as well as those who refuse to hear it, because true peace is only where the enmity between God and man is satisfied, and that satisfaction is only in the crucified and risen Christ Jesus, whose life and benefits are openly and freely proclaimed and distributed to all who walk through the valley of the shadow of death with fear and trembling.

To make the Word of God into a book of rules for self-justification is to offer only superficial peace. To ignore the Commandments as if they were merely the utterances of misguided goat herders is even worse.

Peace is found nowhere else than through faith in Christ Jesus, whose righteousness avails before God for all people throughout all ages. This faith takes hold of peace where it is given abundantly and concretely: Baptism, Supper, and the word of forgiveness. This faith, like creation itself, is neither for sale nor for self-improvement, but is poured out abundantly from Above, like springs in the desert.

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Reason and Senses

Sight, taste, touch, pressure, itch, thermoception (sense of hot and cold), sound, smell, proprioception (sense of where your body parts are), tension, nociception (sense of pain), equilibrioception (sense of balance), stretch, chemoreception (sense that it is time to vomit), thirst, hunger, magnetoception, and time: none of these declare or make present the body and blood of Christ Jesus in His Supper, but they are all subject to His benefits.

God does not deal with man apart from reason and senses, but has endowed man with these so that He might bestow His grace by way of the same form He takes in His own Son, Christ Jesus. For the same reason, He uses preaching and sacraments to visit His people.

Through these the crucified and risen Christ is conveyed in full, when and where it pleases the Creator to breathe His Word and Spirit into the ears and hearts of the hearers. They, in turn, are called disciples, because they do not indulge themselves according to the flesh, but are driven (disciplined) to seek things above.

They cannot do otherwise, because they have died to sin. They are reckoned not according to what the eyes see, but according to what the Word says.
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The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin.

The Holy spirit bestows the righteousness of Christ, indeed Christ Himself, upon those who believe on His name.

The Holy Spirit plainly reveals the paths of righteousness.

The Holy Spirit places Christians into the paths of righteousness and keeps them there.

The Holy Spirit warns and admonishes in all matters that would lead away from the paths of righteousness.

The Holy Spirit is not subject to dissection, explanation, scrutiny, or direct observation insofar as The Holy Spirit is a Person of the Holy Trinity inextricably bound to the will of God and not the will of man.

The Holy Spirit does not heckle poor sinners into straightening themselves up.

The Holy Spirit does not teach Christians to look for help, hope, or comfort anywhere except in the Body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit, Christ Jesus, and the Father are One.

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Words of Love and Life

"He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal." -John 12:25

phileó: to love
Original Word: φιλέω
Definition: I love (of friendship), regard with affection, cherish; I kiss.

miseó: to hate
Original Word: μισέω
Definition: I hate, detest, love less, esteem less.

psuché: breath, the soul
Original Word: ψυχή, ῆς, ἡ
Definition: (a) the vital breath, breath of life, (b) the human soul, (c) the soul as the seat of affections and will, (d) the self, (e) a human person, an individual.

"For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'" -Galatians 5:14

seautou: of (to, for) yourself
Original Word: σεαυτοῦ, ῆς, οῦ
Definition: of yourself.

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I hate my life in this world because I do not love my neighbor as I love myself. But if I hate my life, how can I love myself? And if I do not love myself, how can I love my neighbor likewise? Can I hate my life without hating myself?

It seems that self and life must be separated. My life cannot be my own. My self is all I am, along with the dross of sin and death. It is another life I am given to love, namely that of Christ, who also freely imparts His life to me and Who refines me with fire.

How can I know how to love my neighbor as myself when I cannot understand what loving myself really is, or means?

Actually, that is a love I know, because Christ Himself loves me in this way [yet the world for "love" when it comes to Christ Jesus is more commonly spoken of as "agape," a love that takes action.]

So then, it is not so much what I know, but Who knows me, and Who it is who works love in and through me by grace alone.

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Enough Already

"There's not enough repentance going on here."
"There's not enough catechesis going on here."

That'll fix things. Not.

Repentance and catechesis - while they may rightly be spoken of - left to themselves become cold, abstract truths if merely pointed out as a means to an end. Pointing out the obvious does not a remedy make, although I suppose it could serve as a way of agitating souls.

Where Christ is, however, is everything that matters, even the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. He does not, and cannot, lead into immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. He does, however, lead to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The latter are not practices any person is able to turn on and off like a faucet. Rather they spring from Christ as He is preached and administered bodily in every corner of the world, even as God has sent preachers into all the world.

It is the part of faith, when faced with a world run amok both inside and out, to receive the Word of the Lord which says, "Be still, and know that I am God." It is not the part of faith to cobble up demands of faithfulness no man can fill of his own accord.

It is the part of love, when faced with people who sin and err, first to upbraid and admonish them in private, and even this is done with a full view toward one's own sin and weakness. It is not the part of love to refrain from such counsel out of a fear of rejection, and so it is, once again, Christ Himself Who must be at work for anyone ever to will and to do what is good and right.

We live by the Spirit. We walk by the Spirit. We have no room to become boastful, challenging one another, or envying one another. So we depend from one moment to the next on the same Lord who has taught us to pray: "Let Your Name be kept holy among us, and lead us in Your paths."

This happens most concretely in Baptism, Preaching, Holy Communion, and any other occasion where the pure Word of God is, by His grace and favor, brought to bear on poor sinners.

There really is no other way for a Christian to live than by a faith that apprehends the living Christ,and such faith cannot be found apart from His Word.

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A Short Didactic

Sunday School, Bible Class, Confirmation, Vacation Bible School: Why didn't the early Church think these up? Because they learned liturgically and were - literally - recipients of the body and blood of Christ.

You see, a disciple is not just a recipient of so much accumulated information, but has one's entire life and being joined to a crucified and risen Christ by way of Baptism, Bread from Heaven, The Lord's Supper, Absolution, Christ Himself.

True enough, instruction attends to this relationship, but it is not parceled out into so many classes and levels of knowledge. It is imparted through preaching, teaching, and sacraments administered by Christ through His called and ordained servants. It is imparted fully and completely.

Wherever there is clear and pure preaching and sacraments, the Holy Spirit is calling, gathering, enlightening, and sanctifying the Christian Church on earth. It's been that way from the beginning and it will continue till the end of time as we know it.

It takes place in many forms, including Sunday School, Bible Class, Confirmation, and Vacation Bible School. But it does *not* take place independently. You can't "be your own man" and be a Christian at the same time.

Just like life itself, this eternal life is handed down, meted out, imparted, and given fully on the one hand, but apprehended weakly until such time as what has been hidden is revealed. Christians call it "the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come."

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Both Soul and Body

"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." -Matthew 10:28

It is often said among men to "hate the sin, love the sinner." Yet the two are not so easily separated are they? As a matter of fact, there is little more to define the sinner than the body and soul he or she occupies. The body is subject to death and decay no less than the soul is subject to damnation on account of sin.

The One who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell does not mince words as if to say sin is one thing, and the sinner is another. The two go hand in hand and cannot be separated.

It is only within the body of Christ that a true separation takes place, whereby transgression is removed, and the sinner is made righteous in every way, including the body. You have been "sundered from the number of the unbelieving, preserved dry and secure in the Holy Ark of Christendom," while the body of flesh and the soul together in Christ are waging a fearsome battle that crucifies the ungodly passions that continually issue forth from the old self. Apart from Christ, however, both soul and body are worse than dead.

How is one placed within the body of Christ? The Holy spirit does this, both by making known the holiness of God that would destroy both soul and body in hell (because no sin can be found in His presence), and by applying the righteousness of Christ in bodily form upon those who hear and receive His Word.

"Hate the sin, but love the sinner." It sounds reasonable enough, and that is why it is subject to question. God does not deal with the soul separately from the body, does He? No, He does not. He undertakes to deal with you wholly and completely, in terms of nothing less than a new creation. Indeed, Christ is of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting, therefore He alone, and in every way, is your Refuge and Strength.

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Economics

. . . with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

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. . . with a view εἰς οἰκονομίαν suitable to the fullness of the times . . .
(Eph. 1:10)

. . . the οἰκονομίαν of God’s grace which was given to me for you . . .
(Eph. 3:2)

. . . the οἰκονομίαν from God bestowed on me for your benefit . . .
(Col. 1:25)
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An economy does not happen without a transfer of substance. The same holds true for church and ministry. The words rendered in Greek above are the root word we use today for "economy."

In this case the "substance" is the forgiveness of sins obtained by Christ Jesus and distributed bodily through preaching, Baptism, and Supper, yea, even more, in and through Christ Himself, who in the fulness of time took the sin of the world upon Himself, was crucified, and is now risen so that He now also raises up all who believe on His Name.

This is not a matter of feelings or emotion, per se, any more than the sun rises on account of our feelings. It is simply the nature of God to call all human flesh back to Himself in repentance and faith, because He desires nothing less than to be our Father. + + +