Merry Christmas! And don’t let anyone tell you that it is inappropriate for us to still greet each other this way! Today is but the 4th day and tomorrow (Sunday) is the 5th day of Christmas…it is still Christmas! Let us rejoice and celebrate!

There is no doubt that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a powerful, universal truth: Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose for ALL. That is, God’s saving work for us in Christ is universal; for ALL people!

Still the evil one works against us and tempts us to call into question that universal application to ourselves! What if we are not included? What if I am one of those vessels of wrath mentioned in Romans 9? What if the universality of the Gospel in Christ Jesus just doesn’t apply to the likes of me? There is you see reason to doubt…and we do even if we don’t tell anyone about it (it’s what sinners do).

This is why our epistle in tomorrow’s service is so incredibly important. Galatians 4:4-7 is — among other things — Scripture that is intended to instill our confidence that the Gospel of Jesus is for us personally. There are ways for us to have full assurance and confidence that we are truly the recipients of the Christmas gift of salvation (the most important Christmas gift) and it boils down to the two special clauses in the original language in this short section: 1) because of the blood of Christ…we were redeemed; and 2) because we have received adoption as sons. My task tomorrow is to elaborate on this powerful and comforting Word of Truth!

God’s Christmas gifts to you will continue! This Word will be given to you and so will the precious body and blood of our Savior…through these you will be assured that you are loved, forgiven, and rescued from all that would otherwise threaten your safe standing in the Lord!

I hope to see you tomorrow in God’s house. Invite a friend!

Here is a short excerpt from the sermon:

Why did Jesus join us poor sinners under the law? Two reasons:

 

1)      Verse 5: “to redeem those who were under the law (that’s you).”

2)      Verse 5 again: “so that [you] might receive adoption as sons.”

 

And get a load of this: the Scriptures say that when this happened, you went from a non-speaking, having-no-rights napios (mere child) to a “son,” an adopted heir of God with full rights that are seen and heard through the invitation, ability and frequent practice to speak up…to pray to God in the Name of Jesus and to be heard! How did this change in status occur?

 

Again, the first reason given is “to redeem those who were under the law.” And again, this is about you! These words actually bolster the universal Gospel as they clarify its power. When Christ did what He did for you: entering your life, joining you under the law, becoming your brother and sacrificial representative as well as your Lord and Savior, He “redeemed” you. This is an exciting concept. It is a warfare word. Victors took defeated prisoners of war while the prisoners’ people back home would raise funds for the required amount to forward to the land of the victors in order to buy back their captured brothers. This is the process that the ancients called “redemption”. They used the verb “redeem” for it and anyone who carried it out was a “redeemer”. The sum of money was called the “ransom” (Morris, The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance, p 108).

 

How does this contribute to your confidence? This saving work of Jesus is not to be treated in a general way, but in a very precise way: what saved you specifically was the ransom of the blood of Christ given to the Heavenly Father for you dear Christian. Jesus shed His blood for you. He was the Redeemer who gave His blood ransom in order to redeem you/to buy you from destruction and to the glory of the Kingdom of God. What is the basis for your confidence? It is not your morality. It is not your behavior. It is not your effort. It is the glorious, royal, powerful, life-giving, ransom blood of the Lord Jesus Christ! So our catechism says clearly, “[Jesus] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and form the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood….”. (Luther, The Small Catechism, “The Creed,” from the explanation to The Second Article)

 

Let me put this simply: your confidence is found in the blood of Christ. This He shed for sinners. You must be a sinner to qualify. If you are, then there is NO doubt that this saving blood is for you. No doubt whatsoever because Jesus came for sinners…so here’s your checklist for your confidence: 1) Do you qualify as a sinner? If yes, then go to box #2: 2) Jesus paid His blood as a ransom to redeem such people. Thanks be to God that this Gospel is about you!

 

Still, we demolish the devil’s attack against the wonderful universal Gospel in an even more effective way and this is the second reason given in Galatians 4:5: “so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

 

This is where the universal Gospel gets personal and individual, where it is about you. Technically speaking this is the transition from objective to subjective justification. This Gospel turns you into a son. Again, the non-speaking child status is replaced with the full-rights heir status. Thus when you were baptized into the body of Christ, it was YOUR baptism and when you receive the body and blood of Jesus, the Sacrament is put into YOUR mouth and then your confidence is manifest in your new status as a heir with full-rights who is no longer a slave, but as one who speaks up and speaks out and prays and prays and prays…this is what we do. We have access, we have rights, we have the way to God’s ear and the path to God’s heart and God is no longer simply “God,” but now that we are heirs of Christ, God is our Heavenly and Loving Father who hears and listens to His heirs.

 

In this new status, Saint Paul writes, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

In Jesus’ Love,

Pastor Espinosa