Forever to forever, our God is God.

 

Sermon for Trinity 16, September 27, 2020

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Deuteronomy 32:39–40  ³⁹Now see that I, only I, am he, and there is not a god comparable to me.  I put to death and I make alive.  I wound and I heal.  There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.  ⁴⁰For I lift up my hand to heaven, and I swear: “As I live forever…” (EHV)

Forever to forever, our God is God.

Dear friends of the living God,

            Jesus once warned His followers that there would come a time when they would be hated and viciously persecuted, but He assured them, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) 

Throughout the history of the Christian Church, there have always been those who despised God and hated any who mention Him.  Likewise, there may come times when our physical lives are in danger simply for believing in the Almighty God, but truly, we have no one else to fear, for by God’s grace, we are blessed in so many ways, because Forever to forever, our God is God.

In the song this text is taken from, Moses reminds us of how God blesses us with life and all things needed, but he also cautions of how often people turn to trusting other gods—gods which cannot see, cannot move, cannot think, cannot do.  Therefore, God says, “Now see that I, only I, am he, and there is not a god comparable to me.”  God alone has been here from eternity.  God, alone, is and will be here forever.  God alone created the universe and everything in it.  God alone formed everything we see and use, including also everything that is beyond our ability to see. 

It is a common trait among people of our world to doubt anything they cannot see and feel for themselves.  We can point to doubting Thomas who didn’t believe Jesus was alive until he could put his hand in Jesus’ side and his finger in Jesus’ wounded hands, but we don’t have to go so far away.  So many people in our world today do not believe that God created the world, and among those who admit that He did, many still question how much control He exerts in the world.

If we begin to doubt God’s ability to control this world and provide for our needs, or if we question His love and concern for us, we are crossing over into the idolatry of the ancient pagans, who, no longer acknowledging God, invented deity after deity in a futile attempt to influence nature and explain the troubles and joys of this world.  This is the idolatry God condemns in Moses’ warning song. 

Though we may not be able to see how God is working behind the scenes, we need to trust His assurance “that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:38)

In our Gospel lesson, we saw a large crowd mourning with a widow for the loss of her only son and support.  Many likely wondered why that young man had to die.  Most people have a tendency to believe that when things go well, it is because they earned it.  Yet when things go wrong, they want someone else to blame.  Often, that someone is God.  In our sermon text, our Lord declares, “I put to death and I make alive.  I wound and I heal.”  As Creator, God has the due right to determine when everyone lives or dies. 

Of course, some people will take this as ammunition to lob against God.  We can imagine them asking, “If God is so good, how come He kills?  How come He wounds?”  In answer, God never causes sin, but nothing happens in this world beyond what He allows, and as far as taking or giving life is concerned, God claims His right as our Creator.  It is thus a terrible sin when man interferes with life.

The Triune God gave life to this world.  The newly created world was exactly as God wanted it to be.  It was without sin, pain, or death.  Then sin entered the scene as the devil challenged human faith in God’s goodness, and mankind trusted the lie rather than the God who created them.  As I said, some people are tempted to imagine that God is abusive as He uses His authority, but God, as Creator, has the right to judge the created.  Furthermore, God uses the troubles of this fallen world as discipline to teach us to turn to Him and to trust His will.  Much as a loving parent disciplines a child in the hope of leading that child to greater goodness, God disciplines those He loves in the desire to keep them true to Him.

Along with discipline, there is punishment.  Death entered this world, just as God had warned Adam that death would be the consequence of sin.  God will not allow anything sinful to be in His presence.  Anything sinful must be removed to a place far from God—that place of death is hell—which God created not for man but for the angels that rebelled against Him.  Yet, because man had become evil, hell became the rightful destination of all sinners.

On our own, we had no way to escape that punishment.  God declared, “There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.”  Many people hope to cheat death as they try every possible means to extend their lives.  Yet, even with every precaution and the best medical care available anywhere in the world, the death rate remains 100%.  In the end, everyone dies.  A common complaint of men is the unfairness of death.  Yet, we each earned death by rebelliousness against God.

At the end of our text God takes an oath.  He says, “I lift up my hand to heaven, and I swear: As I live forever…”  God swears upon the greatest power in existence, which is Himself, that He will never give His sovereign authority to another.  He will never turn over control of this world to any created thing.  For those whom God has called to faith, this is our great comfort and hope.  In God’s oath, we have the joy of knowing that He never changes.  He will never change His character, nor will He ever deny His promise.  Certainly, God warned that those who sin against Him will die.  That is the fulfillment of the Law which should terrify us, but God has also promised to be our Savior, and that promise is our hope and our life.

At the time of the very first sin, God pronounced His curse upon the tempter, but He also immediately extended His promise of salvation when He told that serpent, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.  He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)  

God renewed His salvation covenant in His promise to Abraham that “All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.” (Genesis 12:3)  God then continued that promise through Abraham’s descendants and renewed it again and again after they entered the promised land of Canaan.  Through this stubborn, wandering, stiff-necked people God would bring a Savior for the the world. 

The Children of Israel really weren’t much different than any other people.  All of us sin; all share the guilt of turning to other gods in one form or another.  Still, God provided a Savior for all, and the Lord wants all people to trust in that Savior for redemption, forgiveness, and everlasting salvation.  Our Savior was born from the descendants of Israel, from the line of King David.  He was born in circumstances that don’t reflect His actual standing as the Royal Son of God, for He was born homeless in a little town, to a virgin who became pregnant before marriage, and the little family had to flee from the rampage of a murderous tyrant, all of which God foretold so that we could recognize Him.  Through the gift of His humble Son, God fulfilled His promise of salvation for sinners like you and me.

As God proclaimed that He is the One who takes life, He also promises that He gives life.  When He said that He wounds, He also said that He heals.  This is the difference between the Law and the Gospel.  God kills with the law, and with the Gospel, God gives life.  The fulfillment of these two statements is found in Christ Jesus.  In Jesus, we have healing from our sinfulness, and His healing gives us life.  God healed us by taking all the sins of the world and putting them on Jesus.  All the punishment we deserved, God meted out on His Son.  God aimed all the wrath He feels for our sin at the One Man who never sinned.  Jesus took every punishment we deserved, because in His great mercy, God loved us and did not want anyone to be lost.  Because of Jesus, God declares our sins forgiven and remembered no more.

My friends, death came into this world because of sin.  Because of God’s mercy, life came into this world in the form of Jesus Christ, our rescuer, who rose from the grave victorious over sin and death.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, we heard how Jesus raised a dead young man to live again.  That miracle showed that Jesus has the power to give us life, but while that young man was restored to physical life, our resurrection will be patterned after Jesus, who rose to eternal life.  The Apostle Paul wrote,

Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.  For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:3-5)  

Dear friends, Forever to Forever, our God Is God.  God was before time began, and He will live and reign after all this world is consumed in the flames of destruction.  As God, He will send those who hold themselves apart from Christ to the punishment reserved for Satan.  But as God, He will also welcome into His heavenly mansions all those who trust in His Son, our Lord Jesus. 

Through our Baptisms and through faith in Jesus Christ, we have been made a part of Christ’s body, the Holy Christian Church.  Through that connection of faith, we have the assurance of life everlasting with our Father in heaven.  God, as God, allowed His Son to die for you.  He raised Him to life again, also for you.  God’s promise is eternal.  Your sins are forgiven.  Your salvation is assured, because Jesus Christ was killed for your transgressions, and He was raised again to give you eternal life.  Amen.

Glory be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Amen.