God’s grace comes through Jesus Christ.

 

Sermon for Advent 3, December 14, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

John 1:15-18  ¹⁵John testified about him.  He cried out, “This was the one I spoke about when I said, ‘The one coming after me outranks me because he existed before me.’”  ¹⁶For out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.  ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  ¹⁸No one has ever seen God.  The only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father’s side, has made him known. (EHV)

God’s grace comes through Jesus Christ.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            At the beginning, no one had to teach Adam and Eve how to live.  They knew exactly how to live in righteousness with God because His righteousness was incorporated into them at the creation.  They knew nothing of evil.  All they knew was God’s love and how to react to His love in perfect holiness.

As we now know, that all changed when the serpent convinced Eve that God had withheld something desirable in the knowledge of evil.  When Adam and Eve fell into sin, the whole world became corrupted with evil, and the perfect knowledge of holiness in Adam and Eve was shattered.

Today, in our world, we see all kinds of evidence of people still imagining that evil is something to be desired.  Obeying God’s will is far from the natural mind, because being corrupted by sin, sinners imagine themselves gods unto themselves.  For that reason, people are left forever seeking some reason for living, or some happiness just out of reach, or for a peace that just can never be found in this world.

For all of these reasons, God gave us His testimony of His plan to redeem mankind from the sin and guilt that separated us all from His love.  His book, the Bible, contains two primary teachings: the Law and the Gospel.  The Law teaches what is necessary for us to be holy in God’s eyes, while the Gospel teaches us all that God has done, and continues to do, to make restored holiness possible for us.  St. John, in our text, mentions these two teachings, but the main point the Apostle brings us is that God’s grace comes through Jesus Christ.

God gave both of these main teachings because He loves us unreservedly.  Both teachings are needed because God’s love isn’t some frivolous affection that approves of any way of life or action.  Rather, God’s divine honor and majesty require us to be restored to the same holiness Adam and Eve enjoyed at creation, when being made in the image of God they walked with God in peace and harmony.  Thus, John wrote, “For out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

God gave three types of law through Moses: civil law to direct the nation in its daily affairs, ceremonial law to govern their worship life and point them forward to the promised Messiah and the sacrifice He would make to purify sinners, and the moral law which is affirmed in the New Testament to apply to all people of all time.

The civil law was specifically for the nation God made with the Children of Israel.  That law built a fence around Israel to keep them from following the ways of the pagans surrounding them.  While that civil law no longer applies to us, we do refer to it at times to help us understand what actions are pleasing in God’s sight.  The immorality God forbade for the Israelites must certainly not be pleasing in our lives either.

The ceremonial law pointed the people forward to the coming Messiah.  It was a sacrificial system designed to teach the people how seriously God takes sin, and to demonstrate the great sacrifice God’s Son, Jesus, would make to cleanse us of all guilt.  These laws were all fulfilled in Christ Jesus and therefore no longer regulate our worship life.  The temple itself no longer exists, nor is it needed, because God now resides in the hearts of those He rescues from darkness.

Finally, the moral law is intended for all people of all time.  It is summarized in the Ten Commandments.  Many of our civil laws seem to be rooted in the Ten Commandments, but this is mostly because the laws of our cities, towns, counties, states, and country are laid down in response to the natural law written in the hearts of all people.  This natural law influences our desire for justice, but because of the fall into sin, our understanding of natural law is fractured somewhat like a shattered mirror.  It still reflects sin in us, but only in parts and it is often twisted by human desires.  That is why we see more and more rulings that defy what God said in the Ten Commandments.

Still, the main purpose and teaching of the Bible is the Gospel.  God wants us to know that even though we can’t satisfy His holiness and righteous demand for obedience on our own, God, in His great love and mercy, sent His Son to be our redemption and peace.  Therefore, we see here that God’s grace comes through Jesus Christ.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. John wrote, “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God.  The only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father’s side, has made him known.”  After Adam and Eve fell into sin, seeing God’s face would destroy the soul.  It is too holy for sinners to view.  Even Moses, when He asked to see God’s glory, was told, “I will make all my goodness pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord in your presence.  I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”  He said, “You cannot see my face, for no human may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:19-20)

Still, there is One Man who has seen God directly and that is God’s Son.  The second person of the Trinity came to earth when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and united God with man in the form of the Baby Jesus.  Thus, God’s Son, who has known the Father from all eternity, came into human flesh, the true God-Man, to live for us the holiness only God could supply.  No ordinary man could ever achieve what was needed to save us.  And God, without becoming Man, could no longer be present among us.  Yet, in His infinite wisdom and love, God solved the problem of sin by becoming one of us.

Now, when Jesus came to earth and became one of us, He didn’t live and act in sin as we do.  Rather, from the moment of conception until He gave up His spirit on the cross, Jesus lived in perfect obedience to His Father’s will, and in perfect obedience of every law, even those laws that were laid down through civil authority.  Jesus was obedient to His parents, even when they were unreasonable and ignorant of His whereabouts.  In every aspect of His life, Jesus was holiness lived for us.  Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Peter testifies, “He did not commit a sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.  When he was insulted, he did not insult in return.  When he suffered, he made no threats.  Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:22-23)

You might think that someone so pure and so good, righteous, and kind in everything He did for the people around Him, that Jesus would be loved, respected and honored by all who knew Him.  Yet, the opposite happened.  Many enemies opposed Jesus, even those who were tasked with teaching His Word.  Toward the end of His ministry, it seemed like the whole world was against Jesus, and when the authorities came to arrest Him, even Jesus’ friends abandoned Him.  Isaiah foretold this all, and the reason why: “Surely he was taking up our weaknesses, and he was carrying our sufferings.  We thought it was because of God that he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted, but it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced.  He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved.  The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)

This is the Gospel of God’s grace; Jesus lived perfect holiness for us and then paid the penalty of death for sin that all of us deserved.  Thus, recognizing Jesus’ perfect righteousness on our behalf, God accepted His death as full satisfaction for the demands of the law.  God now sees those who believe in Jesus as perfectly righteous and holy, so that with Jesus now interceding for us and covering us with His righteousness, we are invited to believe in Him and be welcome in heaven as God’s own children. 

This grace comes to us through the message of the Gospel, but so that we receive it with certainty, God also provides for His Gospel to be administered to us in the Sacraments.  What joy is ours that, today, we again receive those blessings in our service.  Baptism for Emmett is God giving this little child entrance into His kingdom of grace.  It is God putting His seal of ownership and family name on Emmett Tubbs, so that the faith in Jesus needed for salvation is now granted to this little boy by the power of the Holy Spirit in the words of consecration.

At the same time, God has not forgotten those of us who have been previously called into His kingdom.  So that our souls and spirits are refreshed in the forgiveness Jesus won for all, our Lord brings us the very body and blood He sacrificed on that cross outside of Jerusalem in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.  Meeting with us in this precious meal, Jesus gives His body and blood to His people as an enduring proclamation of the Gospel and as a medicine of immortality for those who partake with faith.

All of this is part and parcel of God’s Word of salvation.  God the Father sent His Son to redeem and save us by making Himself the sacrifice that brought peace with God, and the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, both caused the words of salvation to be written down for our hearing and learning, but He also works through those words of peace to bring to life new hearts of faith in formerly dead sinners, and He continues to feed and strengthen faith in those who hear and believe the Gospel of all Jesus has done for us.

Dear friends, welcome again to God’s peace.  God’s grace comes through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.

Overflow with hope for Christ accepted you.

 

Sermon for Advent 2, December 7, 2025

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Amen.

Romans 15:4-13  ⁴Indeed, whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we would have hope.  ⁵And may God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement, grant that you agree with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one mind, in one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁷For this reason, accept one another as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God.  ⁸For I am saying that Christ became a servant of those who are circumcised for the sake of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs.  ⁹He also did this so that the Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing to your name.”  ¹⁰And again it says: “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”  ¹¹And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples give him praise.”  ¹²And again Isaiah says: “There will be a Root of Jesse, and he is the one who will rise up to rule the Gentiles; on him the Gentiles will place their hope.”  ¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (EHV)

Overflow with hope for Christ accepted you.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            The Advent season is a time of preparation.  Most often, we think of preparing to welcome the Baby, Jesus, as we celebrate His arrival in the manger at Bethlehem.  At the same time, we are really preparing to meet Jesus face to face when He returns in glory to judge the world.  At Jesus’ first Advent, He came in humility, poverty, and meekness to live in our flesh as a servant and to effect salvation for all people.  The next time Jesus comes, He will arrive in all the pomp and circumstance of the heavenly King.  He will sit on His throne of glory to judge the world.  This is what we are preparing for in Advent.

In truth, this is exactly why God gave us the Bible, to prepare us to meet Him face to face in glory.  At the creation, mankind was perfectly in harmony with God.  We had no sin, no difference of opinion, no alternative desire, and no reason to hide from God nor for God to turn His face away from us.  That all changed with the fall into sin.  Still, God had His plan in place to restore us into the holiness that will allow us to be in His presence for eternity.

Here, Paul writes about how God has restored to us the hope of salvation and eternal life.  By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God is described as “the source of patient endurance and encouragement.”  Imagine that amazing love and kindness displayed for all mankind.  Once sin entered the world, all people were left without hope, without love, without any reason to go on, without any chance to be with God in peace.  However, God sent Jesus to accomplish reconciliation so that you Overflow with hope for Christ accepted you.

In our day, many people claim to be spiritual but not religious.  What they want is a silent god who agrees with them no matter what they desire or believe.  Yet, such a god is powerless to save, unable to answer prayer, to defend the helpless and weak, to heal, or to do any of the other amazing things God continually does for us, whether we believe in Him or not.  What silent idol could make it rain, or keep the sun shining?  What silent god could give life?  Our God does all this and so much more on a daily basis.

However, on top of all that, the God who actually did create this world and bestow on us the breath of life, spoke with power and authority through His prophets, apostles, and evangelists.  Through His prophets, God foretold the birth of a Savior and much about how we could recognize Him.  By His generous grace and kindness, God chose people to believe in Him and to live demonstrating for the world His ability to save.  The Children of Israel weren’t chosen by God to be His people because of any merit or praiseworthy behavior.  In fact, in many cases, they demonstrated the lack of faith in God that has so troubled most people. 

At the same time, remember how Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, was rescued from spiritual darkness; “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3)  God spoke His great promises to Abraham, and Abraham believed.  Dear friends, God speaks to you and me in His Bible.  No, we don’t get to hear God speak to us in some surreal voice.  God doesn’t meet us at a burning bush in the wilderness as He did with Moses.  Instead, God has the very practical solution of recording His message of hope in a book to be shared for all the rest of the history of the world. 

By the miracle of divine verbal inspiration, we have the saving Word.  We have the law that condemns us and makes us realize our need for a Savior, and we have the Gospel which shows us the Savior God sent, teaches us all Jesus did to rescue us from darkness and condemnation, and empowers saving faith in Jesus to grow in those who hear the Word and believe it.

Across our world, today, there are almost countless divisions among people who claim to be Christian, and likewise countless other religions that claim faith in a different god, or no god at all.  However, there is only one God who speaks from the heavenly realms, and there is only one God who saves.  Jesus openly declared, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.  If you know me, you would also know my Father.” (John 14:6-7)  All religions other than the parts of Christianity that truly teach Jesus as the One and Only Savior lead to eternal death and damnation prepared for the devil who started all this trouble. 

Knowing that we have forgiveness and true salvation only through faith in Jesus, Paul writes here, “And may God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement, grant that you agree with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that with one mind, in one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  There are many so-called ecumenical movements that attempt to have fellowship without agreement in doctrine.  Yet, I ask; Is Christ divided?  Can Jesus possibly speak two different truths?  Not hardly.  Instead, we have “the knowledge of the truth that conforms to godliness, based on the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.” (Titus 1:1-2)

Now, God certainly wants the people He calls to believe in Jesus to be in complete agreement with each other, but it has to begin with agreeing with His holy Word.  God never lies or deceives.  Rather than imagining a god who doesn’t speak or one who is flexible concerning truth, our God demands perfect allegiance to Him and to His Word.  Thankfully, dear friends, this too Jesus lived for us.  By Jesus’ perfect trust in His Father’s will, and by His perfect obedience to all the law, Jesus has provided the righteousness we need to stand in God’s presence when our time on this earth shall end.

Furthermore, we did nothing to gain this great faith, but faith and salvation are granted to us by God’s choice and by the power of His Spirit in Word and Sacrament.  Through the power of the Gospel, Jesus’ perfect life is credited to us through faith, and Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross bearing the sins of the world gives us sure and certain hope of restored harmony with God.  The Holy Spirit tells us:

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For in Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  Indeed, what the law was unable to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, when he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin.  God condemned sin in his flesh, so that the righteous decree of the law would be fully satisfied in us who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)

Because of everything the Bible tells us, and especially because of all Jesus has done to rescue us from the condemnation we deserved, we have every reason to praise God and to celebrate here and eternally for His saving mercy and grace.  Our text ends with Paul’s sincere desire that we never take this blessing for granted.  He wrote, “Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

What a marvelous prayer of one believer for another!  Remember, the Holy Spirit caused Paul to write these words.  Therefore, God, Himself, desires that you believe His Word and never doubt.  For that trust in His Word, you are given eternal reason to believe.  No matter how the world around us might ridicule, condemn, or even kill us, we have salvation that cannot be taken away.  Our God has spoken His promises of forgiveness and peace.  This Advent season, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth, be prepared to rejoice at His return, for our merciful God has won your forgiveness and salvation, chose you out of all the masses of people on earth to believe in His Son, our Savior, and granted that saving faith to you through His Word in the Gospel and the cleansing flood of Baptism.

Dear friends, continue to read your Bible, study your catechism that summarizes its truths, and by the power of the Holy Spirit in God’s Word, Overflow with hope for Christ accepted you.  Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.