Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

 

Sermon for Lent 5, March 26, 2023

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

Romans 8:11-19  ¹¹And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.  ¹²So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it.  ¹³For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die.  But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.  ¹⁴Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!”  ¹⁶The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.  ¹⁷Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.  ¹⁸For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.  ¹⁹In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. (EHV)

Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

Dear loved ones in Jesus,

            This morning, we have been blessed to witness a rebirth that natural man struggles to comprehend.  A little girl was rescued from the forces of darkness and granted new life through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Now, we grant that there are no visible changes to her condition.  We also grant that she may struggle, at times, to live up to the Spirit that now dwells within her.  At the same time, we trust our God who promises that Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

This little child, who appears so small and innocent, is already at war in the world.  She was born that way.  However, this morning, the sides have changed.  Like all the rest of us, at birth, Miriam was an enemy of God, spiritually dead in sin, and separated from God; hopelessness was her natural condition.  If left that way throughout her earthly life, death and eternal separation from God would be her everlasting fate.  As believers in Jesus, we would not wish that upon anyone, just as God “who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)  This morning, because of His love for this little girl, God through baptism brought Miriam over to His side of the war.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul writes, “And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.”  Through baptism, Miriam has received new spiritual life in Christ, and along with that, she has received God’s assurance that her now mortal body will be raised to glory everlasting with Jesus.  Just as the Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead, so He has now entered into Miriam’s life to give her new life.  Therefore, as long as Miriam remains connected to Jesus by faith, her eternity is secure, and her future is glory in heaven with Jesus, for those Reborn by the Spirit inherit glory with Christ.

Baptism has this amazing power because as Paul explained earlier in this letter, “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.” (Romans 6:3-4)  The death and eternal separation from God that every person deserved because of the sin we were born in, and the sins we each commit, was put on Christ Jesus.  Thus, God’s holy Son bore the punishment of death we each deserved. 

The great news for us is that Jesus didn’t stay dead.  In two weeks, we will be celebrating again the truth that Jesus was raised to life and on that first Easter morning, He walked out of the cold, dark tomb with His body glorified for eternal life.  Therefore, by the baptism He sanctified, and the faith it gives, Jesus’ resurrected glory is granted to us as well, for Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

By His resurrection from the grave, Jesus showed the world that His victory is complete.  Eternal joy is secure for all who walk in Jesus.  Still, like terrorists who refuse to concede that the war is over, the devil, the world, and our own natural flesh continue to battle against God’s children.  Though Jesus marched through the devil’s lair early Easter morning in triumph, and the devil knows his war against God is lost, he still fights and connives with the world to steal away as many of God’s loved ones as he can.  Because of the wicked one’s ongoing hatred for God and His Son, you and I are forced to be ever vigilant against his attacks and schemes.  The world and our own flesh often join the enemy in that fight, tempting us to walk apart from Jesus.  To this, the Holy Spirit through Paul tells us, “So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it.  For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die.  But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.”

Because Satan is no longer our slave-master, we owe him nothing.  Furthermore, because Jesus paid the price to set us free, we owe to Jesus everything we have and everything we are.  We must remember that there really are only two sides to this war.  Whichever side we would serve has a claim to our hearts.  Thus, if we allow our mortal nature to have control, with all its lusts, impure thoughts, wicked desires, and tendency to self-promotion, we would be turning our backs to the Savior who loved us so much He was willing to live and die in our place.  If we turn against that Savior who loves us, our future returns to that of the devil condemned to eternity in the prison prepared for him and his angels. 

Still, it is our joy and confidence to remember that we are not alone in this war.  The Spirit is working in us to enable us to grow in faith by the power of the Word and the blessing of the Sacraments.  Jesus promised, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)  As John also wrote under the power of the Spirit, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)  Thus, because of God’s love for us and the Spirit working in us, we return daily to our baptisms in repentance and God forgives.

God loved us before time began as He planned our deliverance through Jesus.  God loved us as He prepared the world to receive Jesus and ultimately to reject Him and send God’s beloved Son to the cross to suffer and die in our place.  God loved us when He accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as sufficient for the whole world and raised Jesus from the dead.  And, God loves us still today by coming to us through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, washing us clean of all sin in the waters Jesus made holy through His sacrifice, and working faith in our hearts by the power of the Good News of all the God has done to reconcile us with Himself.

This is why Paul writes, “Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!”  There are people in our world who claim they would only believe in Jesus if they could personally witness the miracles He performed while living among us on earth.  Yet, the vast majority of those who saw Him, rejected Jesus, and all abandoned Him in the end. 

On the other hand, a true miracle occurs in our time when the Spirit takes hold of our hands and our hearts, for our resistance is conquered, and God claims us as His own beloved children.  Then, to His adopted and beloved children, God opens His hands with forgiveness so great we could not imagine it, and He implores us to bring to Him our every need and concern for He desires to hear our prayers and answer them.  Therefore, we who believe in Jesus may now approach God’s awesome throne as a toddler runs to her father or mother with confidence and joy, because Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

Of course, Christianity has been around a long time now, and the world is still an ugly, dangerous place.  Many people even use the ugly history of wickedness in the world as an excuse to reject the One who loves them.  However, life in this world is not our end.  Therefore, giving every confidence in our God’s love for us and His care for our everlasting lives, the Spirit works in us to trust God’s plans for our lives.  “The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.” 

God’s own Son came down to earth to live with us, but do you think His life was all sunshine and roses?  From the moment of conception, Jesus was a marked Man.  Before an angel intervened, Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph, was ready to abandon Jesus and His mother.  Herod, the king of the land at the time of Jesus’ birth tried to kill Him, and the infant Jesus was saved only through a midnight flight to a foreign country.  Jesus grew up in a poor part of the kingdom without any claim to fame.  As an adult, Jesus was a pauper who owned only the clothes on His back.  He was persecuted, rejected, mocked, and finally slandered, betrayed, and crucified by His fellow countrymen.  Does that sound like an ideal life to anyone?

If the world treated God’s Son in such a fashion, could we expect anything better?  Consequently, when we suffer any trial or hardship for believing in Jesus, consider it an honor to be counted worthy to walk with your Lord, because the Holy Spirit has made that connection for us former lost sinners who now walk under the holiness of our Savior.  Furthermore, anything we have to endure in this world for our fellowship with Jesus is but a mere annoyance (perhaps like a kitten scratch) when compared to the magnitude of glory, peace, and joy we will experience in our everlasting home in heaven, where “God’s dwelling is with people.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

Dear friends, the whole of creation waits eagerly for that day.  Because this world was cursed for mankind’s sin, even the physical elements of the world want to be set free from sin’s curse and look forward to learning who among its creatures have been delivered into God’s everlasting kingdom through faith.  In the same way, we cannot, today, look into hearts and know with certainty who among us is saved, but by God’s grace and the faith in Jesus He implants in your heart, you have the Holy Spirit’s assurance that He is at work in all who believe to make sure that being Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.  Amen.

Now may the God of peace—who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, in connection with His blood, which established the eternal testament—may He equip you with every good thing to do His will, as He works in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory forever and ever.  Amen.