Sermon for
Jubilate, Easter 4, April 26, 2026
Grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Romans 4:19-5:2 19He
did not weaken in faith, even though he considered his own body as good as dead
(because he was about one hundred years old), and even though he considered
Sarah’s womb to be dead. 20He
did not waver in unbelief with respect to God’s promise, but he grew strong in
faith, giving glory to God 21and being fully convinced that God was
able to do what he had promised. 22This
is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23Now the statement “it was
credited to him” was not written for him alone, 24but also for us to
whom it would be credited, namely, to us who believe in the one who raised our
Lord Jesus from the dead. 25He
was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life
because of our justification. Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. 2Through him we
also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our
hope for the glory of God. (EHV)
We know
peace through Jesus our Lord.
Dear fellow redeemed,
How
do you know? It often surprises people
when confronted with the fact that we all accept many things by faith. Much of what we think we know about the world
is accepted by faith, because most of us never have the opportunity to see the
reality. Now, certainly, much of that
faith is based on the observations of others.
We trust scientists, archeologists, and specialists to be telling us the
truth. Yet, there are a lot of things
that the ordinary person accepts simply by faith. We know that the tallest mountain on earth
stands 29,031 feet 8+1⁄2 inches above sea level, but how
many of us have actually taken the time to measure it? We know that the deepest point in the ocean
is 36,056 feet deep in what is called Challenger Deep, but did you know that
explorers have been discovering new deepest points in the seas since 1875? Have we truly now found the deepest part of
the sea?
Now, most people accept
those things, and thousands of other facts that we can’t ourselves prove,
simply because we trust other people to be telling us the truth. Thus, one wonders, why do some people have so
much trouble trusting truths that God has delivered to us with undeniable
evidence? There are billions of people
currently living on this planet, yet how many billions of those still reject
Jesus as Savior? I don’t know that
answer to that question, but I can say, We know peace through Jesus our
Lord.
We know peace. That little statement should give us great
relief, but what does the world around us look like? Wars, political infighting among citizens who
should all be pulling for the greater good, earthquakes in various places,
storms and fires destroying property and lives, disease, the ravages of time on
our older bodies, and even sudden unexpected deaths—how can anyone say we know
peace? The answer lies in Jesus.
Luke reported that when
Jesus was born, “Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude from the
heavenly army, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward mankind.’” (Luke 2:13-14) This was amazing news to the shepherds in the
field, but how many people today simply shrug their shoulders in
disbelief? So, how do we know peace?
St. Paul wrote, “We
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is tremendous news, but so many people still
doubt whether that could even be true, so how are you and I privileged to know
it? The answer lies in faith, and it’s
not faith that we develop by exploring the depths or heights of the world. Rather, this is faith that the Holy Spirit
works in us through the power of God’s Word.
Truthfully, no one believes because he made a decision to believe. That faith, or decision for those who would
call it thus, is worked in us from a power outside of us—the power of God.
Paul gives us a clear
example in ancient Abraham:
He
did not weaken in faith, even though he considered his own body as good as dead
(because he was about one hundred years old), and even though he considered
Sarah’s womb to be dead. He did not
waver in unbelief with respect to God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith,
giving glory to God and being fully convinced that God was able to do what he
had promised.
God had promised Abraham a
son through whom the world would be blessed and through whom Abraham would have
countless descendants. Yet, decades
passed without Sarah and Abraham being blessed with a baby. Even when they tried to manufacture an answer
to God’s promise through Sarah’s handmaid, that baby was not the promised
son. Still, through all those years of
evidence against God’s promise, Abraham grew stronger and stronger in his trust
that God would deliver. Then, after
Sarah had finally given birth to a son, and that boy had begun to grow up to
near adulthood, Abraham was even willing to sacrifice his precious son’s life
at God’s command because he trusted God to provide.
From the standpoint of
human reason, Abraham’s story didn’t make any sense. The evidence was against him for
decades. However, God kept His
promise. God provided Abraham and Sarah
a son named Isaac, and through that child, Abraham’s descendants eventually
numbered in the millions, and by today, that number of descendants has numbered
in the billions through faith, because the Lord assures us that “In fact, you are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. … And if you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26,29) Therefore, God’s promise to Abraham is
fulfilled and is being added to still today.
Likewise is our peace, but
the peace we enjoy is not worldly peace, nor is it some utopian fantasy. Rather, it is peace which God grants to those
who believe in Jesus—it is true, everlasting peace in the glories of
heaven. But again, how do we know? We know peace through Jesus our Lord.
Paul reminds us that
Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had
promised. This is why ‘it was credited
to him as righteousness.’” Then Paul
writes, “Now the statement ‘it was credited to him’ was not written for him
alone, but also for us to whom it would be credited, namely, to us who believe
in the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead.” Faith is trusting God to deliver on His
promises even when we can’t see it with our own eyes. At the same time, Christians do not just have
blind faith, for God has provided ample evidence that what His Word declares is
most certainly true.
Here, Paul again assures
his readers that righteousness “would be credited, namely, to us who believe
in the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. He was handed over to death because of our
trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification.” This is the most important concept for us to
grasp. Our salvation and place in heaven
is not dependent upon our good works, or our decisions, our ancestry, nor on
anything we might do. Christ Jesus
entered this world to make us righteous before His Father in heaven. Jesus’ life and death accomplished the law in
our place and then paid the penalty we owed for our shortcomings and weakness of
faith. Consequently, we read, “Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
This great Good News comes
to us through the hearing of the Gospel and the power of God’s Word in the
Sacrament of Baptism. It is renewed to
us by the Word of Christ in the Lord’s Supper.
Whenever we hear, read, or otherwise absorb God’s Word, the Holy Spirit
is working through the Gospel to bring us to faith and to keep us trusting God’s
promise of forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Peace with God was His
goal for us all along. So often, the
world assumes that if God exists, He exists to judge or to harm us. But the exact opposite is true. God does indeed exist, and it is always His
desire to bless us even in this sin-damaged world. The Spirit assures us, “God our Savior …
wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1
Timothy 2:3-4) And again, “All things
work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called
according to his purpose, because those God foreknew, he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many
brothers.” (Romans 8:28-29)
Likewise, Jesus promised His disciples, “In my Father’s house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I
would have told you. I am going to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that
you may also be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)
It is in these promises of
our Lord, and Savior, and God, that our faith is built. Therefore, no matter what this world might throw
against us, we can walk boldly forward, confident of our loving Savior’s care,
for He already lived, died, and rose again to bring us complete and certain
assurance that our sins are forgiven, that we have peace with our God and
Creator, and that there is nothing for us to fear for whether we live or die
here on earth, we will live and reign with our Lord Jesus in heaven. For as Paul concludes our text, “Through
him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we
stand. And we rejoice confidently on the
basis of our hope for the glory of God.”
Dear friends, Jesus
comforted His disciples saying, “Do
not let your heart be troubled. Believe
in God; believe also in me.”
(John 14:1) While there is much in this
life we may never understand, and there are many things believed by faith in
this world that may or may not be true, there is nothing in the present nor our
future that can take away the love of God for us in Jesus. Through the faith in Jesus that the Holy Spirit
has worked in our hearts, We know peace through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
The God of all grace, who
called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore,
establish, strengthen, and support you.
To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen
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