“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 (Read Genesis 1 and 2)

How did the heavens, the earth, and everything in them come to be? The Bible clearly tells us that the one true God — Jehovah God, who is one God, yet three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — created them out of nothing by His almighty Word. Reading on in the first two chapters of Genesis, we see He said of that which He created, “Let there be …” and “there was.”

It is as the Scriptures teach: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6); and, “By faith we understand that the universe was framed by the word of God, so that things that are seen were not made out of things which are visible” (Heb. 11:3).

That the LORD God created the heavens and earth and everything in them in six days is taught not only in the Genesis account but is repeated as a basis for the observance of the Sabbath in the Old Testament Scriptures. “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Ex. 20:11).

The Church, which is made up of all true believers of all time, has always held to the truthfulness of the Genesis account of creation and confesses with Nehemiah the prophet: “You alone are the LORD. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve them all. And the host of heaven worships You” (Neh. 9:6). So also, in the ancient creeds still used today, believers confess: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.”

This same God, who called all things into existence by His almighty Word, has also created each one of us. He formed the first man from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul (Gen. 2:7). He created the first woman from the rib of Adam (Gen. 2:18ff.); and He created and formed each one of us in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-16).

Not only has He created us and given us life, He sent His only-begotten Son to die for us and bear the guilt and punishment for our sins that we might have life eternal through faith in Him; and He calls us to faith through the hearing of His life-giving Word. The Bible tells us: “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born from a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5); and, “You are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27).

This means that the LORD God has created you, forming you in the womb; and, even though you knew Him not because of the sin inherent in each of us through Adam’s fall (John 1:1-14; Gen. 3), He came into this world a true man to pay for your sins and make you His own, and He calls you to faith in Him through His gracious word of forgiveness and life in His Son, Jesus Christ! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

O LORD God, Creator of the heavens, the earth, and all things, thank You for making me, giving me breath, and for giving me life through faith in the Son. Graciously keep me in the true and saving faith unto life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

Jesus answered them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32 (Read Luke 5:27-32)

It was not those who thought themselves to be righteous who came to Jesus, but the tax collectors and sinners — those who knew of their utter sinfulness and need for a Savior.

Though the scribes and Pharisees faulted Jesus for associating with such sinners, Jesus associated with them because He “came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15), and “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10; cf. v. 1-10).

It is as Jesus said to them: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

How comforting this is to us sinners! Jesus is our friend! He came into this world to save us! He shed His holy and precious blood upon the cross to make atonement for sinners like you and like me! “In Him [through faith in His name] we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7; cf. 1 John 2:1-2).

Were the scribes and Pharisees sinners? Yes, they were (cf. Rom. 3:10ff.)! But they thought they were righteous and acceptable to God by their own works. They misunderstood God’s Word and saw no need of repentance or for a Savior to make atonement for their sins. And, sadly, many do the same in our own day. They fail to see their own utter sinfulness and their need of the Savior and they are unwilling to believe the Gospel.

Jesus came to call us to repentance and to give us life eternal through faith in Him.

And, following the example of our Lord Jesus, we too can reach out to and associate with sinners, not to join in their evil ways, but to call them to repentance and to share with them the comforting news that Jesus is the friend of sinners — that He died for their sins, too, and that He reaches out to them and offers to them forgiveness of sins and life everlasting through faith in His name!

O dearest Jesus, we thank You for being the friend of sinners — for shedding Your holy and precious blood to redeem us, and for calling us to repent and trust in You for forgiveness and life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.

Taking the twelve, He said, “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished, for He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and put Him to death, and on the third day He will rise again.” They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what was spoken. Luke 18:31-34

If Jesus had not died for our sins and risen again, you and I could not be saved. It is as the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth (1 Cor. 15:17-19): “If Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”

Though Jesus told His disciples this, they did not understand. In fact, even after Jesus had died on the cross and risen again, they failed to understand; so, “He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Me.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and accordingly it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:44-47).

And many remain blind to this truth today, as well. They imagine that the cross was unnecessary and think that they can merit their own salvation by following the examples left for us by Jesus. For them, it really doesn’t matter if Jesus died on the cross and rose again bodily on the third day — His death was only an unfortunate end of Jesus’ life. They believe Christ lives on if we carry His love and concern for the poor and downtrodden into our age by following His example of meeting the physical needs of the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the blind.

Though Christ had perfect love for His neighbor and indeed met the physical needs of those who came to Him, that’s not the most important reason for His coming. He came into this world to save sinners (cf. 1 Tim. 1:15); and, to save sinners, it was necessary for Him to be mocked, scourged, beaten, crucified, and buried, and then to rise again from the dead on the third day. This is what the prophets had said He would do, and this is what was necessary to redeem us from our sin and the death we so deserve.

And this is what the Scriptures promised. He was the Seed of the woman who crushed the head of the serpent but was bruised in His heel (Gen. 3:15). He is the promised Son of David who would redeem Israel from all his iniquities (Ps. 130:7-8). He is the Lord God Himself in human flesh and blood that He might take our place under the law and fulfill it perfectly for us and then suffer and die upon the cross to bear our iniquities (Isa. 53; Ps. 22).

“His visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men” (Isa. 52:14). “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way, but the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6). Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “In Him we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; He has put him to grief. If he made himself as an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the anguish of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge My righteous servant shall justify the many, for he shall bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:10-11).

It was necessary for the promised Messiah, the Christ, to suffer and die for the sins of the world and to rise again on the third day; and it is necessary “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” that we might place our faith in Him and be saved!

We thank You, O Christ, for going to the cross, bearing our sins, and redeeming us to God. Open our eyes to see and believe that we may take comfort in You and the redemption You have provided for us with Your shed blood. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

Jesus, I will ponder now

1 Jesus, I will ponder now
On Your holy passion;
With Your Spirit me endow
For such meditation.
Grant that I in love and faith
May the image cherish
Of Your suff’ring, pain, and death
That I may not perish.

2 Make me see Your great distress,
Anguish, and affliction,
Bonds and stripes and wretchedness
And Your crucifixion;
Make me see how scourge and rod,
Spear and nails did wound You,
How for them You died, O God,
Who with thorns had crowned You.

3 Yet, O Lord, not thus alone
Make me see Your passion,
But its cause to me make known
And its termination.
Ah! I also and my sin
Wrought Your deep affliction;
This indeed the cause has been
Of Your crucifixion.

4 Grant that I Your passion view
With repentant grieving.
Let me not bring shame to You
By unholy living.
How could I refuse to shun
Ev’ry sinful pleasure
Since for me God’s only Son
Suffered without measure?

5 If my sins give me alarm
And my conscience grieve me,
Let Your cross my fear disarm;
Peace of conscience give me.
Help me see forgiveness won
By Your holy passion.
If for me He slays His Son,
God must have compassion!

6 Graciously my faith renew;
Help me bear my crosses,
Learning humbleness from You,
Peace mid pain and losses.
May I give You love for love!
Hear me, O my Savior,
That I may in heav’n above
Sing Your praise forever.

Sigismund von Birken, 1626–81; tr. August Crull, 1845–1923, alt. Public domain
JESU KREUZ, LEIDEN UND PEIN 76 76 D Is. 53:3–6 ; John 3:16 ; Rom. 12:1–2 ; 1 John 4:19
Concordia Publishing House. Lutheran Service Book: Text Edition (Kindle Locations 17203-17212). Kindle Edition.

“You have taken Him, who was handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by lawless hands have crucified and killed Him.” Acts 2:23

Who killed Jesus? Who is responsible for His crucifixion and death?

Was it the chief priests and scribes who plotted Jesus’ arrest and handed Him over, demanding He be crucified? Was it Judas who betrayed Jesus? Was it Peter and the disciples who denied and forsook Him? Was it Pontius Pilate and the Roman soldiers who condemned Jesus and carried out His execution on the cross?

The Scriptures tells us: “You have taken Him, who was handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by lawless hands have crucified and killed Him.”

And so, who killed Jesus? Was it the men of Israel addressed by Peter in his Pentecost sermon? Many lay the blame on the Jews even yet to this day for rejecting their Messiah and having Him crucified.

But the Scriptures make it clear who killed Jesus. It was you! It was me! You and I are the cause of the condemnation of this just and righteous man. He was holy and without sin. Yet, we caused His condemnation and death with our sin!

As the Scriptures say, Jesus was “handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God.” We read in Isaiah 53:5-6: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way, but the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The hymn verse from “Jesus, I will Ponder Now” expresses it so well: “Ah! I also and my sin wrought Thy deep affliction; this indeed the cause hath been of Thy crucifixion.”

Yes, you and I killed Jesus! He died not because of any fault of His own. He went to the cross and died to atone for your sins and for mine — for the sins of all (cf. 1 John 2:1-2)!

But the beautiful part in it all is that He paid in full for all our sins and rose victorious! Because He took our punishment and bore our condemnation, we have pardon and forgiveness from God when we repent of our sinful ways and look to Jesus in faith; and, in Jesus, we have the certain hope of life everlasting!

Dear Lord Jesus, I am guilty. It was my sin that brought about Your agony on the cross, Your condemnation, Your death. In love, You willing bore my sin and suffered my punishment that I might be pardoned, forgiven and have life everlasting through faith in Your name. Grant that I turn from my sins to You in faith and received the blessings You won for me and all by Your innocent sufferings and death. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Where is your heart? Is it in this world, or in the next? If you want to find out where your heart is, look at where your treasures are! If we live and work to amass things and riches here in this world, our hearts too are in the world.

But what does Jesus say? “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

When our treasures are in this world, we are filled with care and concern about maintaining them, preventing loss or damage, and even insuring them against theft and destruction. Earthly treasures are temporary. Things wear out. Property is stolen. Moth and rust corrupt. When we die, we leave everything behind; and ultimately all will be destroyed by fire at Christ’s return on the Last Day.

How much wiser to have our treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt and where thieves cannot break in and steal! Then, when this world comes to a close, we will have treasures in heaven that will never be taken away from us.

How can we do this? By using the goods of this world which the LORD God entrusts to us to do His work and bring Him glory! Why treasure what we cannot keep when we could use the temporal to gain treasures which are eternal?

Indeed, God has given us all that we have that we might use it in a way that brings Him glory and honor and which furthers the work of His eternal kingdom here in this world. It dishonors Him when we selfishly treasure up this world’s goods for ourselves and our own sinful goals and ambitions.

The Lord Jesus laid down His very life in this world that He might win for us forgiveness of sins and the everlasting joys of heaven. As children of God through faith in Jesus Christ and citizens of heaven, our faith and hope will move us to part with earthly treasures that we might have eternal treasures awaiting us when we join our Savior in the mansions of His Father’s house. In fact, if we cling tightly to the goods of this world, it is evidence that we are not clinging tightly to Christ our Savior; for He bids us walk with Him, serve the needs of our fellowman, and lay down all for His kingdom.

Dear Lord Jesus, in mercy and compassion, You gave up the goods of this world to help those in need; and You willingly laid down Your life to bear the punishment for my sins and make me Your own. Forgive me for clinging too tightly to the goods of this world instead of clinging tightly to You and following in Your steps. Lead me in the way everlasting for the sake of Your holy and precious blood shed for my salvation. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]