How Can We Know who our God really Is?

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace 

December 2, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

I know for a fact that not one of us here today ever had the pleasure of meeting George Washington.  Though it was only a little more than 200 years ago when George Washington lived, we have been completely separated from ever having the pleasure of knowing him personally by those 200 years.  And yet, even though none of us has ever met him, we do know quite a lot about him because of all of the things that have been revealed to us through books, encyclopedias, magazines, television shows, movies, and yes through all the information posted today on the internet.  Even though we have never met him personally we can still know who he was and what he was like.  Well, the same thing can be said about the Lord our God.  Even though we have never met the Lord face to face, like we meet each other every day, we can still know exactly who the Lord our God really is.  We can know exactly who the Lord our God really is from the ways in which he has revealed himself to us.  For example, in the Bible, in Psalm 19 we learn, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." (Psalm 19:1–4a, NIV84)

Now this is truly an amazing thing!  The Lord our God reveals himself to us as the master creator by revealing himself through the very things he created!  For in the same way that we can look at things like: the Pyramids in Egypt, Skyscrapers throughout the world, even the International Space Station, and know that these things had to be conceived, planned, and built by someone, so also, when we look at the beauties of our God’s creation, we come to realize that there must have been someone who made all that we see around us.  There must have been someone who had great power and might to create such a beautiful place for us to live.  In fact, as we scan the pages of God’s book of creation, we begin to recognize that this great and powerful someone who created all these things must, at the very least be filled with divine powers, because there is no human being on earth who could make anything like the world we see around us.  This divine being must be at the very least, long lived, if not eternal, because in order for him to create the universe and everything in it, he would have had to have been around long before creation took place.  In fact, in the book of Romans, Paul reminds us, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." (Romans 1:20, NIV)

In such a simple way, Paul reminds us of our Lord’s amazing wisdom in revealing himself as he does!  For in the same way the wisdom of the builders is clear from the ways they built the Pyramids, Skyscrapers and the International Space Station, so also our God reveals his wisdom, his strength, his eternal power and his divine nature through the very things he has created for us!

Yet, these are not the only things that the Lord has revealed about himself, nor is this the only way the Lord our God reveals himself to us so that we can know him.  For the truth is, the Lord has also revealed himself by writing his will, his law upon our very hearts, which is something that Paul also reminds us of in chapter two of his letter to the Romans.  “There is no favoritism with God. 12 All those who sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all those who sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous. 14 So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them 16 on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus." (Romans 2:11–16, HCSB)

In short, Paul is telling us what we already know.  It doesn’t matter if we’ve been taught the Law of God or not.  The Lord our God has revealed himself to each and every person, by writing, branding if you will, his Law upon our hearts.  He has given each and every one of us a conscience—a conscience, which gives us a moral compass; a moral compass that helps us to know the difference between right and wrong.  For in the same way that the gauges in the cockpit of an airplane monitor the status of the flight and alert the pilot of something has gone wrong, so also our conscience monitors or watches over our conduct and alerts us when something is wrong.  It’s that little voice inside of us that condemns us for our sinful actions.  It’s that little voice that accuses us of doing wrong when we do not follow or live up to God’s commands.  It’s that feeling of shame that floods over us when we know we haven’t acted honorably.  It is that knowledge that just as our parents punished us when we were naughty, so also our righteous God will punish us for breaking his Law.

Yet, even as our conscience reveals our God to be a righteous God who punishes sins, it also assures us and comforts us when we do the right thing.  It is also that little voice of congratulations when we follow the will of our God.  It is that feeling of pride when we know we did the right thing.  The problem, however, is that even our conscience can become clouded and confused.  They can be taught to believe that innocent things like card playing and dancing are absolutely sinful.  (How many of your parents or even grand-parents were conscience bound by ideas like this?)  Not only that, but our consciences can even come to terms with sinful actions, accepting them as good things, and even going so far as to approve of and encourage those who practice the same things, if we continue to ignore our conscience or fill them with the idea that what we’re doing isn’t all that bad anyway.  This is exactly what Paul is talking about when he writes in another place in his letter to the Romans, “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:32, NIV84)

These are but two of the ways that the Lord our God has revealed himself to us so that we might know who he is.  But if truth be told, if these two ways, through nature and through our conscience, if these two revelations had been all that we knew about the Lord our God, then we would be very miserable indeed!  Even though we would know about his eternal power, his divine nature, and his glorious wisdom from the very things he had created; from the Law that the Lord had written on our hearts, we would also know that we did not measure up to his standards.  Even though we might be able to cloud our consciences and sooth them into believing that our sinful actions were actually God pleasing, deep down we would still know that we deserved nothing but God’s punishment.  We would never be able to know if we had done enough to please him or if he even loved us, or if he even remotely cared about us.  If all we knew about our God came to us from his creation and our consciences, then the guilt we felt over all the things we had done wrong would continue to fester and bubble in our hearts until it finally boiled over and filled our hearts and our lives with despair.  Despair from which there could be no escape except for us to completely turn away from the Lord and seek salvation from ourselves and from the world around us.  For in the same way that a dashboard light can only tell you that something is wrong with your car and not how to fix it, so also our conscience can only tell us that something is wrong with us.  Neither our knowledge of creation nor the pangs of our conscience can ever tell us how we can fix it.

But thanks be to God that he has not only revealed himself through the dashboard lights of creation and conscience, but he has also revealed himself to us through the instruction manual of his Word.  For in the same way that instruction manuals help mechanics find and fix the problem when a dashboard light comes on, so also it is through the instruction manual of his Word that our God has reveals himself to us and shows us exactly how he fixes our problems with sin.  Just as we sang this morning, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31, NIV84)

Though we can truly learn a great deal about our God from the things he reveals to us through his creation and our conscience, neither of these can ever teach us about Jesus Christ our Savior.  For it is only through the work the Holy Spirit accomplishes in our hearts Holy Scriptures, that we come to faith in Jesus.  It is only through the Holy Scriptures, which many of us have known since we were infants that we have been made wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! (see 2 Timothy 3:15)  It is only through the Holy Scriptures that we know how the Lord our God revealed his plan to save the human race already back in creation when he promised Adam and Eve, “And I will put enmity (hostility) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NIV84)  It is only through the Scriptures that God revealed how and where the Savior would be born when he promised, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14, NIV84)  and “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2, NIV84)

It is only in the pages of the Scriptures that we have the account of Jesus’ birth, announced in Luke 1 and completely revealed in Luke 2.  It is only in the pages of the Scriptures where we have the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John telling us all about Jesus, how he was born and how he lived a perfect and holy life, how he preached and taught the message of salvation wherever he went, and how he willingly gave up his life in our place and rose again from the dead, just as the Prophets of old that foretold.  It is in the Bible where we have the records of the Apostles going out and preaching and teaching the saving truth of salvation to all people.  We have the records of those who taught the word to assure us that when Jesus went to his death he went in our place.  When Jesus went to the cross he took every one of our sins with him and paid the price that God demanded.  Now, because of what the Lord our God has revealed to us in the pages of the Holy Scriptures, we have the assurance that through faith in Jesus all our sins and wrongdoings have been forgiven.  We have the assurance that eternal life is waiting for us in heaven.  In short, it is through the Bible that the Lord our God completely reveals himself to us through his Son, our Savior, in whom we believe because the Holy Spirit has worked through that word and created faith in our hearts; faith which knows exactly who the Lord our God truly is.

Now, because of this, we know who our God truly is.  We know that he is the all powerful Lord who created all that exists by his eternal power and divine nature.  We know that he is our glorious Savior because “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, NIV84) We know that we are in a right relationship with him because through faith in his Son our Savior, we now know the Lord who “blots out our transgressions for his own sake and remembers our sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25, NIV84) 

We know all these things about the Lord our God, and even more than that, because these are the things that the Lord our God has revealed about himself in the pages of the Scriptures.  He has revealed them to us so that we might know him, even as he knows us and loves us.  Though we have not yet met the Lord our God face to face, we know him just as well as we know each other, if not better than that, because through faith in Jesus—faith created in our hearts by the Holy Spirit—we have a personal relationship with the Lord our God.  We have a personal relationship with the Lord our God, and we know exactly who our God is because he has completely revealed himself to us so that we can know him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Salvation is Yours through faith! (Romans 3:18-28)

October 30, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

As long as I can remember, it has been our practice to celebrate the Festival of the Reformation as the month of October is drawing to a close.  It has been our practice to remind ourselves how an insignificant monk named Martin Luther, screwed his courage to its sticking place on the evening of October 31, 1517 and went out to nail his 95 theses or 95 statements for debate to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.  It was that hammer blow, which echoed forcefully through the streets of Wittenberg and some might say echoed around the world that began the Lutheran Reformation as a movement that simply would not be stopped. It was that hammer blow that signaled the beginning of a path that would the very faith which had begun to grow in Luther’s heart since the day he first in the Scriptures and understood that salvation did not come from anything he could do for God; rather salvation came from God through faith in Jesus Christ the Savior. 

Since that day some 590 years ago, many churches have celebrated the Lutheran Reformation.  Many Pastors have preached beautiful sermons about what Luther said and did in his life, and from that, many church members have wondered why we place so much emphasis on Luther, when he was nothing more than a sinner saved by grace, just like you and I.  In fact, I expect that some of you are already wondering why I’ve spent so much time talking about him this morning.  Well the answer is simple.  Today is the day that we have gathered to give thanks to the Lord that he used Martin Luther as his servant to restore the clear truth of the Scriptures that Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! 

It is this clear message of the Scriptures that salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, which the Apostle Paul is proclaiming to us in our text today! For as he writes, he reminds us very clearly and very vividly that our own salvation has never come to us by anything that we have done, rather, our salvation comes only through faith in Christ Jesus.  Paul writes: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20)

There it is!  Right there, in those two short verses, we have the sum total and the very purpose of God’s Law!  Though our sinful human nature proudly believes that we aren’t all that bad, God’s Law reveals something quite different.  Though our sinful human nature believes that given enough time we could gain our own holiness by struggling and striving to keep God’s Law, God’s law shows us that we will never be declared righteous by observing it.  We will never be declared righteous by observing it, because God’s law has one single purpose—to show us our sins.  God’s law has one single purpose—to silence our mouths. God’s law has one single purpose—to hold us accountable to God.

Though we may think that God’s law cannot possibly apply to us because we are really good people who have struggled and tried to earn our salvation by keeping our thoughts pure, by keeping our words blameless, and by keeping our actions impeccable, it is God’s Law that reveals just how corrupted we have become.  For God’s law tells us that there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God, because all of us have turned away and have together become worthless.  All of us are incapable of doing good.  Our throats are open graves.  Our tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on our lips and our mouths are filled with cursing and bitterness.  Our feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark our ways, and the way of peace we do not know, because there is not fear of God before our eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18)

Though we might think we’re pretty great, God’s law paints a different picture for us, for no matter how hard we try to keep God’s law, we fail.  No matter how hard we try to be perfect, we can’t even come close.  No matter how hard we try to shed our sins and our guilt and do work harder at keeping God’s law, we can’t because as James tells us, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)  Or as Paul tells us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

Now, I don’t know about you, but after hearing all that, I don’t feel all that great.  In fact, I actually feel angry.  I’m upset, frustrated, and outraged by this God who gave me this ridiculous set of rules and regulations that he demands I keep, even though he knows I can’t keep them!  What’s the point!  Why should I even bother! Why should I try to please him if he’s just going to sit on his high and mighty throne judging me because I have sinned and fallen short of his glory!  What hope is there if I can’t possibly keep his Law on my own!  Why have I come!  What more can I do if I am condemned to eternal death in hell by the very law God demand that I keep! 

I’m sure that is how Luther felt while he lived as a monk, for the story has been told of how his fellow monks would find him passed out and bleeding on the floor of his room.  Passed out from hunger, because he had denied himself food in order to punish his body for its sinful desires; passed out from pain and bleeding, because he had beaten himself and scourged himself to free himself from his sins, which he knew kept coming back again and again no matter how many times he confessed them to his father confessor.  No matter how hard he tried to keep God’s Law, he couldn’t, and because of that he was entering a world of despair even worse than I what I just expressed, until he discovered and understood the very Gospel that Paul reveals to us when he writes, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

This is what the Lord our God has done for us!  Though it is the Lord who demands that we keep every detail of the Law he has given us, because he knew we could never do it on our own, he sent his Son to do it for us.  Though we had done nothing to earn it or deserve it, we have been justified—declared not guilty of all our sins—through Jesus Christ our Savior, who redeemed us by his blood.  It was our God, the very God who gave me all the rules and regulations of the Law, which he demanded I keep, who sent his Son to keep them for me.  It was my God, the very God who held me accountable for my every sin, who took those sins from me and placed them on his Son.  With a plan of which I never would have conceived, he sent his Son, to take the place of me, his enemy.  He sent his Son to keep every single rule and regulation of his law perfectly.  Then, he, my gracious and loving God, sent his own Son to be tortured.  He sent his one and only Son to be crucified.  He weighed down his own Son with the burden of my sins, and then he, the Lord my God, turned his back on his one and only Son, forsook him, and let him die!  The very things I would never allow to happen to my children, the Lord my God willingly caused to happen to his one and only Son.  The very things that I would rush to prevent from happening to my children, he allowed to happen to his Son, so that he might be just and justify—declare not guilty of sin—those who believe in Jesus as their Savior.

Now, through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, each and every one of us has salvation.  Through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, each and every one of us has been washed clean of every spot and stain of our sins.  Through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we all have the sure and certain hope of eternal life, because we know that when Jesus died and rose again, he did it to free us from our sins, so that we could live with him forever in the halls of his heavenly kingdom.  This is the great comfort and assurance we all have from knowing that Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior!  Though we continually see our sins as we gaze into the mirror of the Law, as we look in to the Gospel, we see our salvation revealed to us.  As we look into the law we are reminded again and again that there is nothing we can do to free us from our sins, but as we look into the Gospel, we are assured that Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.  Though it is the Law that condemns us, it is the Gospel that saves us so that all our thanks and praise belong to the Lord.  As Paul says, “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (Romans 3:27-28)

Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior!  This is the heart and the core of the Bible’s teaching, and this is the very reason why we have gathered to celebrate Reformation Sunday.  We have gathered to give praise to the Lord that some 590 years ago the Lord used an insignificant German monk to reveal this truth to the world.  We have gathered to praise the Lord because Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church is a direct result of the Lord’s use of Martin Luther back in Germany.  We have gathered to praise the Lord because through the Reformation we celebrate today, we have heard the truth of the Gospel which Paul proclaimed in his letter to the Romans.  Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior who gave his life to free us from the power of the devil, so that through faith in him we would be blessed with the gift of eternal life.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN