Tag: Justification

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Jesus Dead and Buried (Luke 23:44–56)

[Listen to an audio version of this sermon here]

For some reason, the death of my Grandmother, Dorothy Basham, in November of 2022, has been particularly sobering for me. I have one Grandparent left, my Grandfather David Keith. Once he is gone, that entire generation of grandparents will be gone. For some reason, my Grandmother’s death made me think on this more deeply. Perhaps it’s because I have often thought of saying something or mentioning something to her or asking her something, and then I remember that she’s gone. All this reminds me of the fact that I am headed to the grave, and one day I will join them.

Death is not the way it is supposed to be. God did not create humans to experience death but to live in joy forever. Nowhere is this more poignant than the death of a child. We always expect that our children will outlive us. I was with a woman recently who experienced a joyful occasion where everyone was happy and rejoicing. But . . . it reminded her of the death of her son. She was weeping uncontrollably and had to leave. My heart went out to her both because I saw that everyone was happy and yet I realized that this reminded her of that which hurt her more than anything else in the world could.

We need to think about this. It is part of life, and it has extreme significance. Here, in this passage we encounter a death. It is the death of Jesus, the Son of God. What does this event tell us about death? Does it help us in any way as we process our own death and the death of those we love? That’s what we want to consider here. There are two aspects to this story that will be our two points, the death of Jesus and the burial of Jesus. Then, I will conclude by making some points about the suffering of Christ in general.

The Death of Jesus
There are two things that happen in our text which indicate opposite things, the darkness and the rending of the temple veil. Let me explain.

First, consider the darkness. Think about what it must have been like to see the crucifixion. Jesus had already been crucified, and then thick darkness comes over the land. The sun stopped shining. Here is a scene where Jesus was crucified and the movements of the weather cause it to be black and dark. The weather, which is under the control of God, demonstrated the blackness of the whole event, the reign of darkness, as Jesus said.

However, there is something more. In the Bible, the darkness and clouds represent the judgment of God. Joel, for example, describes the day of judgment as a “day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” (Joel 2:2). However, this day of darkness and gloom was always coming upon people because of their sin. As Zephaniah the prophet said when he was speaking of another such day, it was “because they have sinned against the Lord” (Zeph. 1:16).

The question here is, why would the judgment of God come against Jesus? He was the beloved Son in whom the Father, just a short time ago had said, “He was well pleased.” Jesus had not done any wrong. He was so sure of this that He said that none of them could show where He had sinned. This may seem prideful, but it is not. Humility is an accurate estimation of what we are and that is almost all there is to it.

So, again, why would the black clouds of judgment come against Him? Because He was there as the representative of sinful humanity. He was there as their substitute. He died because “they have sinned against the Lord,” and He was experiencing judgment on their behalf so that they would not have to. His death in place of ours.

That leads us to the second image here. The veil of the temple was torn in two. It was a thick heavy curtain, and, miraculously, it was ripped in two from top to bottom. Now the veil guarded the way to the holiest place in the temple. Only the high priest could enter there where the ark of the covenant was, and that only once a year! It was a symbol of God’s grace and the sacrifice of atonement that Jesus would make, but it was also a reminder that the way had not yet been opened. They were still shut out from the presence of God unless the true sacrifice took place. Continue reading “Jesus Dead and Buried (Luke 23:44–56)”

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Jesus Condemned (Luke 22:66–23:25)

Gabbatha: possible location of Jesus’ Trial in Jerusalem

[Listen to an audio version here]

There’s no question that the problems we face in Eastern Europe present a big problem for our nation and the nations of the world. A large military force has invaded a smaller country and threatens several others. It’s just these sorts of situations that the prophets of the Old Testament faced. Much of their message is given in the context of an imperial power threating to invade and then actually invading the smaller and less powerful countries around them.

What the prophets saw was that God was not going to let this go on forever. He would come in power and glory to judge the nations. The problem, though, was that when God called the world to account, how could anyone survive? Yes, Assyria, the predatory imperial power of the day was going to face judgment, but, when Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord, he said, “Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips and live amongst a people of unclean lips” (Is. 6:5).

Our own conscience bears witness that we must give an account to God. We will have to answer the question, have we done all that God has asked of us? Have we done what God has forbidden us? In this world, we may compare ourselves to others and feel good about ourselves, but when we come before the throne of God all our games will be put aside, and we will deal with the absolutely holy God whose glory fills the universe.

Then, we will have to admit, “Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips!” How can I survive the judgment of God and not be condemned and punished?

That is the key question of our existence, and that is the question to which our text gives the answer.

Jesus Before the Priests of His People
Jesus was going to be judged. The first people to judge Him, though, were not the civil authorities. They would be the religious leaders of His people. “The chief priest and the teachers of the law” oversaw certain aspects of life in Israel. They were the ones who had arrested Jesus, and they were the ones who would judge His people now.

Do you like to be judged? People can get very sensitive about this. Often, people feel judged in church. If you have never experienced court, it’s judgment on a whole different level. It’s serious and stern. It’s not something that you want to experience. Yet this is what Jesus was going to experience throughout this whole day. He was going to be set in front of everyone and judged for what He had done. Continue reading “Jesus Condemned (Luke 22:66–23:25)”

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Fellowship with God & Man, Part 2: What If We Sin? (1 John 1:4–2:2)

[Listen to an audio version here]

I’ve seen it so many times. Someone has been struggling with sin for a long time, and then they make the resolution. They are going to walk in the light and turn away from the darkness. They know they have done wrong. They are committed to doing right. They are excited. It’s a new way of life. They are moving forward. They have put the old way behind them.

Only, that’s not how it works out. They go back. They fall into the same old sin. They are devastated and begin to despair. How could this happen when they had resolved to do what was right? They feel shame because they failed again. And again. And again. And again.

What are they supposed to do? How does such a person live in joyful fellowship with God and man? This person may sound familiar. If so, it’s because anyone who has been a Christian for a long period of time has probably experienced falling into sin in spite of his resolution. So, the question is, what is that person supposed to do when he falls into sin? What are we supposed to do?

I want you to fix this passage in your mind because it is a resource that you can go to again and again and again when you find yourself overcome by the darkness and falling into sin. This passage is a refuge for those who’ve failed and who feel shame and condemnation.

Walking in the Light
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). What a beautiful picture of God. It’s so clear that it hardly needs explanation. He is the one who is light without any darkness. It’s a powerful image that shows how blessed, how wise, how holy, and how joyful God is. God is absolutely perfect without any imperfection whatsoever.

So, what does this mean for fellowship with God? The conclusion should be relatively obvious. If we want to have fellowship with Him, then we must walk in the light as He is in the light. In fact, as John says, “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” (1 John 1:6). It is one thing to claim to have fellowship with God. It is another thing to actually have it. Many people claim it, but not all of them have it. If we have this fellowship, then we must walk in the light as He is in the light.

Now, what does it mean to walk in the light? To walk in the light means something similar to what it means for God. First, walking in the light means that we find our light, joy, and life in God Himself and in His Son Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So, to walk in His light is to be enlightened by Jesus Himself.

Second, walking in the light means that we seek to know the truth that He has revealed to us and to walk in His wisdom.

Third, walking in the light means that we seek to walk in holiness and purity. We should try to have everything in our lives aligned with God’s purposes. That’s what purity means. That’s what holiness means.

Fourth, walking in the light means that we also have fellowship with one another. Notice: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another . . .” (1 John 1:7). Those who walk in the light not only enjoy fellowship with God but open up the door to fellowship with human beings. We will explore this more in later sermons.

Does walking in the light mean that we have no darkness in us at all? No, we still have sin, but Jesus cleanses us and purifies us from all sin. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all or every sin” (1 John 1:7). “All” here does not mean every sin intensively as if we have no sin at all, as we shall see, but rather all extensively. What that means, please note, is that there is no sin so great that the the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse it.

And from there, John leads us to a greater consideration of the darkness that still remains in us.

Confronting the Darkness
John believes that we can walk in the light and still have darkness present with us. In fact, if anyone say they have no darkness within them, they are completely deceived. Listen to what he says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. . . . If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8, 10). John firmly shuts the door on any sort of perfectionism. Anything else we study in this book has to take into account this truth: sin still remains in the believer.

This is such an important truth for us to recognize. It should humble us, but we can easily forget it. People are always shocked to find that there is sin within the church as well as outside of it. Some of this comes from the fact that there are people who say they know God but actually are still in the darkness. However, even if the church was composed 100% of true believers, there would still be sin within the church. There is always some corruption in this life. We should never look at where we are and say that it can’t be better, but we should also never look at where we are and say that we have arrived. We are always on the way. There is always some imperfection and some sin remaining within us.

We have to especially be on guard when there is some obvious sin in the world like abortion, racism, or sexual immorality. It’s easy to look at clear sins outside of us and compare ourselves to other people. We must always remember that darkness remains within us, and the fact that others walk in darkness greater than our own in no way excuses our own darkness. That’s what we have to be really careful about in our polarized situation in our nation. It’s easy to become focused on the sins of the other side.

So, what are we to do? We should confess our sins. That means we should acknowledge our sinfulness in general and in particular. I have been using the Book of Common Prayer as an aid to my devotional life. I highly recommend it. There is a form for Morning and Evening Prayer services. At the beginning of each one, there is a confession of sin and a declaration of forgiveness of sins. Every morning. Every night. It’s worth thinking about. This is what Jesus encourages us to do when He tells us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

And what happens if we acknowledge our sinfulness and confess our sins? Here’s the glorious message: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). What a glorious word!! Praise be to God. All we have to do is acknowledge it, and it will be dealt with. As one friend said to me when I confessed a sin to him one time, God will not bring it up again. It’s over.

Our Hope When We Sin
And how is it that God can forgive us so easily and readily? Because we have an advocate with the Father. We have someone who pleads our case.

Notice what John says so beautifully in 1 John 2:1. He says, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.” We should do all in our power to avoid sin and constantly seek God’s grace that He would lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. We do not want to sin.

However, we know that we will fall into sins, sometimes terrible sins. Then, what are we to do? “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” We have someone to plead our case. Now, I want you to pay very careful attention to these words. Fix them in your minds and hearts. Get what is said here. Think about it. What would we expect it to say? If anyone does not sin, THEN we have an advocate with the Father. That’s what would make sense. That’s the case that Jesus would want to argue, it would seem to us. But no, it says this: if we do sin, if we commit the crime, THEN we have an advocate! How in the world can this be?

The answer: because Jesus has taken it upon Himself to deal with that sin. He is a propitiatory sacrifice. His sacrifice turns away the wrath of God because the punishment He suffered is more than adequate as a substitute for the punishment we deserve. It is fully sufficient to cover our sin and indeed the sin of the whole world, as John says. There is no sin too great that it could be so bad that the blood of the Son of God could not cover it. That’s the amazing truth! He pleads our case. As Charles Wesley put it so well:

Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary;
They pour effectual pray’rs,
They strongly plead for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive, ” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive, ” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

That’s what Jesus is doing before the throne of God.

And, so, dear friends, we are called to walk in the light. We do not want to sin. That should always be our heart.

But if we do? This is what I want you to do with this sermon. I want you to take the truths of this passage and keep them with you. When the weight of sin comes upon you, I want you to remember that when you sin, you have an advocate! Not when you don’t sin but when you sin! That advocate is Jesus Christ the Righteous One! I want you to remind yourself of this, and I want you to remind others of this truth when they confess their sins to you.

The glorious truth is that no sin whatsoever can keep us from walking in the light and experiencing God’s love because He is faithful to His promises and completely righteous. He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Hallelujah! Amen.

Benediction: My friends, our goal this week is not to sin. We want to walk in the light just as He is in the light.

But when the darkness comes upon us, and we sour sin, remember! We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One! He is pleading our case, taking into full account our sins against Him.

Because of His propitiatory sacrifice, we can stand completely forgiven and righteous before the throne of God! So, go in peace. Your sins are forgiven you. Your faith has saved you. Amen.

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The Sure Sign of God’s Forgiveness (Zechariah 3)

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The big question of the prophets was this. How does the world survive? How does the world survive when there is so much injustice, evil, and sin the world? This is a big problem because God is a holy and pure God. As Habakkuk puts it, He is of purer eyes than to look on iniquity. He is a God of justice and righteousness. He is the one who will deal with those who do wrong.

We often don’t appreciate that message because our tendency is to see injustice and wrong-doing as something that is out there in somebody else. However, the prophets realized that this was bad news for everybody, including themselves. They wondered, how can I stand in the presence of a holy God? Woe is me, I am undone! Said Isaiah. Until we get this perspective, we really will not appreciate the message of the prophets to us today. However, if we get it, if we see the wrongs that we have done and struggle with guilt, then their message is for you. It enters into your struggle and provides an answer.

The prophet Zechariah received eight visions from the Lord about the same time as Haggai. These were meant to encourage the people in their struggles as they returned from exile. In the chapter you have read, we have the fourth vision of Zechariah. It provides one of the clearest answers to that question of how the world survives the wrath of a holy God in all of the Old Testament. It is a really beautiful passage that describes the way that God deals with sin and brings forgiveness and transforming grace to His people. Continue reading “The Sure Sign of God’s Forgiveness (Zechariah 3)”

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The Amazing Benefits of the Cross: Justification (Rom. 3:19–26)

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All around the world, wherever you travel, you will find a rather surprising symbol on the skyline. It is the symbol of the cross.

It’s surprising because the cross was an instrument of a particularly brutal method of capital punishment in the Roman Empire. It does not seem like the sort of thing that you would put your hope in.

Yet there it is. Hundreds of millions of people around the world would say with the great preacher of the cross, the Apostle Paul, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). Astonishing words!

Why would so many people make their boast in this gruesome instrument of capital punishment? The reason is that it answers the basic questions of life that we all struggle with. In this big universe, am I significant? Do I matter? Am I accepted? Do I have value? Can I fulfill my destiny? What about life after death? In the cross we have all these questions answered.

As we consider the cross, I want you to think of the cross in terms of the benefits or blessings God gives to all who accept His message about the cross. All of these benefits answer some of the basic questions we have about our own life and about existence. These benefits are justification, adoption, sanctification, and preservation. We are going to look at these over the next few Sunday’s.

Today, we begin with justification. The question of justification arises for us when we start to ask, have I made of myself what I ought to have made of myself? What have I done with my existence? As soon as we seek to answer that question honestly, we face guilt. We have not become what we should have. We have not done what we should have. We have, in fact, done many things completely contrary to what we should have. We deal with this as individuals, and we deal with this as a society. We may think that guilt is not a big factor in human life, but, upon further reflection, it really is. As the theologian Paul Tillich noted, it is astonishing how much guilt comes out in psychoanalysis.

But the situation is actually worse than we think. The guilt we feel is sometimes misplaced. We feel guilty about things we should not and do not feel guilty about things we should.

Guilt is not a mere psychological phenomenon. We also have to give an account to God who judges justly and rightly and takes what we have done very seriously. We may not like this aspect of God, but, if we think about it, it’s quite important. Imagine a God who didn’t care about wrongs and injustices. Would we really want to worship such a God? Not at all. We also are opposed to injustices and wrongs but generally the ones that others commit. God is concerned about all of them, and He is no respecter of persons.

When we are dealing with justification, we are dealing with these questions. What does God do with evil and injustice? How does He evaluate it? And how does He evaluate me? This is the most central question of the cross and the most important doctrine of the Christian religion. As John Calvin said, “The subject of justification, therefore, must now be fully discussed, and discussed with the recollection that it is the principal hinge by which religion is supported, in order that we may apply to it with the greater attention and care.” So, with that in mind, let’s dive into this passage.

The Meaning of the Word “Justify”
The key to understanding this passage is to understand the meaning of the word “to justify.” Here is its most basic meaning, “to declare righteous.” It is not to turn someone into a righteous person or make them just. It is to declare someone righteous. When you justify someone, you say that they are a righteous person or have done what they were supposed to do. Got it?

Now, I’ll ask a question. Can you justify God? Think about it for a second. If you said, “no,” then go back to the definition. Can you declare God to be righteous? Of course you can. In fact, you not only can, but you should and must. In Luke 7:29 we read, “All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John” (Luke 7:29). The word translated here “acknowledged was right” is “to justify.” Same word as in our passage.

Now, here’s another question. Can you justify the wicked? Think about it for a second. Well, you can. You can declare them righteous, but you shouldn’t. God actually says that. The King James Version brings this out, “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.” To justify the guilty is to say that the guilty is righteous and to do that is to lie and bring about an injustice.

So, in light of all that, how can God justify the ungodly? Romans 4:5 says that He is the “God who justifies the ungodly.” He is the God who calls sinful, wicked, adulterous people perfectly righteous and completely innocent? How can He do that? It would seem to be a lie. It would seem to be a miscarriage of justice. It doesn’t make sense!

You can see that the weight of this question is evident in this passage. He presented Christ as “an atoning sacrifice” (Rom. 3:25) so that He might be “just and the justifier” of the one who has faith in Jesus. In other words, there was a question about whether God would be just in justifying a believer because that believer is not just. To declare him righteous would be wrong. So, how can we put these things together? Well, I’ve hinted at the answer here, but let’s take our understanding of the word “to justify” and plug it into this passage and see if we can resolve it.

Romans 3 & Justification
In Romans 3, we read that no one will be justified by the works of the law. We should read “works of the law” as doing of the law. Now, why would no one be declared righteous because they did the law. Is there something wrong with doing what the law says? Of course not! Normal justification would result from someone doing the law and being declared righteous on the basis of having done the law. They do what the law says, and then they are declared righteous.

So, why can’t anyone be righteous on the basis of doing what the law says? The answer is that we have not done what the law says. The law says to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. None of us have done this. In fact, we have done the opposite. So, when we hear the law, we do not hear it rightly, if we hear it saying, you have done all these things. Rather, “through the law we become conscious of sin.” That is, it tells us that we have not done these things.

We can’t be declared righteous on the basis of the law, because we’ve all broken the law. If God evaluates us on the basis of the law, then we will be condemned as guilty not justified as righteous.

So, what are we to do? There is another righteousness, a different sort. It couldn’t come from obeying the law. It came from God. Now note that the Law and the Prophets testify to it (Rom. 3:21). Here the word “law” does not refer to God’s commandments. It refers to the Old Testament. What Paul is saying is that the Old Testament showed that there was another way to be justified. Paul will elaborate on this method throughout the book. See especially chapter 4, where he shows how God justified ungodly Abraham and David.

Paul describes this righteousness by saying this righteousness is by faith. What this means is that it is a gift from God. Faith does not do for someone. Faith trusts what someone else will do. So, faith is a fitting virtue to be the recipient of another sort of righteousness.

This other righteousness is a gift from God that is given to anyone who believes. Being a Jew or Gentile gives no advantage in justification, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Everyone is condemned on the basis of the law. Everyone can be declared righteous on the basis of a righteousness from God, if they will only receive it by faith.

The question then becomes, how in the world can God simply declare people righteous who don’t deserve it? It would seem to be a lie. It would seem to be unjust. Imagine a professor giving a test. Some do not study and do badly. Others study hard and get an A. Then, the professor simply says, “I have decided to simply give everyone an A.” That would seem unjust.

So, how can God do it? Well, He satisfies the demands of the law on behalf of sinners. How? “All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). The word “redemption” means a payment. The law demanded that we “pay” righteousness and “pay” the penalty of death, if we did not give that righteousness. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Jesus paid the righteousness we owe and paid the punishment due to sin on the cross. That is what redemption is all about. The cross is payment for sin and the fulfillment of the righteousness we owed to God. So, we get declared righteous freely because Christ pays for us! He pays everything, and we get everything! That is an amazing deal. All we have to do is accept it. It’s a gift!

Paul drives this point home in verses 25–26. He says that there was a problem in the past. God declared people righteous, but no payment had been given. “In his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished” (Rom. 3:25). The Old Testament is full of sinful people, but God justified them freely by His grace, even though payment had not been given.

How could God do that? He knew that in the fullness of time, the Son would come and would redeem them through the cross. God presented the Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (Rom. 3:25).

In doing this, God demonstrated that He was and is righteous. Because Christ pays the just penalty of the law, we can be declared righteous. It is not our righteousness, it is Christ’s. As a result, God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

If we believe in Jesus, then God declares us perfectly righteous, just as if we had been as righteous as Jesus and suffered all that He had suffered. That is the amazing benefit of the cross. We are justified, declared righteous, because of what Jesus has done.

Conclusion
Justification by faith alone is the foundation of our faith and of our faith in the cross in particular. I think you can now see why John Calvin said that this doctrine is the “principle hinge by which religion is supported.” It’s really essential. Martin Luther said that the church stands or falls based on this doctrine.

For us, as individual Christians, it is a foundation for unspeakable joy and peace, a refuge in the midst of the storms of life. It’s easy to see why Paul concludes his letter with a blessing of joy and peace by the power of the Holy Spirit. Justification by faith alone provides us a basis for that joy and peace (see Romans 15:13).

This is the amazing benefit of the cross. God takes sinful people, people who have ignored Him and flaunted His laws, people who have hated each other, and have misused all the gifts He has given us, and He declares them to be perfectly righteous forever because of what Jesus has done for them. That is an amazing benefit indeed. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

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What Will You Do with Your Freedom? (Galatians 5:13)

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Booker T. Washington in his book, Up from Slavery describes what it was like for black slaves at the end of the Civil War.

Finally the war closed, and the day of freedom came. It was a momentous and eventful day to all upon our plantation. We had been expecting it. Freedom was in the air, and had been for months. . . . As the great day drew nearer, there was more singing in the slave quarters than usual. It was bolder, had more ring, and lasted later into the night. . . .

The night before the eventful day, word was sent to the slave quarters to the effect that something unusual was going to take place at the “big house” the next morning. There was little, if any, sleep that night. All was excitement and expectancy. . . . The most distinct thing that I now recall in connection with the scene was that some man who seemed to be a stranger (a United States officer, I presume) made a little speech and then read a rather long paper—the Emancipation Proclamation, I think. After the reading we were told that we were all free, and could go when and where we pleased. My mother, who was standing by my side, leaned over and kissed her children, while tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She explained to us what it all meant, that this was the day for which she had been so long praying, but fearing that she would never live to see.

What an amazing scene! The glory of freedom! There is an amazing joy in the releasing of the captives and the slaves to glorious freedom.

And it is just that sort of freedom that the good news about Jesus Christ proclaims to us. We are free. Paul says, “For freedom you have been set free!” “You are called to freedom!” The Apostle Paul says in Gal. 5:13. If you have put your trust in Christ as Savior, then you have been freed! You are free! You should rejoice like the slaves rejoiced to be set free after the Civil War!

The Meaning of Our Freedom
What does it mean that we have freedom? From what does Christ set us free? Consider these seven ways that Christ has freed us.

1. Christ has freed us from guilt. Our sin has incurred guilt before God and feelings of guilt within ourselves. We are rightfully under the curse of the law because of our sin. The glorious news is that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us . . .” (Gal. 3:13). We stand justified and accepted before God’s throne. We no longer need to feel the crushing weight of guilt because of our sin. We are free.

2. Christ has freed us from old habits. The old habits of sin no longer have dominion over us. We may experience the presence of sin, but we don’t have to live under its power. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24).

3. Christ has freed us from anxiety. We may feel anxiety, but we don’t need to let it dominate our lives. Why? Because Christ has given Himself for us, we do not need to be anxious about the future! We can trust that the Christ who gave Himself for us will subdue all things for our good.

4. Christ has freed us from bondage to old wounds. We all have those things that have hurt us, but we don’t have to live in bondage to them. Christ’s assurance of blessing tells us that these wounds do not describe our destiny. In addition, Christ’s power within us frees us to forgive and so release ourselves from the bondage of those who have hurt us.

5. Christ has freed us from the power of bad relationships. Why do we remain held in the bondage of bad relationships? Christ frees us to find what we need in Him. When we do that, we don’t have to bargain our well-being away in bad relationships while eating the scraps of acceptance that people are willing to throw to us. We are freed to love and serve those around us while also maintaining legitimate boundaries.

6. Christ has freed us from idols or wrong centers. When an idol takes over our life, we look for life from it. This causes us to sacrifice everything for the sake of it. For example, work becomes an idol for us, and we sacrifice our family, health, and children to it. Christ frees us from this because He delivers to us the status and security we were looking for in our work and that our work promised but could not deliver.

7. Christ has freed us from the fear of death. Death has lost its sting. It will not win in the end. We know that when we die we will be with Jesus. When He comes again, we will rise to new life. We know that He will take care of those we love. We do not need to cower before death the way our society does. Christ has freed us!

There is literally nothing more important that you can do this year than to take these facts in deeply and learn to rejoice in your freedom. A greater sight of these things will change everything for you.

As I enter into my 7th year here, there are really two things that I want you to see through my ministry here. The first is to have a greater vision to see how great Christ is and how utterly sufficient all that He has is for you. This is the first thing, not what we do but what Christ has done, is doing, and will do for us and in us.

Get that in view! Meditate daily on it. Listen for it in the sermon. Experience it in the sacraments. Pray that the Holy Spirit will enable you to see it. Remind each other of it. Pray for each other that we will be able to see like never before how totally sufficient Christ is for everything we need. Pray that we will see how secure we are, how accepted we are, how empowered we are, how valued we are, how free we are! I can’t say it enough or too often. We have everything we need secure for us in Christ. You are free! You are called to be free, to experience this freedom.

What We Should Do with Our Freedom
The second thing is that when you are filled with joy because by faith you see the wonders of what Christ has for you, use that glorious freedom to work as hard as you can to serve others, do good, and glorify God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of a human being?” It answers, “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Those are the two key things I want to teach. I want you to find your joy and fulfillment in God. Being filled, I want you then to do all that you can to glorify God to the highest degree you possibly can.

Enjoying God and glorifying God are interrelated. Sometimes we need to press forward when we do not feel like it. However, many times what we need to do when we don’t feel like serving is to go back to the root of faith. Ask yourself: Am I experiencing the freedom that I have in Christ through faith? Am I, through fellowship with Him, being empowered to live a new life and enlightened to see the greatness of His power and love for me? It is faith working through love. In order to work through love we need to grow in our faith. When we grow in our faith, we can and will work through love.

If you feel like you have nothing left to give right now, then give attention to yourself. Get the help you need. Tend to your wounds. Get healthy. Get your spirit right. Take a rest. Take a break. Let your heart heal. God does not need our service or His own gifts (which is really what we are giving back to Him). The kingdom will make it on OK without you, and you will come back much better equipped to serve. Make no resolution to do anything except take in God’s goodness until you feel empowered to move forward.

If you feel like you have nothing left to give, then give attention to what you are doing. Do you really need to do all the things that you are doing? Are there things that you are holding onto that you don’t need to? Are there areas you are spending money where you could stop? Are there relationships that have moved on, but you keep holding on to them? And do you need to think so much about all the things that society tells you that you need to think about? I mean, whether you love him or hate him, does Donald Trump really deserve as much of our emotions and head space as we have given him (and no, he’s not going away)? You need to spend lavishly, but you need to spend lavishly on those things most worthy of expenditure!

If you feel like you have nothing to give, work on increasing your faith, but also work on increasing your love: “through love serve one another.” Yes, you can do this. Learn to see the world and people as God sees them. When it comes to believers, we have all trust in Christ and resolved to live for Him. What an amazing thing we have in common! But what about outside the church? The Apostle Paul says, do good until all, especially those of the household of faith. Every person you meet is a human created in the image of God and made for society! The world is full of friends, in spite of its sinfulness. We are made for community! But what if they do us wrong? Then, they harm themselves. If someone is unjust, they are acting contrary to their nature. It’s as if they were breaking their own bones. This deserves our pity as much as our condemnation! We can learn to love because God will teach us how to love, even our enemies, even in our darkest days.

So, you may not feel that you have much to give. Then, give attention to what is going on in your heart and life. Find ways to reconnect with the freedom in the Gospel. However, if you feel the freedom and joy that God gives through the Gospel, then push forward to serve others. Push forward, and push forward hard. Give it all you’ve got. Do all that you can. What should you do with your freedom? “Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

At Thanksgiving, we learned that we should see the blessings that God has given us innumerable ways without ignoring the bad. At Christmas, we learned that there is a joy that transcends all our circumstances. At New Year’s, we hear the good news of a fresh start. A whole year is before us! What are you going to do with it? How are you going to serve this year? Make your resolutions as big as you can and as attainable as you can. Resolve to do something that will equip you to serve better. Resolve to do something that will bless those around you. Resolve that in some significant way or many, you will serve others in love.

When you do, expect opposition. Expect resistance. Benjamin Franklin said: “Mankind are very superficial and dastardly: they begin upon a thing, but, meeting with a difficulty, they fly from it discouraged: but they have capacities, if they would employ them” (cited in Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life, 1081). The Apostle said concerning the Christian life, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9). What is true of the good of the Christian life is true of all good things in this life. There will be opposition to doing them, inside us and outside us. We have to accept that in order to accomplish anything good. Your family or church or class will not applaud your efforts to change things. Practicing an instrument or reading a difficult book will always be hard. Engaging in society involves the clash of political opposition. We’ve got to accept this reality and still move forward. Through love, serve one another, and don’t give up!

Conclusion
So, what are you going to do with a year? Maybe you need to take the whole year off from serving and just get mentally and physically healthy. That’s fine. Your standing with God is not based on how much you serve this year. You are justified in Christ, on the basis of His perfect service, not yours.

But if you’re in good shape or even decent shape, if you feel that you can serve, then whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Use the joy of the freedom of your spirit to serve one another in love! Push forward. Push hard. Don’t take the path of least resistance. Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord. Keep breathing in deep the freedom you have in Christ, and aim for something greater this year out of a great sense of love for Christ and the power of Christ.

Whatever this year brings, let’s aim at something. Let’s try to do something significant. Let’s have no wasted years. Let’s do things that will bring us satisfaction. Let’s do things that will glorify our God and Savior. Let’s do things that will impact our communities. Let’s do things that will bless our church and the broader church. Let’s do it for the love of others and the love of our great Savior who loved us and gave himself for us that He might free us to be a people for Himself, zealous for good works. Amen.