The Second Article: Lost And Condemned
Sermon
What's That Supposed To Mean?
Using The Catechism In The 21st Century
Object:
The Apostles' Creed -- The Second Article
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ ... has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature....
A pastor of a church in Boston met a young boy in front of the sanctuary. The boy was carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. The pastor inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" "I trapped them out in the field," the boy replied. "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home." When the pastor offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don't want them, they're just little old wild birds and can't sing very well." The pastor replied, "I'll give you two dollars for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it's a deal, but you're making a bad bargain." The exchange was made, and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. The pastor walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire cage, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate Christ's coming to seek and to save those who like the birds were destined for destruction. This illustrates what it means that Jesus "redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature."
Like the birds the boy caught, the devil had us in his cage. In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he calls this cage "the dominion of darkness." The very name brings up a gloomy picture in my mind. Darkness! The last few months have been cloudy and gloomy for us, but never dark. Dark is like the dust storms that some of you have seen. Days and days of gloomy grayness are bad enough. But days and days of darkness -- ask the people who live in Antarctica or near the North Pole what weeks and weeks of darkness will do to morale. And that's not as bad as the kingdom of darkness. The devil's home is a place of "outer darkness," according to Jesus. In that darkness there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, much worse than you have ever heard at any funeral. The devil's darkness is darker than death and the pain and sorrow death causes. It is a place for lost and condemned sinners to spend eternity. Those trapped in the devil's darkness would find death a relief, and yet they never get it.
The Lord saw what we would have forever. So the Father set in motion a plan. Saint Paul wrote, "[He] qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." God's plan set up a kingdom of light for us to inherit. How refreshed we are when we see the sun again after days of gloomy cloudiness. How much greater the joy the Father has in store for us when He brings us from the valley of the shadow of death into the kingdom of light!
But no one was qualified to live in that kingdom. What sinner can see the face of God and live? The sins that trapped us in the devil's darkness made it impossible for us to survive in the light. So the Father set about to fix that. He got us out of the darkness when he "rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Jesus, who is the light who came into the world, draws us into His kingdom of light. He brings us into His kingdom of light, rescuing us from darkness, by redeeming us.
But remember, redemption means paying a price to set someone free. The price Jesus Christ paid to set us free from the devil's dark kingdom was the price of His own life. When Jesus died, He raided the devil's dark valley of the shadow of death and turned lost and condemned sinners loose. Those who follow Jesus back to the light leave behind their sins in the grave of Jesus. We can follow Jesus because He has joined us to Himself in baptism, so that as He rose from the dead, we too might walk in newness of life. As long as we stay close to Jesus, He keeps us clean of sin and keeps His light shining in us. That is why the apostle says, about Jesus, "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Forgiveness of sins shows we are free from our former life, just as redeeming a slave set him free from his past debts.
Jesus redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature. I am free to serve Him in thanksgiving, doing what is pleasing to Him. Join me in getting to know that life better.
Prayer: We always thank You, God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because of the faith You have given us in Christ Jesus and of the love You have created in us for all the saints -- the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven and that You have already told us about in the Word of truth, the gospel that has come from You. We pray that we may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way, such as bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, and joyfully giving thanks to You, Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Amen.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ ... has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature....
A pastor of a church in Boston met a young boy in front of the sanctuary. The boy was carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. The pastor inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" "I trapped them out in the field," the boy replied. "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home." When the pastor offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don't want them, they're just little old wild birds and can't sing very well." The pastor replied, "I'll give you two dollars for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it's a deal, but you're making a bad bargain." The exchange was made, and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. The pastor walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire cage, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate Christ's coming to seek and to save those who like the birds were destined for destruction. This illustrates what it means that Jesus "redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature."
Like the birds the boy caught, the devil had us in his cage. In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he calls this cage "the dominion of darkness." The very name brings up a gloomy picture in my mind. Darkness! The last few months have been cloudy and gloomy for us, but never dark. Dark is like the dust storms that some of you have seen. Days and days of gloomy grayness are bad enough. But days and days of darkness -- ask the people who live in Antarctica or near the North Pole what weeks and weeks of darkness will do to morale. And that's not as bad as the kingdom of darkness. The devil's home is a place of "outer darkness," according to Jesus. In that darkness there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, much worse than you have ever heard at any funeral. The devil's darkness is darker than death and the pain and sorrow death causes. It is a place for lost and condemned sinners to spend eternity. Those trapped in the devil's darkness would find death a relief, and yet they never get it.
The Lord saw what we would have forever. So the Father set in motion a plan. Saint Paul wrote, "[He] qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." God's plan set up a kingdom of light for us to inherit. How refreshed we are when we see the sun again after days of gloomy cloudiness. How much greater the joy the Father has in store for us when He brings us from the valley of the shadow of death into the kingdom of light!
But no one was qualified to live in that kingdom. What sinner can see the face of God and live? The sins that trapped us in the devil's darkness made it impossible for us to survive in the light. So the Father set about to fix that. He got us out of the darkness when he "rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Jesus, who is the light who came into the world, draws us into His kingdom of light. He brings us into His kingdom of light, rescuing us from darkness, by redeeming us.
But remember, redemption means paying a price to set someone free. The price Jesus Christ paid to set us free from the devil's dark kingdom was the price of His own life. When Jesus died, He raided the devil's dark valley of the shadow of death and turned lost and condemned sinners loose. Those who follow Jesus back to the light leave behind their sins in the grave of Jesus. We can follow Jesus because He has joined us to Himself in baptism, so that as He rose from the dead, we too might walk in newness of life. As long as we stay close to Jesus, He keeps us clean of sin and keeps His light shining in us. That is why the apostle says, about Jesus, "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Forgiveness of sins shows we are free from our former life, just as redeeming a slave set him free from his past debts.
Jesus redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature. I am free to serve Him in thanksgiving, doing what is pleasing to Him. Join me in getting to know that life better.
Prayer: We always thank You, God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because of the faith You have given us in Christ Jesus and of the love You have created in us for all the saints -- the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven and that You have already told us about in the Word of truth, the gospel that has come from You. We pray that we may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way, such as bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, and joyfully giving thanks to You, Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Amen.
