Sermon -- Easter Dawn (March 31, 2024)

GENESIS 1:1 – 2:3

MEDITATION ON THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD:

A NEW CREATION.

In the name + of Jesus.

     “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).  The world that God created for mankind was flawless.  It was free from disease, from mental disorders, from natural disasters, from pestilence, and from scarcity.  God’s creation is evidence of his glory.  It was filled with beauty, and it supplied mankind with every need in variety and abundance.  God loved what he had created.  He blessed it.  And he created for mankind so that we would benefit from God’s abundant goodness.

     God never stopped loving his creation.  Even when sin entered the world and brought its curse on the creation, God still loved his creation.  The world still has beauty and blessing.  Even though many places in this world are not inhabitable, such as deserts, swamps, and arctic tundra, we still plan vacations to go and visit these places because they display their own beauty and glory.

     God has not abandoned his creation, but it has been corrupted.  St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:21-22).  Every natural disaster reflects the creation longing to be set free from its curse. 

     God so loved the world—not just the people in the world, but the whole creation.  God loves what he has created, and so he sent his only begotten Son to redeem it.  Jesus has come to bring forth a new creation.  On Easter Sunday, the new creation breaks forth.  

     Jesus has taken into himself the curse for sin.  That means every curse—the curse that mankind has earned and the curse that has fallen upon the world—every curse has been taken into Jesus.  On Good Friday Jesus bore the full weight of that curse.  Eternal torment was absorbed by the eternal Son of God.  Just before he died, Jesus declared that his work was complete: “It is finished” (John 19:30).  Just as God finished the work of his creation on the sixth day, so also Jesus finished his work of redeeming creation on the sixth day.

     And just as God rested on the seventh day, so Jesus took his Sabbath rest on the seventh day.  He rested in his tomb after finishing his work.

     But today is the eighth day—the day of the new creation.  Jesus has risen from the dead, and he is the firstfruits of the new creation.  Just as Jesus rose from the dead, so you too shall rise from your grave renewed, restored, and righteous.  You are already a new creation through your baptism.  Jesus Christ has transformed your heart and mind so that you delight in God’s word—both in confessing it and in living it.  What you strive for in weakness now you will do and be perfectly in the kingdom to come.

     When Jesus comes again, he will not only raise you from the grave to live in beauty and glory before him, but he will also restore creation to its perfection.  “According to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).  Eden will be restored, and God will dwell with his people in peace.

     Today is the eighth day, the day of a new creation.  Jesus Christ is risen, the firstfruits of the new creation.  The rest of the harvest will follow soon enough.  God’s people rejoice.  Heaven and nature sing.  God sees it, and behold, it is very good.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Adult Bible Class -- A new series begins on March 14

ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM: 

Evolution vs. The Message of Scripture

One of the great wars being waged against the Christian faith today is done by attacking the biblical teaching of creation.  Many within the Church have tried to find a compromise between creation and science (evolution) called theistic evolution.  This Bible study compares scriptural teaching with theistic evolution and shows that theistic evolution ends up compromising, not just biblical creation but all the major teachings of Scripture: the nature of God’s original perfect creation, the origin and perfect nature of the first humans, the fall into sin, sin’s curse on creation, God’s plan of salvation for sinners, the saving work of Jesus Christ, and the source of “right and wrong.”

Each lesson begins with a study of Scripture and then compares that with the teachings of theistic evolutionists presented in their own words.

                March 14             What is Theistic Evolution?  The Big Picture

                March 21             The Creation from Beginning to End

                March 28             God’s Love Amidst Suffering

                April 4                  Easter Sunday – No Bible Class

                April 11                Who We Are According to Scripture

                April 18                Right and Wrong, Sin, Death, and Judgment

                April 25                The Work of Jesus Christ

                The book “Elephants in the Room: Evolution vs. the Message of Scripture” may prove beneficial for your studies with this class.  If you are interested in purchasing a copy ($16), please order it by March 7 so that you can get it quickly.  Confirm your order with Pastor Schroeder.  Checks can be made payable to Good Shepherd.

Eclipse from Novi and a Pastoral Concern about created order

After making our eclipse viewer out of a cereal box, Peter and I went outside to see how the eclipse was coming along.  Unfortunately, we were battling cloud cover throughout the afternoon.  Fortunately, the clouds proved to be our friends and enabled us to see the eclipsed sun without going blind.

Here are some photos.

Peter checks out the progress of the eclipse.

This is what we could see in our box when the sun was not hidden behind the clouds.

Eventually, the eclipsed sun was seen with the clouds making a nice filter for viewing.

Now, the pastoral concern about the created order.

The eclipse grabbed the attention of many people.  And while most people seem to have embraced the theory of evolution in which all things assembled by a series of amazing chances which have resulted in our current universe, the eclipse makes a very strong argument that our universe could hardly have been achieved by chance.

Notice that the eclipse followed an exact path, and that scientists could chart the exact time when the total eclipse would happen over each location.  They even had the length of totality determined down to the second.  This is hardly random or chance.  This is incredible precision--as if it were designed and continues to be orchestated by divine power.

What's more, scentists were already telling us when and where the next eclipse would be, and when the next total eclipse would cover the USA again.  If the universe were a random process and continaully subject to grand evolution by chance, there is no way a scientist would be so confident in predicting eclipses with such confidence or accuracy.  And yet, they do; and they are right.  This is hardly random or chance.  It is precisely what the Scriptures state.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above[a] proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice[b] goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat. (Psalm 19:1-6)

The Scriptures are trustworthy in all things because it is the word of God who does not lie or deceive or contradict himself.  And since his word is sure, so is the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the dead which Jesus Christ has secured for us by his sufferings, death, and resurrection.  If the Scriptures are brushed off, then so is our salvation.  But since God has again proved himself faithful, we have more confidence in our salvation than scientists have in the next eclipse date and site.