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MY REDEEMER LIVES!
In the name + of Jesus.
M: Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Modern Bible scholars claim that Christian
doctrine progressed over time. One doctrine
which is claimed to be a later addition is the resurrection of the body. It is argued that the concept of the resurrection
does not appear until perhaps the time of King David, about 1,000 BC, and its
frequency increases after that. It is suggested
that the resurrection was not known by the likes of Abraham or Noah or
Adam.
The patriarch Job would have lived about
the time of Abraham, perhaps even a bit before.
That puts him a good 1,000 years before King David. Job made a very clear confession about the
resurrection of the body. From this we
can draw one of two conclusions. Option 1:
The resurrection had been believed and taught by people who came before Job. If Job was taught about the resurrection, it is
a very old doctrine, believed by people long before Job. Option 2? Job was just making this up on the spot. If that were the case, Job’s friends would
have responded, “What are you talking about?!”
When a person is facing death, he needs to
grasp onto something sure in order to find comfort. It is not the time to start making up beliefs
unless you have no beliefs at all. But
Job made it clear that he was not facing death with wishful thinking. His confidence was firm. “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever” (Job 19:23-24)! Job
wanted his confession permanently inscribed, chiseled in stone so that future generations
would know it. This was a firm faith
based on promises of old. It is a confession
that we still make today: “We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life
of the world to come” (Nicene Creed).
The resurrection of the dead is not a teaching invented by the Church. The resurrection has been believed, confessed,
and taught by God’s people based on the very first promise God made.
Job’s confession was made when he thought
that his death was imminent. You may recall
Job’s history. Job went from being a
very rich, influential man to poverty-stricken in a day. Job lost his wealth, his servants, his
status, and his children. To make
matters worse, Job was then afflicted with debilitating ailments. The Bible says that Job was struck “with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head”
(Job 2:7). With his body shriveled, his friends did not even
recognize him. Job looked like the living
dead, and he was sure that death was close at hand.
Despite this misery,
despite staring the grave in the face, Job continued to have hope. He declared, “I know
that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon
the earth. And after my skin has
been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom
I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another”
(John 19:25-27).
My Redeemer lives! This is to say
much more than “God lives.” Job believed
in a Redeemer. If there is a Redeemer,
that means that someone comes to pay a ransom.
The ransom price is paid to deliver us from death. Death is the sentence that has fallen on
everyone on earth. No matter what anyone
thinks about the Bible or Jesus or the Church, all people know they are going
to die. When someone dies might
be a surprise. How someone dies
may come as a shock. When those road
workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge went to work that night, no one thought
that they would meet their death by a cargo ship hitting the bridge and causing
it to collapse. But none of those
workers expected that they would live forever, either. We all have an expiration date. This comes because sin has entered the world and
has corrupted all of us. That was the
penalty that fell upon Adam and Eve when they sinned against God, and it falls upon
all of us. We are sinners. Therefore, we are marked for death.
But God promised to deliver mankind from sin and all its
consequences. He promised a Savior. If we are to be saved from sin, then we are
also to be delivered from death. Where
there is no sin, there is no death either.
God does not ignore or dismiss sins.
They are wicked. You know
that. If someone sins against you, you know
it is wicked. If your spouse cheats on
you, if your neighbor swindles you, if your coworker tells lies about you, do
you ignore it or pretend it doesn’t mean anything? No.
You call it what it is: Wrong.
Wicked. Unacceptable. Perhaps even unforgivable. Therefore, God cannot ignore our sins against
him, either.
Because God does not delight in the death of anyone, he sent a Redeemer to
pay the price for our sins. Our Redeemer
is the Lord himself. It has to be. This is what the Lord says, “Truly no
man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his
life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never
suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the
pit (Psalm 49:7-9). But when God steps
in and gives himself as the ransom payment, it is enough to cover
everyone. The almighty God died in
exchange for all mankind. The Son of God
is your Redeemer.
But Job’s confession is not, “My Redeemer dies for me.” No, he declared, “I know that
my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon
the earth” (Job 19:25). Jesus,
who was buried in the grave with our sins, is risen from the dead. He lives, and he cannot die again. He has mastered death.
Your Redeemer lives! And you are his redeemed! That means he has purchased and won you from
all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver,
but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent sufferings and death. If your sin has been taken away from you,
that means that death does not own you.
For, where there is no sin, there is no death. At the end of time, our Redeemer will stand
upon the earth and raise up all the dead from their graves. On the Last Day, the grave will get nothing. On the Last Day, he will raise up me and all
the dead and give eternal life to me and all believers in Jesus Christ. This is most certainly true.
This was Job’s confidence and confession. “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I
shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes
shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me” (Job 19:26-27)! Job knew that
he would die. His body was corrupted by
sin, and sin cannot dwell with God. But
after he died, after his body suffered decay, he would be raised up anew. And Job knew that he would remain himself. He would not be morphed into someone
else. He would not be converted to an
angel. The same Job whom God created and
whom Jesus redeemed would be resurrected in glory. “In my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and
not another” (Job 19:26-27). My
Redeemer lives, and I myself shall see him!
Very few people have experienced the misery that Job knew. But you don’t need to experience that level
of suffering to know what suffering in a sinful world is like. How many have financial hardship—whether from
low income, loss of a job, or being hammered with car repairs? How many have known the pain of having a miscarriage
or burying a child? How many have had
their reputation destroyed? Or perhaps
you know the hardship of failing health.
It could be little things like weak eyesight or sore joints. It could be big things like an illness that
requires a hospital stay or an injury that requires surgery. Maybe it is a terminal disease. And if it is not you who have experienced these,
you know someone who has. This is the
reality of having sin-corrupted bodies in a sin-corrupted world. These bodies were created by God, but corrupted
by sin. Therefore, they are mortal; for
sin brings death.
But you have a Redeemer, and your Redeemer lives! He has paid the ransom to deliver you from
sin and death. But it is more than just
providing eternal life. Can you imagine
having eternal life in this world? How
many tragedies would you have to endure if you just kept on living in this
world? How many wars would you have to witness? How many injuries? How many bed-ridden days? And how often would you have to experience
people sinning against you—lying to you, stealing from you, and insulting you
with snobbish arrogance? Is this the
life that anyone wants?
But you have a Redeemer, and your Redeemer lives! He will rescue you from everything that has
been corrupted by sin. So, your body
will one day wear out. As Job testified,
you will die and your skin will be destroyed.
But then! But then! “After my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:26-27). Your living Redeemer will raise you up from the
grave and make you alive again. Delivered
from sin, you will also be delivered from death. You will be forever free from everything that
corrupts and decays and destroys and hurts and saddens and scares. You will have the body that God had intended
you to have from his first creation. You
will have the mind that delights only in what is pure and honorable. You will have a spirit that loves God and his
word, and it will be your greatest joy to live according to it. And you will be gathered together with
redeemed saints who will share in your joy and rejoice in God’s love with you.
My Redeemer lives! That is what
matters. Job knew what it was to be rich
and influential. He knew what it was to
have a loving family and robust health.
And he knew what it was to have all of it taken away. No matter what his earthly status was, his
status in the kingdom of God remained unchanged. He was redeemed and assured of a glorious
resurrection. When life was good, he
rejoiced in it. When death felt
imminent, it meant even more.
Finally, this is all that matters for any of us. Time on earth is short. Blessings can be marred or lost. But our Redeemer lives! His grace endures forever. Life in his kingdom is everlasting. So, your confidence, even in the face of death, can remain firm. My Redeemer lives! In the end, he will stand upon the earth. In the end, we will stand with him. How our hearts yearn in such a hope and for such a blessing!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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