1^st Midweek Advent Service

December 6, 2006

Scripture Readings: Romans 4:13-25; Acts 2:37-39

Hymns: 71; 498; 106; 127; 657

Grace and peace to each of you, from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. The Word of God which we will be considering this evening is taken from Genesis 22:15-19:

15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son - 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

Theme: The Stars of God’s Universal Grace!

In the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, “the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star”, Dear Fellow Redeemed by the LORD,

Have you ever looked up into the sky and wondered why God created the stars? It is fairly obvious why God created the sun and the moon, but why the stars? If you study stars, even a little bit, you will find that they are an amazing part of God’s creation, reminding us of the word of David, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). But God did not create the stars only as a demonstration of His power, wisdom and glory. In fact, in the book of Genesis God tells us why He created the stars. We need to back up to the fourth day of creation, the day in which God created these heavenly bodies.

In Genesis 1 we read: “Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth’; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:14-18). Did you catch the words which describe the intention of God in creating the sun moon and stars? When we think of the purpose of the heavenly bodies, we usually think that light (and heat) must have been the primary purpose. But in reality, that seems to be a secondary purpose (remember that God had created light on day one of creation). God said, “let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years” and then continued, “and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth.”

“Let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years...” Understanding part of that verse is easy. Let those heavenly bodies be for days. Our days are determined by the “rising” and “setting” of the sun (really it’s the spinning of the earth as it orbits around the sun, but we get the picture). Let them be for years. If you know anything about how our calendars work, you know that they are based on the movement of the earth around the sun (which also causes the seasons we are so familiar with), and the movement and position of the moon and stars help us to determine where the earth is in its orbit, in order to divide the solar calendar into different periods we call months.

But now for the most intriguing use of God’s heavenly creation - “Let them be for signs...”. Have you ever wondered what God meant by that? This word is often used to describe the making of covenant or agreement with someone, and it is also often used to describe the miraculous working of God for His people. We find that both are true in the connection with how God has used these heavenly bodies as “signs” to the world of His work of salvation and redemption.

Let’s begin with two familiar illustrations of God using heavenly bodies as miraculous “signs.” First, think back to the time of Joshua, who led the people of Israel against the nations of Canaan. After defeating Jericho and Ai, Joshua went up to fight against five Amorite kings. The Lord told Joshua not to be afraid of them, because He had given them into Joshua’s hands (Joshua 10:8). During this battle we are told that Joshua prayed to the Lord asking that the sun and moon stand still while he and the people destroyed the Amorite armies. We are told, “So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge upon their enemies.... So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel” (Joshua 10:13-14). What a miraculous sign by the LORD!

The second is just as miraculous, and is more fitting as we approach the Christmas. The second is the account of the wise men. We recall the words of Matthew telling how the wise men had seen a special star in the east that told them of the birth of the Savior of the world. They came to Jerusalem looking for the baby king, met with Herod, who with some guidance from the religious leaders sent the wise men to Bethlehem. Then Matthew writes: “When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy” (Matthew 2:9-10). Now this was a very special star - not just standing still in the heavens, but moving and then coming to rest directly over the house where the Child Jesus and his family were living!

In addition to these there are other examples of how the LORD has used heavenly bodies as “signs” of His deliverance and power. Let them be for signs. This year we will be considering several sections of Scripture which speak of the “Stars of Christmas” - signs of God’s deliverance and power, and which point to work of Jesus - the Savior of the World! May the Spirit bless our study this evening as we consider the Stars of God’s Universal Grace. Amen.            

The verse we are considering this evening is from the familiar section which describes the sacrifice of Isaac. Remember that the Lord had previously come to Abraham and Sarah and told them that although Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was barren, they would conceive and have a son. As we know, God fulfilled His promise and a year later, Sarah bore Isaac. Later, when Isaac was older, the LORD tested Abraham, by telling him to take Isaac and kill him as a sacrifice to the LORD. But the LORD stopped Abraham, and then spoke these words to him, words that would have been quite familiar to Abraham by now, since the LORD had repeated these words to Him time and time again during His life.

The LORD said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son - 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Centuries later as the people of Israel prepared to enter the promised land of Canaan, Moses spoke to the children of Israel and said that God had fulfilled this promise, saying, “The LORD your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude” (Deuteronomy 1:10). But this promise was about more than just the conquering of the land of Canaan and the numbering of the Children of Israel. Consider the Holy Spirit’s own commentary on this promise through Paul’s words to the Romans, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).

God’s words to Abraham in our text bring this out as well: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” Of course, the seed that God was speaking of was not Isaac, but Jesus as we are told in Galatians, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:14).

These stars of this promise were a sign of God’s Universal Grace, laying out for us the Scriptural teaching of Universal Justification. We know what that term means, right? Universal means everyone, Justification is God’s act of declaring the sinner “Not guilty”. This promise to Abraham told that God would send His Son as the Savior of the whole world! There is not a single person for whom Christ did not die!

Paul clearly described God’s work of Universal Justification in Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Think of what that means for us! When your sins afflict you, have you ever thought, “God couldn’t forgive me - my sin is unforgivable!” Or at times we may look at others and think, “Look at what that person did - God won’t forgive him.” No matter who we are or what we have done, Christ came to make the full payment for them. Because of Christ’s righteousness, God proclaims the sinner, “Not guilty!” This blessing is not dependant on us, but is dependant on someone else - Christ! That is what makes this blessing so special. It is fully according to God’s grace.

Some have corrupted this teaching of Scripture saying that Christ did not come to save all people, but only some - those whom He wanted to save (Calvinism). This is clearly contradictory to passages like 1 Timothy 2:3-4 which says: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Others have corrupted this teaching by teaching that because Christ made the payment for the sins of all people, all people will go to heaven regardless of whether they believe in Christ as their Savior or not. These people confuse “The Lord is... not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) with “It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:24-25). This promise is for all people, but it must be received by another work of God, called faith. This is called individual justification.

Some would like to say that when we believe we are making salvation our own. But faith, which is the organ that receives this blessing of Justification in Christ is also the work of God in us. Remember Paul’s words to the Romans, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace.” Faith also excludes our worthiness as a condition of our salvation. Faith transfers the cause of this blessing from us to Christ, so that the blessing of salvation may be certain for us!

When Peter was asked by the people gathered on the day of Pentecost, “What shall we do?” Peter responded, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39). The stars of promise given to Abraham pointed to God Universal Grace: “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” It comes to us sinful human beings through the work of Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and it comes through the Holy Spirit’s work of faith - with repentance, acknowledging our sin, and turning to the Lord for His forgiveness, and through His work through Word and Sacrament! The hymnist wrote: Salvation unto us has come, by God’s free grace and favor; good works cannot avert our doom, they help and save us never. Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, who did for all the world atone; He is our one Redeemer (TLH 377:1). Thanks be to God for His Universal Grace in Christ Jesus. Amen.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 Amen.

Pastor Nathanael Mayhew