First Sunday of Lent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
The church year theological clue
The structure of the church year determines, in all three years of the lectionary, that this Sunday is, in part, a "pattern" Sunday; it shows that Lent is a forty-day retreat by the faithful, "patterned" after Jesus' solitary sojourn in the wilderness immediately after he had been baptized in the Jordan. As a spiritual journey, Lent is observed in public and in private, in corporate worship and in individual devotions and actions. But, in the use of the Gospel for the Day, again in all three years, Satan is defeated by Jesus once and for all and the fate of Jesus is sealed; the Evil One has to do everything he can to get rid of him and, as the end of Lent reminds us, he does - but only for parts of three years. The temptation of Jesus gives hope to all who are aware of the consequences of sin - death - because Satan has been overcome and Christ remains the sinless Son of God, the only one who can offer a worthy sacrifice for sin to the Father and, thereby free humanity from sin and death.
The Prayer of the Day - The LBW offers two prayers for this Sunday; the first one would be suitable at the Easter Vigil because it has in it a reference to the Exodus and how God "brought them (Israel) to the promised land." It makes a rather subtle connection with Jesus' wilderness experience, asking God to "guide now the people of your Church, that, following our Savior, we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come." The prayer seeks to put this Gospel in its proper perspective. The second prayer addresses God, "our strength," in the face of temptation and the battle between good and evil that Satan wages within all of us. The prayer is realistic, seeking strength to be steadfast in the Word, but asking God to raise us when we fall and to restore us to grace through Jesus Christ. This prayer may be the more fitting and appropriate of the two prayers appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, depending upon the spiritual needs of the local congregation.
The Psalm of the Day (LBW) - Psalm 130 - Most funeral liturgies appoint this psalm as one of the lessons that may be read as part of the worship service. By using this psalm as a responsory, the church essentially puts it into the mouth of Jesus when he has concluded the forty-day fast and is tempted by Satan. He was close to a kind of death - maybe closer to actual death than he had been in the desert - because he would have been separated from God, along with all human beings, by sin. Jesus called upon God silently, no doubt, and he found strength to withstand the onslaughts of the Devil in the Word of God; God did hear his voice and "considered well the voice of (his) supplications." Of the Lord - and, hopefully, of us - it may well be said, "I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope.... for with the Lord there is mercy." Part of the prayer is ours, not that of Jesus, although we believe it because he died to gain assurance for us, "If you, Lord, were to note what is amiss, O Lord, who could stand? For there is forgiveness with you, therefore you shall not be feared." Oh, Lord, hear our voices, for we are all close to death.
The Psalm Prayer
God of might and compassion, you sent your Word into the world as a watchman to announce the dawn of salvation. Do not leave us in the depths of our sins, but listen to your Church pleading for the fullness of your redeeming grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17; 3:1-7
The garden story of Adam and Eve - and the serpent - shows us how quickly and how completely human beings got "out of control." They couldn't handle the freedom that God had given them when he created people in his image. The world was too good, contained too much that attracted them and tempted them to disobey the injunctions of the Creator. Because he was - and is - God, the Father knew what was going to happen, but to make humanity in his image meant that he had to give his creatures the freedom to make their own ethical and moral choices. Pride and perversity combine to become the fatal flaw in human character, informing people that they know at least as much as God about what is good, or what is bad, for them. This penchant for disobedience, sin, finds expression in every person's life, so that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The story suggests, therefore, that something has to be done to restore fallen humanity to a right relationship with God and to deliver people from sin and death - and, don't forget, the Devil. Jesus had to do two things: live a sinless life of perfect obedience; and restore God's people to their proper relationship with the Father (Adam and Eve knew that something was wrong between them and God - that they were sinners - when the discovered that they were naked), thereby delivering the human race from its fate apart from God. Omitted in this reading is the first word of Lent (v. 19b), "Remember, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." That part of the story, which is really about the "first exodus," needs to be read, somewhere, sometime, too.
Romans 5:12 (13-16) 17-19b
This part of Paul's letter to the Romans takes up where the Genesis story leaves off; it completes it and clarifies it from the standpoint of sin and redemption. Adam and Eve were the first sinners, and all other human beings born after have become sinners with them and suffer the same fate they experienced, death, separation from God. Paul points out that while Adam's sin resulted in the condemnation of all sinners, Jesus' perfect obedience - his righteousness - gains God's forgiveness and restores fallen humanity to the right relationship with God once more. Jesus is God's gift to the human race, given freely out of love and grace by God, and he had to die that the gift might be delivered to repentant sinners.
It is probably better to read the shorter form of this reading; comprehension will be easier and the point of Paul's argument will be clearer. The longer version, which includes verses 13-17, might best be included in a Bible study of Romans, which could be done during Lent (four of the first five "second readings" in Series A are from Romans), or a more extended sermon series, or a detailed study of the book could be done in Pentecost (sixteen lessons in a row are selected from Romans).
Matthew 4:1-11
There can be little doubt that, as Lent expanded in the early years of its evolution in the liturgy, the forty-day motif - the quadragesima - was settled on as a "natural" pattern for Lent. When this Gospel is read, the first thing that strikes the reader is the forty-day fast of Jesus. His baptismal experience must have affected him deeply, especially when the voice declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Jesus knew that his identity was a burden, as well as a delight; up to that time, he had to know that there was something different about him from other people, and at his baptism he discovered what it was, hence the immediate retreat into the solitude of that desert-like wilderness for a month and a third. But nothing is told in the story about what happened during the long fast; perhaps Jesus never told anyone - after all, there were no companions or observers with him - but kept that part of the story locked up in his heart and mind as private business between God and himself! Matthew doesn't fabricate a tale about the forty days, but he does give the detailed picture of what happened as Jesus ended the fast; the tempter appeared in the wilderness just as he had in the Garden and tried, unsuccessfully, in three different ways to get the Christ to do the "human thing" - to give in to temptation and sin, and to obey him and become subservient to Satan, as all other mortals had done. But Jesus resisted and rejected the temptations, for he is the Second Adam, of whom Paul speaks, and he will not give in to hunger, or to doubt, or to the lust for power. God called him his Son at his baptism; he proved to be the Son of God in his temptation.
A sermon on the Gospel, Matthew 4:1-11 - "Temptation, Triumph, and the Tree."
Baptisms are usually times of family reunion, special dinners, video taping of the event, and a great joy and rejoicing as another person - usually a baby in the contemporary church - is claimed and named as a child of God. It was different with Jesus; when God declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," he went out to a desert-like wilderness and spent forty days in prayer and reflection on what had just happened. In all the baptisms I have performed in my ministry, only one person - a four-year-old girl - made a response that had any similarity to that of Jesus. She stood up close to the front, heard the explanation about baptism, the water, the Paschal Candle, saw her infant brother baptized, watched and heard as a cross was traced on his forehead with "Scott, child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever." As soon as the baptism was concluded, she ran over to one of her grandmothers, lifted up her bangs, and said to her, "Is it (the cross) still there?" She was asking, in a way, "Am I still a child of God?" Jesus knew, at the conclusion of the fast, that he was indeed the Son of God; he probably knew that a cross was there, not on his forehead but in his future. That's where his baptism would actually be completed.
1. Temptation: Jesus was really tempted three times - first, to satisfy his hunger by turning stones into bread. As I write this, a local judge, who has been suspended from office without pay for a year as the result of an inappropriate and immoral action, has been on a water fast for more than fifty days. He has lost considerable weight, of course, and no longer appears in public; he may be too weak. He is in grave danger of dying or, at least, of ruining his health. Second, Jesus is tempted to test his faith in God by jumping from the heights of the Temple; and, third, to give in to the temptation to rule the whole world and enjoy everything in it - but he turned his back on temptation - and Satan. For our part, we know that we are more like the first Adam than we are like the second Adam, Jesus, because we fail, and Satan succeeds in seducing us so that we are his. Someone wrote a little verse many years ago:
There's nothing in man that's perfect,
There's nothing that's all complete.
He's nothing but a big beginning
From his head to the soles of his feet.
There's something that draws him upward
And something that drags him down,
And the consequence is he wobbles
'Twixt muck and a golden crown.
The poem is almost right; the whole truth is that we, like Adam, fall into the muck - sin - and are deserving of what is in the future - death.
2. Triumph: Think about it; Jesus actually defeated the devil, triumphed over him despite his hunger and weakness, and routed him in his total victory. That was the beginning of the end of Satan - not that he would disappear from the earth and abandon his efforts to deceive people and win them over to his side - but that Jesus sealed his doom by turning down the things that he offered to the Christ; Satan had never known total defeat before Jesus sent him on his way. We know, therefore, that he - before he was nailed to the cross - had won the victory for us; it was inevitable that he should die - Satan would make a comeback by getting the authorities on his side - but God finalized his triumph over death and the devil on the third day, the Day of Resurrection. That we know about, and that's why we're here, sinners still, but forgiven sinners who live in the hope of sharing ultimately in the triumph of Jesus Christ.
3. The tree: Jesus, simply put, was too much for the devil and, subsequently, he was too good to live. Satan couldn't have a person like Christ going around preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, calling upon people to repent of their sins and allow God to change their lives, and sharing in their pain and suffering, healing their hurts, instead of inflicting anguish and sorrow upon them. Jesus was just too much for Satan! Satan couldn't handle him. That's why he is just right for us; he has done what we can't do - his obedience affected our restoration to God - and he was willing to go to the cross to accomplish our release from the devil and win for us the victory over death. In this story, his fate was sealed - our future secured - and God gave all of us a new lease on life.
A sermon on the First Lesson, Genesis 2 and 3
"Simply tell the story; tell the story simply" was the sage advice given by a homiletician one time. This dictum certainly applies here. This is a story that needs to be told again - perhaps in contemporary garb - but told so that the hearers grasp the message and comprehend the meaning of the tale.
1. In creation, God changes the dust of the earth into living beings made in his image. Another tall tale? It's as good as any, because the story doesn't tell how God made human beings, but only that he created them out of what was at hand for the task, the dust and dirt of the earth.
2. God's first act of grace toward his creatures was to place them in a garden where they had everything they needed to enjoy life. They thought they needed something more, and, when tempted by Satan, they took what they wanted for themselves, ignoring the command of God. That act, that "fall," has been repeated over and over again in every age, in every human being who has ever lived - save one. By disobeying God, his people defaced the image of God and would never be able to restore it.
3. It was in their act of disobedience that the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened; they saw their nakedness and tried to cover it up and, simultaneously, cover up their sin, but it did no good; they knew right then that they were sinners. Paradise was lost! Expelled from the Garden, - exodus - humanity has had a nearly impossible time trying to make anything really good out of life ever since. Christ, the second Adam, offers hope to repentant sinners, and holds out the possibility of restoration - exodus in reverse - to the garden in a new heaven and a new earth. In that day Jesus will take Satan by the tail and hang him upon the tree to die, and the faithful will live with the Lord forever.
A sermon on the Second Lesson, Romans 5:12 (13-16), 17-19 - "An Amazing Gift of Grace."
1. Every person who ever lived has succumbed to temptation and become a sinner separated from God. Sin is a prison from which nobody can escape without outside help. David Roberts once told the story of a medieval blacksmith, who was not only a man of tremendous strength and a great craftsman, but he was also a leader in his town, which was near the border of the country. One night, an army from the other country invaded the town, took the town's leading citizens, including the blacksmith, and bound them with chains and threw them into dungeon cells. The blacksmith didn't worry; he knew all about chains, and he believed that all he had to do was find the weak link, use his great strength upon it, break free, bend the bars of his cell, escape and lead a revolt to over-throw the invading army. But suddenly a wail of horror came from his cell; as he ran his fingers over the chains, he came across his own trade-mark and he knew that those chains would have no weak link; he had made them himself. He could not escape by himself; he would be there in the dungeoncell until someone came, removed the chains, and set him free. That, Roberts pointed out, is the human condition.
2. Jesus' obedience - his righteousness - has brought about reconciliation with God, but at tremendous expense; he had to lay down his life so that we could live.
3. Therefore, we rejoice, because forgiveness and deliverance are a free gift of God. And we serve him out of love, not to gain what has already been given to us - forgiveness and eternal life - but because he has given us blessed assurance in Jesus, who is our Lord forever.
The structure of the church year determines, in all three years of the lectionary, that this Sunday is, in part, a "pattern" Sunday; it shows that Lent is a forty-day retreat by the faithful, "patterned" after Jesus' solitary sojourn in the wilderness immediately after he had been baptized in the Jordan. As a spiritual journey, Lent is observed in public and in private, in corporate worship and in individual devotions and actions. But, in the use of the Gospel for the Day, again in all three years, Satan is defeated by Jesus once and for all and the fate of Jesus is sealed; the Evil One has to do everything he can to get rid of him and, as the end of Lent reminds us, he does - but only for parts of three years. The temptation of Jesus gives hope to all who are aware of the consequences of sin - death - because Satan has been overcome and Christ remains the sinless Son of God, the only one who can offer a worthy sacrifice for sin to the Father and, thereby free humanity from sin and death.
The Prayer of the Day - The LBW offers two prayers for this Sunday; the first one would be suitable at the Easter Vigil because it has in it a reference to the Exodus and how God "brought them (Israel) to the promised land." It makes a rather subtle connection with Jesus' wilderness experience, asking God to "guide now the people of your Church, that, following our Savior, we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come." The prayer seeks to put this Gospel in its proper perspective. The second prayer addresses God, "our strength," in the face of temptation and the battle between good and evil that Satan wages within all of us. The prayer is realistic, seeking strength to be steadfast in the Word, but asking God to raise us when we fall and to restore us to grace through Jesus Christ. This prayer may be the more fitting and appropriate of the two prayers appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, depending upon the spiritual needs of the local congregation.
The Psalm of the Day (LBW) - Psalm 130 - Most funeral liturgies appoint this psalm as one of the lessons that may be read as part of the worship service. By using this psalm as a responsory, the church essentially puts it into the mouth of Jesus when he has concluded the forty-day fast and is tempted by Satan. He was close to a kind of death - maybe closer to actual death than he had been in the desert - because he would have been separated from God, along with all human beings, by sin. Jesus called upon God silently, no doubt, and he found strength to withstand the onslaughts of the Devil in the Word of God; God did hear his voice and "considered well the voice of (his) supplications." Of the Lord - and, hopefully, of us - it may well be said, "I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope.... for with the Lord there is mercy." Part of the prayer is ours, not that of Jesus, although we believe it because he died to gain assurance for us, "If you, Lord, were to note what is amiss, O Lord, who could stand? For there is forgiveness with you, therefore you shall not be feared." Oh, Lord, hear our voices, for we are all close to death.
The Psalm Prayer
God of might and compassion, you sent your Word into the world as a watchman to announce the dawn of salvation. Do not leave us in the depths of our sins, but listen to your Church pleading for the fullness of your redeeming grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17; 3:1-7
The garden story of Adam and Eve - and the serpent - shows us how quickly and how completely human beings got "out of control." They couldn't handle the freedom that God had given them when he created people in his image. The world was too good, contained too much that attracted them and tempted them to disobey the injunctions of the Creator. Because he was - and is - God, the Father knew what was going to happen, but to make humanity in his image meant that he had to give his creatures the freedom to make their own ethical and moral choices. Pride and perversity combine to become the fatal flaw in human character, informing people that they know at least as much as God about what is good, or what is bad, for them. This penchant for disobedience, sin, finds expression in every person's life, so that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The story suggests, therefore, that something has to be done to restore fallen humanity to a right relationship with God and to deliver people from sin and death - and, don't forget, the Devil. Jesus had to do two things: live a sinless life of perfect obedience; and restore God's people to their proper relationship with the Father (Adam and Eve knew that something was wrong between them and God - that they were sinners - when the discovered that they were naked), thereby delivering the human race from its fate apart from God. Omitted in this reading is the first word of Lent (v. 19b), "Remember, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." That part of the story, which is really about the "first exodus," needs to be read, somewhere, sometime, too.
Romans 5:12 (13-16) 17-19b
This part of Paul's letter to the Romans takes up where the Genesis story leaves off; it completes it and clarifies it from the standpoint of sin and redemption. Adam and Eve were the first sinners, and all other human beings born after have become sinners with them and suffer the same fate they experienced, death, separation from God. Paul points out that while Adam's sin resulted in the condemnation of all sinners, Jesus' perfect obedience - his righteousness - gains God's forgiveness and restores fallen humanity to the right relationship with God once more. Jesus is God's gift to the human race, given freely out of love and grace by God, and he had to die that the gift might be delivered to repentant sinners.
It is probably better to read the shorter form of this reading; comprehension will be easier and the point of Paul's argument will be clearer. The longer version, which includes verses 13-17, might best be included in a Bible study of Romans, which could be done during Lent (four of the first five "second readings" in Series A are from Romans), or a more extended sermon series, or a detailed study of the book could be done in Pentecost (sixteen lessons in a row are selected from Romans).
Matthew 4:1-11
There can be little doubt that, as Lent expanded in the early years of its evolution in the liturgy, the forty-day motif - the quadragesima - was settled on as a "natural" pattern for Lent. When this Gospel is read, the first thing that strikes the reader is the forty-day fast of Jesus. His baptismal experience must have affected him deeply, especially when the voice declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Jesus knew that his identity was a burden, as well as a delight; up to that time, he had to know that there was something different about him from other people, and at his baptism he discovered what it was, hence the immediate retreat into the solitude of that desert-like wilderness for a month and a third. But nothing is told in the story about what happened during the long fast; perhaps Jesus never told anyone - after all, there were no companions or observers with him - but kept that part of the story locked up in his heart and mind as private business between God and himself! Matthew doesn't fabricate a tale about the forty days, but he does give the detailed picture of what happened as Jesus ended the fast; the tempter appeared in the wilderness just as he had in the Garden and tried, unsuccessfully, in three different ways to get the Christ to do the "human thing" - to give in to temptation and sin, and to obey him and become subservient to Satan, as all other mortals had done. But Jesus resisted and rejected the temptations, for he is the Second Adam, of whom Paul speaks, and he will not give in to hunger, or to doubt, or to the lust for power. God called him his Son at his baptism; he proved to be the Son of God in his temptation.
A sermon on the Gospel, Matthew 4:1-11 - "Temptation, Triumph, and the Tree."
Baptisms are usually times of family reunion, special dinners, video taping of the event, and a great joy and rejoicing as another person - usually a baby in the contemporary church - is claimed and named as a child of God. It was different with Jesus; when God declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," he went out to a desert-like wilderness and spent forty days in prayer and reflection on what had just happened. In all the baptisms I have performed in my ministry, only one person - a four-year-old girl - made a response that had any similarity to that of Jesus. She stood up close to the front, heard the explanation about baptism, the water, the Paschal Candle, saw her infant brother baptized, watched and heard as a cross was traced on his forehead with "Scott, child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever." As soon as the baptism was concluded, she ran over to one of her grandmothers, lifted up her bangs, and said to her, "Is it (the cross) still there?" She was asking, in a way, "Am I still a child of God?" Jesus knew, at the conclusion of the fast, that he was indeed the Son of God; he probably knew that a cross was there, not on his forehead but in his future. That's where his baptism would actually be completed.
1. Temptation: Jesus was really tempted three times - first, to satisfy his hunger by turning stones into bread. As I write this, a local judge, who has been suspended from office without pay for a year as the result of an inappropriate and immoral action, has been on a water fast for more than fifty days. He has lost considerable weight, of course, and no longer appears in public; he may be too weak. He is in grave danger of dying or, at least, of ruining his health. Second, Jesus is tempted to test his faith in God by jumping from the heights of the Temple; and, third, to give in to the temptation to rule the whole world and enjoy everything in it - but he turned his back on temptation - and Satan. For our part, we know that we are more like the first Adam than we are like the second Adam, Jesus, because we fail, and Satan succeeds in seducing us so that we are his. Someone wrote a little verse many years ago:
There's nothing in man that's perfect,
There's nothing that's all complete.
He's nothing but a big beginning
From his head to the soles of his feet.
There's something that draws him upward
And something that drags him down,
And the consequence is he wobbles
'Twixt muck and a golden crown.
The poem is almost right; the whole truth is that we, like Adam, fall into the muck - sin - and are deserving of what is in the future - death.
2. Triumph: Think about it; Jesus actually defeated the devil, triumphed over him despite his hunger and weakness, and routed him in his total victory. That was the beginning of the end of Satan - not that he would disappear from the earth and abandon his efforts to deceive people and win them over to his side - but that Jesus sealed his doom by turning down the things that he offered to the Christ; Satan had never known total defeat before Jesus sent him on his way. We know, therefore, that he - before he was nailed to the cross - had won the victory for us; it was inevitable that he should die - Satan would make a comeback by getting the authorities on his side - but God finalized his triumph over death and the devil on the third day, the Day of Resurrection. That we know about, and that's why we're here, sinners still, but forgiven sinners who live in the hope of sharing ultimately in the triumph of Jesus Christ.
3. The tree: Jesus, simply put, was too much for the devil and, subsequently, he was too good to live. Satan couldn't have a person like Christ going around preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, calling upon people to repent of their sins and allow God to change their lives, and sharing in their pain and suffering, healing their hurts, instead of inflicting anguish and sorrow upon them. Jesus was just too much for Satan! Satan couldn't handle him. That's why he is just right for us; he has done what we can't do - his obedience affected our restoration to God - and he was willing to go to the cross to accomplish our release from the devil and win for us the victory over death. In this story, his fate was sealed - our future secured - and God gave all of us a new lease on life.
A sermon on the First Lesson, Genesis 2 and 3
"Simply tell the story; tell the story simply" was the sage advice given by a homiletician one time. This dictum certainly applies here. This is a story that needs to be told again - perhaps in contemporary garb - but told so that the hearers grasp the message and comprehend the meaning of the tale.
1. In creation, God changes the dust of the earth into living beings made in his image. Another tall tale? It's as good as any, because the story doesn't tell how God made human beings, but only that he created them out of what was at hand for the task, the dust and dirt of the earth.
2. God's first act of grace toward his creatures was to place them in a garden where they had everything they needed to enjoy life. They thought they needed something more, and, when tempted by Satan, they took what they wanted for themselves, ignoring the command of God. That act, that "fall," has been repeated over and over again in every age, in every human being who has ever lived - save one. By disobeying God, his people defaced the image of God and would never be able to restore it.
3. It was in their act of disobedience that the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened; they saw their nakedness and tried to cover it up and, simultaneously, cover up their sin, but it did no good; they knew right then that they were sinners. Paradise was lost! Expelled from the Garden, - exodus - humanity has had a nearly impossible time trying to make anything really good out of life ever since. Christ, the second Adam, offers hope to repentant sinners, and holds out the possibility of restoration - exodus in reverse - to the garden in a new heaven and a new earth. In that day Jesus will take Satan by the tail and hang him upon the tree to die, and the faithful will live with the Lord forever.
A sermon on the Second Lesson, Romans 5:12 (13-16), 17-19 - "An Amazing Gift of Grace."
1. Every person who ever lived has succumbed to temptation and become a sinner separated from God. Sin is a prison from which nobody can escape without outside help. David Roberts once told the story of a medieval blacksmith, who was not only a man of tremendous strength and a great craftsman, but he was also a leader in his town, which was near the border of the country. One night, an army from the other country invaded the town, took the town's leading citizens, including the blacksmith, and bound them with chains and threw them into dungeon cells. The blacksmith didn't worry; he knew all about chains, and he believed that all he had to do was find the weak link, use his great strength upon it, break free, bend the bars of his cell, escape and lead a revolt to over-throw the invading army. But suddenly a wail of horror came from his cell; as he ran his fingers over the chains, he came across his own trade-mark and he knew that those chains would have no weak link; he had made them himself. He could not escape by himself; he would be there in the dungeoncell until someone came, removed the chains, and set him free. That, Roberts pointed out, is the human condition.
2. Jesus' obedience - his righteousness - has brought about reconciliation with God, but at tremendous expense; he had to lay down his life so that we could live.
3. Therefore, we rejoice, because forgiveness and deliverance are a free gift of God. And we serve him out of love, not to gain what has already been given to us - forgiveness and eternal life - but because he has given us blessed assurance in Jesus, who is our Lord forever.
