Rev. Daniel Fleischer
Since the fall into sin, every generation has had to deal with sin and with evil. The struggle begins within the individual himself because all people are born in sin and under the wrath of the holy God. Who among you reading this put your children on your knee to instruct them on how to hate God, or to curse and swear, despise the Word of God and the hearing of it? Did you instruct your child on how to disobey you as parent or defy authority? Did you teach your children how to hurt and harm their neighbor? Did you teach them how to lust or commit adultery or practice some other form of immorality? Did you give them a manual on how to rob and steal, or on how to lie to you, or deceive or slander their neighbor? What primer did you use to instill in them covetousness for what is not theirs or dissatisfaction for what they do have? If you did any of these, at what age did you start to teach your children how to offend God by living contrary to His commandments?
To your shame, perhaps some things they do that violates the Ten Commandments they learned from your bad example which took root in their heart, for which reason parents will confess, “Lord, I have sinned in misleading the children in my home.” But the reality is that what sins they commit or do because of your bad example are nevertheless of a deeper root. This root cause does not excuse you or me but is a consequence of original sin. The innocent appearance of a newborn is belied by the inherited sin of the heart in which we all were born and is translated into active sins of thought, word, and deed.
King David did not mean he was born of an illicit sexual affair when he said in his penitential Psalm, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (51:5). David was born of flesh and blood. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh…” (John 3:6) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12). No one disputes that children can be and are born with inherited physical traits, including addictions. In a similar manner, children inherit sin from parents. “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21), for which reason the apostle said, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing” (Romans 7:18).
We cannot thank the Lord enough that the history of mankind and God’s interaction with mankind does not stop there. “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s [Adam’s] offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from [followed upon] many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience [Adam’s] many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s [Christ’s] obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:15-19).
God the Father laid on Jesus, the sins of the world. (Isaiah 53:6) Consequently Jesus “was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors,” (Isaiah 53:12), the blessing being that in Christ, we are reconciled to the Father (2 Corinthains 5:19) before Whom Jesus day by day serves as our Advocate. (1 John 2:1) As many as confess their sins unto the Lord Who is faithful to forgive us our sin for Jesus’ sake (1 John 1:9) and as many as call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. (Romans 10:13) That is what the Christian faith is all about! Imagine what that meant to the disciple of the Lord, the apostle Peter, no less, who denied with an oath that he even knew the Lord. Think what that means for you and for me. In his Pentecost sermon, the same apostle wrote, “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).
In the gracious promise of our Heavenly Father, the Christ-believer finds comfort and hope knowing the Father has forgiven our sins through Christ, and through His Gospel called us to faith by the Spirit. By the same Spirit, saving faith is preserved in the heart of all who love the Word. Finally by the same Spirit we live in the confident hope of deliverance from the downward spiral of this evil and dying world.
The apostle Paul, encouraging young Timothy, referred to his own ministry. He endured much persecution and finally death for the faith, but what he said applies to all Christ-believers who by confessing their faith in word and deed witness to their Lord in this godless world. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, Who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:7-12).
Christians are not mindless robots. We have our fears, troubles, and dangers that make us tremble and cry out. We say with David, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me…How long will my enemy be exalted over me” (Psalm 13: 1-2)? Or we say with Asaph, “O God, why have You cast us off forever? (Psalm 74:1)? Neither David nor Asaph believed in their heart that God had forsaken them. Nor do we. But in our anguish Satan and the ungodly play on our flesh, and say, “Where is your God?” Our counter measure against the effort to get us to doubt God or even question His existence is to turn to the Scriptures, in which we are reminded of the suffering Savior Who prepared for us a better home. We can then turn the suggestions of the devil against him. As we are driven by circumstances to the cross of Christ, the Spirit prompts us: I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” There we can say with confident joy, “Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God” (Psalm 42:10). In the totality of our relationship to the Heavenly Father, one of which He is the Author and the Preserver, we can say with David, “But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:6).
The Spirit prompts the redeemed children of God who must ply the tempestuous waves of a contrary world: “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14). Jesus Who endured the winepress alone affirms David’s counsel in Psalm 27. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Born of flesh, by sin tainted
Prone to sin we were not Yours.
But by Your Spirit through the Word,
Lord, You have claimed us as Your own.
Still in this world of sin and shame
Where Satan lurks and seeks his prey,
Keep us alert, dear Lord, we pray,
To every evil he promotes.
By Your faithful Word of truth
Help us discern ‘tween right and wrong,
And when we fail to do the right,
Recall us to the fold again.
Preserve to us Your Gospel truth
That we ne’er doubt our sins forgiv’n.
Preserve this treasured Word to us,
Until we are in heav’n with You.
By Your Spirit make us bold
Your holy name to share and tell,
That others, too, the truth may know
Their sins forgiv’n through Jesus’ blood.
When we are troubled and affrighted
By those who seek to do us harm,
Remind us of Your promise true:
“You are Mine, I will not leave you.”
So weary may we never be,
Or ever fail to love Your Word
It is our light in this dark world,
The light that guides us safely home.
Rev. Daniel Fleischer is a retired pastor, former CLC president, residing in Oakdale, MN.
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