Good Morning
All,
Isaiah
64:8; “But now, O Lord,
you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Our
antiphon for today shows the extremes at which we view our self and God.
O King of
the nations, and their desire,
the
cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
As we
look at the word “clay,” it would be more accurate to translate this as
slime. This is kind of a dismal view of
human life. Yet this is where we find
ourselves when it comes to our sinful life.
We see that we are of no value; we are nothing more than the slimy ooze
that is of little, if any, use. Yet we
look to, hope for, long for and desire Jesus as our King, the King of nations.
The
imagery of this prayer is powerful. The
King of the nations, the great and wonderful creator of the universe comes to
save the human race. He comes to save
the human race for its own failings. He
comes to save his people from their sins.
The truly
unique aspect of this saving is that it is ongoing. We are saved from our sins every day. Our sins are continually forgiven and beyond
that we are saved from them. One can
forgive the sins of another and yet allow that person to “pay the price”. I might forgive you for breaking the window
in my house but you still have to pay for it.
I might be able to forgive the drunk driver whose careless driving took
the life of a loved one but the driver will still go to prison. He was forgiven but not saved.
We are saved from our sins. We will not pay
the price for them. The price is eternal
damnation and separation from God. Yet
we will not experience this punishment for our sins; our King of nations, our
Redeemer has come to save us from our sins.
This saving is not just now but in the future as well.
We were
designed to live forever. Sin brought
death so when Jesus returns, that which we pray for in this Advent season, our
bodies will be redeemed and saved as well, not just our souls. This is the full saving which Jesus brings to
us. Our salvation will be complete, body
and soul. We will have the restored
creation where we will live eternally with our Savior as our King and Light.
O
Wondrous King of nations come. Through
You alone is our salvation made complete.
Through You alone does our hope exist.
Be with those who feel the darkness of sin and the pain of the devil’s
attacks. Shine your light upon them and
bring to them the comfort and certainty of your grace. Guard and protect us until your return. Come Lord, come. In Your wonderful Name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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