We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. 1 John 3:11,12,16

Daniel J. Habben

According to a 2003 study, 16 million men from mainland Asia and southern Siberia (8% of the male population) are descended from the once-feared Mongol ruler, Genghis Khan. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out how many of Genghis Khan’s traits were passed down through the generations?

You’re probably not descended from Genghis Kahn, but Lent is an opportunity to inspect your spiritual DNA. What you find might surprise you. You may be more like Cain than you would like to admit! But you’re also more like Christ than you may realize.

Like Cain

Let’s start with our similarity to Cain. He bludgeoned his brother to death. Oh, there may be no murder weapon buried in our closets, but consider how the Bible says, “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). Hatred, like murder, wishes the other person didn’t exist. That makes our workplace especially homicidal, doesn’t it? Lazy coworkers. Inept managers. Ungrateful customers. They’re all easy targets for our anger—an emotion that can easily boil over into hatred when not cooled down with daily repentance. Even when we repent of our hatred, we often allow ourselves to silently seethe. Yes, we’re more like Cain than we’d like to admit!

Like Cain, we should rightly expect God to drive us from his presence. Instead, God delivers us into the arms of his Son. John wrote: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” Jesus’ cry from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34), was like the shout of a hiker who distracts a charging grizzly away from others by making himself the bear’s target. God answered Jesus’ cry by turning his righteous anger away from us and instead bringing down the full weight of his wrath on his Son. With Jesus’ innocent death, God’s wrath was spent. We sinners are spared.

Like Christ

Now with our new lease on eternal life, we who can still so easily hate like Cain are exhorted by the apostle John to love like Christ.

Love like Christ? Don’t think it’s possible? Well, let’s inspect our spiritual DNA again. Jesus once said: “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20). We may be more like Cain than we’d like to admit, but believers are also more like Christ than they may realize. Think of how an electric power bar goes from “dead” to “live” when it’s plugged into an outlet. Through Baptism we have gone from dead to alive . . . in Christ. His love isn’t just racing to us; it’s also racing through us, the way electricity pulses through a power bar to give life to all the appliances plugged into it. With Jesus, we can show love to everyone—even the difficult people.

Yes, you share spiritual DNA with Cain. But through Baptism you’ve inherited the spiritual DNA of Christ. You have his forgiveness. And you also have his power to show love to others.

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Contributing editor Daniel Habben is pastor at St. Peter, Saint Albert, Alberta, Canada.

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Author: Daniel J. Habben
Volume 104, Number 3
Issue: March 2017

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

 

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  1 Timothy 1:15

Joel C. Seifert

There’s a bright, shining moment that starts off every week. In 2017, it starts off our entire year. The words of the absolution ring out: “God, our heavenly Father, has forgiven all your sins. By the perfect life and innocent death of our Lord Jesus Christ, he has removed your guilt forever.” Those words sum up one of the greatest truths of Scripture. When God forgives our sins, he does what no resolution or turn of a calendar page could ever do: He makes us new.

Our forgiveness in Christ makes us new

The apostle Paul wrote, “Follow my example” (1 Corinthians 11:1). What kind of example for renewal do you see in Paul?

You see someone who was earnest and worked hard. Someone who read his Bible and went to church. Someone who tried to be a better follower of God every day. But you also see a hate-filled, violence-spewing murderer, lost in his own self-righteousness.

That says so much about where our renewal is found. Apart from God’s mercy in Christ, we are hopelessly lost. Even when we try to leave behind our sins and work to turn our lives around, if Jesus and his cross aren’t the heart of it, we’ll only end up worse than before.

Paul’s renewal happened with a flash of light. Read his story in Acts chapter 9. Yours likely seemed much more ordinary: a message received in faith, a splash of water in the name of the triune God. But the same thing took place. God took an enemy and made him his child. God took someone in the age-old slavery of sin and made him new. “God, our heavenly Father, has forgiven all your sins. You are his own dear child.”

Our renewal is ongoing

But Paul’s “example” has more to teach us. He didn’t say that Christ came to save sinners, “of whom I was the worst.” He wrote, “of whom I am the worst.” Paul the preacher, Paul the spiritual father to so many, Paul the missionary looked at himself and

said, “I am the worst of sinners.”

Don’t be afraid to say that too. God calls us his holy children in Christ Jesus, but daily we still fall into our same old sins. God made us new when he brought us to faith, but he’s there to give us constant renewal every day. Every day as you read his promises in the Bible, every day as you remember your baptism, every time you go back to his Supper, he takes those sins on your mind and the guilt in your heart and buries them at the foot of Christ’s cross. When you cry out, “I am the worst of sinners,” he’s there to say, “You are my own dear child.”

God saved us in a brilliant once-for-all act of his grace, and he’s also there every day to . . . wrap us in Jesus’ righteousness to make us new again.

Remember the example Paul set, and you’ll always know how a Christian life works. God saved us in a brilliant once-for-all act of his grace, and he’s also there every day to pick us up, dust us off, and wrap us in Jesus’ righteousness to make us new again.

What a wonderful way to start the year. “You are forgiven. You are his own dear child. May God give you strength to live according to his will. Amen.”

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Contributing editor Joel Seifert is pastor at Shining Mountains, Bozeman, Montana.

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Author: Joel C. Seifert
Volume 104, Number 1
Issue: January 2017

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

 

Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4, 5

Steven J. Pagels

This is the time of year when millions of American families participate in the annual ritual known as back-to-school shopping. I don’t have to tell you how expensive that can be. Last year the average cost of school supplies for an elementary school student surpassed $100. Add on sports fees, instrument rentals, and field trips, and the cost jumps to more than $500.

Most parents bite the bullet and buy everything on the teacher’s list because they want to give their children the tools they will need to succeed. There is no guarantee, however, that having a desk full of supplies will lead to academic success. If you want to excel in the classroom, you don’t have to spend all kinds of money. According to David, what every student really needs is a good attitude and a good teacher.

An eager student

When I picture David, I see a shepherd boy with a staff in his hand or a king wearing a golden crown. I have never imagined David as a student sitting behind a desk, and yet that is how the psalmist describes himself in Psalm 25. He is eager to learn. He is asking for guidance. More than anything else, he wants the Lord to lead him down the right path.

It wasn’t always that way for David, though. There were times when he charted his own course, when he chose to go his own way, when he put his trust in his own instincts and intelligence. David pleaded with God not to remember the sins of his youth and his rebellious ways (Psalm 25:7) as he struggled to move on from his less-than-perfect past.

Can you relate? Do you wince when you recall some of your past sins? Do you ever wish that you could go back in time and undo what you did? Do you get frustrated because nothing you do is able to remove those permanent marks from your record? There is a way to get rid of your guilt, but you don’t need to be better or try harder to do it. Instead, David invites you to take a seat next to him at the feet of the master teacher.

More than a teacher

Jesus’ disciples called him “Teacher” because he was a teacher. Jesus was the world’s greatest teacher. He spoke with perfect clarity because he was perfect. He always spoke the truth because he is the Truth. But the lessons Jesus taught went far beyond the classroom, and the words of David remind us of that.

Some teachers do nothing more than stand in the front of the class and tell their students what they need to do to pass. Better teachers roll up their sleeves and do everything they can to help their students succeed. But only one teacher in the history of the world took it upon himself to do something his pupils could never do. Jesus took our place to rescue us from eternal death. He passed every test. He has erased every mistake. He has defeated every enemy.

As a result we have hope. Like David, you and I have hope “all day long” because our Teacher is also our Savior.

Contributing editor Steven Pagels is pastor at St. Matthew’s, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

 

 

Author: Steven J. Pagels
Volume 103, Number 8
Issue: August 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

 

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . . . God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6,8

Daniel J. Habben

On Nov. 7, 1907, a boxcar containing dynamite caught fire in the village of Nacozari in Sonora, Mexico. When the flames reached the dynamite, the blast was felt ten miles away! The whole town of Nacozari should have been blown apart like dandelion seeds scattered by a single careless puff.

ASTONISHING LOVE

But it wasn’t—thanks to railroad engineer Jesús García. When Jesús noticed the flames in the boxcar, he quickly drove the train away from the town, where it exploded harmlessly. Well, harmlessly for the people of Nacozari, but not for Jesús. He gave his life to save the lives of many.

There is, of course, another “Jesús” who gave his life in a daring rescue. On Good Friday, Jesus of Nazareth hitched the world’s sins to himself and hauled them to Golgotha. Atop that hill, God’s fury exploded with a deafening silence.

Want to know why Jesus did it? Step close. Press your eye to the keyhole of the cross. Beyond that keyhole you’ll see something more than a sense of duty. You’ll see the vast room of God’s astonishing love . . . a love that is for sinners.

A LOVE FOR SINNERS

Jesús García is hailed as a hero because he saved a town of hard-working folks, of boys and girls, grandpas and grandmas. But what if he had driven the smoldering dynamite away from the mansion of a drug lord? Would newspaper headlines have read, “Jesús García demonstrates love by dying for drug lord”? More likely they would call him a fool for sacrificing his life for scum.

So consider what the apostle Paul writes about the rescue that Jesus of Nazareth pulled off: “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). We may not live outside the law like a drug lord, but we routinely step outside of God’s boundaries. God forbids stealing, but we download music we didn’t buy. God tells us to speak the truth, but we’d rather blame our teacher for our failing grade than admit we didn’t apply ourselves. God tells us to be slow to anger, but anger zips to the surface when we’re face to face with obstinate kids, a red light, or a coworker’s criticism. Are these nitpicky sins that God doesn’t really care about?

Tell me, how big a flame does it take to ignite a stick of dynamite? Won’t just a spark do? Every sin, no matter how small, is a spark that threatens to blow up our relationship with God. Humanity was a smoking carload of dynamite, licked by the flames of our own sins, when God sent his Son to our rescue . . . and to his death.

The citizens of Nacozari were so thankful to Jesús García for saving them that they renamed their town after him. Jerusalem was not renamed “Jesus-ville” in honor of the Savior’s sacrifice on Good Friday. But you, dear reader, have been renamed. Once an enemy of God, now you are part of God’s family and have peace. You really have a reason to rejoice. Why? Because God’s astonishing love is for you.

Contributing editor Daniel Habben is pastor at St. Peter, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada.

 

 

Author: Daniel J. Habben
Volume 103, Number 6
Issue: June 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

 

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13:15

Joel C. Seifert

I spent more than a decade waiting tables. As people thanked me for bringing them food and clearing away their dirty dishes, the answer would roll off my lips automatically: “My pleasure.”

Spending time in a hot, muggy kitchen; juggling orders from a dozen tables; memorizing specials; and taking away scraps—I was grateful for my job, but do you think it really was a pleasure?

SERVING ISN’T ALWAYS A PLEASURE

Imagine being in the room with the disciples on that first Easter evening. They saw their Savior, risen to life and victorious over death. Their friend really did have power over everything; God himself was on their side, and he called them to follow him. You’d think that kind of life would bring the greatest joy!

Perhaps that’s why, the last time they had seen him, Jesus taught them one last lesson: he washed their feet (John 13:4-7). The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. That meant raising a dead girl to life and being overcome by the hugs of her grateful parents and sitting at Zacchaeus’ table as the host rejoiced to bring out his best dishes. And it meant days of exhaustion as the needy lined up outside his door and cold nights in the wilderness when he was chased out of towns.

It meant beatings and a cross. Serving so often means lowering yourself further than you thought you could go. Service is the Son of God scrubbing the toes of sinners.

It’s good to live in the joy of Easter, but don’t let that joy give you a false impression of what it means to serve. True service isn’t found in picking the tasks that give us fulfillment or bring us respect. It’s reaching further down to help those who need it.

SERVICE IS A PRIVILEGE, BACKED BY gO

Service isn’t always a pleasure, but it is a privilege. When we serve others, we’re following in our Savior’s footsteps. And he gives us a promise as we do: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:15-17).

On Easter Sunday, we sing our songs of victory. Everything God has promised us is true. Since Christ rose from the dead, our sins are forgiven. Heaven is our home. All things do work for our good.

And serving others in humility brings blessings. Every dirty diaper changed. Every church meeting that runs long into the night. Every floor mopped. Every door we nervously knock on. In every act of service that calls us to stoop down low, God takes our eyes off of our own importance. Then we marvel at the truth that God himself stooped even lower to pay for our sins—and all out of love for us. That’s a privilege.

Victorious Christian, serve others with Easter joy. It might not always be a pleasure, but it will always be a privilege that God blesses. Your risen Savior promises it.

Contributing editor Joel Seifert is pastor at Shining Mountains, Bozeman, Montana.

 

 

 

Author: Joel C. Seifert
Volume 103, Number 4
Issue: April 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
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Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:34,35

Joel C. Seifert

Maybe this doesn’t seem like the right time of year to say it, but it’s a lot easier not to love. As soon as you love someone, you have something to lose.

We like to pretend that isn’t true. Pay attention to the commercials and TV shows this month. More often than not, you’ll see beautiful images of the joy and bliss from our relationships. We love love.

But love brings pain too. Consider the picture of pure love that St. Luke sets before our eyes: A new mother brings her baby to the Temple in order to carry out the Lord’s will. She loves her newborn. Prompted by God’s Spirit, another worshiper approaches them and says, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

LOVING GOD WILL BRING PAIN

Mary heard Simeon say that her deep love for her Son will also hurt her. She’ll learn it in practice many times after that. She’ll feel the prick of sadness as his ministry takes him away from her. She’ll feel little daggers of pain when she hears him mocked as a fool, sees the religious leaders grow more and more opposed to him, and even observes some of his disciples leave him. And one day, as she stands at the foot of his cross, a sword of pain will pierce her heart as she watches her boy die, unable to even hold him in her own arms. She loves her son, her Savior, and that love will bring her pain.

Love brings us pain at times too. When we love God, we hurt when others think he is unimportant. It stings us when we hear people mock him. It cuts us when people we love leave him. How many painful moments do we have when we read and watch stories of the persecution of those who love our God and Savior.

GOD’S LOVE COMES WITH A PROMISE

That’s why God gives us a promise. I don’t know if Simeon understood all the details, but he was there in the temple courts that day because God had promised him that he would see the Savior who would restore God’s people. When God makes a promise, he keeps it.

That’s what sustained Simeon in his years of waiting. That’s what would carry Mary through. No matter how much hurt they faced or how much they seemed to lose, God’s love came with a promise. It would be worth it. A sword might pierce Mary’s soul, but there in her arms was the Savior who would redeem her soul. What could she really lose?

Many Christians set apart Feb. 2 as a day to remember when Mary brought Jesus to the temple courts. What a fitting way to begin a month that’s so focused on love! You are a believer. Your love for God will lead you to honor God in your relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife—in any and all of your earthly relationships. Speak his words to correct each other and to point each other back to our real hope. Sometimes that may bring pain. That’s always a risk when you love Jesus. But you’ll never really lose. After all, God’s given you his promise.

Contributing editor Joel Seifert is pastor at Shining Mountains, Bozeman, Montana.

 

Author: Joel C. Seifert
Volume 103, Number 2
Issue: February 2016

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us

 

The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

Steven J. Pagels

Do you have any plans for Yom Kippur this year? If you aren’t Jewish, there is a good chance you aren’t even aware that it will begin at sundown on Sept. 22. Also known as the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur is a Hebrew holiday that goes by unnoticed by most Christians. We may or may not see “Yom Kippur” printed in tiny letters on our calendars, but because Christians don’t follow the Jewish calendar we won’t pay much attention to it.

Maybe we should. Even though New Testament believers are no longer required to participate in all the rites and rituals associated with Yom Kippur, we have good reason to remember what those events foreshadowed and what their fulfillment means for you and me.

A DAY OF SYMBOLIC SACRIFICE

For God-fearing Jews, Yom Kippur was the holiest day of their year. It was the one day every year when the high priest was allowed to enter the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle, called the Holy of Holies, to offer sacrifices for his own sins and the sins of the people. That meant this holy day was also a very bloody day. The high priest sacrificed a bull and a ram for himself and his family. He sprinkled blood on the cover of the ark of the covenant. He sprinkled more blood on the horns of the altar.

The high priest offered similar sacrifices on behalf of the people, with one exception. Instead of sacrificing a bull for the sin offering, he selected two male goats. The first goat was slaughtered, and its blood was sprinkled on the atonement cover and the altar. The second goat, however, was not killed. Instead the high priest placed his hands on the goat’s head and confessed all the sins of the people over it. He then sent this goat, called the scapegoat, far away from the camp to die in the wilderness.

These ancient religious rites might seem a bit strange or even brutal to modern-day believers, but we begin to appreciate them when we see the symbolism. The killing of animals and sprinkling of blood couldn’t forgive a single sin. The priests who performed the sacrifices knew it. The letter to the Hebrews confirms it (10:4). These Old Testament sacrifices pictured and pointed God’s people ahead to another sacrifice, a sacrifice that would make atonement for sin, a once-for-all sacrifice that would remove sin forever.

A ONCE-FOR-ALL SACRIFICE

Good Friday is one of the most sacred days on the Christian calendar, and, like the Day of Atonement, it was a very bloody day. Blood trickled down from the crown of sharp thorns that pierced Jesus’ head. Blood flowed from his hands and feet when the soldiers nailed him to the cross.

On Good Friday Jesus was the victim of a series of brutal acts of violence. Or was he? He knew what was going to happen. He had predicted what was going to happen. And yet he willingly went to the cross. He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for us. The blood of goats and bulls never forgave a single sin, but the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin.

Because Jesus took the sins of the world on his shoulders, you are forgiven. Like the scapegoat, he carried your sins away. Because your Savior has made full atonement for your sins, you are at one with God.

Contributing editor Steven Pagels is pastor at St. Matthew’s, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

 

 

 

Author: Steven J. Pagels
Volume 102, Number 09
Issue: September 2015

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us