Since we are missing tonight’s Midweek Service looking at the Second Article of the Creed, you can read below my sermon/catechesis on it as found in the Large Catechism. God’s blessings to you this Lententide!
Pastor

Fifth Midweek in Lent April 2nd, 2025
The Creed: The Second Article: God the Son- Redeemer
Order of Service- Service of Prayer and Preaching LSB 260
Psalm 22, Romans 5:1-21, Catechism LSB 322- The Second Article with meaning, LSB Hymns- 332, 555 vv 1-5, 6-10

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Much can change in a week’s time. Yet, it is comforting to know that Jesus Christ our Savior is the same now, as he was yesterday and will be forever. It is comforting to know that God is still in control as He always has been and will be. It is comforting to hear and take to heart these words of St. Paul from Romans 5 especially in light of all that is taking place around us these days. These promises of God given to us in Holy Scripture which will never change, even when the rest of the world around us is in distress and ever-changing.

As Christians, whose faith is founded in the saving work and Second Person of the Holy Trinity, we receive a peace, hope and joy in this Word of which we sing in the face of such fear brought about by demonic forces. For even now we are to cling all the more tenaciously to the words penned by Luther in, “A mighty fortress is our God.” Especially stanzas 3-4, which remind us: “Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us. We tremble not, we fear no ill; They shall not overpow’r us. This world’s prince may still Scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none. He’s judged; the deed is done; One little word can fell him.” For indeed, try as all the demonic forces try, “The Word they still shall let remain Nor any thanks have for it; He’s by our side upon the plain With His good gifts and Spirit. And take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Though these all be gone, Our vict’ry has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth.”

Christ the Word remains the immovable rock on which the church will continue to stand even when steeples are falling, both now and forevermore. Even now Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer remains our Lord and Savior. And isn’t it amazing that this was and remains our focus for this week’s Lenten midweek: the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Valiant One, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We are taking a look at the Second Article of the Creed, in which we confess our faith in Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father from all eternity, but also true man, born othe Virgin Mary, who is our Lord. Again in this, the Second Article of the Creed, we turn to the Luther’s Large Catechism for our Lenten midweek catechetical study.

In this article, “Here we learn to know the Second Person of the Godhead. We see what we have from God over and above the temporal good mentioned before” LC II 26. Namely looked at and mentioned in the First Article of the Creed. In this article of the Creed, “We see how He(Christ) has completely poured forth Himself and withheld nothing from us. Now, this article is very rich and broad. But in order to explain it briefly also and in a childlike way, we shall take up one phrase and sum up the entire article” LC II 26. In the same manner that Luther did. For, “As we have said,” already in the introduction to the Creed, “we may learn from this article how we have been redeemed.” And, “We shall base this,” the manner and way in which we have been redeemed, “on these words, ‘In Jesus Christ, our Lord’” LC II 26.

And, “Now, if you are asked, ‘What do you believe in the Second Article about Jesus Christ?’” LC II 27. You could answer briefly with these words, “’I believe that Jesus Christ, God’s true Son, has become my Lord’” LC II 27. Okay, “’But what does it mean to become Lord?’” What do we mean when we confess that Jesus Christ, who is both true God begotten of the Father before all worlds, but also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. We are confessing what this Second Person of the Trinity has done. In that we confess, “He has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil.” Christ procured our redemption from these not with gold, silver or any other usual means of worldly gain or treasures but he purchased, won and redeemed us with His holy precious blood and innocent sufferings and death on the cross. “For before I did not have a Lord or King, but was captive under the devil’s power, condemned to death, stuck in sin and blindness’” LC II 27. And we see this even down to our day as well, for us and for all those who remain outside the saving faith they are blind to see their own wretched sinful and lost state. Such demonic, evil and spiritual blindness, that ultimately everything that is possible then becomes permissible; so long as it is beneficial to the individual. Such blindness and demonic power, that tells the individual to simply forget about having a set standard of ethics, morals or even a conscience. Such demonic forces and spiritual blindness, that condones, supports or advocates for the abortion and murder of the child already conceived and fashioned by God in the mother’s womb. A blindness that calls to get rid of the elderly, infirm, or all those who society deems as lives not worth living. We could also add to this the blindness of the world, and even we the people of God, in failing to recognize who is still in control even when the devil and all his forces are raising havoc, panic and fear around us. For Christ has told us to have no fear little flock. Yet, even now it is easy to fall into fear as was spread around greatly during the overblown Covid-19 pandemic. We saw how easy it was for many to put their faith and trust in the CDC, leaders, disinfectants, or even themselves rather than placing all these in the God who remains our Lord and Savior. In those times in which we lived we can now see the extent of this blindness and fear of what I can’t control, disregard for the needs of my neighbor, and a questioning of the goodness of our God. But why and how did man get to this point?

“For when we had been created by God the Father and had received from Him all kinds of good,” it was at this same time, “the devil came and led us(mankind) into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil. (And) So we fell under God’s wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation (and punishment), just as we had merited and deserved (for our sins). There was no counsel, help, or comfort…” LC II 28 that sinful man could find in all creation to undo the mess he now faced. That was the case for lost and fallen mankind, “until this only and eternal Son of God–in His immeasurable goodness–had compassion(mercy) upon our misery and wretchedness. He came from heaven to help us [John 1:9]. So those tyrants and jailers (sin, death and all the powers of the devil) are all expelled now (from the baptized and believing children of God). In their place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness, every blessing, and salvation. He has delivered us poor, lost people from hell’s jaws, has won us, has made us free, and has brought us again into the Father’s favor and grace.” In fact, “He has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection so that He may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and blessedness” LC II 28-30. This means, I’m not my own to live however I want now that I am freed from these but rather as a Christian I belong to Christ and am accountable to Him for how I live my life under His care and protection. What Christ our Lord has done for us by his death and resurrection changes how we live out our lives in this world as St. Paul alludes to in Romans 5.

For, “since we have been justified by faith,” in Christ, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” A peace that surpasses all human understanding. A peace unlike any that this world can deliver though on. For it is also, “Through him (Christ) we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we (the believers in Christ) rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” And, “Not only that, but we,” by this faith in Christ, are even able to, “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame….” What sort of hope is this that endures through sufferings producing character and does not put us to shame? The hope of the faith to which the believer has been called; the hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. And why do we have such hope? “Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (by the Word of Christ, the very Gospel).”

Dear friends in Christ Jesus, “Let this, then, be the sum of this article: the little word Lord means simply the same as redeemer. It means the One who has brought us from Satan to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same” LC II 31. Yes, even during the worst of days, months, or years, Jesus is and remains our Lord. “But all points that follow in this article serve no other purpose than to explain and express this redemption. They explain how and by whom it was accomplished. They explain how much it cost Him and what He spent and risked so that He might win us and bring us under His dominion. It explains that He became man [John 1:14], was conceived and born without sin [Hebrews 4:15], from the Holy Spirit and from the virgin Mary [Luke 1:35], so that He might overcome sin. Further, it explains that He suffered, died, and was buried so that He might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe [1 Corinthians 15:3-4], not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood [1 Peter 1:18-19]. And He did all this in order to become my Lord.” In this we see the bleeding love of God for His fallen creation. For, “He did none of these things for Himself, nor did He have any need for redemption. After that He rose again from the dead, swallowed up and devoured death [1 Corinthians 15:54], and finally ascended into heaven and assumed the government at the Father’s right hand [1 Peter 3:22]. He did these things so that the devil and all powers must be subject to Him and lie at His feet [Hebrews 10:12-13] until finally, at the Last Day, He will completely divide and separate us from the wicked world(unbelievers), the devil, death, sin, and such” LC II 31.

We could spend an immeasurable amount of time on this article, but this is why we have the entire church year. Throughout the church year we have, “times that are appointed for the purpose of treating each article at length-for Christ’s birth, sufferings, resurrection, ascension, and so on” LC II 32. It is imperative that we come to properly understand this article, for it is, “that upon which our salvation and all our happiness rests” LC II 33. Yet, “It is so rich and complete that we can never learn it fully” LC II 33. Which is why it is imperative we as Christians continue to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest this Word of God each and every day; that we may embrace and ever hold the blessed hope of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard and keep your hearts in Christ our Savior. Amen.