As we bring the readings about Samson to a close and we continue to remember that he was a flawed man, just like we are, let us look to Paul's exhortation in Galatians. We who bind ourselves to Mount Sinai, the Law, the requirements of God, are actively striving to bring ourselves into bondage and slavery. Yet the Gospel of Christ is what makes us children of promise, not children of slavery. Christ has bound himself to the Law and has overcome sin and death on our behalf. We who were children of bondage are now proclaimed to be children of promise.
There's something very important that happens in the church I attend. It's quite common within historic Christianity. A divine service begins with the simple statement, "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." And this is how we are children of promise. Our calling, our very identity, comes from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the trinity. Because the triune omnipotent God has called us out of bondage into freedom we know we are free. Because he has placed his name upon us as we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we know the favor with which God has treated us and will protect us. Because we realize that the proclamation of the Gospel is in the name of the triune God we receive it as the very word of God, for us, and not against us. We are indeed children of promise.
No comments:
Post a Comment