When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Corinthians 15:54

Easter is the linchpin of the New Testament. Christmas without Easter would be just another sentimental story. Good Friday without Easter would be nothing more than a tragic miscarriage of justice. Pentecost without Easter would just be a bizarre event starting off another dubious religion. But Easter gives Christmas, Good Friday, and Pentecost a whole new meaning. It was no ordinary baby who was born to Mary, but rather God in human flesh who came to rescue us from the curse of sin by taking it on Himself. It was no mere political activist whose blood was shed on the cross, but rather the holy and righteous Son of God who shed His innocent blood in place of our guilty blood. His rising from the dead means that no power in heaven or on earth can successfully oppose Him. His church will flourish - is flourishing - in the power of the Spirit, and the gates of hell cannot withstand it. It will endure forever.

Easter is likewise the linchpin of the story of your life. The God who died for you did not stay dead. He rose from the dead in glory, and no power can successfully oppose Him. When the called and ordained servant of Christ says your sins are forgiven, they really are, because Christ is risen from the dead. When you pray for the Spirit's help in temptation, you receive it, because Christ is risen from the dead. And when your last hour comes and death has done its worst, you will nevertheless live forever, because Christ is risen from the dead.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 Peter 1:17-19 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

The heart of the catechism is the Apostles' Creed. The heart of the Creed is Jesus. The heart of Jesus pumps blood. It isn't metaphor or mere idea but vivid reality. Here, God calls you to set your heart on His and to boldly believe that Jesus' blood is for you.

Why does Jesus shed His blood? He wants you, and that's the price (Hebrews 9:22). You were lost and condemned. You deserved only what you had earned: the wages of sin, sin that rejects God and hoards silver and gold as if life depends on it. And yet, your sin and your price did not stop Him.

The limitless one limited Himself to a human body with flesh and blood so that He could spend that flesh and blood on you (Colossians 1:19-20; Hebrews 2:14). He willingly redeemed you by His blood (Hebrews 9:12). Your Redeemer loves you with an everlasting love (Isaiah 54:8). His blood now flows from His cross to you through water, bread, and wine, delivering forgiveness, life, and salvation to you and for you (Hebrews 10:19; 12:24).

This is the central article of the Christian faith. It defies all rational explanation. From God's heart, the blood of Jesus flows. He invites you to believe it's for you. This central truth bleeds onto every other page of the catechism. It flows, transfused, through your veins as well, giving you His eternal life.

What else is there for you to do but set your heart on Him?
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Luke 1:35  And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God."

Like all of us, Jesus has a birthday. It was less sanitary, but much like ours. With pain and pushing, Mary gave birth to Jesus, a tiny human, true man. Like all of us, Jesus has a lifeday, the day He began to grow in Mary's womb. But it cannot compare to ours at all! Jesus' life began through the power of the most high God! A tiny speck in Mary's womb was deemed "the Son of God."

Jesus was true man and true God. The true man part we get. The true God part falls outside of our reason. That He was both at the same time moves us into the mysterious.

But God loves a mystery! He loves to reveal mysteries through faith. Through faith, we get it. Through faith, we understand the need for both the mystery of Jesus' lifeday and the mundane of His birthday. Because of both, God gives us a new lifeday!

Baptism unites us with Jesus' death and resurrection. As true man, He could die. As true God, His death pays sufficient ransom for sin. As true God, He could rise again and bring us with Him to new life, now and eternally.

When you celebrate your birthday, remember that Jesus had one too. He was true man. But also celebrate your lifeday (think back about nine months from your birthday!). Remember that Jesus had one too, but much different from yours. He was true God. Then, celebrate your new lifeday, made possible through the mundane and mysterious.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 Timothy 4:4-5  For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

So much of the Christian life is bound up in setting aside the self and letting God be good. As Luther explains here, it is an arrogant presumption to claim as ours what belongs to God alone. What vanity to believe that God needs what we can offer! Such thinking is rooted in pride and fear - I will share what I have and God will regard it favorably. Or if I do not give to God, He will withdraw His blessings or punish me. Even the praise God expects in response to His blessings is for our good. Gratitude reminds us of the giver. The practice of thanksgiving and praise is communication with the heavenly Father. Both fill the human heart with joy and deprive it of fear.

God's wish for communication reflects His larger desire - to know and have intimacy with sinners. When we recognize God's benevolence, we learn what He is like. When we share what God has given with those in need, we further grasp what Jesus did for us. As Paul explains in 1 Timothy 4, Christian prayer and praise are not holy by themselves; they are made so in the blood of Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus so that He could know sinners and restore the intimacy our disobedience destroyed in the Garden of Eden. Through faith in Jesus, we receive not merely clothing, food, house, and home, but the unchangeable love of the Father and everlasting sonship in His house.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Psalm 121:2,7  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth....The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.

God governs all the seas. In the beginning, He told the waves where they would halt (Job 38:11). On the boat with His disciples, Jesus told the water to be still. But what about hurricanes and tsunamis? Why does God occasionally allow the sea to go past its bounds? According to Luther, God does it because He loves us! He lets the sea escape once in a while to remind us that He is governor.

What a strange way to look at evils! When some little evil attacks us, Luther says we should "dearly...love God" for it. That's not our usual play. We often take evil as an occasion to question God or become angry with Him. Certainly there is a time to voice our complaint to God, as many saints do in the Scriptures. Yet an evil may just as well be our reminder to give thanks and praises to God for His otherwise vigilant defense.

If God were not governor of all things, where would we be? Just how many evils would Satan attack us with if God were not attending to us with His holy angels? Sufferings will most certainly come. But when they do, we'll remember how small they are compared to the daily blessings God sends. The worst evil, death, has already been told to halt its "proud waves" (Job 38:11) by Jesus' resurrection from the dead. We can trust Him to defend and guard us in every other evil.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 6:26,28-29  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?...And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil or spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Easter morning, a mother and her daughters dressed up and walked to church. It was snowing when they returned, but the girls didn't mind the cold. The Easter lilies and story of Jesus' resurrection were all they could think about. When they reached their house, they found a white package on their step. Inside the package was a ham. The girls were confused. Ham seemed like a silly thing to find on the step. The mother began to cry. Her young girls asked why ham made her sad. She explained, "I'm crying because our God is so good. I had nothing to serve for dinner, but God provided exactly what we needed."

Like the birds of the air, the young girls weren't anxious about what they would eat, but their mom did worry. She knew it was her job to feed her family, but she didn't have the resources to do it herself. What she did have was a God who provides and did so that day through the generosity of a neighbor.
 

This true story is only one example of God's amazing care for His creation. The Lord gives us what we need, whether that be food for our tables, roofs over our heads, or a friend's text on a bad day. We are tempted to worry about life, but God, who made heaven and earth, listens to our every cry and sustains us and all creation. Through times of abundance or scarcity, chaos or peace, He gives us what we need.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 139:13-14  For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well.
 

He's on His hands and knees, moving the very grains of sand into the curves and forms that would soon change into flesh and bone. He gently caresses with His fingers the muscles, organs, and skin that will allow this man, and ultimately a woman, to move with grace and flair in His creation. He leans over and, into the very nostrils He has carved out, breathes not just physical air that inflates the man's lungs and activates the blood that pulses through the man's body but even His very spirit into this man, and ultimately into that woman. They, the very image of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - will imitate their Creator in love and power.

He gives us all that we need to be the ones who provide care and leadership in His creation. He calls us to follow Him in His creativity and in how He cares. We, the very real modern-day 4-D image of God, are called to serve as co-caretakers in our day and age.

When we sin and cross that line of selfishly believing we don't need God to continue this work, He does not abandon us. When we sin and actively harm or neglect His creation, He enters into it Himself, redeeming us through Jesus. He restores our very body and soul by His grace and gives us faith to once again join Him in His creative and sustaining work. May we in joy follow Him well!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,