Gone the bliss of Eden’s garden, gone the age of sacrifice; ours the time of grace and favor, ours, the call to paradise! Ever, Lord, impress upon us: only You can cover sin – take our worthless self-made garments clothe our shame and cleanse within. -LSB 572, Verse 6
We live in the time of grace, the time of the Church. Unlike the Children of Israel, we believe in the Messiah who has already come and fulfilled every minute piece of the Law. While mankind no longer lives in the perfect garden of Eden, we have no need for animal sacrifices or the ceremonial law that God gave to the Israelites. We live in the time of grace. Everything Jesus did He did so that we may live for God and for our neighbor free from the guilt of the Law. God has given us His Word, His holy sacraments, and the most precious gift of all: the forgiveness of all our sins. We live in the sure and certain hope that all those who are baptized and believe will be raised to new life with Christ in the resurrection! This is our comfort while we are here. God Himself gives us forgiveness and promises us eternal life.
Everything we do now as baptized and forgiven children of God is seen through the blood of Jesus. His blood cancels everything we have ever done and covers us with His righteousness. This thought is both relieving and sobering. We now know that even the things we are most ashamed of, the things we think cannot be forgiven, and the things we try to hide are all paid for. We cannot be so selfish as to think God cannot forgive that one extra special sin that is ‘bigger’ than God’s mercy. No, He forgives ALL sins. This applies not only to our own sins, but the sins that are committed against us by our neighbors. God forgives your neighbor’s sins just as much as He forgives yours. What then can that say about how we should treat our neighbor? We ought to treat our neighbors with grace and mercy knowing God forgives them too. God’s grace is such a wonderful gift that it cannot be contained! Once we have received it, this grace flows out from us sometimes without us even realizing it. We are now free to love, serve, and daily forgive our neighbor as we recognize God’s grace, mercy, and love towards us received through His word and sacraments. We no longer need to worry about how to make ourselves right with God, and that leaves us free to take our focus off ourselves and think about others.
This is not to say that we will not sin, nor is it a free license to go out and sin however we want. We will sin daily because our sinful nature will never leave us this side of heaven. We will constantly struggle with sin and the consequences of living in a post-Fall world. The law of God is still written on our hearts and convicts us every time we go against what God has commanded of us. We must continually remember that Jesus came to die for us and took away the punishment for sins, so even as we continue to sin, we can come before God without the fear of His eternal wrath and repent. Remembering that God took on human flesh, suffered and died the most painful death imaginable also helps us pause and reflect when we are going astray from God’s law. He died, rose, and will come again to judge all of us at the end of the world, so that should make us think twice before we brazenly disobey Him. Only God can forgive our sins and cleanse us from all evil. There is nothing we can do, both good or bad, to get ourselves “back on track.” This is not a game of trying to figure out how much better we can be, nor should we despair when we fail to keep the Law. Instead, let us fix our eyes on Jesus knowing that everything we need for forgiveness, life, and salvation comes from Him. Let us rejoice that we not only receive God’s love, but that we get to share it with all the world.
