The resurrection of Jesus is the quintessential pivotal point in all of history. Not just of salvation history or church history or theological history, but of all of history.
Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.
Luke 24:5b-6a
It is the point that changed everything for everyone.
Had Jesus died for our sins but stayed dead, our relationship with God would be bridged but the victory would have been temporary. Death would still have the last word. Life would be minimized. The eternity and permanence of death would be the norm forever.
But because Jesus did rise from the dead, because He did defeat death, He reversed that narrative; that reality; that sentence. Death doesn’t get the last word – life does. Our adversary doesn’t get the last word – God does. Our sins don’t get the last word – mercy does.
The victory of God’s promised Messiah, Jesus is what the Old Testament prophecies pointed toward and what our blessed eternal reality flow from.
Our suffering will end. Our heartache will be healed. Our struggles will be supplanted. Through faith in Jesus all that affects us negatively will pass away; because death has passed away. Because Jesus rose. Because Jesus won. Because he is alive! Because the tomb is empty!
Now everything is different; everything has changed – and that’s the greatest news of all!
“Christ has risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! Amen!”
Today is “Palm Sunday” (or “Passion Sunday,” depending on which liturgical tradition you follow).
Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
Luke 19:38
In our journey “from Genesis to Jesus” we’re taking a break from the Genesis aspect to focus on Jesus entering Jerusalem triumphantly before having His Last Supper, His sham trial, His crucifixion, His death, and His resurrection. Today is the day that we rejoice with the crowds and say together, “blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! In heaven and glory in the highest”!
We’ve seen God’s requirement, Adam and Eve’s rebellion (as well as our own), the ramifications of that rebellion, the blessings of repentance and what comes with that when we recognize our sin and separation from God, and the promised redemption that God gave all the way back in the garden through the promise of a Messiah who would come. Today we rejoice that that promised Messiah has come and is entering the last stage of the plan of salvation; the last stage before sin, death, and the devil are defeated forever; the fulfillment of God’s promise and of Old Testament prophecies.
The same God through whom all things were made humbled Himself and now enters Jerusalem on a donkey to redeem creation itself. Hosanna indeed!Rejoicing indeed!Come Lord Jesus!
“We thank you Lord for humbling yourself and entering Jerusalem for this most difficult and necessary of weeks, for us and our salvation. We rejoice with all our being for who You are, what You have done, and for the assurance of our eternal future with You. Hosanna in the highest!”
We’ve had God’s requirement, the rebellion of Adam and Eve, and the ramifications that came from it. We’ve seen the need for repentance and today we see God’s answer.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
Genesis 3:15
It doesn’t end with judgment but with redemption.
All the way back in the garden of Eden God promised a Savior. A Redeemer. One who is going to remedy this colossal catastrophe. He promised an Offspring, a Descendant, His Chosen One who would be the Victor over our adversary, over our sin, over the fall.
There were judgments against Adam and Eve and indeed against all of Creation. But today we see His divine judgement against the Adversary; the one who tempted then and temps now; the one who rebelled before Adam and Eve; the one whose defeat God foretells in our Scripture today.
God would send a redeemer who would be descended from Adam and Eve, and He would defeat this Adversary. God wins. Through faith in this Redeemer – faith in Jesus – we win!
“Thank You, Lord, for loving us and the world so much that You sent a Redeemer to conquer sin, death, and the Devil, so that, through faith in Him, we too would have the victory and everlasting Life! In His name. Amen!”
We know throughout Scripture when there is sin there needs to be confession; where there is sin there needs to be repentance; where there is sin there should be a contriteness of heart.
I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
But when we look in Genesis in our journey “from Genesis to Jesus,” we find something missing that we would expect to be there: something important; something ingrained (and rightly so). We don’t find in this recorded account any confession by Adam and Eve of their sin. Plenty of blame, plenty of pointing their fingers, plenty of fear; but we don’t see repentance. Something so fundamental throughout Scripture. Such a central doctrine of what it means to be a believer, to be a follower of God, to be faithful in our Christian living.
And it is.
In Genesis we see Adam and Eve being forgiven without a previous reference to any confession; to any repentance. We go from blaming, to sentence and proclamation of due punishment, to God clothing them and forgiving them with the first sacrifice.
Does that give us leave not to repent? Does that mean that it’s not needed? Not necessary? Not important?
Absolutely not!
Just because that is not in this account does not mean that God is not very clear on the matter.
However, even here we see so many times to confusion on the matter. I’ve heard from countless people — Christians —who say you cannot be forgiven unless there is confession; unless there is repentance. This makes forgiveness a response of God based upon the works of man instead of on the mercy and grace of God alone. It is solely by God’s mercy that we are forgiven through faith in His Son, Jesus – promised all the way back in Genesis. Promised because of the unfaithfulness of Adam, Eve, and each of us. It is only by the grace of God and not by our works of repentance or confession that grants us favor – and that only through faith in Jesus and nothing else.
This doesn’t minimize repentance and the need for it. It gives the basis for why we do it; the basis for our desire for it.We see our need to repent and our want to repent because of God’s mercy and grace through Jesus, not in order to get God’s mercy and grace through Jesus. When we repent we are focused and reminded of our need for a Savior. We are in a state of humility before Him, who alone forgives and saves. We see our need and His fulfillment. We posture ourselves before Him with the realization that God’s grace is bigger than our sin. And all this through the promised Her made for a coming Messiah all the way back in the garden.
What a great God we have!
“Lord God, we praise and thank You for Your mercy and grace given to us before we even repent and confess, because of Your goodness through faith in Jesus. Hear the cries and the humbleness of our heart and our own confession, in our own true repentance, and grant us Your mercy and favor through Your Son who saves. In His name. Amen.”
There are always ramifications for our actions. Good or bad. Helpful or unhelpful. Godly or ungodly. Consequences for the decisions that we make.
Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Genesis 2:17
The consequences for Adam and Eve’s rebellion cannot be overstated. I’m not talking about the specific consequences for Adam and Eve (which are bad) but the ultimate ramification for all of creation. The fall of creation. “In the day that you eat… you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
Death. Destruction. Decay.
This would affect not just mankind but everything. There was one simple requirement and the rebellion that took place from that had the ramification of dying; of death.
It’s hard to grasp of implications more significant than that.
Of course there were other ramifications for Adam and for Eve. Unfavorable outcomes and consequences for the way that they and we live while on this Earth, but being expelled from the garden forever and going through decay, destruction, and ultimately death is the ultimate ramification for rebellion against God’s requirement. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That’s true not just for Adam and Eve’s rebellion, but for our own. We sin therefore we die. We rebel therefore we suffer the ramifications, just like them.
But thanks be to God that that’s not where things ended!
The ramifications are not permanent. Through faith in Jesus Christ, it’s not the end. Jesus conquered death. He conquered the ramifications of our rebellion. Through faith in Jesus, His victory over death becomes our victory. Death no longer has hold over us because it could not hold Him. The ramifications of the rebellion of our sin is death. But the ramifications of Jesus’ victory is lifeoverdeath. Living over dying. A new creation over the destruction of the old.
Thanks be to God!
“Lord Jesus, thank You for having the victory over death. For destroying death. For overcoming the ramifications of our rebellion and sin so that we might live; so that we might have life in Your name. Eternally. With You. Thank You for overcoming everything for us. In Jesus name, Amen.”
On Friday, March 18, 2025, at 7:00 PM, we will worship and “celebrate”Good Friday with a form of a “Service of Darkness.”
It will be a meaningful, but difficult service. We pray you will attend.
The term “reparations” has become extremely loaded and controversial in our time in society right now. What it means is simply trying to make amends for a wrong. How those amends are done, for whom, why, etc.; those have become very politicized. But the fact is there are circumstances where reparations are proper, appropriate, and even necessary.
Our sins and those of the world are a wrong that exceeds comprehension; are too immense to fathom; that reach beyond our understanding. Our sins are a wrong that needs to be corrected. They have created the need for amends – payment – to be made.
And we couldn’t do it. We wouldn’t do it.
The enormity of the gap between what we owed and the perfection God demands can never be accomplished by anything that we do.
God demands perfection. We aren’t perfect. Jesus is.
Jesus is the only acceptable payment for our sins. He is the amends for our wrongs. He is the solution to our problem. He is the Savior for our sins. He is the victor our defeat. He is the life for our deserved death. He is the ultimate reparation – the only preparation – that could happen.
That matters. He is everything.
His painful, brutal, willing sacrifice on that cross means forgiveness, life, and salvation for us that we couldn’t achieve, didn’t deserve, or could even imagine.
The darkness and depth of Good Friday is a part of the reality of the need for reparations for the fall and sin. And because Jesus – the only satisfactory sacrifice – willingly and painfully died for us, it is the only reason that today can be considered “good.”
“Thank You, Lord Jesus, for enduring the cross, scorning its shame, for us and our salvation. Thank You, Lord God, heavenly Father, for accepting Jesus’ sacrifice as a reparation for our wrongs. Forgive us when we continue in our sin and move us by Your Holy Spirit to seek Your ways in everything that we think, say, and do, from here on, to the best of our abilities. In Jesus name in sacrifice; Amen.”
“Good Friday.” Such a strange name for the day when the innocent Savior of humanity and God’s Son died horribly. Yet, for us, the day marks a pivotal event in history. A holy and unbelievable imbalanced exchange: His perfection and innocence for our sins and guilt.
And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a reed in His right hand. And kneeling before Him, they mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on Him and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes on Him and led Him away to crucify Him.
Matthew 27:29-31
Lord, have mercy!
And He did. Have mercy. For us. When we were still in sin and rebellion.
We worship and “celebrate” this event and exchange with a form of a “Tenebrae” service. Tenebrae means “darkness” and the service takes its name from the ceremony of extinguishing the worship candles in such a way that the Church is gradually cast into darkness, except for the light of a single candle. The focus of the Tenebrae is the consequence of sin and the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice. The worship ends in darkness and silence, symbolizing our Savior’s death upon the cross. The single candle symbolizes the hope of our Savior’s resurrection. At the completion of the Tenebrae service, the worshipers are asked to leave in silence, in order to maintain the spirit of the Good Friday commemoration of our Savior’s crucifixion.
Experience the depth of God’s love for you on Good Friday so that you can sour with the news of His resurrection on Easter Sunday!
Come join us for the SEDER MEAL (with Holy Communion) at LifeBridge!
DATE:
April 17, 2024 (“Maundy/Holy Thursday”)
TIME:
7:00 PM
LOCATION:
LifeBridge Sanctuary
CONTACT:
Pastor Scott Heitshusen SHeitshusen@LifeBridgeSealy.com (713) 965-6761
The meal is FREE (though a freewill offering will be taken)! ALL people and ages are welcome!
Due to the extreme preparations needed, signup for the meal is needed for EACH PERSON ATTENDING. DEADLINE is SUNDAY, APRIL 13! – You can do so in the form below.
Mark it on your calendar, sign-up, and plan to attend! You won’t be disappointed!
Jews the world over celebrate the Seder as a reminder to the Passover. For Christians, we see the deep and deliberate connection of the Passover and Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). We will see the how God has saved us from death by the blood of His Lamb, Jesus, just as He saved Israel from death through the blood of lambs in the Exodus.
And all of this will tie into the Passion of Jesus through Holy Week as well as Holy Communion.
Join us for a very special Seder Meal for Maundy Thursday. Those gathered will engage in the rituals associated with the Passover meal Jesus shared with his disciples, the traditional…
Being a “rebel” today is a badge of honor for some. Star Wars had the Rebellion. Billy Idol had his “Rebel Yell.” (Ok, I know both of those references are dated!) When we call someone “a rebel” it’s usually a term of endearment or respect rather than of scorn or derision.
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6
That may very well work for culture and today’s world – especially if you’re talking about rebelling against an unjust, unrighteous, or immoral system. But it doesn’t work when we’re talking about rebelling against God and what He has given. What He has commanded. What He calls us to do or be. We are called to be obedient, not rebellious. Follow, not lead. Submit not subvert.
The third stop on our journey “from Genesis to Jesus” and reason for the need of a savior comes to “rebellion.” The rebellion of Adam and Eve by taking the forbidden fruit. The numerous rebellions that we commit against God every day. Rebellion directed toward God. Directed toward His plan, His will, His way, His Word. A rebellion that wasn’t content with paradise and thought we could do better.
Nonsense!
The choice is simple. The choice is binary. Right or wrong. Good or bad. God or us. When put in these terms the answer is clear: it’s God’s way or there is no way.
How blessed are we that when we chose the wrong answer, when we chose our way, when we rebel against God and His perfect way, He forgave us. Jesus came, suffered, and died so that our rebellion would be no more. Not only defeated, but invalidated. Reversed. Through faith in Jesus our way – our sin – is forgiven and forgotten. Only His way remains. Only His perfect way remains. The rebellion is done. The rebellion is conquered. The rebellion has failed. Christ is victorious over it – over all of it.
Thanks be to God!
“Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being victorious and putting our rebellion to rest forever. Thank You for overcoming our reckless rebellion and oversight. Grant us Your Holy Spirit to live, breathe, desire, and share Your perfect way from here on out. In Jesus name, Amen!”
So many requirements can be made for joining organizations or applying for grants or completing forms for the government – even for some churches for their membership. There can be long lists of requirements that have to be done or fulfilled in order for something to happen.
In creation, when God put Adam and Eve in the garden to care for it, He didn’t have a huge list of requirements. He didn’t have a ton of laws that needed to be fulfilled. He had one requirement: “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.” (Genesis 2:17)
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
That was it! Nothing else. No other rules, laws, ordinances, statutes, or anything else. One simple requirement: not to eat from one singular tree when countless others were available to them.
How did things go so wrong? How is it that they couldn’t keep that one solitary requirement?
It seems a bit preposterous to us. Such a simple requirement. Such a simple thing to do – or in this case not do – to continue living in a garden of paradise while being able to walk with and commune with the Lord daily. It’s hard to conceive of what that temptation must have been like to put all of that into jeopardy. Almost inconceivable to fathom what could possibly be better that would jeopardize that situation and relationship by breaking that one requirement.
Yet if we try to get too high on our horse and judge Adam and Eve too harshly we should remember: not only do we break the requirement to have Him as our one and only God, our pinnacle of focus, our ultimate desire, but we break so many more of His requirements, too. And we also have a fellowship with God, an indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and a friendship with our Lord Jesus that is paradise itself through faith in Jesus. That is to be envied, sought, and desired beyond everything else in our lives. And we, like Adam and Eve, put aside God’s requirement and seek our own satisfaction.
How utterly foolish. How arrogantly small. How ridiculously myopic.
We are so blessed that God wasn’t satisfied with Adam and Eve breaking His one requirement. We are so blessed that He wasn’t satisfied with our breaking of His requirements. We are so blessed that He is satisfied with Jesus fulfilling all requirements on our behalf. Because we didn’t. Because we wouldn’t. Because we don’t. Because we won’t.
“Thank You, Lord Jesus, for fulfilling all the requirements for us so that we would be forgiven, saved, and have eternal life. Grant us the Holy Spirit so that we are strengthened, not just to do what You require, but desire it as well. In Jesus’ name; Amen.”
Join us on WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2025, at 7:00 PM for Ash Wednesday worship and the Imposition of Ashes.
“REDUCTION”
May our evil ways, by God’s mercy, be left in the ash heap and may we be ever recipients of His loving goodness!
Genesis 3:19
https://youtu.be/oisV7yM4NNY
The purpose of repentance is not to be swallowed up by guilt. It is to be freed from a dark and destructive direction by God’s wakening Word, and to be sent on a new path by the sin-conquering Savior. It’s what we all need.
THE REV. MIKE NEWMAN PRESIDENT OF THE TEXAS DISTRICT OF THE LC-MS
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our Lenten journey, which culminates on Easter Sunday with the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.
On that night at worship we mark our foreheads with an ash cross and, as that cross is marked, we are reminded of our sins. As we are marked by Jesus’ sacrifice; we are drawn to the realization that “[we] are dust, and to dust [we] shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
On Ash Wednesday and throughout the season of Lent, we also focus on our sins, on repentance, and on our broken world; seeing how we and all of creation has fallen far short of God’s intention and glory.
But we do not despair because we look to the certain hope that is ours through the forgiveness of our sins given to us freely by God’s grace through faith in Jesus.
THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES
Everything we experience in life is
finite and temporal, including our own lives. As the Scripture reports, we came
from the dust of the ground and we will return to the dust of the ground. (Genesis 3:19 & Ecclesiastes 3:20)
For many centuries the use of ashes has symbolized repentance. Imposing ashes in the form of a cross on the forehead of the worshipper on Ash Wednesday is a vivid reminder that such a person has been redeemed by Christ the Crucified. It is a symbol, not primarily of our sins, but upon the forgiveness of them through faith in Jesus.
As Ash Wednesday is a somber time as we remember that Jesus willingly suffering and death come as a result of our sins and His love. As such, at the conclusion of worship that day, we exit the church in silence.
“Repentance slays selfish pride, turns us from sin’s siren call, quiets arrogant arguments, tames out-of-control egos, pulls us back from distraction, leads us to restoration of relationships, places us on the pathway of walking with God, and restores our hearts with compassion and grace.
We need this personally. We need this as schools and congregations. We need this as a District. We need this as a Synod. We need this as Christ’s Church.”
The Rev. Mike Newman President of the Texas District of the LC-MS
Genesis tells us of the beginning; creation, beauty, and then the Fall. It tells us of the need for a Savior who would restore what He made and gave.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
This Lent we will look at a part of the Genesis account and tie it to Jesus. We will start with Ash Wednesday and go through Easter. Our journey will include:
