Applying the Gospel

The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
(Proverbs 9:10)

“She’s an old soul.” “He’s got his head on straight.” “You’re wise beyond your years.” “Whatever happened to common sense?” People tend to assume that they have a good working definition of wisdom, that they can recognize it when they see it. But it’s unlikely that our ideas about wisdom entirely align with what the Scriptures say about it. And the Scriptures say a lot about wisdom. In a sense, the whole Bible is about humanity getting wisdom. And it’s been a long, hard road.

Proverbs 8 has Wisdom Personified at the foundation of the world, now calling to humanity to listen and be blessed. “Whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from Yahweh, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:35-36). The wise are often contrasted with the foolish, just like the righteous with the wicked, the rescued with the lost; one in each pair is in a relationship of life with the one true God, the other is not. Folly is linked to spiritual death; wisdom is linked to spiritual life.

Ironically, when the woman in the Garden of Eden saw that the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was “to be desired to make one wise,” and reached out to take “wisdom” in defiance of God, it was the greatest folly in the history of the universe… and it meant death (Genesis 2:17; 3:1-7). The glorious, eternal God was discarded for the intellectual pursuit of knowledge. If only (!) she had believed, with James, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). True wisdom comes as a gift to those who are in relationship with God, who humbly ask him for it.

Wisdom isn’t just about having a lot of information (knowledge). It isn’t just about being smart (intelligence). It isn’t just about life experience, or abstractly knowing right from wrong, or making good business decisions, or being able to teach. True wisdom is about a Godward life. “The fear of Yahweh is instruction in wisdom” (Proverbs 15:33; cf. Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 2:4-6; 9:10; Isaiah 11:2). Fearing God—relating properly to God—is the foundation and essence of wisdom, which is “a fountain of life” (Proverbs 14:27; cf. John 17:3).

True wisdom is living all of life in relationship to God. True wisdom sees the world, not pessimistically or cynically, but with hope that what is seen is the seed of as-yet-unseen resurrection glory. True wisdom engages the world, not in autonomous strength, but prayerfully. True wisdom is spiritual—that is, it comes from the Holy Spirit—and appears as folly to the natural person who cannot properly judge spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). And, honestly, true wisdom is well out of our reach, apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is himself “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). As the divine Son, he has always been Wisdom Personified. As the human, Jesus of Nazareth, he became Wisdom Incarnate. In himself he has made humanity humble, dependent, trusting, prayerful, hopeful, and spiritual. He doesn’t just have life with God, he is life with God (1 John 1:2). It is only through him that we may have a Godward life. He is the Lord. When we know him, we know life with God. When we fear him, we’ve finally got our heads on straight.

So it is in Christ, in relationship with God as our Father through him, vicariously, that we find true wisdom. We can walk with our eyes open to the way his kingdom works in the midst of this fallen world. We can see deep comedy where others see only meaningless tragedy. We can choose not to throw away our lives, wasting them on the passing pleasures of sin, but to spend them, pouring them out in Christlike service. We can cease being cold curmudgeons, and become joyful singers of redeeming love. We can know, despite appearances to the contrary, that we are not alone, that we will never be alone, that God is with us as our Father, that the Lord will never leave us or forsake us, that we have the Spirit as the guarantee of the promise of all the fullness of God… so we can be thankful in Christ, for Christ, because of Christ. And we can even begin to live in right relationships with each other, as we walk in wisdom in the fear of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do people tend to conceive of “wisdom”? What is the essence of that “wisdom”? How is it different from Biblical wisdom as it is portrayed here? Why does Biblical wisdom seem like folly to the “wise” of this world? If Adam and Eve were foolish to grasp for wisdom apart from God, why does the Scripture say “their eyes were opened” (Genesis 3:7) after they ate the forbidden fruit? Can you think of other times in the Scriptures when the eyes of God’s people are opened, and what it is that they are opened to see? How are they opened? What difference in your life do you think true wisdom might make? (Be specific.) Do you want this wisdom? How can you get this wisdom?

(Originally posted Oct. 18, 2015. Edited Jan. 18, 2024.)

Please feel free to use this in your personal or public Worship.

~

Righteous God, you alone are good.
There is something deeply wrong with us that we cannot make right.
When we look for life apart from you, we sin.
When we seek our own righteousness, we sin.
When we wish we could be good enough, we sin.
When we keep our distance from you by wallowing in guilt, we sin.
You alone are righteous,
and you declare us righteous through faith in Jesus.
Jesus, give us eternal and abundant life with God in your name. Amen.

Please feel free to use this in your personal or public Worship.

~

Lord Jesus Christ, the Father has given all judgment into your hands.
We can hardly bear to confess our sins to you,
but neither can we hide them from you.
O God, you know that we have sinned against you
from the depths of our souls, every day of our lives.
Judge of all the earth, our life is in your hands.
When you placed your life in our hands, it meant your death.
We entrust ourselves to your good judgment, and to yours alone.
In your mercy, be our judge. In your holiness, forgive us.
Assure us of your perfect love, and cast out all our fears. Amen.

“Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

Yahweh bless you and keep you;
Yahweh make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

‘So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them’” (Numbers 6:22-27).

For long millennia, God has instructed those serving as his representatives to bless his people in his name, with the word of his grace, as is seen in this Aaronic blessing. The tradition goes back even further; centuries before Aaron and his sons were ordained as priests, the patriarchs blessed their sons, the coming generations of God’s people (Genesis 27; 49). And before that, Melchizedek, “priest of God Most High,” blessed Abram (Genesis 14:18-19).

The practice of priestly benediction ultimately stems from God’s fundamental attitude toward his people, which is one of blessing. In the beginning, after creating humanity in his image, the very first thing Yahweh did was bless them (Genesis 1:27-28). Priestly benediction not only reflects God’s attitude of gracious favor toward us, but it also reflects his desire to include human representatives in the blessing of his people.

The Aaronic blessing was already ancient by the time of Christ, who is God’s Ultimate Representative, our Great High Priest. It is likely that the risen Lord Jesus proclaimed this very blessing over his disciples when he ascended into heaven:

“Lifting up his hands he blessed them. And while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51).

This final sight of Jesus would have been etched into the memories of the disciples. Imagine the “great joy” (v. 52) they had, hearing these words of blessing from the one who spoke on God’s behalf and now represented them in heaven. His words are absolutely, certainly definitive of all our reality. The Lord Jesus himself is the Word of God, the revelation of God, “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). In him, God has the first Word and the final Word in our relationship with him. His Word establishes and encompasses our life, and therefore our liturgy as it signifies our relationship with him. And, in Jesus Christ, we know his definitive Word to be “the word of his grace” (Acts 14:3; 20:32).

Just as the disciples went away worshiping and rejoicing because of the gracious words of Jesus, so the benediction is the last Word ringing in our ears. It is not primarily a commandment or even a prayer, but a blessing to be received with open hearts. In the benediction, the minister, acting as a representative, speaks on behalf of the God who is eternally speaking his word of grace to his people. His steadfast love endures forever, so we stand always under God’s blessing. We are sent forth, not without God, but with him and with his blessing.

There are blessings to be found throughout the Scriptures that can be proclaimed as benedictions (e.g., Deuteronomy 31:18; John 20:21; 2 Peter 1:2; 2 John 3; etc.). The disposition of the Triune God is well disclosed to us in what is known as the Apostolic Benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). And, at the close of the Scriptures, the final words of the Revelation of Jesus Christ are fitting here: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Rev. 22:21).

How do you receive the benediction at the end of corporate Worship? Do you believe that God’s fundamental attitude toward you is one of blessing, that this is the first and last word that defines your relationship with him in Christ? Why or why not? What difference would believing this make in your life? How might the disciples’ response to Jesus’ blessing upon his ascension inform your response to Jesus?

The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Jesus instituted the sacrament of Communion on the night of the Passover, the night he was betrayed. He gave it as a gift to his disciples, and intended that they partake of it regularly. It is not an awards ceremony for those who have great faith and who have mastered righteousness—it is given to sinners whose faith is small and weak, who hunger and thirst for Jesus as their Savior. It is a Means of Grace that assures us that God really does love us, that God really has made full provision for our hunger and thirst. Jesus is the true spiritual Food and Drink we need for eternal life with God, and he is truly given to us and for us.

Jesus gives us this meal to point us to his gift of himself. No one took his life from him, but he gave it freely. Ultimately, Jesus gave his life—his body and blood—at the cross as a substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. That perfect sacrifice was effective once and for all. Jesus has given us the Table as a regular reminder and proclamation of his sacrifice. You can know God’s love for you in Christ is true, as surely as you can taste the bread and wine.

But it is more than merely a memorial meal. It is also a real fellowship with God. It is “the gift of participating through the Spirit in the incarnate Son’s communion with the Father” (J. B. Torrance). The crucified and risen Lord Jesus has ascended into heaven bodily, where he has glorious and everlasting communion with the Father as our representative. His body and blood do not descend to earth again, somehow, in the elements of bread and wine. Rather, he is present with us spiritually, that is, through his Spirit, as we are lifted up into his presence. Jesus shares his heavenly communion with the Father, with us. Even as he instituted that first Supper, beginning with the prayer of his own faithful thanksgiving (“eucharist”), Jesus feeds us out of his own life with God.

As we consume Jesus, spiritually, by faith, we take his life with God into ourselves, which becomes our strength for life with God in this world and the next. Jesus said:

“Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (John 6:54-56)

Jesus will raise us with resurrection bodies like his own on the last day of this old world, and the New Heavens and New Earth will begin with a feast consummating the church’s union with her Bridegroom. We will see him face to face, and he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and we will all live happily ever after, together. The Lord’s Supper is a foretaste of the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, a picture and promise of our good future with God.

What facet(s) of the Lord’s Table seem especially important to you right now? Why is it significant that Jesus shared this meal, this intimate Communion, with his disciples just before being betrayed by one of them and abandoned by the rest? Why would someone want to receive the gift of participating in the life of someone who is going to his crucifixion? Why is this sacrament properly administered by an ordained pastor in the context of corporate Worship? Why do you think God gave us a simple ritual of food and drink as such an important Means of Grace for our corporate Worship? How might the sacrament inform the way we eat “regular” meals? Does the Lord’s Supper usually seem a somber or joyous occasion to you, and why? Biblically speaking, what practical aspects of the sacrament seem to be essential?

“Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19)

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)

Along with the Lord’s Table, baptism is a Christian sacrament, instituted by Jesus himself for all his people to observe. As such, baptism is a “means of grace,” a means by which God communicates his grace to us in Christ for our faith. It is the gracious Word of his favor made visible and tangible as a help to our faith. It is a representative sign that depicts his grace, and an attesting seal that confirms his grace (see Romans 4:11 for this language applied to the Old Testament sacrament of circumcision). “Sacraments are truly named the testimonies of God’s grace and are like seals of the good will that he feels toward us, which by attesting that good will to us, sustain, nourish, confirm, and increase our faith” (John Calvin).

For long ages, God had promised to come to his people, to take his people to himself, to give himself to them, to fill them with himself. He has done this in Christ, the anointed one who anoints us with his own anointing. Jesus has anointed or baptized us, not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit—with all the fullness of God. Jesus is the one who baptizes his people; when pastors administer the sacrament they act on his behalf.

Baptism is the sacrament of belonging to God through union with Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Righteous One, was baptized as if he were a sinner, to pledge his solidarity with us, to repent and secure forgiveness on our behalf. The incarnate Son of God united himself to us in baptism, so that as it goes with him, so it goes with us. Our baptism is a sign and seal of this gracious union. So Paul says “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:4-5) The benefits of his life, death, and resurrection belong to us through our union with him, which is represented in our baptism.

As the sacrament of belonging, baptism is best administered in the context of the church gathered for worship. We are united to Christ, and therefore to one another. “There is one body… one Lord… one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4-5). We belong to the community and family of God. “Christian baptism is a naming ceremony. The baptized is given a name: the name of the Triune God. Baptism gives Christians their family name, the name they bear as those called the children of God” (Ed Clowney). Together, we are baptized into the very Sonship of Jesus, into the Son’s own place in the Trinity.

Since God always made his promises to his people and to their children (Gen. 3:15; 9:9; 15:5; 17:7-9; 22:17-18; 26:3-4; 28:13; 2 Sam 7:12-16; Isa 44:3; 45:25; Acts 2:37-39), we baptize believers and their children. God relates graciously to us by relating graciously to our children. The God who is himself a Family (Father and Son) includes our families in his covenant of grace.

Baptism is something that happens to us—we are passive in it. Baptism is not spoken of in the Scriptures as our confession of faith or our profession of devotion to him. Baptism is God’s action, God’s declaration of love to us. So the apostles consistently refer to baptism as something God has done, as good news for the encouragement, comfort, and reassurance of God’s people. Disciples do most of their growing in faith and learning about the significance of baptism long after the baptism takes place.

Baptism with water pictures cleansing, purity. God’s forgiving love washes over us, through the blood of Jesus Christ. This is something pictured in the Old Testament as the blood of sacrifices was sprinkled on God’s people. (So we think sprinkling or pouring is a perfectly valid mode of baptism.) Water also pictures new birth, spiritual regeneration, a new creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Those baptized into union with Christ belong to the new world defined by God’s love, we belong in the new heavens and new earth.

Have you been baptized as a Christian? If so, do you ever reflect on your baptism and its meaning? What is most important to you about your baptism? Have you learned from the Scriptures why baptism is a blessing? Have you ever sought to encourage someone else by reminding them of the significance of their baptism? Have you considered the union of those in the church to Christ and to each other through baptism as the grounds for our continuing commitment to each other? Why is it good news that baptism is not portrayed in the Scriptures as a profession of the sincerity of our faith or devotion to God? What do you think about the baptism of infants? How should we think of those who were baptized, and have since walked away from God and his people? Why do you think Jesus instituted the sacraments that include such mundane, earthly, material elements as water, bread, and wine?

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful.”
(Colossians 3:15)

The apostles told us to “greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14). This is a personal, embodied, intimate, vulnerable expression of mutual reception and goodwill. You don’t kiss your enemies, you kiss people with whom you have a good relationship. It is a holy kiss, done with reference to the Holy God. A sense of awkwardness might be deliberately built into the practice—”a feature, not a bug”—but in our culture it seems especially uncomfortable, so instead we shake hands as we greet one another in holy peace.

The Passing of the Peace is a testimony that our unity is in Jesus Christ. It is a symbol, a token, but also a real participation in a relationship with each other made new by Christ. As we say, “May the peace of Christ be with you,” we are blessing each other by extending the relational peace that comes from God in Christ, we are engaging in the priestly ministry of reconciliation.

“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). We were God’s enemies, but by his grace he has reconciled us to himself in Christ, “making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). Through his sacrifice Jesus has restored our relationship, not only with God, but also with each other. “He himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). As he unites different people to God “in one body through the cross,” he unites us to each other (Ephesians 2:16).

This relational peace is his gracious gift to us. Since it is given to us through the cross, it is a gift already given. Jesus has made peace. The church is not called to attain a peace it doesn’t yet have; the church is called to maintain the peace it already has in Christ (Ephesians 4:3). We remember, believe, celebrate, and participate in the peace of Christ as we extend it to each other in the presence of God in Worship. The peace of Christ rules among us, in our hearts, as we submit to it, offer it, and receive it with thanksgiving (Colossians 3:15).

This gracious gift of peace defines our life together in the church. Peace is the great purpose and result of our salvation. In all of his New Testament letters, Paul greets the recipients with the “grace and peace” of God. Without the peace of Christ, there would be no church, and ultimately no relating at all. But because this gift is real, “people who would never get along outside the church love each other inside it” (Timothy Keller).

It isn’t always easy to share in the peace of Christ together. We are not to maintain an illusion of peace where we pretend we have no conflict with each other. Sharing in the true peace of Christ means resolving real relational struggles with reference to the person and work of Jesus. This means sometimes we need to have hard conversations where we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. The Passing of the Peace is part of our “Upper Room” liturgy, done in the context of our observance of the Lord’s Supper, the sacrament of communion and fellowship. If there is a discernible need for reconciliation, it is an opportunity to do what Jesus says: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Just as there is no true love of God where there is no love of one’s brother in the church (1 John 4:20), there is no true Worship of the God of peace where there is no interest in dwelling in the peace of Christ together.

How have you experienced the Passing of the Peace in Worship? Have you considered it an opportunity to minister on behalf of Christ? Have you heard Christ’s blessing in the words of your brothers and sisters? Are there particular people in the congregation whom you have a difficult time greeting in holy peace? If so, do you want that to change? Is there anything you might be able to do about it? How might you lean into that relationship with reference to Jesus and his sacrifice? What do you think about the apostolic command to “greet one another with a holy kiss”?

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.”
(Romans 10:9)

The oldest known confession of faith used by the Christian church is this: “Jesus is Lord” (John 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:3; Eph. 4:5; Phil. 2:11). The historic, orthodox creeds and confessions of the church are, basically, expositions and elaborations of that foundational testimony. Jesus said, “Everyone who confesses me before men, I also will confess before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). The confession of faith means our salvation and the restoration of our humanity.

We went wrong when our first parents went from believing to disbelieving the truth of God’s Word (Gen. 3:1-7). Unbelief is the core of human rebellion against our Creator, the seed of every sin, the ruined heart of our broken humanity. Human beings were made to live by trust in Yahweh’s reality and revelation, but we turned to suspicion, doubt, and “anti-faith.” Now we will actively embrace belief in any alternative to God’s Word. The Bible says we are fools with darkened hearts and minds because of our unbelief (Ps. 14:1; Rom. 1:21-22; Eph. 4:18). When we untethered our faith from the reality and revelation of Yahweh, we severed our ability to truly know anything with certainty.

When we distrusted God’s Word, of course, the greatest loss was the personal and relational knowledge of God himself. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). In order to truly know God, to be saved for eternal life with him, we must believe his Word. That is to say, we must trust Jesus, who is the Word of God incarnate. We must not believe merely in the unknowable privacy of our hearts, but publicly stake everything on Jesus. True faith is one that confesses Jesus before others, that makes itself known, for the good of others.

Our faith is often weak, imperfect, and timid. Jesus himself is “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). He is “the Faithful Witness” (Rev. 1:5) who “in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession” (1 Tim. 6:12-13). He publicly confessed faith in his Father even when it meant his death. His good confession of faith is the renewal of our faith, and therefore our humanity. The righteousness of his perfect faith is ours vicariously. And his faith rallies us to make the good confession with him.

When we confess our faith during public worship, we are responding to the truth of God’s reality and revelation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (which is why it’s the first thing we do after the Sermon). In the confession of faith we say, “Yes,” to God by recognizing, acknowledging, and agreeing with his Word. We own and avow his Word, professing it as our truth, claiming knowledge of and association with Jesus. We declare and insist upon God’s Word as the truth that demands the faith of all people. We testify to the goodness and glory of God’s Word. We tell others that God is Triune, that God the Son is incarnate in Jesus, that this crucified and risen Jesus is Lord and there is no other. We tell others who God is, what he is like, what he has said and done—all of which we believe, ultimately and simply, because he has told us in the Holy Scriptures. We confess together as a mutual encouragement to each other, giving expression to the camaraderie of the faith in the good fight against our own unbelief in a world filled with unbelief. The confession of faith knits us together with the Lord Jesus, who is himself the Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5), and it brings us together with each other. It is the beginning of the restoration of all human living and knowing.

How does some sort of “faith” continue to be a fundamental part of human life, despite disbelieving the reality and revelation of Yahweh? Why is faith in God’s Word important? Can you see how unbelief is the seed of every sin in your life? If so, how might true faith in God’s Word be the way to a transformed life? Do you believe that telling others about Jesus is good for them? Is it sometimes hard for you to claim association with Jesus, to let others know that you believe in God’s Word? Why or why not? When you join in the confession of faith during public worship, why do you do it? How could this be an opportunity to serve others? How could it be an opportunity for others to serve you? How could it be equipping you to share your faith with those outside the church? Are there parts of the confession of faith that you don’t understand or aren’t sure you really believe? If so, how might you come to understand or believe these things more genuinely?

“The sacred writings…
are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.”
(2 Timothy 3:15)

Jesus is the Word of God incarnate who makes God known to us (John 1:1-18). The Scriptures, as the written Word, testify to Jesus and to the salvation and eternal life that are found in him (Luke 24:27, 44). Eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3), and we know God in Jesus Christ as he is revealed in the Scriptures. By his Word, God reveals himself to us, and he reveals how we are to relate to him. Apart from God revealing himself to us, we would have no hope of knowing him truly—we would be in the dark. But God’s Word dispels the darkness of our ignorance. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

As the worshiping community, the earthly temple of the living God, the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). The church—God’s people in the world—relies on the testimony of Scripture concerning Christ for its life with God. So, from the earliest days of the church, we have been “devoted… to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). We need not only the apostolic writings of the New Testament, but the apostolic perspective on the Old Testament, to live the life of faith together as God’s people. That is to say, the Gospel of Jesus is essential to the church’s worship.

The Word (along with the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper) is a “Means of Grace,” a means by which God communicates his gracious love and goodwill toward us. The Gospel Word, especially, is at the root of all the things God might use to save and sanctify us. Sinners have a difficult time believing the reality of God’s being and goodness and love. And the church is populated by sinners. God knows our faith is weak, so he tells us what he knows we need to hear. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Without the Word of Christ, you don’t have faith, you don’t have worship, you don’t even have a church at all. But God wants a church where people come to believe and worship. So he speaks to us. And he repeats himself. And he calls us to rehearse and remember his revelation regularly.

So the Christ-centered Word is the chief and foundational element of worship in the Christian church. From beginning to end, every element of worship is born of the Word and bears the Word. It reveals something about God and about our relationship with him when he calls us to worship, to confess our sins, to bring our offerings, to minister the peace of Christ to each other. God gives us his Word to make our own, to shape our prayer and song and confession. God speaks to us in the readings and preaching of his Word. God speaks to us through the Sacraments, which are nothing apart from his Word. God sends us forth with the blessing of his Word.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). Amen.

Why is the special revelation of the Scriptures necessary for salvation and a relationship with God? Why do people—including Christians—need to hear the Gospel regularly? How would you describe your own need for the Christ-centered Word? How would you summarize the Gospel message of the Scriptures? Do you try to approach hearing the Word in worship with a certain mindset or attitude? What are some ways that you, personally, might participate in the ministry of the Word in worship?