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Series A – First Sunday After Christmas – Sunday, January 1, 2017 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:29	the holy Gospel According to Saint Luke
0:32	chapter 2 verse 21.
0:35	at the end of eight days when he was
0:37	circumcised he was called Jesus the name
0:41	given by the Angels before he was
0:43	conceived in the womb
0:45	this is the gospel of the Lord in the
0:47	name of Jesus
0:50	wow long text today yeah I should be
0:52	able to get through this I don’t know
0:54	about 50 60 minutes I think
0:57	so one verse let’s see if we can unpack
1:01	this because this is one of those well
1:03	passages of scripture that looks
1:07	deceptively simple but when you take the
1:10	time to kind of dig in and see what’s
1:12	under the surface and see how it all
1:14	connects then you find one of the most
1:16	amazing things and that is is that this
1:19	is all hooked into the comfort of the
1:21	gospel and gives us a lot of assurance
1:24	so it is now the eighth day since Jesus
1:27	has been born and according to the
1:30	Mosaic Covenant male children on the
1:33	eighth day after they are born are to
1:36	undergo a cosmetic procedure
1:38	a cosmetic procedure that we will learn
1:41	from one of our cross references today
1:43	in the sermon
1:44	typologically points to The Cutting away
1:47	of our sinful flesh so the question at
1:50	hand is what is Jesus up to he’s been
1:54	around now visibly for us to Steve I
1:57	don’t know seven days we’re in the
1:59	Eighth Day what’s he up to was up to
2:01	quite a bit now I’m not talking about
2:04	the normal stuff that infants do now we
2:06	all know that there take well if you
2:09	have children there’s a little bit of an
2:11	adjustment period that you go through
2:13	when you have your first child the
2:15	adjustment period goes from like being
2:17	able to sleep all night you know kind of
2:20	having a lot of freedom to all of a
2:22	sudden everything in your whole life is
2:25	ordered by this tiny little person
2:28	and this tiny little person is a bit on
2:31	the cranky side at times I don’t know if
2:33	you’ve noticed these things and so your
2:35	whole life then revolves around well
2:37	Round the Clock feedings and when it
2:40	comes beating time they don’t ask
2:42	politely
2:44	father
2:45	I think I’m hungry now
2:48	would you mind picking me up and taking
2:49	me over to Mom I’m like to eat no that’s
2:52	not how that goes we all know how it
2:54	goes
2:54	right and then you have well diapers and
2:59	then spewy Rags I loved the spiwi rags
3:02	because when you have babies this small
3:04	you never hand them off to somebody
3:07	without some protective gear and the
3:09	protective gear we had for all of our
3:11	children when they were this small was
3:12	the spewy rag and so you take them and
3:15	you hold them and then you kind of watch
3:16	carefully because if they have that look
3:18	you know it’s going to be like Old
3:21	Faithful and so you want to try to catch
3:25	everything so that it doesn’t end up on
3:27	the carpet but it always ends it’s just
3:29	you understand what I’m saying but this
3:30	is not what I’m talking about Jesus is
3:33	up to a lot of things right now and I’m
3:35	going to note this what is he doing he
3:38	is obeying God’s law
3:41	for you remember Jesus keeps the law
3:45	perfectly so the fact that Jesus is
3:48	circumcised on the eighth day is an
3:50	important thing this hearkens to the new
3:52	creation Now if I were to ask you how
3:54	many days did it take God to create the
3:56	heavens and the Earth if you said seven
3:58	you would be wrong
4:00	it took six
4:02	he rested on the seventh Jesus is raised
4:05	from the grave on the Eighth Day Eighth
4:09	Day hearkens to well the new creation
4:11	and with this kind of in mind it’s
4:13	important to note that the circumcision
4:16	of the old Covenant is the type and
4:18	Shadow that gives way to the substance
4:20	in the New Covenant which is baptism and
4:23	so Eighth Day New Creation Talk Jesus is
4:27	circumcised cutting away of the flesh
4:29	the sinful flesh but then kind of begs
4:32	the question why is Jesus being
4:35	circumcised
4:36	he’s not sinful
4:39	there is no sinful flesh to cut away and
4:42	say for the sake of Christ well I would
4:44	argue that this is similar to what we
4:47	see when Jesus is baptized remember when
4:49	Jesus is baptized there is the sinless
4:51	Spotless Lamb of God who takes away the
4:53	sin of the world John the Baptist is out
4:55	in the wilderness in at the Jordan River
4:57	people are coming and confessing their
5:00	sins and it’s a sinner’s baptism the
5:02	baptism of repentance and there’s Jesus
5:05	striding into the Jordan and John’s
5:07	going whoa dude
5:09	I need to be baptized by you
5:14	right
5:15	and what’s Jesus response let it be so
5:17	now in order to fulfill all
5:19	righteousness
5:21	but Jesus has no sinful flesh to cut a
5:24	Wyatt cut away why is he permitting
5:26	himself to be circumcised
5:29	one to fulfill God’s law but two because
5:32	he is showing us through this
5:35	circumcision and his baptism that Christ
5:38	is numbered with sinners
5:40	ultimately he has come to Bear the sins
5:43	of the world to die in our place and
5:46	although he has no sinful flesh he
5:48	undergoes circumcision in order to
5:50	fulfill the law
5:52	and in fulfilling the law he numbers
5:55	himself with the transgressors and we
5:58	also see here that Jesus is given a name
6:01	his birth certificate is filled out with
6:03	with a child’s name be his name is
6:06	Yeshua which means Yahweh
6:09	saves the Lord saves good stuff here now
6:13	let’s see if we can unpack the Theology
6:15	of what’s going on with Jesus’s
6:18	circumcision by looking at our cross
6:20	references today from both the Old
6:22	Testament and the epistle text now in
6:25	our Old Testament reading Numbers
6:26	Chapter 6 verses 22-27 this is one of
6:30	the places in scripture where we hear
6:32	the aaronic blessing of the old Covenant
6:35	this is what we hear the benediction
6:37	every Sunday May the Lord bless you and
6:39	keep you make his face to shine on you
6:41	and be gracious to you let’s walk
6:43	through these words and I want you to
6:44	pay attention to the nouns who’s the
6:47	subject of the sentence and the verbs so
6:50	here’s what it says the Lord spoke to
6:52	Moses saying Speak to Aaron and to the
6:53	sons of Israel saying thus you shall
6:56	Bless the people of Israel and you shall
6:58	say to them so notice that this blessing
7:00	is coming from God through men
7:03	and here’s the blessing
7:05	Yahweh blessed you and Yahweh keep you
7:10	Yahweh make his face to shine on you and
7:13	be gracious to you so who’s doing all
7:15	this stuff well the Lord is and may the
7:18	Lord Yahweh lift up his countenance upon
7:20	you
7:22	and give you
7:24	peace
7:25	so the Lord is Blessing you the Lord is
7:28	keeping you the Lord is making his face
7:29	to shine upon you the Lord is lifting up
7:32	his countenance upon you and he the Lord
7:34	is giving you peace you are the
7:36	recipients of these blessings and our
7:39	text ends with these important words so
7:41	shall they put my name upon the people
7:44	of Israel and I will bless them
7:49	so in this aaronic blessing the name of
7:53	the Lord is put on the people of Israel
7:57	important words now let’s do a little
8:00	eschatological remembering if you would
8:02	we all know how the thing goes down at
8:05	the end right the man of lawlessness
8:08	shows up and there’s a Mark that is
8:10	given to people it’s called the mark of
8:13	the beast
8:14	and you can’t buy or sell without this
8:16	Mark of the Beast the mark of the beast
8:18	is the satanic opposite of this
8:22	you see when the Lord puts his name on
8:25	you He blesses you you are his the mark
8:29	of the beast marks you as well somebody
8:31	who belongs to the devil so the question
8:34	I would have for you in the in in the
8:36	New Covenant where is it that God puts
8:39	his name on us
8:43	see go and make disciples of all Nations
8:46	baptizing teaching all that I’ve
8:49	commanded them baptizing in the name of
8:52	the father and the Son and the Holy
8:55	Spirit
8:57	theirs were God’s name is placed on you
9:01	right there you see what Jesus
9:03	accomplishes over here you can’t go back
9:06	in time by the way I know we like those
9:08	movies you know or those television
9:09	shows you know they have the DeLorean
9:11	that can go back in time or the Tardis
9:13	that can do its thing you know although
9:15	it’s bigger on the inside than it looks
9:16	on the outside it’s amazing all these
9:18	time travel things but you can’t travel
9:20	back in time and gather up the blood of
9:23	Christ said for you on the cross so the
9:25	question is how is what Jesus
9:27	accomplished delivered to you how are
9:30	you blessed by what he’s accomplished on
9:31	the cross well one of the means it’s
9:34	right there
9:35	what he accomplished is delivered to you
9:38	in the font
9:39	when you were baptized God places his
9:42	name on you which is why
9:45	lutherans historically do not frown upon
9:49	those who feel the freedom and knows
9:52	what I’m saying here this is not a rule
9:53	feel the freedom to cross themselves
9:56	Crossing yourself is a remembrance that
9:59	you are baptized in the name of the
10:02	father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
10:04	when little children come to the rail
10:06	here I give them a little blessing and
10:09	if I know that they’re baptized I’d say
10:11	may the Lord continue to bless you and
10:13	keep you in the faith given to you in
10:16	the waters of your baptism and preserve
10:18	you to life Everlasting I make the
10:20	little sign of the cross over their
10:21	heads and the reason being this is a
10:23	remembrance of when God placed his name
10:26	on them on you and so God has placed his
10:30	name on you and he has blessed you now
10:33	what does it mean to be blessed by God
10:35	Psalm 32 helps us out here Psalm 32
10:39	states
10:40	blessed is the one whose transgression
10:43	Is Forgiven
10:45	whose sin is covered
10:48	now that is a blessing blessed is the
10:51	man against whom the Lord counts no
10:54	iniquity
10:55	and in whose Spirit there is no deceit
10:58	you seek to be blessed by God first and
11:00	foremost is to be forgiven to have your
11:03	sins covered to know that God will
11:06	remember your sins no more
11:09	he casts them as far away as the East is
11:11	from the west and I’m pretty sure that’s
11:12	a far way way
11:14	or as they like to say God takes your
11:17	sins cast them into the ocean of his
11:19	forgetfulness and puts up a no fishing
11:21	sign
11:23	this is what it means to be blessed to
11:25	be forgiven and see ultimately we
11:28	realize that we Christians are not
11:30	praying that we receive God’s justice
11:33	for if we all received what it is that
11:35	we deserved we would not be blessed
11:38	we would be cursed
11:40	from the pastor all the way down to the
11:42	smallest among us we would all be cursed
11:45	but to be blessed is to be forgiven and
11:48	that’s what happens in the waters of
11:49	baptism and so the psalmist then goes on
11:52	in that Psalm to say I acknowledged my
11:55	sin to you Lord
11:57	and I did not cover my iniquity I said I
12:01	will confess my transgressions to the
12:03	Lord and you forgave thee and I’m going
12:06	to re-translate the word here you
12:08	forgave the guilt of my sin I think in
12:11	this context the Hebrew word for
12:14	iniquity that’s translated in the ESV
12:16	might be better translated as guilt
12:19	because each and every one of us
12:20	understands that well we’ve sinned we’ve
12:24	fallen short we’ve done it today
12:26	yesterday the day before and oftentimes
12:29	there’s guilt associated with our sin
12:32	and yet the scripture says I confess my
12:34	transgressions to the Lord and the Lord
12:36	forgave the guilt of my sin not just the
12:38	sin itself but also the guilt associated
12:41	with it so that we can truly stand in a
12:43	blessed State yes I have fallen short
12:47	but I am blessed because I’m forgiven I
12:50	don’t need to live in guilt and shame I
12:53	can live in Peace and Freedom because of
12:55	Christ’s forgiveness he has placed his
12:58	name on me washed away my sins and
13:01	that’s what Galatians is talking about
13:03	in our epistle text before Faith came we
13:05	were held captive under the law and the
13:08	law can’t save you by the way it can
13:10	only Point its bony fingers at you and
13:12	say ah you’ve fallen short here’s the
13:14	standard you keep coming up short ah
13:18	try harder yeah that’ll help right it’s
13:21	almost like a form of waterboarding so
13:23	in we were in prison until the coming
13:25	Faith would be revealed so then the law
13:27	was our Guardian until Christ came in or
13:29	that we might be justified by faith
13:33	Justified means to be declared righteous
13:36	but now that faith has come we are no
13:38	longer under a guardian
13:40	for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of
13:43	God through faith for here now listen to
13:45	these words for as many of you as were
13:48	baptized into Christ you have put on
13:52	Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek
13:57	Norwegian or polish
14:00	had to say that there is neither
14:02	Japanese Chinese Korean Russian name
14:06	thing there is neither slave nor free
14:08	there is neither male or female instead
14:11	you were all one in Christ
14:13	and if you are Christ
14:15	then you are Abraham’s offspring heirs
14:19	according to the promise
14:22	fascinating words in the old Covenant
14:24	what was it that marked a young man as
14:28	being an offspring of Abraham
14:31	circumcision
14:32	it was circumcision but here this text
14:34	says that you are an offspring of
14:37	Abraham in an heir according to the
14:39	promise when you have been baptized into
14:43	Christ
14:45	you see circumcision now gives way to
14:48	the real thing itself baptism and it’s
14:51	not just for men
14:53	it’s for men and women and it’s
14:55	important to note here that the
14:57	scripture says that even females are
14:59	sons of God important reason for this is
15:02	quite simple
15:03	women don’t have the right to an
15:06	inheritance and so by God declaring all
15:09	men and women to be sons of God he is
15:12	saying that everybody regardless of
15:14	gender has an inheritance in his kingdom
15:17	does that make sense
15:18	fascinating stuff you see when you start
15:21	to unpack what it is that God has done
15:24	for us in the waters of baptism you
15:27	begin to Marvel at this well the power
15:29	of it all because God is promising
15:32	things so if you have been baptized into
15:35	Christ you have put on Christ and indeed
15:37	you have and Colossians 2 kind of closes
15:41	the circle then to make the connection
15:43	between circumcision and baptism
15:45	when it says this in Colossians 2
15:47	starting at verse 11 in him
15:51	also you were circumcised with the
15:55	circumcision made without hands by the
15:58	putting off of the body of the flesh by
16:01	the circumcision of Christ they sit
16:04	there and go well when was I circumcised
16:06	again what is this referring to and
16:08	here’s what it says having been buried
16:10	with Christ in baptism you see
16:14	your baptism is your circumcision your
16:18	baptism is the true cutting away of the
16:20	sinful flesh not by the hands of
16:22	humanity but by the Hands of Christ
16:24	himself being united with him in his
16:27	death and his resurrection having your
16:28	sins washed away and it says this in
16:32	your baptism you are also raised with
16:34	Christ through faith and the powerful
16:37	working of God who raised him from the
16:39	dead and you you who were dead in your
16:42	trespasses and the uncircumcision of
16:45	your flesh God has made alive together
16:48	with Christ having forgiven us all of
16:50	our trespasses by canceling the record
16:53	of death that stood against us with its
16:55	legal demands all of this he set aside
16:58	nailing it to the cross
17:01	wow
17:03	blessed is the one whose transgression
17:05	Is Forgiven whose sin is covered blessed
17:08	is the man or the woman against whom the
17:10	Lord counts no iniquity and in whose
17:13	Spirit there is no deceit
17:15	so I would point you again the fact that
17:18	although Our Gospel text is Tiny and
17:21	small that when you unpack its meaning
17:23	and how it relates to the fact that we
17:25	have been United with Christ the one who
17:27	has kept God’s law perfectly for us that
17:30	we have been put the name of Christ has
17:32	been put on us in the waters of baptism
17:34	that our hearts were circumcised that we
17:38	were United with him buried with him
17:40	raised with him and forgiven
17:44	then we see that it’s no small deal
17:46	small no small thing indeed that Jesus
17:50	at the end of eight days was circumcised
17:53	and named Yeshua the one who saves
17:58	in the name of Jesus Amen
18:01	[Music]

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