Genesis 4:1-8, Hebrews 11:4, 12:24, Matthew 23:35, Luke 11:51
When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He became your
substitute. He entered time and space to take your place. He died the death
that you deserve. He made the perfect payment for your sins. He died in your
place. He rose from the grave as a
guarantee that you might have everlasting life with Him. Abel made his sacrifice by faith. In the same
way, we accept Jesus’ death by faith and are declared right before God. St.
Paul reminds us in Romans 3, "This
righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe." We "are justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of
atonement, through faith in His blood" (Vv.22,24)
God declares you to be not guilty and He also declares you
to be righteous. He cancels the guilt of
your sin and credits righteousness to you. No one lives a perfectly good, holy
and righteous life. We are all sinners. Yet He declares everyone who puts his
trust in Jesus to be not guilty and righteous. This declaration is valid
because Christ died to pay the penalty for our and lived a life of perfect
righteousness that can now be credited to us.
Although we clearly deserve to be pronounced guilty before
God He declares you righteous because of the redemption, which comes to us
through Jesus Christ. This is what prompted Able to offer an acceptable
sacrifice, for he offered it by faith. God doesn’t need your good works, or
your pious actions, or your money. Your
neighbor, on the other hand, needs you. As we serve our neighbor, we serve in a
spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving. We act as God has acted for us. We show
mercy as God has shown mercy. We forgive as God in Christ has forgiven.
Almighty God, Whom to
know is everlasting life, grant us perfectly to know Your Son, Jesus Christ, to
be the way, the truth and the life, that following His steps we may steadfastly
walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Schnorr von Carolsfeld Woodcut used with permission © WELS
Collect for a right knowledge of Christ Lutheran Service
Book ©2006 Concordia Publishing House St. Louis
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