12TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY-3

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In this same Savior, dearly beloved hearers.

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;" these are the words with which according to the first chapter of Genesis the Triune God, Father,Son, and Holy Spirit, expressed the counsel of his eternal life of calling the human race into existence. Shortly thereafter we read, "SO God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." Gen 1:27.

Consequently, when man came from the hand of God, he bore the image of God in himself. Wherein this must have consisted is not difficult to guess, for everyone knows that an image is a reproduction of a thing which has certain likenesses or at least a visible similarity with it. Therefore, if it is revealed to us that God created man in his image, this means simply that originally man resembled God, yes, in a certain sense was like God. Whoever saw man saw God's attributes, shine in him; man's whole essence was a faithful copy of God and a lovely, bright reflection of his glory. As the sun is mirrored in a calm sea, so the Creator was reflected in man who had just been created.

If we want to know what really was reflected in man, we need but picture to ourselves the. nature of God, for everything which God possesses in the greatest perfection he out of eternal love used to adorn man, scaled down for a

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creature. According to his essence God is an eternal, omnipotent spirit; also man who was created in his image was, therefore, originally immortal; his body was eternally young and vigorous, without sickness, without pain, never tiring and without the seed of death and corruption; neither heat nor cold could harm him. In addition, as a copy of God's omnipotence, he was stronger than any other earthly creature, ruling by his nod and will all the animals on earth, moving among them as their lord and king.

Moreover, according to his intellect God is the eternal and complete truth and wisdom; man who had been created in his image was also at one time full of truth, wisdom, and heavenly light; without any error and without wearisome learning man knew God's essence and will, knew himself and his true destiny without self-deception; the entire creation lay before him unveiled; his bright spirit penetrated without let or hindrance all the mysteries of nature and its amazing powers.

According to his will God is, moreover, the most perfect holiness; man who had been created in his image was, therefore, also originally holy; what God wanted, that also man wanted; man's will was in the most beautiful harmony with God's will; God was his greatest treasure, he truly loved God above all things and his neighbor as himself; no sin, no evil desires, no unholy thoughts dwelt in man's breast; his body also was free from every sinful incitement, an unspotted temple of the Holy Spirit; much less, therefore, did a sinful word cross his lips and all his works were good, for they were all done in God.

Finally, according to his state God is also perfectly happy; and also in this;point man was a faithful reflection of this most happy Being. Since man was without sin, no restlessness, no anxiety, no fear fill his heart and conscience; he not only loved God, he also knew that he was loved by God, that he was his gracious God and Father. Peace, rest, and the purest joy dwelt in his soul. In addition, God had placed man into a paradise in which there was nothing but what could delight the heart, the eye, and all senses; also at that time, no curse lay upon the earth, no troubles, no evil dwelt upon it; the tears which men wept were only tears of love and joy; in short, man was happy in time and his earthly dwelling was an annex of heaven.

See; my friends, that was the condition of man when he still bore God's image in himself. He was more glorious than could be described, more happy than we could grasp and suspect. Alas! what happened? By the seduction of Satan man fell into sin, and sin in turned robbed us of God's image, divested us of our original adornment, hurled us from the peak of the most blessed good fortune into darkness, death, and ruin, and converted this world into an arena of misery. Who must not agree? Who has not experienced in himself that by nature he is no longer fortunate and happy and that this world is not a paradise but a vale of tears? He who wants to deny this must wilfully close his eyes to the misery which surrounds him and which dwells in himself.

Yet blessed are all who painfully feel what they have lost and who yearn to, recover the. glory which was trifled away, for just this reason God's Son appeared in the world in order to re-establish God's work which was destroyed, in order to bring back that which we lost, in a word, in order to re-establish in us the divine image of which we were robbed. So permit me to speak to you further on this point.

The text. Mark 7:31-37.

My friends, everything which Christ once did to those suffering physical misery was a picture of that which Christ mainly wanted to do to men, that is, he wanted to take all misery from man and bring him back to the glory which he lost which God once had created in him, therefore, in a word, re-establish the

image of God in man. Permit me, therefore, to speak to you now of

THE RESTORATION OF THE DIVINE IMAGE THROUGH CHRIST

I. How it Begins Already in This Life, and

II. How it will be Completed in the Life to Come.

Lord Jesus Christ, you not only want to forgive us our sins but you also want to help and free us us from them and renew in us again the image of God in which we once were created. Awaken in us a holy longing for complete freedom from sin and for the lost treasure of a perfect innocence. Take from us the idea that we are indeed absolved from sin but still need not forsake it completely, so that we finally do not through the deceit of sin trifle away our salvation but even here let ourselves be transformed into your image from one brightness to the next through your Spirit, until we come to the light of eternal perfection. Amen.

I.

My dear hearers, that we no longer are as God originally created us men, is, as I already stated in the introduction, simply not to be denied. Why, our reason finds it most absurd to assume that the almighty, all wise, holy God should have created beings who are burdened with sickness, distress, and death, with error, blindness, and darkness, with sin and all impurity, and with discord, unrest, fear, anguish, and pangs of conscience. But such a being man is now. He is aware that he is destined for another world and yet he is subject to death, thousands of different kinds of illnesses, and countless evils; he is more powerless, helpless, and needy than many irrational animals; by nature he knows nothing certain about God and his will, yes, is a mystery to himself; his thoughts and endeavors are only evil from his youth on; in addition, he is full of unrest and travels without peace of soul through this world as though through a valley full of tears and misery. Tell me: if God would have created man and the world as they are now, could we really read, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good"? Gen 1:31. Not at all. Of this there can, therefore, be no doubt: this world and particularly we men are now no longer in our original state. Yes, we still have the light of reason by which we are different from the animals, but that is only like the ruins of a former, glorious, lovely edifice which has not been rebuilt; it is a memorial of a former better state; the true Image of God we have lost; our reason has become darkened and without the divine light which could show us the way to salvation; our will has turned away from God and our heart is alienated from the light which is from God; our state is unhappiness and our bodies the dwelling of mortality; therefore, instead of God's image all of us bear the image of sin and; physical and spiritual death in us.

But blessed are we! We are not to remain in this misery. For that very reason God's Son became like us so that we would again be like God; for that very reason he assumed the image of a sinner so that he might bring us back to God's image. John, therefore, says in his first letter, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil," 1 Jn 3:8; and Peter preaches, "Whom (Christ) the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3:21.

Consequently, we dare not think that God's Son became a man only to fulfil the Law for us by his holy life and suffered for our sins and died on the cross only to win for us the forgiveness of our sins, deliver us from the punishment

we deserved, reconcile us with God, and in spite of our sins open heaven and salvation for us. Yes, many think that of Christ; they, therefore, also seek nothing from Christ but comfort for their restless conscience; that they should actually again become holy, of that they ask nothing. However, they are in the grips of a great, most dangerous error.

As Christ in our Gospel not only in a friendly way received the deaf and dumb man and assured him of his grace but as he also, as one might say, treated him, actually healed him from all his infirmities, restored to him hearing and speech and made a healthy man of him, so Christ wants not only to forgive all men their sins but also free them from their sins, not only declare them righteous by grace but also make them truly righteous, not only comfort and soothe their heart but also cleanse and sanctify it, not only reconcile them with God but also reunite them with God, not only make them acceptable to God but make them like God, in short, restore the entire lost image of God in them, lead them back into the state of innocence, make them perfectly healthy in body and soul, and thus finally bring them to the blessed goal for which God had destined them from eternity and called them into existence.

Of course, the first thing which Christ must do to the sinner is to forgive him his sins, for no person can atone for his sins himself and make them right. However, if God did nothing more with sin but forgive them, he would not be a perfect Savior; if he would leave men in sin, he would also leave them in unhappiness; part of true blessedness necessarily is that sin actually is abolished, wiped out, destroyed, and crushed in us.

Therefore, the moment a person believes in Christ from his whole heart, Christ not only forgives him all his sins but he also gives him the Holy Spirit who battles against sin in the flesh and cleanses his heart more and more from it. The moment, therefore, a person accepts Christ's grace, sin also loses its dominion in him; hatred against sin is, as it were, the first impulse of the divine image which Christ restores in man. This hatred of sin reveals itself in the fact that every day the person regrets, deplores, rues, and humbles himself before God and men because of the sins he has committed; that he also prays against sinning more, is on guard against temptation to sin, notices the gentlest impulses of sin in his heart, arms and strengthens himself against sin from God's Word, and thus unceasingly battles against sin, even his dearest pet sins, and with all his powers tries to be free from every sin.

Everyone whose sins are truly forgiven through Christ does this, and he who does not struggle to be completely free from his sins certainly does not stand in Christ's grace. For to whomever Christ gives grace, to him he also gives power; to whomever he grants forgiveness of sins, to him he also gives the hatred of sin and the zeal to fight against it. Whomever Christ graciously receives as he did the deaf and dumb man, his infirmities of soul he also begins to heal. However, he who has only forgiveness of sins from Christ but still keeps many sins and does not want to be completely cured by Christ makes Christ a servant of sin, simply does not believe in the true Christ, has a false Christ, and will be lost with his self-made "sin-Christ". Oh, how many thousands who live on without the daily struggle against sin will, therefore, some day discover that they have deceived themselves!

Not only is the fact that sin is destroyed in man a part of the restoration of the divine image but also that the man is renewed and sanctified. It is indeed true that no person can work a righteousness which avails before God; therefore, Christ had to fulfill the Law for us, so that if we believe in him we should be declared righteous by grace for his sake. But we dare not think that Christ by his grace would abolish the Law and that we now would not have to fulfill it. Definitely not! The Law is the declared, eternally unchangeable

will of God; it is, therefore, not in the least revoked through the Gospel; it must, therefore, be fulfilled to the very smallest letter not only by Christ but also by every individual person; and to bring man to this ultimate, completely perfect fulfilment of God's Law is the final purpose of the whole redemption of Jesus Christ. Clearly he says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Mt 5:17-19. Therefore, St. Paul also says, "Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid; yes, we establish the Law." Rom 3:31.

Therefore, Christ bestows his fulfilment of the Law first on those who believe in him and thus by grace makes them righteous before God, not that they can boldly transgress the Law, but rather that as children of God they will again become willing and capable of fulfilling the Law and finally come to the perfect image of God to which they were created. If people are pardoned, then the call goes out to them, as we read in the Letter to the Ephesians, "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph 4:23,24. And again as we read in the Letter to the Colossians, "Put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Col 3:9,10.

Examine yourselves according to this, my dear hearers; you say that you are righteous through Christ, that is, through faith. Good! but remember: if that has actually happened to you, if Christ has really bestowed his righteousness upon you, then Christ will also have awakened in you the sincere desire to fulfil God's Law yourself, truly to know God's essence and will, to love God above all things, and serve God in true righteousness and holiness; then you will also have received a new heart from Christ which delights in the Law of the Lord and desires to speak of his Law day and night. But if you have no zeal to fulfil God's Law yourself, your faith is Christ's fulfilment is a fleshly comfort, for he who is really seized by Christ's grace, him it also transfigures more and more into God's image.

II.

My friends, all this will become still clearer to us when we now secondly ponder that the restoration of the (divine image through Christ is not perfect until the life to come.

As certain as it is that through his grace Christ heals his believers even here of their natural blindness, opens the eyes of their spirit, kindles in them a heavenly light, and again works in them a true knowledge of God, nevertheless they still do not here have that complete knowledge which man once had when he still bore God's image in himself. Even the most enlightened Christian must confess, "We know in part." Moreover, as certain as it is that through his grace Christ even here cleanses his believers from sin, gives them a new heart, and makes different people of them, works hatred of sin, true love of God and one's neighbor, and a zeal in sanctification and in all good works in them, nevertheless, here their will is never as sanctified as it was in the state of innocence; they never make it perfect; perfect sanctification in this life is a dream of blinded, .proud enthusiasts; everyone, even the most zealous Christian, must 'say with Paul, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am ap-

prehended of Christ Jesus." Phil 3:12.

Moreover, it is certain that those who are justified through faith also receive peace through our Lord Jesus Christ; yet they never have that undisturbed peace here as man enjoyed it in Paradise; very often even believers must groan with David when they do not feel their faith, "There is no rest in my bones." Ps 38:4. Finally, as certain as it is that Christ even in this world makes his kingdom a kingdom of heaven for his believers, they must very often discover that they are still in the land of temptation, tears, and death; even those Christians strongest in the faith must, therefore, often confess with Paul, "We are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Cor 5:8.

Christ's Church on earth is not a mortuary; his believers are all spiritually alive; it is not a house of the healthy but an infirmary, a hospital in which everyone waits for perfect health of soul. Here Christians have only the first-fruits of Christ's harvest; the full harvest has not yet come to them. The nature of Christ's kingdom of grace here is the blossoming of spring, the time of the full maturity does not come until eternal life comes.

But blessed are all Christians I some day it will come. As Christ' in our Gospel restored the deaf-mute not only in part but completely, so he will also restore in the world to come in all who believe in him the image of God to which they were originally created, yes, there by his grace the redeemed will shine more gloriously than they would have shone had they not fallen.

There knowledge in part, will cease and all of Christ's redeemed will be permeated with the light of perfect knowledge. There sin will be completely abolished and Christ's redeemed will be filled with perfect love and shine, in the adornment of perfect innocence and holiness. There also the last germs of fear and restlessness will be destroyed and Christ's redeemed will enjoy a perfect peace in the most holy, the most perfect fellowship with God. There all misery will end and Christ's redeemed will again have entered the gates of a more beautiful Paradise which once were closed but now are opened to them, as once had been their lot here on earth. There death will be no more but eternal life, eternal joy, eternal blessedness in God's presence. In short, there Christ's redeemed will again awaken fully according to God's image, and they will see and experience that through his redemption Christ has again built up a more beautiful world than that which was ruined by sin. Therefore, if we read of the first creation, "And God saw everything that he had made, and,behold, it was very good," all of the redeemed will at the sight of the second creation cry out so much the more, "The Lord hath done all things well!" V. 37.

Is there really anyone among us who would not wish to awaken again some day with the perfect image of God? Certainly no one. Well then! if you want this, then allow Christ to heal your souls here on earth. May no one be so foolish as to seek only forgiveness and not also freedom from sin, only being declared righteous and not also sanctification in Christ! This is and indeed remains inseparable: Whoever wishes to be and remain pardoned by Christ must also let himself be healed by him. Therefore, whoever will not let a beginning of God's image be restored in him will also not there awaken in God's image at the end of the world. Amen.