The Wondrous Mystery of Our God! Romans 11:33-36

May 30, 2021
Rev. Nathan J. Rusert

"Holy, Holy, Holy" the seraphim cry out in the presence of the only True and Living God. Their hymn of praise confesses that God is Three in One and One in Three. At our baptism the Triune God gifts us with His Holy Name : "I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." One God - Three distinct Persons. On Trinity Sunday we glimpse "The Wondrous Mystery Of Our God" Sermon Text: Roman 11:3336. Preached for the Feast of the Holy Trinity, 30-May-2021, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Tell City, Indiana by Rev. Nathan J. Rusert

Episode Notes

The Feast Of The Holy Trinity                                 5/30/21
Sermon Text: Romans 11:33-36
Sermon Theme: The Wondrous Mystery Of God!  by Rev. Nathan J. Rusert

I.N.R.I. Remember! Memorial day is about remembering. Remembering brave soldiers willing to lay down their lives to protect and preserve our God given liberties. Remembering lives spent for us should move us as citizens to also uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and our Bill of Rights from all enemies - either domestic or foreign. There is power in remembering. Remembering our nation’s history and the cost paid by soldiers on battlefields from Lexington to Gettysburg, from San Juan Hill to the Ardens, from Pusan to Hill 55, from Iraq to Afghanistan - teaches us the cost of protecting liberty entrusted to every human being by their Creator. We are called to eternal vigilance and sacrifice.
    Remember! Our Creator calls to His children. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy! Remember where your rest and peace is found. Our rest and peace is found only in the true living God - not in Satanic lies of man’s homemade idols and false religions. “A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress,..” Rest and peace are not found foolishly imagining that there is no such thing as God. Only a fool with a debased mind can look at the world around them and study the complexity of life even on the cellular level - and then declare this was all by accident - life means nothing - live for your own pleasure - slaughter anyone who gets in the way of your self-chosen pleasure - from the baby in the womb to the aged with memory problems - do evil and applaud all who join you in doing debased things - even mutilate your own bodies trying to be your own Creators foolishly trying to ignore the truth of your own genetics. Isa 48:22 "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked." Pagans built shrines for their household idols. False gods who kept them in fear. Idols that taught them what to think, how to live, and what to sacrifice to save the world. What do your household imitation gods look like? Think of your home - what is the center of your living room? A screen. What do you stare at late into the night and first thing in the morning - a phone, tablet - a screen. We have allowed a fake god, an idol to invade our minds and pollute our values with lies. A fake god who keeps us in fear worshiping scientism. A fake god who turns us to the great idol called “ME.” So we live in great fear where no fear is for fake gods cannot save - they only enslave - as Satan has lied, murdered, and enslaved mankind from the day he took Adam captive by the LIE.
      Repent! Remember the True Living God - He is Peace. He comforts you with peace beyond all human understanding! He reconciles sinners to their true Father and Creator by His Cross breathing out the Lord and Giver of life - The Spirit of Truth upon us through His Gospel Word, “Mat 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (30) For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
  Don’t trust your own reason or strength, but only in God the Holy Spirit’s clear recorded Truth in the Old and New Testament. Here our God - the only True and Living God reveals Himself. Joyfully confess, remember, and rejoice in: The Wondrous Mystery Of God!
  Our God is known in His works! Teachers looking at a student’s work know their students. Looking at a house we learn much about the carpenter who buildt it. Looking at the world around us we learn about our Creator. God the Holy Spirit teaches through the pen of St. Paul in the first chapter of Romans, Rom 1:20-21 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (21) because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Creation, our DNA, the seeing eye - all cry out that there is a Creator - an Intelligent Designer - or as the Holy Spirit testifies -Heb 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.   Only evil men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness deny that life is created and rail against the truth of God’s existence. This natural knowledge of God is even reflected in the human conscience. In Romans 2 we read, Rom 2:14-15 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, (15) who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them).
    Man made reasonable religions are all religions of works. Their core teaching is if you do good you will earn the favor of your idol and be rewarded. Rejecting the truth of God’s revealed law that declares, Rom 3:10-12 As it is written: "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE; (11) THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS; THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS AFTER GOD. (12) THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE; THEY HAVE TOGETHER BECOME UNPROFITABLE; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, NO, NOT ONE." All have sinned! All fall short of the glory of God! All are justly damned to hell! All cannot save themselves!
    What peace is there in this? I am under Satan’s tyranny, death and hell are what I justly deserve! The natural knowledge of God cannot save - unless our mysterious God reveals Himself we are lost - Listen! - Rom 3:21-26 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (22) even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, (26) to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” In our redemption the Holy Trinity - the One True God reveals Himself. We were alienated from our God and Father when Adam’s rebellion enslaved us in Satan’s lies and chained us in the fear of death. God our Father did not abandon us but promised and sent forth His only begotten Son - to fulfill the Law perfectly in our place as our Brother, to suffer our just sentence upon the cross, then to pour out His blood - the very blood of God from the cross to make all things new again! Yet we could not believe this mystery by our own thinking or earn it by our own doing - God the Father, God the Son, sent forth God the Holy Spirit to birthing us from above by water and the word of Holy Baptism. He brings us to faith in Jesus comforting us in our Savior’s flesh and blood that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and that nothing shall separate us from the love of God our Father shown in the Crucified and made ours by the work of God the Holy Spirit in Gospel Word and Sacrament. This saving faith comes only through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ!
  Study the first 11 chapters of Romans and behold the wondrous Mysterious of God and all He does and continues to do to save us sinners. Even though some of the children of Israel rejected Him, they were not of the true Israel - the Holy Christian Church for they rejected the Messiah. It is at this point that St. Paul exclaims, (vs.33) Contemplating the mystery of our God is mind boggling. St. Augustine was walking by the shores of the Mediterranean Sea trying to get his mind around this great mystery of God is three Persons in one Divine God head, when he saw a young boy who had dug a hole in the sandy beach and was running back and forth to the sea scooping up a sea shell full of water and dumping it into the hole he had dug. Distracted by this young boy’s vigorous activity the philosopher finally asked him what he was doing. “I’m trying to empty the sea into the hole, I have dug.” he breathlessly replied. Augustine confessed, “I’ve been trying to do the same thing - trying to comprehend the nature and mind of my Eternal God with my finite mind.”
  We confessed the true God this morning in the Athanasian Creed - Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. “     The universal Christian that is catholic faith is we worship one God in Trinity. So the liturgy of the Church doesn’t begin with a generic calling upon a deity - it begins, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” God’s full revelation of His saving Name in our baptism - given after He had done all to reconcile us to Himself through the cross of Jesus and the promise of sending forth God the Holy Spirit to gather us from all nations through the waters of Holy baptism into His Church. Our service ends with the Triune God putting His Name upon us in His Word of blessing from the Old Testament - Numbers 6.
    The Lord who blesses and keeps us - God the Father who created us and sustains us richly and daily giving us all that we need to support our body and life. (Vs.34) The mystery of His wisdom is far beyond our mind. The Lord makes His face shine upon us - in the flesh and blood of Jesus. Apart from Jesus you cannot know God your loving Father (vs.35) He has given you all. Paid the debt of your sins in full. Reconciled you once and for all to your God and Father. The Lord who lifts His countenance upon you and gives you peace - God the Holy Spirit comforts you through the cross of Jesus. (Vs.36) He births you from above by water and the living Word - washing you forgiven in God’s blood that gushed from Jesus’ side - He fixes your eyes upon the One whom God the Father lifted upon the cross - that believing in Him you might have eternal life.
      We worship the Trinity. The liturgy of Christ Church constantly confesses and gives glory to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - rejoicing in the wondrous mystery of our God.
    Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of His mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. The mystery our Salvation - God is become One with us - born by the power of the Holy Spirit through the womb of the Virgin Mary rescuing us sinners. Jesus remains fully God and fully Man. Now He draws near to fill His House and feast us on His salvation. Touching our lips with His living body and blood - so we join with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven singing the tri sagion - Holy, Holy, Holy - for our Lord Jesus joins heaven to earth - and comforts us by the Holy Spirit in this precious meal with His living body and blood - filling us with forgiveness of sins, life and salvation - by Spirit given faith in Him alone we are declared righteous - clothed with Jesus’ perfect works -we have done good. Still God the Holy Spirit enlivens us to live our saving faith in love towards our fellow sinners. Confessing this saving Name - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - speaking to them the truth of the cross. That like the dying thief they may take heart in their suffering crying out, “Lord, remember me!” To hear God the Holy Spirit comforting them through the words of Jesus, “Truly, truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise!”   Amen.

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