Today's Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:3
Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 3:6-4:2; Matthew 22:1-22
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. . . . God said, “Let there be . . .” (Genesis 1:1, 3a)
. . . And there was. Whatever God commanded, it was so. From heaven and earth, to day and night, to sun and moon, to grass and trees, to fish and fowl, to reptile and mammal, to man and woman—God spoke things into existence.
Where once there was nothing, now there is everything. And because God is “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” that which was true in the beginning is now and ever shall be.
When God speaks, what He speaks is so. What He calls sin in the Ten Commandments is just as much sin today as it was in the day of Moses. And the forgiveness He proclaims through His church and pastors today is just as certain as the forgiveness spoken by Christ and His apostles 2,000 years ago. In this Christian Church, through the power of the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters, where once there was nothing but a sinner empty of anything good and void of anything worthy, now there is a beloved child of God.
So it is with you. In Holy Baptism God said, “Let there be a saint,” and there was a saint. In Holy Absolution God says, “Let there be forgiveness of sins unto eternal life,” and it is so. In Holy Communion God says, “Let there be the body and blood of Christ given for you, “ and it is so.
God speaks, and you become a new creation and the kingdom of heaven is open to you—in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Thy strong word did cleave the darkness; At Thy speaking it was done…. Alleluia, alleluia! Praise to Thee who light dost send! Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia without end! (LSB 578:1)