January 5 – LD 1, Day 5:
The Blessedness of Belonging to Jesus
by Prof Herman Hanko
Read: Hebrews
9:24-28.
We have learned already
from the HC that our only comfort is that we belong to our faithful Savior,
Jesus Christ. But we need to know more; that is, we need to know how it is
possible to belong to him and what it means to belong to him. The HC explains
all these things. Actually, the entire remainder of the HC is written to
explain what it means to belong to Jesus, but here the Catechism gives a brief
summary.
We do not belong to
Jesus by virtue of our birth, for we belong to Satan and the wicked world. But
our Savior, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and
delivered me from all the power of the devil.” I do not belong to Jesus because
I have chosen him or accepted his invitation to believe in him. I do not belong
to Jesus because I have done enough good works to merit becoming His
possession. I cannot do any of these things. He purchased me. He bought me with
His own blood that He shed on
The price He paid was
enormous: it was the price of His own precious blood. On the cross He died for
our sins by enduring the everlasting wrath of God that was our just due and
held us in bondage to sin and Satan.
He preserves us by His
power so that “not a hair can fall from our head” “without the will of our
heavenly Father. That is, nothing at all happens to us except it is God’s will.
And God is our Father, who has made us a part of His family; who loves us and
supplies all our needs.
Beyond even directing
all our life as our Father, belonging to Christ means “that all things must be
subservient to my salvation.” Everything that happens in the whole history of
the world and in all the history of heaven serves the purpose of saving me.
That is indeed a bold statement; but it is implied in belonging to Jesus. The
same is true of what happens to me: every pain and sorrow serves my salvation.
The HC also takes the
time to answer for us the question: How can we be sure that all these wonderful
things are true of us – for me?
Our Jesus to whom we
belong also gives us that assurance by His Spirit in our hearts. And even makes
us ready and willing to live unto him.
That is an incomparable
comfort!