Holy Trinity A
Ai Khawng
After Pentecost • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
The Holy Triune God Recreates Us in the Image and Likeness of Christ Jesus
The holy Triune God “created the heavens and the earth,” and “behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:1, 31). However, after Adam and Eve fell into sin and plunged God’s good creation into decay and death, the Son of God would be “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” to be “crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). As Jesus “received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:33), He also raises up all the baptized and pours out the Spirit upon them through the preaching of His Gospel. He sends out His apostles to “make disciples of all nations” by “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and “teaching them to observe all that [He has] commanded” (Matt. 28:19–20). Through such baptizing and teaching — Gospel and Sacraments — the holy Triune God recreates us in the image and likeness of His incarnate Son, Jesus, the Christ, and behold, it is “very good” (Gen. 1:31).
Hymn of the Day: 498/499 Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest
Liturgy:
Introit
Psalm 16:8–11; antiphon: Liturgical Text
Blessèd be the Holy Trinity and the undivided | Unity.*
Let us give glory to him because he has shown his mer- | cy to us.
I have set the Lord always be- | fore me;*
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be | shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being re- | joices;*
my flesh also | dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul | to Sheol,*
or let your holy one see cor- | ruption.
You make known to me the | path of life;*
in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures for- | evermore.
Glory be to the Father and | to the Son*
and to the Holy | Spirit;
as it was in the be- | ginning,*
is now, and will be forever. | Amen.
Blessèd be the Holy Trinity and the undivided | Unity.*
Let us give glory to him because he has shown his mer- | cy to us.
Collect of the Day
Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever.
Gradual
Psalm 145:3, 5b, 6b
Great is the Lord, and greatly | to be praised,*
and his greatness is un- | searchable.
On your wondrous works, I will | meditate,*
and I will declare your | greatness.
Verse
Isaiah 6:3b
And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Alleluia. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! Alleluia.
Summary: Gen 1.1-2
Gen 1.1-2.4a
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Each day's work was "good" and the Sabbath was "holy" which means set apart for a special purpose. That one Christian author who writes about creation, says there is already death when man and woman come on the scene, we have oil in the ground which means there was a former creation. Whether or not you believe in the gap theory, you have to admit that Lucifer fell along with 1/3 (not a small number) of the angels. And so long before humankind you had evil and rebellion.
Speaks of the Spirit of God moving on the face of the waters, and we know that Jesus is the word of God and from Joh 1 that all things were created by him. Psa 8 not really trinitarian but the "work of your fingers" section is like Gen 1, 2Co has the famous trinitarian benediction, and Mat 28 has the trinitarian formula to be used at baptism.
Psa 8
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! Thou whose glory above the heavens is chanted by the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor. Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth!
How can a name fill the earth? This is poetic language, I think it means the renown of the name. Not only is God's name known, it is known in a different way than the name Coca Cola is. The word/thought association should be and is mostly, that God exists, it is the Judeo-Christian God, and He is good; although there are things I don't understand (suffering in the world - cancer, sickness, early death, disease, wars)
Finally, brethren, farewell. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
Similar to the list in 1Th 5. Usually the preferred or recommended order is start with God and his Spirit and character, make that real in your own life and the others will follow. Here is a "fake it until you make it" opposite, "live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you."
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
Jesus gave all kinds of instructions. I'm sure daily there were instructions by Jesus, "I'll see you here tomorrow at 9 (or mid morning)" "Let's take this other road and visit that village that no one goes to," "tonight when you lay down before you go to sleep, think about what I spoke about, how that ties in with Abraham and Moses," etc. Even though one scholar says the last word of 17 should be "hesitated" and not "doubted" that is still pretty bad, this is even after Thomas put his fingers in his nailprints and in his side. What is wrong with these guys. And Ralph Winter would note, even after Pentecost, people weren't going out, and it took the Roman destrcution of Jerusalem of A.D. 70 to push them out and get them to do what God has called them to do.