A pastor friend of mine (well, he’s a pastor now but he was once my Confirmation student) . . . this pastor friend of mine pointed out a recent quote from a classmate of mine (who’s a big-wig now in the Synod). It’s a little satire on Satan asking God for permission to strike humanity with a new plague with lots of fear and death.

God’s response was that it sounded like a good idea. He would arrange for Christians throughout the world to start sharing their faith and promises from God’s Word with one another through social media. It would give families a chance to step back from all the distractions they’d gotten in their lives. They’d be able to reconnect with each other and talk about serious things again. A plague which forced people away from going to church only once in a while would teach them to ACHE for His Word and for Holy Communion again and show them that all the things they had come to think of as so important really weren’t while the things they had neglected really were.

Now, clearly, that’s satire – a kind of writing which turns typical ideas on their head. But there’s actually a good deal of truth to this idea that what Satan intends as a curse, God uses to give blessings.

Consider Abraham and Sarah who were childless into their 90’s. How desperate and abandoned by God they may have felt. But God turned their “curse” of childlessness into a miraculous blessing for the world; for through Isaac, the child of their old age, the Savior of the whole world would be born. Isaac’s youngest grandson, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his brothers. Even worse, he ended up in prison for crimes he didn’t commit! But God turned this double-curse into the means by which the sons of Jacob would become the Children of Israel, the Jews, through whom God would speak to the world and through whom the Savior would be born.

The greatest Curse of All, was the Perfect Son of God who St Paul says “became sin for us.” Where’s the sin of the whole world? It was on Him – the perfect Lamb of God. “He who had no sin became sin” Paul writes, so that it’s penalty would be taken out on Him instead of each of us paying it for ourselves.

God does not cause curses or tragedies or disasters or famine or plagues. Do not listen to anyone who says that such things are punishments from God! Absolutely not! The punishment for all sin was taken out of Jesus, Our Savior, when God Himself – who had no cause to suffer or die – did so willingly in our place! Paul writes, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” This doesn’t mean “no condemnation” for supposedly “good” people because it is plain that no one is “good” besides God. If there were such people, they wouldn’t need a Savior. But God has no condemnation for sinners like us, even though we deserve it, because Jesus, who did not deserve, took it in our place.

Some would ask, “If God so loves us, then why do ‘innocent’ people suffer? If they’re not being punished, then that isn’t fair!” Oh, how right they are – although not in the way that they think. You see, God has chosen to be loving instead of fair. “Fair” would mean that we all pay for our own sins. And putting the price for sin upon His Son is definitely NOT ‘fair.’ None of us is truly “innocent.” None of us deserves any special treatment. And so death will, eventually, come to us all. You do realize that, don’t you? The death we will all experience – you, me, and everyone else – we have brought death upon ourselves by our sins. Death is a “consequence.” Death is the result. But the death of Jesus also has a result! It means that death can no longer hold us or threaten us. You should also realize that although you will die because of sin, you will also live FOREVER because of Jesus. You do realize that, don’t you? YOU (and I) are going to pass through death to live FOREVER in the Kingdom of God!

The question is which one of these things will be foremost in your life. Which one of these will determine how you live? Will you live under the curse, terrified by it, avoiding it, denying it, thinking that you can get enough living in now to outweigh it’s impact? Or will you look past it to the Promise of Life everlasting through Jesus who loved you and gave His life for you? Who has prepared an eternal home for you in the New Creation, the eternal Kingdom of Heaven? See the difference? We don’t deny sin and death! In fact, we acknowledge that they are real and that God had to do something about them.

But our Heavenly Father HAS done EVERYTHING about them and Jesus has defeated and destroyed their power. Jesus “passed through” death and the grave and rose to eternal life. Unless you’re still alive when Jesus comes again (and we know that those would be truly difficult days to experience) . . . but unless you’re still alive when Jesus comes again, then you must know that death will have it’s day with you, but that death doesn’t get the last word. Jesus is the Word of Life and that Word of Life He has given to You – even to all who will hear Him and say, “Yes! THAT’s for me! HE is for me! I’m with Him!” And Jesus will say, “Yep! You’re with me! Let’s go!”

Satan, the world, and your own sinful nature will tell you that you deserve suffering and death. Or maybe they’ll tell you that don’t deserve them which is also a lie. But God’s Word tells it like it is: Did you deserve it? Sure! But God’s love for you is more important than giving you what you deserve. So Jesus took the condemnation for sin which we deserved and we receive the salvation from death which He deserved. Is that fair? No! But it is so very, very loving of Him to do that for us!