Ash Wednesday, 2019
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Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians writes:
The Heidelberg Catechism begins with this question:
This cross in the coming days reminds us the cruel death the Lord Jesus dared to die for us.
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
This is the answer that follows:
That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful savior Jesus Christ, who with his blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil. He assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live unto him. (Lord’s Day 1, Q.1)
Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians writes:
Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
The Heidelberg Catechism begins with this question:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
This is the answer that follows:
That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful savior Jesus Christ, who with his blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil. He assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live unto him. (Lord’s Day 1, Q.1)
These ashes remind us that we are dust. We are human beings made in the image of God but yet we are being destroyed. Yet, the form of the cross reminds us that through Jesus’ death we are being renewed. This journey to the cross reminds us that this life is a journey bearing our cross. We will experience affliction; but that affliction pales in comparison to the eternal life that awaits us.
So what does Paul tell us? Our physical body will one day return to dust; it is, as the ESV says, wasting away. But Paul says, “Don’t give up.” We do not focus on these things, the things of this world, but on the unseen for they are eternal. This world is temporary but heaven is eternal. The love of God through Christ Jesus, Paul tells us in , holds us so tight that nothing can rip us from it–not even death itself.
These ashes remind us that we are dust. We have sinned before a holy God and death has entered the world. Yet, the form of the cross reminds us that through Jesus’ death we are being renewed–through the resurrection of Jesus both death and sin have been triumphed! This journey to the cross reminds us that this life is a journey bearing our cross. We will experience affliction; but that affliction pales in comparison to the eternal life that awaits us.
Where do we see this love so lavished except on the cross of Calvary?
Tonight, there will be a cross imposed upon your head or hand with ashes. The ashes reminding us that this world, the things that are seen, are only temporary; the cross reminding us that the world of heaven, the things unseen, are eternal, for there our God and King reigns forever and ever. Amen.
Tonight, there will be a cross imposed upon your head or hand with ashes. The ashes reminding us that this world, the things that are seen, are only temporary; the cross reminding us that the world of heaven, the things unseen, are eternal, for there our God and King reigns forever and ever. Amen.
Tonight, there will be a cross imposed upon your head or hand with ashes.
