Therefore,this article ought to humble and terrify us all,if we believed it.For we sin daily with eyes,ears,hands,body and soul,money and possessions,and with everything we have,especially those who even fight against the Word of God.Yet Christians have this advantage,that they acknowledge themselves in duty bound to serve God for all these things,and to be obedient to Him [which the world knows not how to do].
We ought,therefore,daily to practice this article,impress it upon our mind,and to remember it in all that meets our eyes,and in all good that falls to our lot,and wherever we escape from calamity or danger,that it is God who gives and does all these things,that therein we sense and see His paternal heart and His transcendent love toward us.Thereby the heart would be warmed and kindled to be thankful,and to employ all such good things to the honor and praise of God.
Thus we have most briefly presented the meaning of this article,as much as is at first necessary for the most simple to learn,both as to what we have and receive from God,and what we owe in return,which is a most excellent knowledge,but a far greater treasure.For here we see how the Father has given Himself to us,together with all creatures,and has most richly provided for us in this life,besides that He has overwhelmed us with unspeakable,eternal treasures by His Son and the Holy Ghost,as we shall hear.
Article II.
And in Jesus Christ,His only Son,our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,born of the Virgin Mary;suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified,dead,and buried;He descended into hell;the third day He rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
Here we learn to know the Second Person of the Godhead,so that we see what we have from God over and above the temporal goods aforementioned;namely,how He has completely poured forth Himself and withheld nothing from us that He has not given us.Now,this article is very rich and broad;but in order to expound it also briefly and in a childlike way,we shall take up one word and sum up in that the entire article,namely (as we have said),that we may here learn how we have been redeemed;and we shall base this on these words:In Jesus Christ,our Lord.
If now you are asked,What do you believe in the Second Article of Jesus Christ?answer briefly:I believe that Jesus Christ,true Son of God,has become my Lord.But what is it to become Lord?It is this,that He has redeemed me from sin,from the devil,from death,and all evil.For before I had no Lord nor King,but was captive under the power of the devil,condemned to death,enmeshed in sin and blindness.
For when we had been created by God the Father,and had received from Him all manner of good,the devil came and led us into disobedience,sin,death,and all evil,so that we fell under His wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation,as we had merited and deserved.There was no counsel,help,or comfort until this only and eternal Son of God in His unfathomable goodness had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness,and came from heaven to help us.Those tyrants and jailers,then,are all expelled now,and in their place has come Jesus Christ,Lord of life,righteousness,every blessing,and salvation,and has delivered us poor lost men from the jaws of hell,has won us,made us free,and brought us again into the favor and grace of the Father,and has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection,that He may govern us by His righteousness,wisdom,power,life,and blessedness.
Let this then,be the sum of this article that the little word Lord signifies simply as much as Redeemer,i.e.,He who has brought us from Satan to God,from death to life,from sin to righteousness,and who preserves us in the same.But all the points which follow in order in this article serve no other end than to explain and express this redemption,how and whereby it was accomplished,that is,how much it cost Him,and what He spent and risked that He might win us and bring us under His dominion,namely,that He became man,conceived and born without [any stain of]sin,of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary,that He might overcome sin;moreover,that He suffered,died and was buried,that He might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe,not with silver nor gold,but with His own precious blood.And all this,in order to become my Lord;for He did none of these for Himself,nor had He any need of it.And after that He rose again from the dead,swallowed up and devoured death,and finally ascended into heaven and assumed the government at the Father's right hand,so that the devil and all powers must be subject to Him and lie at His feet,until finally,at the last day,He will completely part and separate us from the wicked world,the devil,death,sin,etc.
But to explain all these single points separately belongs not to brief sermons for children,but rather to the ampler sermons that extend throughout the entire year,especially at those times which are appointed for the purpose of treating at length of each article --of the birth,sufferings,resurrection,ascension of Christ,etc.
Ay,the entire Gospel which we preach is based on this,that we properly understand this article as that upon which our salvation and all our happiness rest,and which is so rich and comprehensive that we never can learn it fully.
Article III.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;the holy Christian Church,the communion of saints;the forgiveness of sins;the resurrection of the body;and the life everlasting.Amen.
