Message written for June 28, 2026 based on Matthew 10:28-33 and Romans 5:12-21. 

Message:            “Perspective”

 

Grace to you from God our Father, the creator of heaven and earth, and from Jesus Christ, His Son our Lord, who turned death into life and gave us salvation. Amen. 
Consider these verses…
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:28-33 (ESV)
 

Have you every considered your position in the world or in life in general?
Have you every laid on the ground at night and looked up into the sky and tried to count the stars or see the constellations? 
Have you every wondered of the vastness of God’s creation… considering stars and galaxies far beyond our sight …or the microscopic cells, atoms, DNA, RNA, the building blocks of everything in the world, bacteria, microbes and other unseen essential elements that keep our world intact, productive, and beneficial for us to live.
 
In our physical world, God has placed everything precisely where it needs to be, to generate and regenerate life as we know it. The cycles of water, the growth of plants, the sunlight, the placement of the earth in the solar system… even in the midst of natural disasters… the ability that God built within living cells for regeneration and restoration heals what was broken and brings balance back to the earth that God created. 
There were times when I was farming, exhausted from work, milking cows in the middle of the night,… I would step away from the barn, lay down on an empty wagon and look up at the stars… “Who am I that God should care about me?
 
“In this world of planets and stars, galaxies that stretch on, seemingly forever, the earth in a very small place… and yet, it is perfectly positioned for life… not too hot… not to cold… although there are places where it stays very cold and places that some might consider to be too hot for comfort. But why just earth?
“As the planets get further away from the sun, they become too cold to sustain life or closer to the sun they become too hot for living. God placed us here and keeps us here (in orbit) to protect us, provide for us, and sustain us.
 
On another occasion, I noticed an ant moving next to me. A vey small ant… carrying a load bigger than he or she… I must seem to be like a giant to that ant. I had blocked its path. It had to either go over me or around me. It was undeterred, it made an adjustment, and continued on its mission… whatever that mission was. 
We have a bird feeder for hummingbird hanging on the wall of our garage. One day I observed ants going up and down on the wall over to the hanger of the feeder, down the hook, onto the wire, and down inside the feeder itself. They would dip into the sugar water and retreat the same way they came. Some fell into the water and drowned, others used the ones in the water to keep from drowning, but they kept come and going, they were on a mission of gathering food for the colony.
 
Ants aren’t the smallest living beings on earth. Some are so small that they can only be seen by looking through a very powerful microscope. And each of these God created for a specific purpose and duty… a mission, vital to the ecosystem of the world in which we live. 
If God knows the number of hairs on my head (and that number is changing everyday), and He knows every bird in the sky, and of every breed, around the world. And cares about them… And knows the ants under our feet and assigns them with tasks and missions.
 
THEN HE ALSO CARES ABOUT ME!
 
The context of Jesus’ teaching in our reading from Matthew is when He was sending out His disciples to do ministry. He was preparing them for rejection and giving them HOPE. He told them NOT to fear death or those who could put them to death, but the ONE we are to truly fear is GOD, the ONE who holds eternity in HIS hand. We are to have a healthy fear of God.
By HIS POWER, He brought everything to life and He created a perfect world.
Sin corrupted that world. And Death entered that world.
Death destroys the physical life that was created, but the spiritual life remains…
 
In the beginning there was peace and harmony… all living beings lived together without fear and without eating each other… cats, dogs, lions, tigers, and bears, even dinosaurs, lived on plants and vegetation… but when sin entered the world… every living thing turned into enemies of each other. 
Blood which carried the breath of life and kept beings alive was considered sacred.
Yet, to cover the shame of sin and the nakedness of Adam and Eve, animals had to be sacrificed. God used their blood as a temporary atonement for Adam and Eve’s sin. The skins of animals covered the physical nakedness of Adam and Eve, while the blood of the animals covered the sin and guilt of their sin.  
 

Life blood that was considered sacred, also became part of the food chain.
Animals began to consume each other… some animals became more blood thirsty than others and lived solely on the meat and blood of others; all living beings became enemies of each other… they lived in fear; the fear of death. 
Man was no different. Shorty after Adam and Eve sinned… one of their sons (Cain) killed his brother (Abel) out of jealousy. Ironically, it was because God accepted Abel’s offering and rejected the one that Cain brought. Some have different theories on why God did this, but the clearest theory found in the Bible states that God knew what was brewing within Cain’s heart, and rejected his sacrifice with a warning not to let his sin take control of his actions… Cain failed to heed the warning and let his anger lead him to the taking of his brother’s life.
 
Like Cain, we all, that is all human beings, have sin brewing within our hearts, we are by nature enemies of God. And because of sin, all of us will someday die.
For many that will be a very sad day, for they do not know the Lord.
They have rejected Him and the salvation HE brings. They want salvation on their terms. They want to control their destiny. They don’t want to surrender to anyone, even the God who created them. 
Jesus warned, “Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. …  
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:28-33 (ESV) 
God loved us ALL so much that HE sent Jesus to pay the price for our sin. He died as the ultimate sacrifice, a one time for all sin, sacrifice that satisfied the demand of the LAW … blood was shed to pay the price for the sin … His sacrifice covered our sin and shame, just as the skins of animals covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve.
 
The wages of sin is eternal death (HELL), separation from God for eternity.
The life that was created in each person physically will die, but spiritually will live forever. In the end all will be raised up again in our physical bodies, some to live in heaven with God, some to live forever separated from God in hell.
Jesus our LOVING Savior and Redeemer, is also the ONE who will judge all people and determine who gets to live with Him forever in Heaven and who does not.
 
Luther, began each explanation in his catechism with the words, “We are to fear, love, and trust in God…”
The Psalmist wrote, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…”
This is the relationship of God with us… our creator who made the heavens and the earth and everything in-between… took on flesh, became human, lived, suffered, and died, to pay the price for our sin,… it is HIS free gift to us… we are compelled to love HIM for it. We receive it by faith (trust). He has given us His word. He has promised to forgive our sin. We trust and take HIM at His word. We trust that we will receive forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ.
 
In our other reading for today from Romans 5:12-21, Paul wrote, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Through the obedience of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the price for our sin is paid, and we are made righteous before God. It is counted to us by faith… faith in the promise.
When I look up at the stars, I am reminded of the power and glory and love of God for me. That is healthy fear. I love God because He first loved me. I trust in Him because He has proven Himself faithful to me. My life matters or Jesus would not have died to save me from my sin. May this perspective bring you peace today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.      
 

 
“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.”