4. Tuesday after First Sunday in Advent.
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law. Amen.
Ephesians 1, 17-23. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
❦
Our Lord Jesus is greater and more mighty than all the angelic hosts, together with all powers above and below. The spiritual and unseen forces, the hosts of heaven, and the powers of the deep, and the might of death, mock all the wisdom and power of the world; but our Lord Jesus is greater. He vanquished and disarmed, yea even destroyed, death, and seated himself at the right hand of God the Father, a Lord of all things and over all on high and in the deep. But this his kingly power he uses for our salvation, namely in creating and preserving faith in our hearts, and making us partakers of his life. The new birth and the sanctification of a man are effects of this exceeding great power of God in the resurrection of Christ. May his Spirit of wisdom reveal this to us, and open our eyes, that we may know the greatness and the certainty of our salvation. It is the eternal God with his sovereign power who dwells in the Christian church. The power which is greater than that of the creation; the power which vanquished the prince of death; the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, — this power it is which the Spirit of God has given within you, Christian believer; and thereby he has turned you from death to life, and preserves you therein. The Spirit and life of Christ is in you; the church is his body, and he its head. “And he must protect, preserve, advance, bless, and glorify himself in his own. He continually relives his life, and reveals all the mysteries of his redemption, in his body, the church. He suffers in its persecuted, troubled, needy and sick members; as the meek, lowly, loving, and obedient one, he sighs and prays in them; in eternal and divine power he continually arises from the dead anew in his church. Blessed be the king, the bridegroom of the church, the prince of life! In him our salvation is not uncertain; he lives, and we shall live.
Lord Jesus, dost thou know me, also, as one of thine? Is my faith in thee a true and living faith? With all who are of my household I earnestly ask of thee this grace unspeakable. — Praise be to the Lord; he has attended to the voice of my supplications. Amen.*
The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now;
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty Victor’s brow.
The highest place that heaven affords
Is his by sovereign right:
The King of kings and Lord of lords,
And heaven’s eternal Light.
[TLH 219, LSB 532, ELH 393; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.