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CHAPTER 1
Scripture Is God's Own Word
What is Holy Scripture? It is God's own word, in which, through the prophets and the apostles, he proclaims to me and to the church-community that Jesus Christ is God's Son and my sav[ior]. (14:785)
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For Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as for all Protestants, Holy Scripture is the Word of God. The biblical canon — the books of the Old and New Testaments — is God's revelation. In Scripture, God communicates God's own self to us humans. Without the Scriptures, we would have no way of knowing God. We cannot peel back the clouds and look upon God in heaven! If we are to know who God is, it is God who has to "make the first move." God must reveal who God is if we are ever to come to a knowledge of God.
We believe God has spoken in the Scriptures. The Bible is "God's own word," says Bonhoeffer, given to us "through the prophets and the apostles." The biblical Scriptures are given through human beings who witness to what God has said and done.
The Bible is given to the "church-community," as Bonhoeffer said, and "to me." It proclaims a message: "that Jesus Christ is God's Son and my savior." This is the purpose of the Bible. Scripture points us to what God has done in sending Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son. Jesus died on the cross so our sin against God can be forgiven. Jesus is our savior. When we believe in Jesus Christ we have "eternal life" (John 3:16).
Scripture gives "good news" — a word from God proclaiming God's love for us and the way of salvation, how we can live as God's people and be in a relationship of trust and love with God. We read God's Word, hear the Scriptures proclaimed, and live in faith as God's people.
CHAPTER 2
Genesis 1:26-31
The Mirror of the Creator
Humankind is here the final work of God's self-glorification. The world is created for God, for God's honor alone, and humankind is the most precious receptacle, the very mirror of the Creator. It is totally for the sake of God's glory and honor as Creator that everything comes to pass. (3:72)
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Genesis 1 tells us of God creating the heavens and the earth. God is the sovereign creator of all things.
The climax and completion of creation is the creation of humankind. God's good work of creation is expressed most clearly when God created humans in the divine image: "So God created humankind in his image" (Genesis 1:26).
Bonhoeffer commented on humankind in his theological work, Creation and Fall. He wrote, "Humankind is here the final work of God's self-glorification. The world is created for God, for God's honor alone, and humankind is the most precious receptacle, the very mirror of the Creator. It is totally for the sake of God's glory and honor as Creator that everything comes to pass."
God's creation brings honor and glory to the creator. God's honor permeates the universe and is displayed on earth. The "most precious" place where God's glory is received is in humans. Human beings are "the very mirror of the Creator." We "reflect" God as a mirror since we are created in the "image" of God. When people see us, they should be reminded of God — not by how we look but by who we are and what we do. We live for God's glory! Are we a "mirror" of our Creator to others?
God creates and then sustains and guides the creation so it is "for the sake of God's glory and honor" that all things happen. Let us rejoice and reflect our good Creator!
CHAPTER 3
Genesis 3
No Longer Loving the Other
This [the fall] means the human being no longer regards the other person with love. Instead one person sees the other in terms of their being over against each other; each sees the other as divided from himself or herself. (3:122)
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There is a sad situation in human life. We see it every time we read the daily news. The bad news is the human condition — who humans are and what they do.
Bonhoeffer wrote a powerful book, Creation and Fall, in which he interpreted the early chapters of Genesis, which tell not only of God's creation of humanity but also what humans did — which has affected human nature ever since.
God created humans to live in God's image, to live in freedom and obedience to their Creator. But the stories in Genesis 3 describe what theologians such as Bonhoeffer call "the fall" of humanity. Instead of obeying God, humans rebel against God. They want to be "like God" (Genesis 3:5). Instead of putting God, from whom humans draw life, at the center of life, humans turn in upon themselves (an image Luther often used) and put themselves at the center of their existence. Humans have fallen away from God, seeking to become their own creator.
The result is the relationship of trust and obedience between God and humans is lost. By being divided from the creator, humans also become divided against themselves. As Bonhoeffer writes, "This [the fall] means the human being no longer regards the other person with love. Instead one person sees the other in terms of their being over against each other; each sees the other as divided from himself or herself."
The daily news shows people against each other, even violently so. Love is not our natural inclination. Only God can help. God help us!
CHAPTER 4
Ephesians 1:3-14
The Center of the Gospel
The center of the gospel — "redemption" is the word around which everything turns. (8:422)
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On June 6, 1944, the day of the Allied landing on Normandy, Bonhoeffer wrote to his friend Eberhard Bethge from prison. He mentioned the Daily Text, a series of biblical texts for each day of the year. On this day, the texts were Psalm 38:4 and Ephesians 1:7. Bonhoeffer said these texts call us to "the center of the gospel —'redemption' is the word around which everything turns."
Psalm 38 is the psalmist's prayer for healing. He confesses his sin and says, "My iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me" (Psalm 38:4). The whole psalm pleads for God's help, concluding with the appeal, "O my God do not be far from me; make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation" (Psalm 38:21b-22).
This plea for help and healing is met by God's coming near to all people in the person of God's Son, Jesus Christ. As Paul said, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7).
Redemption — that word is the center of the gospel, "the word around which everything turns," wrote Bonhoeffer. God has sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross, so that through him, sinners can be redeemed. In Christ is redemption — just what the psalmist and all of us need! By God's grace in Jesus Christ, our sin is forgiven, our lives are made new, and our burdens are lifted — for which the psalmist prayed. The good news of the gospel is liberation! The power of sin is broken, and we are free to serve God in Christ and to serve all other children of God. Redemption!
CHAPTER 5
Romans 8:12-17
The Holy Spirit Brings Christ
The Holy Spirit brings Christ to individuals (Romans 8:14; Ephesians 2:22) and establishes community among them. (2 Corinthians 13:13; Philippians 2:1) (1:139)
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The work of the Holy Spirit is mysterious. The New Testament says much of what the Spirit does. But unless we stop to think and observe, we may miss what the Spirit is doing.
Bonhoeffer cites a number of Scripture passages to remind us that one of the primary works of the Holy Spirit is to bring Christ into our lives. Paul wrote that "all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). We become "children of God" by faith, and faith is given to us as a gift of God through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8). We know Jesus Christ today because God's Spirit has been at work within us.
But the Spirit does more. Bonhoeffer notes that along with bringing Christ to individuals, the Spirit "establishes community among them." The Spirit brings together all who have faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This is what the Apostles' Creed calls the "communion of saints," or the "church." Bonhoeffer's doctoral dissertation was called Sanctorum Communio, "the communion of saints." The church community we see around us as we worship and in which we participate as people who confess their faith in Jesus Christ is established by Christ's action through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit creates the community of those who have responded to Christ's call to be his disciples.
Our faith is strengthened when we realize we become children of God by the Spirit's work in bringing Christ to us. The church, as the work of the Spirit, is the community where our identity as Christ's disciples is expressed and lived!
CHAPTER 6
Romans 5:1-11
Justification and Sanctification
Justification is the new creation of the new person, and sanctification is the preservation and protection of that person until the day of Jesus Christ. (4:260)
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An important image to describe salvation is justification. Paul writes that "since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Bonhoeffer articulates his Lutheran tradition in which justification refers to "the new creation of the new person." Justification gives us a new standing of being (declared) righteous before God, based on the death of Jesus Christ. Those justified by faith in Jesus Christ are incorporated into the body of Christ, the "church community." For Bonhoeffer, justification, like baptism, is a "once and for all," unrepeatable event. Justification means we are "in Christ," we are a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now our sin is forgiven, our past is over and gone, and we are liberated from the power of sin to condemn us in God's sight. For Bonhoeffer, Christ has obeyed the law of God on our behalf, and through faith, we receive Christ's righteousness as being for us. In justification, we are "set right" with God. We are saved.
Bonhoeffer says sanctification describes the "preservation and safekeeping unto the day of Jesus Christ" of those who are justified. By God's Holy Spirit, the justified grow in faith throughout life and are enabled to stay close to Jesus Christ. Now we are continually promised God's present and future action through the Spirit to help us fulfill God's will in our daily lives. The Spirit preserves us in faith and, like Noah's ark, preserves us through the floods of life and brings us safely to our ultimate salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Peter 1:5).
Praise to God who saves us and preserves us in Jesus Christ!
CHAPTER 7
Colossians 1:15-20
Forgiving the Sins of the World
The world exhausts its rage on the body of Jesus Christ. But the martyred one forgives the world its sins. Thus reconciliation takes place. Ecce homo ["Here is the man!" (John 19:5)]. (6:83)
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Jesus Christ brings the reconciliation of the world to God. As Paul proclaims about Christ: "through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20). We cannot imagine a greater act of God on our behalf — all through Jesus Christ.
Bonhoeffer emphasized that God takes on our sin and forgives the sins of the world in Jesus Christ. Jesus brings reconciliation between sinful, guilty humans and the God who loves us. Bonhoeffer wrote, "The world exhausts its rage on the body of Jesus Christ. But the martyred one forgives the world its sins. Thus reconciliation takes place. Ecce homo." Despite all that sin could do to Jesus — even bringing his death — Jesus forgives: "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34). Jesus absorbs human guilt and the suffering guilt has brought. In Jesus, holiness absorbs sin; love overcomes hate. The world is not overcome by destruction. It is forgiven through reconciliation. This is what theologians call "atonement." God and humanity are "at-one" by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Here is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
The only one who can bring this reconciliation is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God who became a human being to die for us. Jesus took our sins upon himself. This is the gospel message to liberate our lives from the power of sin. We are forgiven. Now we have peace with God. In Jesus, God shows overflowing love for us!
CHAPTER 8
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
The Meaning of the Easter Message
The meaning of the Easter message is that God is the death of death; God lives and so Christ lives also; death could not hold Christ against the superior power of God. God pronounced a decree against death, destroyed it, and resurrected Jesus Christ. (10:488)
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Some have called 1 Corinthians 15 the "spinal cord of the New Testament." It is Paul's great chapter on resurrection. Paul proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus Christ and our own resurrection as believers in Christ. All the future comes to this: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17).
But because Christ is raised, the power of death has been defeated. The power of sin is broken now, and resurrection life awaits. This is the Easter promise. As Bonhoeffer put it in a sermon, "The meaning of the Easter message is that God is the death of death; God lives and so Christ lives also; death could not hold Christ against the superior power of God. God pronounced a decree against death, destroyed it, and resurrected Jesus Christ."
Jesus Christ is alive! Death could not hold him. Christ is raised by the power of God. As we confess in the Apostles' Creed, "the third day he rose again from the dead." This opens an eternal future for the dead, who will be raised, and for us who are living to know we have an eternal future freed from sin and alive forever in Christ Jesus.
Bonhoeffer's focus on God's providing "the death of death" in the resurrection of Christ gives hope. This Easter message is a message for our lives every day. We can live in assurance that the worst that can be done to us — death — is conquered in Christ!
CHAPTER 9
Matthew 28:16-20
The Nearby God
Remember, I am with you ... that is the Easter message, not the distant, but the nearby God, that is Easter. (10:491)
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When Bonhoeffer served as a pastoral assistant in a Lutheran congregation in Barcelona, Spain, he preached on the first Sunday after Easter, April 15, 1928. His sermon addressed a basic human question: Can we walk with God?
The great gulf between God and humans is caused by sin. This is the story Bonhoeffer described in his book Creation and Fall. Genesis 3 tells of humanity's rebellion against God and that Adam and Eve — representing all of us — were expelled from the garden of Eden. The relationship of loving trust they had with God since their creation was broken. Sin did its worst the day Jesus hung on the cross. The distance between sinful humans and their creator could not be greater than on Good Friday.
But Bonhoeffer told the congregation there was a divine response to this sin. There was a day when humanity was filled with divine grace: Easter! This was the day Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Now Jesus is with us, always (Matthew 28:20). Bonhoeffer proclaimed, "Remember, I am with you ... that is the Easter message, not the distant, but the nearby God, that is Easter."
Now the distance between us and God has been overcome. Now our relationship of loving trust is restored. Jesus Christ has reconciled us with God, our sin is forgiven, and now God is with us. Now we can walk with God because God is "the nearby God." God is with us in Jesus Christ.
This Easter message is for the whole world to hear and believe! Since God is nearby — with us in Jesus Christ — we can keep our eyes open to see where we encounter Jesus among us.
CHAPTER 10
John 1:29-34
The Christian and the Worldly Become One in Christ
Just as in Jesus Christ God and humanity became one, so through Christ what is Christian and what is worldly become one in the action of the Christian. (6:238)
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Bonhoeffer's theology focused on Jesus Christ and what God did in Christ for the sake of the world. The words of John the Baptist expressed who Jesus was and what Jesus would do. John said, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Jesus, the Son of God, offered himself in his death for the forgiveness of sins to take away "the sin of the world." This unites God and humanity through what Jesus Christ did for the sake of the world God loves (John 3:16).
Bonhoeffer emphasized the concrete nature of what Jesus did — he lived and died in the real world, with real people, as a real person. Jesus' life and work was for the sake of the world and all people.
This carries over into what Christians do today. We serve Jesus Christ in the world. Our mission and ministries of discipleship in following Jesus take place in the here and now. Christians are the most "worldly" of people! Why? Because Jesus Christ became a human person and died for the sin of this world. Bonhoeffer wrote, "Just as in Jesus Christ God and humanity became one, so through Christ what is Christian and what is worldly become one in the action of the Christian."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Mornings with Bonhoeffer"
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Copyright © 2018 Donald McKim.
Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
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