Greetings from Faith Lutheran Church in Eldorado.
The last two petitions of the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil," are asking for God's protection against spiritual and physical evil.
Throughout Scripture, God's people have always looked to God for protection. God has made many promises that He would be with them and protect them. God tells Abram in Genesis 15, "I am your shield." David many times refers to the Lord as his "fortress," "strength" and "Shepherd." Yet in the Lord's Prayer Jesus points to Him as "our Father" -- a very personal protector.
Most fathers, I know, will aggressively protect their children, dying for them if need be. Human fathers of course are not perfect, and fathers have even committed crimes against their own children. Yet our Heavenly Father assures us of His protection in these petitions.
He would never lead us into temptation but leads us in the fight against temptation which comes from our sinful nature that desires to have its will done and not our Father's. The world is constantly throwing stuff at us, attempting to entice us with items that play on our cravings. Satan's number one goal is to cause us to doubt our heavenly Father's promises and His grace through our Savior Jesus Christ.
Though if God would not rein him in, he would ravage all that God has created.
As we look at this world some might feel God needs to do more to put brakes on evil. I do not have the space in this article to elaborate on that as I would in a journal article or a Bible study. But God is greater than all the evil that is out there and within us and He truly has the desire to deal with it.
How do I know? I look at Jesus, his death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sin, the resurrection of the dead in which the grave and death could not hold him, and the promise based on his death and resurrection to return and bring about the new heavens and earth.
God is not leaving things to chance as the world suggests. I know that even in my death, which is there because of the curse on Adam and Eve, God will not let that be the end. Through Christ I am promised life, new spiritual life in Christ and eternal life in heaven along with all who have faith in His Son. I have also been promised that my body will be resurrected and that all evil and temptation will be gone forever when Jesus returns.
So, no matter what comes my way, my heavenly Father promises that He will be there for me. Therefore, I offer up my praise to Him with the ancient close to the prayer, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen (it shall be so)."
• David Otten is pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Eldorado.
