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Good morning my good friends;
Yesterday we ended with this great statement by Paul: “He (Jesus) was delivered over to death for our sins, and raised to life for our JUSTIFICATION.” Today, Paul is going to unpack that powerful statement for us in Romans 5.
Do you see in verse 1 that one of the great results of God declaring us “justified” as we put our faith in Jesus, is that “…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” The picture is of a freed former prisoner, standing outside the courtroom for the first time in a very long time, breathing the air of freedom, because the judge has declared him justified, ‘no longer guilty’.
For us as Christians, we are free from our sin guilt & condemnation. We have been declared justified by God ONLY because of our faith in Jesus Christ. And as we stand free, ready to step out into a new future with God, we are overwhelmed by His ‘GRACE’.
That word, as you know, is one of Paul’s favorites, because it changed his life. Paul, in his pride and anger, was self-destructing and hurting lots of other people along the way. Then he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and experienced God’s outpouring of GRACE, and it changed his life.
I wonder if you’ve ever tried to come up with an acronym phrase that explains grace?
Here’s my attempt. . .
God’s, Restoration of me, At, Christ’s, Expense.
Grace is God’s kindness, extended to me, when I don’t deserve it and haven’t earned it, and it restores hope in my life, and it’s always because of Jesus.
Next, Paul gives us a very practical application of GRACE, in the life of a Christian, who is facing difficult times in their life journey… “…we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God… we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given to us.” (5:3-5) Have you found this to be true in your life my friends? God uses suffering to refine us, strengthen us, teach us, as we have the confidence we are walking the difficult path with the Holy Spirit of God within us!
Paul makes one of the most significant statements of his life in 5:6-8, do you see it? “…at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates His love for us, in this: while we were sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s plan of salvation was not made in response to a huge wave of remorse and repentance among humanity. Nor did God develop his salvation plan in response to humanity begging God to please fix our sin guilt problem. It was while the human race was proudly, boastfully, inventing ways of doing more and more evil, that God sent Jesus, His Son, from heaven to pay the ultimate justice price…death… to save the human race from extinction!
In vs. 9-11 do you see a new word introduced to the equation? RECONCILED
Through the book of Romans Paul is going to systematically teach us about the remarkable miracle of our salvation. By the time we are finished, I hope you are amazed, more than you’ve ever been, at the remarkable scope and complexity of what God accomplishes in each person when He saves them.
So, first it was Justice Judgment based on Holy God’s TRUTH in chapter 2.
Then it was Global Guilt, every human being sinful, falling short of God’s holy standard in chapter 3.
Then it was Life saving Faith in God’s salvation plan and Jesus’ Atonement Accomplishment in chapter 4
Now here in Chapter 5 is is God’s Justification of repentant sinners through faith in Christ, and one more. . .
In 5:9-11 we’re introduced to RECONCILIATION!
Listen: “For if, when we were God’s enemies we were Reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more having been Reconciled, shall we be saved through His life.” Do you see the incredible progression my friends? We were not simply sinners! In our rebellion against God, in our futile thinking, our hard hearts, Jesus was sent by His Father, to come and proclaim God’s love to us, and then pay our rebellion price with His death, so God could declare us forgiven and Justified, and then RECONCILE us to Himself.
It means God restored us back into the relationship He had intended for us, as He was creating us in our mothers’ womb. The relationship He had with Adam and Eve before they sinned.
You see my friends, our sinful hearts and sinful actions separate us, distance us, from God, but more than that, we become enemies of God, in our rebellion and pride. Now, as parents we have experienced that as our kids have said “NO” to us, and chosen their own rebellious path, when we tried to love them and help them walk the right path in life. Right? Remember the strained relationship in that moment? They were still our son or daughter, but the relationship was torn by their rebellion… until the moment they repented, and we forgave and the miracle of reconciliation happen in our hearts. We were restored in relationship. The torn relationship was healed.
That’s what Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 5:19, remember? We, sinners, are reconciled to God through Christ, as we repent of our sin and trust Jesus’ death payment to be sufficient to pay for our sinful rebellion. By His grace, God extends forgiveness to us, declares us Justified, and Reconciles us back to Himself in a restored relationship! Oh my it’s time to celebrate, isn’t it?
Now in the last 9 verses of chapter 5, look very closely and you’ll see Paul does a masterful job of comparing Adam’s one act of sin rebellion, and how that spread sin-guilt to the entire human race… with the one act of grace-obedience of Jesus, and how His death and resurrection has made Justification and Reconciliation available, to the entire human race.
And now perhaps we see why so many songs, poems, books and even Sunday sermons have grown out of Romans chapter 5!
I invite you to worship our Lord Jesus, along with Keith & Kristyn Getty, who wrote this powerful song of great truth from Romans 5. Here’s some questions you might ponder as you listen and worship…
1. How do I describe “justification”? What does it mean for me…that God has declared me ‘justified’, because of my trust in Jesus?
2. How do I describe “reconciliation”? What is the most powerful example of human reconciliation I’ve ever seen? What does my reconciliation with God mean in my life? How has my reconciliation with God, motivated me to be a reconciler with others?
Now, here’s the link for Getty’s song, “In Christ Alone”, because both our Justification and our Reconciliation is accomplished ONLY in Jesus!
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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