Reconciled Through Christ

Or a bulletin, turn with me to Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

! If we haven't had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Andy, and I am one of the pastors here.

! And I'm excited to share with you from God's word.

Romans 5, verses 6 through 11.

Romans 5:6–11

For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.

But God shows his love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since, therefore, we now have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,

much more now we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?

More than that, we also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word to us.

May it be sweet.

May we see Christ and the beauties of your love demonstrated through the cross through it.

And we ask this in Christ's name.

Amen.

I'm not sure how many of you are dependent upon electronics or technology in general.

This is not a show of hands, because I know that we'll have some people that love technology,

and some people that just wish it would all go away, right?

Whether you have a phone that you use to keep track of your daily life,

whether you use a tablet for school, you use a computer at work,

everybody uses some kind of electronic.

Even if you have one of those really fancy screens in your car that makes you feel like you're driving a fighter jet,

but you're just driving a minivan.

Any of you out there?

That's just me.

Okay.

So whether you hate it or love it, chances are you've had this issue.

Because it doesn't matter if you like it or love it, you've all had this problem.

You've gone to plug something in and hoping or expecting it's going to charge,

and you might realize it at first, but more often you realize it after a series of hours

when you go to pick up that thing that you need.

It's not charged.

It's still dead.

Or maybe you've depended upon your phone for an alarm clock,

and you've not slept through your alarm at all.

In fact, it didn't even go off because it was dead.

Your devices, your home electronics, your yard equipment, your alarm clocks,

they all need power.

And when the light doesn't turn on when you expect it to,

or the phone doesn't recharge, or the car battery won't start,

and you're stranded on the side of the road,

or the plug's been pulled out of the wall by a toddler,

no matter if you're well-meaning, no matter if you're smart,

no matter if you're hopeful, no matter if you're even skilled,

there's no power.

It's not going to work.

It's not going to work at all.

You have to be connected to the source of power.

Our lives that we live, even our spiritual lives,

work on the same principle,

that we have to be connected to the source of power.

We can bebop along through life and think these great ideas,

or think that we are really smart,

or that we're just getting by,

or we're tough enough to gut it out.

But the reality is that if we're unplugged to the source of power,

it's not going to work.

No matter how hard we try,

and that's even most true,

not in our lives generally,

but specifically in our spiritual lives.

We like to think that we work really hard to make good grades in school.

So working really hard works in this category, right?

Or we like to think ourselves really smart,

or wise, or clever.

I can work less time and still get everything I want.

That's going to work here, right?

But when we apply those same principles,

it's like when we take that plug,

and not plugged it into the wall,

we plugged it into a block of cheese.

Or we put it into a cup.

Don't try this at home.

You might get electrocuted, right?

I don't know how electricity works.

But when I plug it into a block of cheese,

or I put my phone plug into a cup of water,

why would it work?

It's not going to.

So why do we expect in our spiritual lives anything different?

We think that we can have salvation some other way,

but I've just plugged it to a block of cheese.

I try to work really hard,

and I plug it into a cup of water.

Or I don't think I need it at all,

and I leave it sitting on the table.

There's no power.

It's not going to work.

See, when we're unplugged or untethered from all of that,

we're not drawing on the source of power,

and we have nothing.

This morning, this text that Paul shows us,

shows us this,

that salvation comes through the death of Christ.

And that salvation is also realized,

in some sense, through the resurrection.

Salvation is secured by Christ's death,

and then realized through his resurrection.

If you were with us last week,

Matthew showed us that the Christian life

is marked by suffering.

And if you've lived more than a day,

and been awake more than an hour,

you know that.

And in the midst of that,

our Christian life,

we have endurance and hope,

and we have all those blessings

in the midst of difficulty.

But only if we're connected to that source of power.

And this text this morning

shows us that source of power.

It's Christ,

and his death and resurrection.

Now, you might be thinking this morning,

I know, I've heard that all before.

And quite frankly,

it seems really silly

if I try to go anywhere else.

And you're right.

Salvation only comes through the cross.

And quite frankly,

if we think it's anything different,

we deceive ourselves.

And we think,

oh,

I can go to something else.

It can be Jesus plus this thing.

It can be another source of life,

of energy.

But the reality is,

it's not.

And we know that.

Just like when we try to plug it

into a block of cheese,

or a cup of water.

But we do that over and over and over again.

And even if we call upon Christ

in our greatest hour of need,

then we turn about

and we forget it all.

And often,

we take the message of the gospel,

the message of Christianity,

and we divorce it

from that source of power.

Why do we do that?

It's not just silly,

that's stupid.

If we think that that

is a question

that's not true in our day,

or in a day past,

let me remind you

from some famous words.

There's no power in Christianity

if there's a God without wrath

that brings men without sin

into a kingdom without judgment

through a ministry of Christ

without a cross.

Now, I don't agree

with Mr. Reinhold Niebuhr

who wrote that quote.

But he's right.

And Paul wouldn't agree

with everything that he wrote either.

But he would agree with that.

That there is a kingdom

without judgment

and a ministry of Christ

without a cross.

There's no power in that gospel.

There's no power in that Christianity.

In fact,

it's not Christianity at all.

But we do that.

We think that way

even if we call upon

the name of Christ.

Sometimes we unintentionally do it.

We go to the newspaper

and we start clipping.

Not clipping out coupons,

but clipping out important lines

of the story.

Clipping out pictures

until the story

becomes unrecognizable.

We kind of neuter God

if we're honest.

We think

we're transforming lives,

but the reality is

we have no power to do so

because we've cut it out

of the story.

We think

that we're growing in holiness,

but we're not

because we're not

depending upon his spirit.

We're not depending

upon the cross of Christ

as Paul reminds us.

We've clipped out God.

With that,

let's turn our attention

to God's word.

Salvation is secured

by Christ's death.

And that's most often

what we try to cut out

of the story.

We see that

and we think,

oh, that's a really

unpalatable part of scripture.

I don't really like blood.

I don't really like

all that stuff.

Or maybe I'm just

really smart

and I've moved beyond it.

I distinctly remember

being told once

by a very old

southern Presbyterian pastor

that you never talk

about blood

because there's enough

of it in the cross.

And we don't want

to neuter our minds

from thinking

that blood is everywhere.

and lose sight

of the fact

that the blood

of the cross

is the thing

that it achieves

our spiritual life.

And if we talk

about it too much,

we lose sight

of that fact.

It becomes commonplace

to us.

We can't move beyond it

because that is

the source of power.

It is common,

yes,

but it's common,

it's central

in our Christian lives.

look with me

at verse 6.

For while we were

still weak,

at the right time,

Christ died

for the ungodly.

In Christ's death,

we see a couple

of attributes.

Yes,

there is the actual

sacrifice of Christ himself.

We also see

that it's purposeful.

And we see

that he died

for the ungodly.

That's really unpalatable.

It's not as if

we've stumbled

into the atonement.

We've tripped

and fallen into it.

In fact,

we see this

in all of scripture.

It's marching

towards this event.

Think about Leviticus.

If you want to read

gnarly stuff,

Leviticus is where

it's at.

It speaks about

sacrifice of God's people,

how they were made right

in some sense

because of the blood.

The blood was on

the mercy seat

and it was for sin.

The death of animal

sacrifices in the Old Testament

were all pointing

towards this event,

towards this purpose.

And yet,

it doesn't stop there.

We read the Old Testament

earlier.

We saw how God's people

were saved

in the Exodus.

They were redeemed

out of Egypt.

All of it was pointing

to Christ's death.

Christ saving

his people.

And it doesn't stop

there.

Even when he was

walking on this earth,

those that walked

closest with Jesus

didn't,

they struggled

with this idea.

They didn't see it.

And he reminded them

of this fact.

He reminded them

that Christ

came not to do

signs and wonders,

but he came

to die.

That was his purpose.

And as the disciples

struggled with

the idea that

his hour

had not yet come,

it's because

his hour

wasn't to do

signs and wonders,

but his hour

was to die

for the ungodly.

He came for sinners.

The beginning

of verse 6

says that

while they were

weak,

or while we

were weak,

that's really

uncomfortable for us

because we like

to think ourselves

smart,

wise,

tough,

but the parallel

to weak

is later in that

verse.

They're ungodly.

They're not

physically weak,

but they lack

the strength.

They're morally

weak.

They're sinners.

That's not something

that's new to us

in the Christian life.

It's not even

something that's new

to us in the book

of Romans.

If we think about

Romans 4,

as we've been

marching through this,

we have that idea

in Abraham

that God

justifies the

ungodly,

and his faith

is counted to him

as righteousness.

It's not that

they cleaned

themselves up

and got ready

for God.

And the timing

of this event

that Paul says

is just at the

right time,

that all of history

is pointing to

this event.

The conditions

are now set

for his sacrifice.

That picture

that we have

earlier in the

life of Moses

talking about

God delivering

his people.

Israel wandering

around.

Israel being

delivered from

Egypt.

The prophets

even calling

Israel back

to true worship

for their hearts

to be turned.

For the disciples

to see

that his hour

had now come.

The point

of the gospels,

the point

the disciples

missed,

was that Jesus

died,

and he died

for sinners.

All those

shadows,

all of Leviticus,

all of the

example of

Moses,

all of those

prophets calling

Israel back,

it was all

pointing to

this event.

And Paul

will remind

the Galatians

of this

when he says,

when the fullness

of time

had come,

not the end

of time,

but the fullness

of time,

and that time

is Christ

coming and

dying.

Now what

follows verse

six is an

interesting,

it's an

interesting

comparison,

because the

argument goes

something like

this,

if we can

trust God

to take

care of

this,

we should

trust him

to take

care of

that.

So look

with me

at verse

seven,

for one

will scarcely

die for a

righteous person,

though perhaps

for a good

person,

one would

even dare

to die.

If we

think that

Christ

will die

for the

ungodly,

wait a second,

that's not

how this

goes,

he's making

this argument

that if

one will

die for

a righteous

person,

not that,

no,

he doesn't

make that

argument,

he says

no one

even really

wants to

die for

a righteous

person,

though maybe

even for

a good

person you

might die.

So what

he's saying

here is

that,

hey,

you don't

really want

to die

for a

righteous

person,

but maybe

even for

a good

person,

but how

does that

relate to

us?

How does

that relate

to what

Paul has

said earlier?

He's saying

for an

ungodly

person,

you really

don't want

to die.

Now the

fuller context

of this is

something like

this,

those that

were enslaved

might have

warm feelings

towards a

master,

a benefactor

that's rescued

them out of

debt or the

depths of

society,

for that I

will sacrifice,

for that I

might even

die.

But that's

not what

Paul is

saying about

us,

is it?

He's saying

we stand in

opposition to

the Lord,

to the

ones that

say to

him,

no I

don't need

you,

to the

ones that

look to

him,

not with

warm feelings

of kindness,

but enmity,

for that

Christ has

died.

Now the

cross,

the cross of

Christ is not

difficult for

us on its

face,

but it's

often difficult

for us to

comprehend in

our hearts and

how we live

and how we

think.

Because of

this.

There's a

great theologian

named J.

Gresham

Macon that

said this,

it's not the

Bible doctrine

of the

atonement,

which is

difficult for

us to

understand,

that a

man,

that God

dies for

us,

that Jesus

dies for

sinners.

What really

is incomprehensible

are the

elaborate modern

efforts to

get rid of

the Bible

doctrine in

the interest

of human

pride.

What he's

saying is,

is that in

our own flesh

we try to

do this.

We try to

remove the

cross and

think we're

going to be

okay.

And we

miss all of

the beauty

that we

just talked

about.

Our pride

gets in the

way because

we try to

reconcile

scripture,

we try to

reconcile the

fact that we

want to do

it ourselves

and we

trick ourselves

into thinking

that we

can.

And Paul

reminds us

that if we

do that,

there is no

salvation at

all.

Maybe that's

you this

morning.

Maybe you've

come into

this place

and saying,

I'm good.

I don't

need this.

In fact,

this seems

really bloody

and I don't

really like

that.

Maybe I'm

too smart

for this.

But each

and every

one of us

need the

reconciling

power of

the cross.

And if we

try to pull

that out of

the gospel,

we try to

pull that out

of Christianity,

we're left

with nothing.

we have

no power,

we have

no Christian

message.

Or maybe

we try to

add something

in.

It's the

cross plus

something else.

The cross

plus education.

Education is a

good thing.

But it's not

an ultimate

thing.

It doesn't

do anything

from moving

you from

ungodly and

standing at

odds to the

Lord to

being reconciled

to him.

And you

might think,

well of course

we all know

this, but we

all do this

each day.

Maybe it's not

education, but

we think of

safety and

security of

our bank

accounts.

We think about

the value that

God provides

in work and

think I want

to be a

Christian, but

I also want

to be seen

as healthy,

as wise,

as successful.

When we do

that, we

remove the

cross,

as the

source of

power in

our Christian

lives.

We're reminded

that the

cross is the

source of

power, but

we're not

really told

why God

uses the

cross until

we read

verse 8.

But God

shows his

love for us

in that while

we were still

sinners, Christ

died for us.

That's a

familiar verse

to many of

us.

But we

really just

skip on by

something that's

really important

in this

verse.

We see that

love is a

motivating factor.

It's not a

potential he

sees in them.

It's not

really anything

in them at

all.

Their wealth,

their wisdom,

their talents.

It's all about

who he is.

God comes to

them in love

and he

describes himself

in these terms

against the

backdrop of

disobedience.

forgiveness.

He reminds

them that he

is the same

God here

as he

reminded them

in the Old

Testament

where he

proclaims,

I am the

Lord,

the Lord,

a God

merciful and

gracious,

slow to

anger,

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness,

keeping steadfast love

for thousands,

forgiving iniquity

and transgression

of sin.

And in the

same breath

he says this,

he upholds

his own

justice but

who will by

no means

clear the

guilty,

visiting the

iniquity of

the fathers

on the

children and

the children's

children to

the third and

fourth generations.

Paul shows

us the burning

clarity of the

cross that it's

because he

comes in love

and that he

sends his

son but

then in doing

so it's a

definite plan.

He hasn't

tripped and

fallen into

the atonement.

He's

motivated by

love but

it's held in

tension with

his holiness

and his

desire for

justice.

Love and

loss of

justice is

often where

we find

ourselves.

We get

confused and

we think it

can't stand

out from the

crowd.

If you watch

the World

Series this

year, there

was a guy

almost every

game he was

in the

background of

home plate

and he was

wearing an

orange jersey

and orange

hat upside

down sometimes

and that man

is known as

the Marlins

man and the

Marlins man

goes and

travels all

over the

country and

sometimes the

world to go

to these big

sporting events.

I think he's

been to

something like

200 World

Series games,

NBA finals,

he's been to

horse races,

I don't know

what the horse

races are called

but he's been

to those too and

he always shows

up in that

orange jersey.

He stands out

among the

crowd especially

when the teams

aren't even the

Marlins, they're

very often not

the Marlins if

you know anything

about baseball

because they're

not very good

but he shows up

in his orange

jersey instead

of the blue

of the Blue

Jays or the

white or blue

of the Dodgers

and he sits in

the background

and he sits

right behind

home plate and

you can't miss

it.

He stands

out.

Now he spends

300 days on

the road going

to sporting

events, he spends

countless dollars.

Now when we

think of him, we

think of him being

out of place, he's

not for either

team.

He stands out

among the crowd

but it's almost a

distraction.

The love that we

see in this passage

is not a

distraction, it's

not out of place

like Marlins

man.

In fact, it's

the motivator

by which we

get to the

cross that God

sends his son

to die.

It's not out of

place at all, it's

not ill-fitting, it's

not even crazy, it's

the very reason that

Christ died for us.

The love of God

for sinners.

Have you ever

thought about why

that's difficult for

us?

Yes, we have some

voices in the

modern day that say

love looks like

this and then we

redefine it in any

way that we want.

But in doing so,

we kind of, in

responding to that,

we nuance our way

and think, hey, I

can't even talk about

love because there's

not a good definition

for it.

And when we do that,

we try to, we

almost minimize the

fact that God loves

sinners.

Or we try to move

beyond that simple

fact and we think

that God is pleased

with me because of

what I've done.

That's not a problem

in the modern day,

that's a problem

with every heart.

That's a problem

with your heart

and that's a problem

with my heart.

Sometimes love is

difficult for us

because we don't

have a good earthly

picture of it.

And we struggle

and think, God

can't love me as a

father because my

father was a jerk

or worse.

That's not true.

Sometimes we struggle

with love because we

reduced it to the

romance that we see

on TV and think

it's like what we

see in these fantasies

or what we think

about in wedded

bliss.

And then we struggle

because we don't

have a good picture

of love.

Or maybe we even

think love is a

thing for sissies.

That we don't talk

about love if we're

big, strong, burly

men.

I'll tell you

that I have seen

the pictures of

love of the

strongest and

toughest people I

know in a moment

displaying love

and tenderness.

It's not a thing

for sissies.

Or maybe love

hurt us and we

think love will

never happen again.

Or we think we

don't deserve it.

Or we've had a

child who walked

away from our

love and has

thrown it in our

face.

Or a wife.

Or a husband.

And we think

that's the picture

of love.

The picture of

love that we

have is this

picture here of

God sending his

son for people

that were still

enemies.

Sending that which

was most precious

for us while we

were yet sinners.

Oftentimes we

think we can make

ourselves lovely

to the Lord.

But in spite of

our sin, God

loves you.

In spite of who

we are, God

still is gracious

to you.

And that picture

of love, not

those others,

should transform

us.

It should transform

how we think of

ourselves.

That we are loved

because of God

loving us.

Our interactions

with others

shouldn't be

transactional anymore.

If you do this,

then I will love

you.

No.

For those

difficult people,

those people that

are nasty, or

hey, I don't even

like their personality.

I love them

because God has

loved me.

That should

transform how we

interact in this

room and outside

the walls of this

building.

It transforms our

lives because then

we go to our

neighbors with the

gospel, then we

send our money

forth because God

has loved me.

I have known

love and I want

others to know

that same love.

Christian love

should compel us

to fulfill the

Great Commission.

It should compel

us to love God

and love our

neighbor.

Salvation is

secured by

Christ's death.

All those

benefits, it's

motivated by love,

yes, but salvation

is also realized in

his resurrection.

That part is a

really tough for us.

Let's turn our

attention there now.

Look at verse

nine.

Since therefore we

have now been

justified by his

blood, much more

shall we be saved

by faith, shall be

saved by him from

the wrath of God.

It's really easy to

see the cross of

Christ in this.

It's much more

difficult to see the

resurrection.

We see that Paul is

pivoting from

something because he

uses since therefore,

but we don't know

what has happened in

the past and what

he's looking towards

in the future.

In a contrast, he's

saying you've been

justified by Christ's

death.

And then he's kind

of looking towards a

somewhat future event.

You might be

thinking, wait a

second, I thought I

put my faith in

Jesus and I'm good.

Yes, you are if you

put your faith in

Jesus.

But there's a coming

day of judgment.

And then by doing so,

you're also saved from

that, that day of

wrath.

Throughout this

passage, the mechanism

by which salvation is

accomplished is through

Jesus, both through his

death and resurrection.

resurrection.

Look at verse 9.

We have now been

justified by his

blood.

Much more shall we be

saved by him from the

wrath of God.

He's making this

argument by way of

comparison.

He's saying, if this

happened, then surely

that will happen.

And he continues it in

verse 10.

For while we were

enemies, we were

reconciled to God by the

death of his son.

Much more now that we

are reconciled shall we

be saved by his life.

Life, when he's

referencing life there,

it's not the actions of

Jesus while he was alive

on this earth.

That's shorthand for the

resurrection.

There's no longer

alienation from sinners

against a God because

of their offense.

The dividing wall of

separation has been

torn down and now they

shall be saved by his

life.

life.

The resurrection secures

all of this.

And that life that Christ

was raised to is a

guarantee that that will

happen to us.

Because so often our

focus is on, yes, the

death of Christ, which we

said we try to skip past

what happened on Friday.

But we forget what

happens on Easter Sunday.

It accomplishes all these

things.

And those are held in

balance in the life of

Christ.

We can't have one without

the other.

The beauty of this is it's

confirmation that Christ's

death really accomplished

forgiveness of sin.

And for us, it really

accomplishes

everlasting life.

It secured

our salvation.

resurrection.

It reconciles us.

It justifies us.

And the resurrection is a

demonstration that it

will happen, that we'll be

saved from the wrath of

God.

On the heels of the

Reformation, or Reformation

Day, we think a lot about

what Martin Luther did, of

standing on the shoulders of

what people have said before

in the past.

Christ.

And this idea that we are

saved by his resurrection is

essential to the gospel.

That we're saved by his

life.

Let me remind you, not with

the words of Martin Luther,

but something much, much

older.

Because we might trick

ourselves into thinking,

Martin Luther just came up

with this all, right?

What about the Nicene

Creed?

Nicene Creed's

1700th anniversary this year

in 2025.

And it says this about

Jesus and his death and

resurrection.

It answers all those pesky

questions that kind of

linger in our minds when we

think, what did Jesus

actually do?

Well, the Nicene Creed, the

Apostles' Creed, they

answer them for us.

He was crucified for us

under Pontius Pilate.

He suffered and was buried.

The third day he rose again

according to the

scriptures.

Jesus both died and was

resurrected.

the Nicene Creed confesses

what we read in Romans 5,

that Christ died and was

resurrected.

And Paul reminds us that's

applied to us.

So where does that leave us?

Where does that leave us this

morning?

Where does that leave us in

this story in Romans 5?

It leaves us with this.

Look at verse 11.

More than that, we also

rejoice in God through our

Lord Jesus Christ, through whom

we have now received

reconciliation.

He kind of flips it.

We've received reconciliation,

but more than that, we

rejoice.

Our response at knowing this

should be rejoicing.

We should be so moved by

Christ's death and

resurrection, we rejoice

because it means our

salvation is secure and that

we will escape coming

judgment from the wrath of

God.

It's really going to happen

because he sent his own

son and his own son just

didn't die but was

resurrected.

And we're not so good as we

often assume.

We're left lacking, coming up

short in the measuring stick,

but that's okay because Christ

has paid the penalty for our

sin.

And we're led there by the

Father's love.

And for all that, we should

rejoice because we've been

reconciled with the Father.

rejoice at his great love.

Rejoice for him sending his

son.

Rejoice that Christ's death

paid for our sin.

And rejoice that has been

secured and claimed and

really happening because of the

resurrection.

Rejoice because it wasn't just

for them.

It wasn't just for me.

It was for us.

For you.

For me.

Will you rejoice with that good

news this morning?

Let's pray.

Lord, we're reminded in Romans 5

that we are to rejoice at Christ's

death, which seems like a weird

thing.

We're to rejoice in his

resurrection because those things

secure our salvation.

And Father, they testify to what

will happen in the future.

May we not lose sight of that

fact, Father.

May we rejoice because of it.

This we pray in Christ's name.

Amen.