Romans 5:6-11 "Be Reconciled to God!"

Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah.

! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah,

either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us

that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?

The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian,

we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the

Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do

what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian,

checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us

questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things

that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

I invite you to bow your heads in prayer. Father, I ask that the Holy Spirit would fall with gentle power

upon us at this time. Father, we give you thanks and praise that your Word written is both on one hand

a mirror for us to see and understand ourselves better, and it's also, Father, a window that opens

us up to see who you are and what you have promised and what you have said and what you will do and have

done. And so we ask, Father, that you would bring your Word deep into our hearts, you would bring the

Gospel deep into our hearts that it might form us, so that we will perfectly love you and worthily

magnify your holy name. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.

So one of the features of relationships is, of course, we want to have good relationships. That's

one of the things we really desire. But it's often the case that in a relationship, one of the people

has almost a supernatural ability to say something to the other person that deeply wounds them. Now,

if it's a supernatural ability, in this case, it would be probably demonic. But you know what I

mean. It's as if... And how the wound works is this. So I'm going along, or you're going along,

and there's a whole pile of things that somebody could say about me that I just go, yeah, whatever.

Yeah, you know, whatever. Yeah, yeah, whatever. And you're thinking that in your own mind.

But then in the midst of a couple of those things of criticism, you know, the yeah, whatever,

the whatever, that then there's the boom, boom. The one that actually really you're worried about,

you're afraid of. And this isn't just in like marriages, and it can be husbands and wives,

it can be mothers and fathers and their kids, it can be churches, it often is in churches,

where, you know, there's all sorts of things people might say to criticize me that I might be,

you know, whatever. But then there's that, they say that one thing, and whoa, that really goes deep

inside the heart and really wounds. And it's not just that other people have that ability. If we're

honest, we've done that as well. There's been times that we've said something that really just

hurts the other person. Sometimes you can recognize almost instantly on their face that you really hurt

them. And other times you can't, but you find out later that you've that one word really, really,

really, really damaged the relationship. And made even the relationship, in some cases,

the relationship can't recover. And even if it does recover, it's very, very, very difficult to

reconcile. The Bible text that we're going to look at today, which Josiah read just a few moments ago,

and we're going to go back and look at, believe it or not, it's not like a magic bullet that will

automatically help you with that. But it's actually provides the building blocks in the ground

for us to have a type of resiliency with those things. But not just a resiliency, because sometimes

we have done those wrong things, right? It's not just a character attack, but a way to have a type of

balance and equilibrium and a secure emotional and intellectual place to deal with those things

and be resilient. And believe it or not, the scripture text today has some very profound truths

to say about this. So it would be very helpful to me and to you if you take out your own Bibles

and turn in them to Romans chapter 5, verses 6 to 11, which is what we're looking at today.

Romans 5:6–11

We're going through the book of Romans slowly. Towards the end of June, we'll get to chapter 7.

And I'm not sure if we're going to take the summer off and the fall and then come back in January to

finish the book or if we'll finish the book in September. But we're going through the book slowly.

And it begins in a way which is profoundly unpromising for many people in our culture. It begins by saying

this, for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. And you know,

sometimes I'll say, if you actually know the original language, it's not quite as like it says something

a little bit different. And in this case, it can also be translated as powerless,

powerless. Like not just weak, but powerless. It's actually far more blunt in one of the senses. So weak's a good translation.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Now I know for some people

it's a bit of an insult, but for those of us who've come to learn our weakness, it's actually a profoundly

helpful thing. When I was studying this text this week, I was thinking of a fellow that I know that I

see all the time at one of the coffee shops I frequent, not all the time, but fairly regularly.

And he's a self-made man. He's probably about 70, very, very strong, very, very healthy, and a successful

businessman. Not in the success in the sense that he'd count his wealth in tens of millions of dollars,

but he would count his wealth in the millions, at least. So a successful guy, a strong guy, a

self-made man, in quotation marks, but truly not a guy. You know, sometimes, you know what's that saying

about some people? They think, you know, you know, I got up to base and hit a triple and not realize

they were born on third base. They didn't do anything. They're just nepotism. This was a guy who really has.

And I think if he was to be honest, he would listen to this and says, for a while we were still weak.

And he would think, okay, well, why is the Bible insulting me? Because I'm not weak.

And, in fact, actually, he also said, why are you calling me ungodly? Now, interestingly enough,

this fellow, he'd probably be offended if he heard the text that said he was ungodly.

But at the same time, if you asked him about his life, he'd say, well, I give no attention to God

whatsoever. I don't pay any, I don't give him any thought. I just go ahead and do it myself,

which is actually how you define ungodly. Somebody who has no time whatsoever for the triune

and God wants to live their own life, you know, couldn't give a hoot about God. They hear about

what God, you know, says about certain things. They just go, yeah, whatever, yeah, whatever,

whatever, whatever. And not only whatever, whatever, whatever, there's no way God could

actually say something that might pierce me and hurt me, like just whatever, right? And that's how he

would understand himself. But on the other hand, there might be some here hearing this text for the

first time. And you go, wow, this text is speaking about me. I really feel right now in my situation

that I'm really weak and powerless. Like I'm really struggling with a disability that I have. I'm

really struggling maybe with alcohol. I'm really struggling in relationships. You know, my credit

card debt is just really breaking me and bending and, and, and, you know, my relate, like there, you

might hear that and say, yeah, you know what that I am weak. And even the ungodly part, they might say,

you know what, that's not really that far off. I really, up until very recently, haven't actually

given two seconds thought about God whatsoever, what he would say. So there's two different ways

to hear this text, you know. But I'll just say one thing. I wouldn't say it to my friend unless

the conversation moved in a very particular direction. But I said my friend is probably about

70 and very strong and a self-made man, but he's actually living in a delusion. Isn't he?

Like I just finished reading 1st and 2nd Chronicles and 1st and 2nd Kings. And I, you know, I think

maybe there's just a one or two kings out of all of those that are listed that hit 70.

I was just looking up a philosopher that was important in a novel that I read, a very famous

philosopher, if you're into philosophy, he died at 44. C.S. Lewis died at 62 or something like that,

right? Like you think about it, a lot of people don't make it to 70. And the one thing for sure is that

he's close to death.

So,

my mechanic just died at 71, dropped dead of a heart attack.

So, it's in a sense an illusory world to think that you're self-made and you're strong. Because

the fact is, even if you have been very strong your entire life, you began weak, you were weak for many,

many years, and your latter days will be weak and you will die. Now, I'm not saying that if you're

here thinking those things as an insult. But what I am saying is that the hard part about the Bible for

many people is that they think, the average Canadian would think that they're, or the typical

Canadian would think that they're realistic and the Bible is unrealistic. And the problems they

have with the Bible is often because the Bible is more realistic than they are.

That, I mean, weakness is really a thing about human beings. We are completely and utterly dependent on

them. Electricity working, all of these other things working that we can't control, we're completely

dependent upon them. But this isn't, but my friend I think would say, and probably validly, but George,

even if I come to accept this, I mean, why do I need to hear that? That doesn't help me. It doesn't

help me to be reminded that I'm weak or that I should have some thoughts about God. And it just still

does seem like a little bit of a put down. And it seems like it's just one of those things that

religions do. But they put it down. And often when religions put people down, they exclude themselves.

But just before we go any further as to why it's not just an insult, look again at verse 6 again,

because it says, while we were still weak. In other words, I can never read this text as if it's referring

to my friend and not to me. And Paul, who wrote this, didn't write it as if it applied to everybody

in the world except him, or all the people outside of Christ except Christians. He says, we were still

weak. It includes us. And it actually has something very hopeful, which you're going to see more in a

second when we read verses 6 to 8. And it's in that very simple little word. Look again at verse 6.

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

And the right time there, in the original language, there's two different types of words for time. One is

just chronos, which is just chronological. This, then this, then this, then this. This 10 minute block,

then this 10 minute block, then this 10 minute block, then this 10 minute block. Chronos time would be the

hour and a half you spent doom scrolling on Instagram or Twitter or some other type of thing. That's just

chronos time. Kairos time is something completely different. Kairos time implies that we live in a

world that God exists in and that our lives have meaning. And it's like there's a significant time,

a meaningful time, a time that touches on eternity, a time that is touching transcendence and imminence,

a very, very, very significant time. And not just significant in terms of it's significant for me

that this happened on a certain day, but significant in not only the whole big meaning and shape of your

life, but in some type of almost cosmological and transcendent sense. And that's what the text is

saying. For while we were still weak at the Kairos moment, Christ actually died for the weak and the

ungodly. And then it continues, verse 7. 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, demonstrates his love for us, in that

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's a very, very packed thing. And what it's saying

is that, you know, all sorts of people will die doing things. But, you know, like, so, you know, for instance,

when Hamas dies, they die because they want to kill as many of us as possible.

Right? That's why they die. They're actively engaged in trying to kill as many of people like us as

possible. And if they could kill us, they probably would, until they get their way. And then in wars,

you're in wars and people die, and there's obviously acts of heroism. And I'm not saying that all wars are

wrong. There are just wars. There really are. And praise God for those in our armed forces who at

different times have volunteered to stand and defend our country and defend freedom and to deliver people

from totalitarian bondage and power and death cults. Praise God for them. And some will die as a result of

that. But there's a cause which is going on there, and they get, and most people don't go in thinking,

I'm going there to die. They go there to live, and they die as a consequence. And obviously,

we can see that, and this is getting closer to what Paul is saying here, is that it might very

well be that a mother would willingly die for their child, or a father for their child, or a father,

a husband for his wife, or vice versa. But this is not talking about that. This is just talking about

how, if you were just to take the people who are going outside there, how many of the people walking by

this, the building this way or that, or driving by, how many of them would you die for? Well, the answer is none.

Zero. Nada. Not going to do it. Like, don't even think about it. And then maybe if you found out that one of

those people was really, really, really, really, really, really, really good, or they'd been really, really,

really, really, really a kind benefactor and done lots of charity work and are continuing to do it, would you die for them?

Would you die for them? Well, maybe one of us would. One in a thousand, one in a hundred thousand,

one in a million, but still, no, somebody else could do that type of thing. There must be some

other work around. That's just not going to happen. And what this Bible text is saying is that,

if you look at it again, verse seven and eight, for no, 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.

And the word shows means demonstrates, proves, makes public. His love for us, that in that while we

were still sinners, and sinner is a relationship type of word, it's saying, in a sense, we say to God,

we're not interested. It's a little bit like the rebellious 15 or 16 year old whose parents say,

yes, you can go out tonight and you can borrow, there's 16 or 17, and you can borrow the car,

but you got to be back by 10. And the 16 or 17 year old says, just to show my parents they can't tell me

what I should do, I'm going to come back at one in the morning, or two in the morning, just to show them

they can't tell me what to do. That's capturing the idea of sin. It's a more relational type of defiance

against God and what he said. And it's, but notice in all of this, that God shows his love for us,

demonstrate, proves that he actually loves us, in that while we were weak, while we were ungodly,

while we were sinners, he died for us. He died for us. And the word there, for us, it, there's some

nuances in it, but primarily it's saying that he died in my place. He died in my stead. It's not as if

he died, you know, tragically trying to defend me or accomplish something for me. No, no, the whole

reason he came is he looked down the corridors of history and he saw George, and he saw that George

is weak, and he saw that George fundamentally doesn't really care about God and God's ways,

and that in fact George has often been like that 17 year old and just said, I'm going to show you,

Kent Bosmira, I'm going to do whatever I want. And God saw all of those things for me, and out of love,

not out of weakness, not out of guilt, not out of shame, not out of some sense that he needs to prove

himself, because he had nothing to prove, he doesn't need anything, and completely and utterly out of love,

he decided to take my place.

He decided to take my place and die.

And, and you know, the thing, one of the things which is so, there's many things which are wonderful

about, about, about Christianity, but

one of the things which is just so wonderful about this is that Christianity is completely

and utterly unique amongst all of the religions in the world.

If the Quran, I don't know if the Quran actually says that God loves you,

but if it did, you could say

to those who believe the Quran, well, prove it.

Why should I believe that?

In fact, there's good reasons for me not to believe it.

Some of the things it says,

and some of the things I know about Muhammad, there's good reasons not to believe it.

Like, why should I believe that?

It would be the same with anything. It would be the same with, you know, Buddhism,

it would be the same with Hinduism. If they say that God is love,

you say, well, why should I believe that?

But Christianity is all, you can't, you know, you could have Buddhism without Buddha.

In fact, Buddhas would say that because there can be other gurus.

There could have been somebody else who had an enlightenment other than the Ketama.

And, and in a sense, Muhammad was just God's final prophet.

There were other prophets and there could have been some other one other than Muhammad

to deliver the, the, the Quran to the human race.

And the same with Hinduism. There's been many sages,

but you can't have Christianity without Jesus.

And the very heart of the Christian faith is his death upon a cross and his resurrection.

And the resurrection changes everything.

The resurrection after his crucifixion changes everything.

So when I say these things about this demonstrates God's love,

it's not just like me talking about Santa Claus or the Easter bunny or the great pumpkin,

if you're like the peanuts.

This actually something that happened like in history.

I was just listening to an interview with Molly Werther a little while ago.

She teaches at an elite university in the States and she writes for elite publications like the Atlantic

and the New York or the New York Times.

And she's, I think she's in her mid to late forties.

She became a Christian just a couple of years ago as an adult.

And, and she's a history professor.

And one of the things is that she got challenged about this.

She's actually, believe it or not, her specialization was the history of Christianity.

And she got confronted by a guy who said, you know, you're a professor,

an expert in the history of Christianity,

but you've never actually studied the origin of Christianity

in this central Christian belief that Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead.

She ended up being convicted by it.

And so she looked into it and as, as she was sharing the interview,

one of the things is that it shocked her.

It shocked her for how much evidence there was that he actually rose from the dead.

Like it shocked her.

It's not compelling evidence that you can't, you can look at it,

not come up with any other explanation,

but it was just very, very shockingly strong.

And she began, as she says, from an atheistic perspective,

just looking at the historical documents,

giving them no credence as to having any type of special value

or holy significance whatsoever.

And that was part, of course, of her whole becoming a Christian.

But the point is that when they say here that Christ died for us,

that we're talking about this way that what Christians understand

is that when Jesus died on the cross,

he died in our place, in our stead.

And he died knowing that people did not care about God.

He knew there are weaknesses.

He knew our rebellion.

And in a moment, we're going to see another image of being reconciled.

We didn't want to reconcile with God.

And God, knowing all of this, God, the Son of God,

took into himself our human nature,

and Jesus actually died on the cross.

You see, here's the thing.

You can never do anything to make God love you more.

I'll say that again.

You can never do anything to make God love you more.

Because God is love.

He is love.

I'll say it again.

You can never do anything to make God love you more.

Because God is love.

He is love.

He doesn't have love.

He's not loving.

I mean, he is loving, but he's loving because he is love.

And you don't have to, you can't say love itself.

It's love himself.

That's who he is.

Now, some might hear this and say, well, George, I'm not.

So you're saying that you put your faith in Christ

and somehow you're made right with God.

And George, okay, George, I'm not entirely like you.

You know, George, I'm actually way weaker than you are, maybe.

That's why maybe I'm not a Christian and you can be.

And you know what?

I'm actually way more uninterested in religious and spiritual things than you are.

And I actually, I can really screw up relationships.

And I'm sure that given how good I am at screwing up relationships,

that if I was to actually see God, I'd screw up that relationship as well.

And I'm definitely, you said something about reconciliation,

and I definitely am not good at reconciling.

So I don't know if things like this are for me.

And the next part is just so unbelievably beautiful and precious.

Look what it says next.

It's as if God, and not as if he does, in fact,

anticipate those problems that we have.

And he says in verse 9, the Bible says in verse 9,

since therefore, look at the double therefores,

since, since, therefore, therefore.

Sorry, I chuckle over things like that.

And therefore, therefore, since, since, we have now been justified by his blood,

that is, by his death, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

And I'm not going to go over the wrath of God at great length.

But what this text is saying is this.

It's mainly what we were talking about last week,

and just sort of, you know, the Bible isn't, the Bible,

Romans says that the gospel is,

for I'm not ashamed of the gospel,

for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.

The gospel is a proclamation.

It's news.

And in this news is this idea that God has done something in this,

in the mystery of what his son has done upon,

by his death upon the cross.

There's been something profound that God has done for human beings

that we cannot do for ourselves because we are weak,

because our connection with God is at best intermittent,

and our concern about what God thinks is at best intermittent.

And we actually, completely and utterly incompetent,

incompetent at actually even being reconciled to God.

And in that whole situation,

God does something for us that we can't do for ourselves.

And he does it with his son's life upon earth,

and then his death upon the cross, and his resurrection.

And when I trust, take God at his word,

when I trust what God has said that he's done in his son,

and what Jesus said he was accomplishing,

I take him at his word, and I believe it and trust into that,

I enter into union with him.

And in union with him, then these profound benefits come to me,

which I'll talk about two of them in a moment.

But then it's as if, you know, it's like receiving Christ is a little bit,

like I shared about last week,

like receiving a coin of infinite value.

And in that coin, one side of it said,

made right with God, and the other side says justified.

And what do those two things mean?

The first thing means that you're literally made right with God.

It's right, you're right.

You're in Christ, it's right with me.

And justified is this other aspect of a,

it's almost like a formal public declaration

and guarantee from all eternity.

I declare that George, who has put his faith and trust

into the Lord Jesus Christ, is right with me,

and right with the created order,

and right with eternity from this time on,

from his entire life into all eternity.

I proclaim it.

It's guaranteed by me.

I have done it.

Christ has done it.

It is guaranteed.

And it would be as if the day that I put my faith in Christ,

there was a billboard put in heaven

that God says on that billboard,

today, George put his faith and trust

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is right with me.

I guarantee it for all eternity.

I guarantee it.

And when I get to the new heaven and the new earth,

maybe I will see that billboard,

and we can all go around,

and I can go with Daniels.

Hey, Daniel, there's yours.

And there, Daniel, sorry, lots of Daniels.

There's yours, you know?

Marshall, Beth, there's yours.

That's what justified means.

That's what Christ accomplished for you and me

when he died on the cross.

And so, you see, it's not a matter of then,

he did that, and look what it says again, right?

It's saying that, you know,

listen to verses 6 through 9 again.

For while we were still weak,

God knew we, Christ knew we were weak,

and he died for us.

He died for the ungodly.

He knew I was ungodly when he died for me.

And then, you know, it says,

somebody will scarcely die for a righteous person

through perhaps for a good person

one would dare even to die.

You know, why is it that a parent

would be very different with their own child

than it would be for just that same parent

with the random stranger going by?

They love their child.

They love their child.

No way would they not die for their child

if it was a matter of their child gets to live if I die.

Yes, absolutely.

It's pointing to this profound love

that God has for us.

But God shows his love for us,

demonstrates it,

that while we were still sinners,

ungodly and weak,

Christ died for us.

Since therefore we have now been justified

by his blood,

much more will be saved

from the wrath of God from him.

And I'll explain what that means in a moment

when you look at verse 10.

Like, why death?

Why death?

Why was death required?

Well, let's look at verse 10.

Notice it begins with the word for.

For if while we were enemies,

here's another thing,

I'm weak,

I'm godly,

a sinner,

an enemy.

Sorry, just a joke, right?

God, why don't you tell us

what you really think?

You know,

he does, right?

Enemies,

read again,

for if 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.

More than that,

we also rejoice in God

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now

received reconciliation.

Go back to verse 10.

For if while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God

by the death of his son.

You know,

one of the things which is unique,

another thing which is unique

amongst,

of Christianity,

amongst all of the world's religions,

is none of the other world's religions

care about you being reconciled to God.

Quran does not teach

that God is,

that Allah is concerned

with being reconciled to you.

You being reconciled to him.

Because he's not,

doesn't desire a relationship with you.

You were created in a sense

to be a slave.

All the pagan religions,

you're fundamentally created

to be a slave

to the ancestors or the gods.

And then of course,

at the end as well,

in the Eastern religions,

in their governing myths,

the fact that human beings

exist at all

is a tragedy.

And you end up

just being merged with the all.

There's no reconciliation.

Reconciliation requires others

and assumes relationships and love.

It's a completely,

massively unusual idea.

And I think that explains

why we human beings

not only long

at our deepest levels

for reconciliation with God,

but long to be reconciled

with others.

So why this image?

Well here,

consider this example.

I decide to be a good guy one day.

I have an extra car

and so I lend it to one of you.

And because you're really stuck,

you really need to get to Toronto,

let's say,

and get back.

And you're really stuck

for some money

and I say,

here,

you can borrow my car

and here,

I'll lend you my credit card

so you can get some gas

and get some meal.

And you know,

the implication is

you'll give me the car back

and you'll give me the,

you'll pay me back later on,

right?

Maybe I'll cut it off

a little bit

because I,

you know,

I want to be a good guy

and all that.

But you know,

I'm generous.

Here's the credit card.

Here's the car.

And you take it

and you keep it

and you keep it

and you keep it

and you wreck it

and you make it all

completely and utterly filthy

inside and bang it up

and you get a whole pile

of traffic tickets

which are all going to be

in my name,

not yours.

And you rack up

a whole pile of credit card debt

almost immediately

before I can find out

what's going on

and you refuse to give

the car back.

You refuse to give me

the credit card back.

You bad mouth me publicly

for even suggesting it

and you lie about me

and you slander me

and then you claim

that in fact,

it's all your,

all my fault,

not their fault

and that in fact,

the debt really is theirs

and

well,

that would be

a terrible situation.

You could change it.

You,

you let a,

you know,

you,

you let a person

borrow your cottage

or your house.

Same type of idea

and they just wreck it

and tell everybody

it's theirs

and bad mouth you

and obviously

you want some type of,

you want them out

and let's say

you eventually get them out

but you're still stuck

with all those debts

and the wrecked cars

and everything else

and then they come

and they say

they want to be reconciled

to you.

Now let's just be honest,

most of us probably

don't love them enough

or love enough

that we want to ever

see them again

for the rest of our lives

unless it's to hear

that they're behind bars

in jail

and we just go to the jail

just to take one picture

of them behind the bars

and we keep it

as our front page

on our phone.

Now I'm probably vastly

more wicked

than all of you

but let's say

actually you decided

out of love

you did want to have

reconciliation happen

with them.

Well how on earth

is that going to work?

So what has to happen

in reconciliation?

Well in reconciliation

first of all

the person who's done

all those wrong things

to you has to actually

want to reconcile.

The second thing is

they have to acknowledge

and confess

that they've done

all of these terribly

wrong things

and you're not going

to just let them go

and say yeah yeah

a little bit uncareful

with money.

No no no no no

you weren't just

a little bit uncareful

with money.

You need to confess

the things that you

actually did

and as well as that

in some cases

you say and you have

to take the punishment.

You have to go

and say I'm not

going to have

my drivers

I'm not going

to have my

you know things

suspended

or my insurance

thing

it has yours

done

you have to

take those things

on yourself

you have to be

something

and you have to

make some type

of restitution

you have to pay

back some of the

some of the things

or all of the things

and you have to

desire to live

differently

and it's not

just a matter

of desiring

to live differently

you actually have

to accomplish

living differently.

everything that exists

comes from God

we are the ones

who have trashed

his car

ridden up debt

bad mouthed him

ignored him

and now

we come to God

and say we want

to be reconciled

to him

as Jordan Peterson

would say

good luck

with that

how could you

do that

so the first thing

you'll see

that in this

particular illustration

with being

reconciled to God

it doesn't mean

that God has done

wrong things to us

and he needs to

be reconciled to us

there has never

been a time

in your life

that you have

been unloved

by God

God is love

and there is

nothing you can do

to make God

love you more

there is nothing

that God has

to repent of

or confess

or amend

he cannot change

himself

he's only good

goodness itself

beauty itself

truth and justice

there is nothing

that he has to do

it all has to

come from me

and to be honest

I'm too weak

to do any of

those things

and my heart

is way too

intermittent

to ever actually

really believe

I could accomplish

a new way of living

and there is no way

I could ever pay

that debt back

you see

in forgiveness

let's say I was

to forgive the person

just off the bat

in that particular

with the car example

somebody still has

to pay for the debt

if I actually

forgive them

I can only

forgive them

and they don't

have any money

if I pay the debt

that's what

forgiveness is

and in a sense

what the Bible

is saying

the debt

of your

the things

that you've done

wrong and

failed to do

right is so

great

that if it was

to be made

public

every single

little detail

it would mean

it would crush

you

you would die

but Jesus

was the one

who died

in my place

he paid

my debt

the punishment

that I deserved

was laid

on him

the debt

I could not

pay

he paid

by his

debt

and this is

some of this

I get from

a very brilliant

essay by C.S. Lewis

in Mere Christianity

called The Perfect Penitent

written I think

in 1942

you see

when I put

my faith

and trust

into Christ

it's not just

that he

in a sense

pays the sin

and the price

that I have to do

that I can't do

for myself

he is

the perfect

penitent

that I need

to be reconciled

to God

he desires

that

he had that

desire

to be with

his father

and he was

always with

the father

he never

did anything

wrong

he pays

the debt

he is

the one

who lived

the life

that I needed

to live

and could

not live

he is

the perfect

penitent

I need

to go

from being

God's

enemy

to his

friend

for all

eternity

and there

is no

other

and my

faith

and trust

into him

is my

faith

and trust

into him

as that

penitent

that I need

to be

reconciled

to God

and there

is no

other

and there

is no

greater

love

than what

Christ

has done

for us

by dying

on the

cross

notice

at verse

11

it's why

it says

that more

than that

we also

rejoice

in God

through our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

through whom

we have

now

received

reconciliation

just three

things

very briefly

in closing

the first

thing there

is we

rejoice

there's a

verb

there

for rejoice

and the

question

always

is what

is God

actually

asking

us

to do

and what

he's

not

asking

us

to do

is to

feel

joyful

what

he's

actually

asking

us

to do

is something

very

different

you see

it's

going

to involve

joy

but if

it's

just

actually

trying

to make

ourselves

feel

joyful

that's

not

going

to

work

what

it

actually

is

always

asking

us

to do

is to

boast

and exult

in God

to remember

to say

before God

in those

times when

we are

very

very

broken

and also

in the

times

when we're

very

very

successful

when

I'm

very

very

successful

I need

to say

all things

come of

you

God

and of

your

own

have

I

given

back

and when

I am

very

very

broken

I have

to say

God

I am

so

weak

I am

so glad

that when

I am

weak

Jesus

died

for me

on the

cross

I am

so glad

that even

though I

have had

a week

of

being

really

really

really

a

terrible

Christian

I am

so glad

that you

knew

that

and Jesus

died

on the

cross

for me

and

Father

when I

have

done

things

even

in

defiance

of you

things

that are

morally

wrong

not

just

indifferent

but morally

wrong

I am

so glad

that Jesus

knew that

and died

on the

cross

for me

and I'm

so glad

Father

that when

I've

talked

to people

not as

if I'm

a Christian

but really

as if

I'm

your

enemy

because

of the

cruel

things

that I

have

said

I

am

Father

thank

you

that

Jesus

died

for me

on the

cross

and

rejoicing

is

all

about

exalting

and

glorying

in

who

God

is

and

what

he

did

for

me

in

the

cross

and

when

you

do

that

sometimes

joy

is a

byproduct

of it

and that's

why it's

called

rejoicing

not that

you try

to psychologically

manipulate

yourself

do you

feel

joy

but you

think

of

Christ

and

what

he

has

done

this

is

part

of

what

it

means

to

preach

the

gospel

to

yourself

because

it's

this

rejoicing

is

something

that

you

can

say

in

your

own

!

self

talk

in

your

prayers

and

one

of

the

things

we

get

to

do

is

to

come

together

on

a

Sunday

morning

and

remember

it

at

the

Lord's

table

we

remember

that

Christ

knowing

that

his

disciples

were

going

to

flee

knowing

that

Judas

was

betraying

him

knowing

that

he

would

have

to

drink

the

cup

of

God's

wrath

and

our

sins

and

knowing

that

he

would

die

on

the

cross

he

institutes

a

new

as

these

truths

of

the

gospel

become

more

real

to

our

heart

that

that

person

says

about

George

yeah

you know

whatever

yeah

whatever

yeah

whatever

whoa

that

really

stung

as

truths

like

this

become

more

real

to

our

heart

and

we

preach

the

gospel

to

ourselves

remembering

what

Christ

has

done

for

us

on

the

cross

I

can

hear

that

criticism

and

say

that's

true

and

boy

they

don't

even

the

half

of

it

I'm

actually

way

worse

than

that

I'm

actually

way

worse

than

that

I

am

just

so

grateful

that

Christ

died

for

me

knowing

all

of

that

and

you

see

it

starts

to

create

an

emotionally

and

effectively

and

intellectually

secure

place

for you

to hear

such

criticisms

and

to

acknowledge

them

and to

repent

and to

deal

with

them

because

once

again

there

has

never

been

a

time

in

your

life

that

you

have

been

unloved

by

God

and

God

shows

his

love

and

demonstrates

and

proves

it

by

Jesus

death

upon

the

cross

and

he

did

it

when

you

were

sick

when

you

were

weak

when

you

were

sinful

and

finally

as

this

truth

of

God

doing

all

that's

required

to

reconcile

me

to

him

as

that

becomes

more

real

to

and

a

place

upon

which

you

stand

and

you

can

look

at

your

own

life

it

starts

to

form

you

to

desire

reconciliation

and

that

means

maybe

to

be

willing

to

extend

it

to

the

person

who's

profoundly

wronged

you

and

being

willing

to

extend

it

because

it's

important

and

it

also

is

the

place

by

which

when

you

realize

that

you're

the

one

who's

mainly

done

the

wrong

that

there's

a

and

you

need

to

deal

with

it

the

story

isn't

just

a

story

it's

true

it's

true

in

eternity

it's

transcendent

it's

true

in

history

it is

deeply

deeply

deeply

deeply

true

and

as

it

becomes

more

deeply

true

to

your

heart

it

forms

you

it

forms

you

in a

way

that

you

want

to

be

formed

don't

you

don't

you

want

to

be

one

who's

!

able

to

deal

with

the

crap

in

your

life

don't

you

want

to

be

one

who's

willing

to

extend

the

olive

branch

the

other

direction

don't

you

want

to

be

emotionally

and

spiritually

secure

enough

to

have

that

be

what

characterizes

you

that

you

can

be

humble

and

grounded

in

times

of

huge

success

and

that

you

can

stand

and

grow

and

deal

with

things

when

you're

very

weak

!

The

gospel

begins

by

subverting

you

by saying

these

things

about

you

but

it's

all

so

you

can

stand

and

grow

and

be

free

and

rejoice

in

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

I

invite

you

to

stand

let's

bow our heads

in prayer

Father we

give you

thanks and

praise that

you know

our

weakness

you know

our

lack

of

care

about

you

you

know

our

defiance

of

you

you

know

even

those

times

that

we

really

acted

like

enemies

of

you

and

you

knew

all

of

that

you

knew

every

single

act

from

beginning

to

end

and

still

Jesus

came

to

die

for

us

God

the

Son

of

God

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

came

to

die

for

us

and

this

really

does

show

that

you

are

the

only

God

of

love

that

you

are

love

that

you

really

do

love

us

you

really

not

just

love

us

in

the

abstract

but

that

you

love

me

in

my

concrete

particular

historical

story

and

that

you

love

each

one

who

is

here

and

hears

these

words

and

we

ask

Father

that

for

those

of

us

who

have

not

yet

given

their

lives

to

Christ

that

you

will

Father

Holy

Spirit

will

move

in

their

lives

that

they

might

call

out

even

today

even

now

Jesus

please

be

my

Savior

and

my

Lord

thank

you

for

taking

my

place

and

dying

on

the

cross

thank

you

that

you

want

me

to

be

!

you

!

thank

you

!

you

are

my

may

the

gospel

become

more

and

more

real

to

our

heart

and

in

times

of

great

triumph

and

in

times

of

great

need

and

weakness

and

failure

Father

may

our

hearts

remember

may

our

mind

and

our

lips

recount

what

you

have

done

for

us

in

the

person

of

your

son

and

that

that

is

now

declared

in

the

heavens

forever

and

guaranteed

so

Father

please

do

this

work

in

!

and

help

us

to