Jesus’ death is your justification

Father, we just want to know you.

And I just ask, Lord, that your word, as we look at it, as we hear it read,

and as we go off and reflect on it later in the week,

that you would just minister to our hearts and our minds.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Now, there's this new show on Amazon Prime

that me and Amy, my wife, have been getting into lately.

And it's called The World's Toughest Race.

And this one, I don't know if they always have it in Fiji,

but this one is based in Fiji this year, or whenever they recorded it.

And what this race is, is basically an Ironman on steroids,

if you know what an Ironman is.

It, like, pushes the human body to, like, the max physical limit.

And it also pushes the human body to the max mental limit.

And the course that they're going through in Fiji

is the most intense course you'll ever see in a race.

It involves going through into the ocean,

way off, like, 100 kilometers, and then back.

And then it also involves going into the Fiji Mountains,

into the jungle, and working through it to get to these checkpoints.

And at the same time, they have to get these medallions.

And these medallions signify your progress through the race.

But another thing in this race is you have to hit certain checkpoints,

or as they call them, camps,

to get, at a certain time, to continue on in the race.

And if you don't, you're disqualified.

So it's constant pushing people.

You barely get to sleep.

You barely get to eat.

But they have to keep going.

And I just want to, I bring this up,

because I want to focus in on this one scene

that's a couple episodes in.

It's not a spoiler, because a lot of teams lose in this.

There's only one winner.

What happens is this team is so far behind.

They're in last place.

They're stuck on the island that they had to take these boats to

by paddling, and then they get back.

But they decided to camp there for a night,

because they felt wary.

And in the morning, they had to start going across.

And they're like 100 kilometers behind.

And as they kept going, they kept pushing it,

saying they're going to get there, they're going to get there.

And then when they get onto the main island of Fiji,

one of the race officials comes up to them and tells them

that it is mathematically impossible for you to make it to the camp

in time to continue on in the race.

And I say this, I bring this up,

because the text that we're going to look at

kind of says that to us in the Romans epistle.

It says that even though you can do all these things,

you still fall short of the glory of God.

All have sinned.

All fall short.

And as we continue on through this summer sermon series

called The Crucified Messiah,

this week we're looking at, it's called

Jesus' Death is Your Justification.

And I admit, this is a hard thing to hear,

that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

It seems like, how can then, how does the Christian walk so good

if all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God?

How can we do this?

Is it even possible?

But there's this other truth in the text

which surrounds that one verse that says that,

which is a great truth.

It is a truth that we should meditate on every day

in our Christian walk.

It is like the foundation of Christianity

and that is justification.

So if you haven't already,

turn with me to Romans chapter 3, verses 21 to 25.

Romans 3:21–25

And we'll take a look at it.

And as you're turning there,

or looking up in your phone,

I'll just give a bit of context.

Paul is writing to the church in Rome.

This church is made up of Jewish people,

Jewish Christians, and Gentile Christians.

And he's writing to them because there's this conflict

between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians.

There's this conflict that the Jewish people think

they know the right way, how to do things,

and they're better than the Gentiles.

But the Gentiles think they know what they're doing

better than the Jewish Christians,

and they think they're better higher up.

So Paul is trying to show them that

no matter how high you feel or how low you feel,

that is not what matters.

That is not what matters.

So let's take a look.

Let's look at this.

And beginning at verse 21.

Now some of you could be asking,

what is the righteousness of God?

The righteousness of God,

what Paul is talking about here,

how he talks about it always in all his epistles,

is the justifying act of God.

And what he's talking about here,

he's talking about the cross.

He's talking about that moment in history

when Jesus went to the cross to die for sinners,

to die for people.

And then he rose from the dead.

So he's talking about that.

It has been manifested apart from the law

and apart from the prophets.

Now, what he means by apart from the law,

we will look at in the couple of verses following.

So I'm just going to mention

what he means about the prophets.

The prophets talk about,

all through them,

they prophesy,

they speak about a future event.

And that event is the cross.

And I'll just look at one of them

that Paul is referring to right now.

And that is found,

I'll just read it,

you don't have to turn there.

That is found in Isaiah 53, verse 5.

Isaiah 53:5

There's also many others in Isaiah.

But I'm just going to highlight this one.

Isaiah 53, verse 5.

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

And with his wounds,

we are healed.

That is a great text.

That text speaks of a future event in that time.

And that future event was the cross.

And that's what Paul is trying to get the two sides,

even though there's no two sides.

It's just one Christian body.

But unfortunately,

there seems to be distinctions that happen.

So the Old Testament points to an historical event,

the cross.

So we're going to continue

in verse 22, the second half,

going into verse 23.

Now this, some of you could be saying,

it seems very harsh.

It seems like this is the great leveler.

This means that no one is greater.

No one is lower.

No one measures up.

All have sinned.

But some of you could be thinking,

well, like, surely I'm better than that person.

That's a very common human thing that we do.

We end up always measuring ourself against other people.

And Paul here is trying to show that

no one is better.

No one can achieve what he's talking about here

over some other person who they deem is not as good.

But surely I have some leg up on people,

on those kinds of people,

you could be thinking.

You see, we all fall short.

All have sinned.

Your sins merit ultimate penal suffering

and rejection of God's presence.

And there's nothing you can do to change it.

Now, why am I guilty?

It doesn't seem fair.

It seems like there's no evidence against me.

But Paul,

Paul here is talking about how there is evidence.

And that evidence is found in Genesis,

when Adam and Eve ate the apple,

when they decided they want to become more like God.

They want to become all-knowing.

And because of that,

God had to curse humanity

because of that moment.

It's called the fall.

Because of that.

Because of that moment,

no one measures up now.

It's very similar, if you think about it,

to the cancel culture

that's happening right now in our culture.

The cancel culture basically is

if someone does something

that they consider wrong

or if they do something

that they consider,

it could be the slightest thing.

They decide to cancel them

and just say,

you're canceled.

And basically,

they boycott.

Either they boycott businesses

or they boycott people.

And they try to ruin the person's image.

Even if there's no evidence

that happens.

They try to force people

to submit

to them

of fear being canceled.

But if you look at this,

the Bible

has canceled

us all out.

All

the evidence

is stacked against us.

And there's nothing

you can do about it.

When you read through the Bible,

the evidence becomes

more and more

stacked against us.

By the time you get home

from the church service today,

there will be more evidence

stacked against you.

It's just,

we are lost

in our own selves.

All evidence

is against you and me.

The case

has been laid out.

The jury

has read the verdict

in a sense.

And they read out

guilty.

We find the accused

guilty on all accounts

against them.

The text says,

all are guilty.

All have sinned.

No one is righteous.

Now,

if I was to stop here,

this would seem

like the harshest

church service

you've ever been to.

It would,

it would be very,

it's very depressing

if that's where I stop.

But there's a great truth

in this text.

There's a great truth

when you continue on.

It is the most

uplifting thing

that you can,

like,

grasp.

And I'll continue.

And I just want to mention,

we all know what it's like

to fail and fall short.

So I'll continue

and I'll read

the second half

of verse 22 again.

For there is no distinction

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God

and are justified

by His grace

as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus

whom God put forward

as a propitiation

by His blood

to be received

by faith.

This was to show

God's righteousness

because in His divine

forbearance

He had passed over

former sins.

See,

this is a beautiful thing.

Everything is stacked

against us.

But Paul here shows

that Christ came

into the world

to take our place.

To,

in a sense,

you can visualize

a courtroom

that we are standing

in the docket

before the judge

and the jury

has just read out

the statement

that we are guilty

and the judge

is about to give

the sentence

and the sentence

is death.

But Jesus comes

and He says,

hold on.

I am going to

take their place.

I am going to

take their place

and take on

the judgment,

the verdict

that they deserve

so they can be justified

and it is a free gift.

He did it freely

as when we were

lost in ourselves,

He came.

He took on

the criminal's sentence

and He died

on the cross

and rose again.

It's kind of like this.

There's this story.

I don't know

the big details

or where exactly

it was,

but the story is

there is these prisoners

in Japan

during the time

of a war

and they are forced

to build a road

with shovels.

They have to shovel,

they have to chug out

all the dirt,

all the rocks

and then put new

gravel down.

And then one night,

after every night

they would count

the shovels

to make sure

nothing has gone missing

or anything like that.

And one night

when they are counting

the shovels,

one of the shovels

is missing

and they searched

and they searched

and they couldn't find it

and they were furious

and they lined up

all the prisoners

and they said

that we will kill

all of you

if no one comes forward.

And then right before

when they are counting

down to execute

the prisoners,

one of them

steps forward

and says,

I did it.

I lost the shovel.

And they killed him

right there

in front of everyone else

and they sent the rest

away back to the camp.

And then the next day,

after the work day,

they count the shovels

and all the shovels

are there.

you see,

that man

took the place

of everyone else.

He didn't have to,

but he did.

Jesus came forward

even though

he was innocent.

And you see,

when you put your faith

and trust in Jesus,

you are justified.

God,

some of you

could be looking

at the text

and be like,

well,

Matt,

that sounds nice.

But this blood,

this blood seems

so barbaric.

Why blood

and not just

a handshake?

Well,

as I mentioned

before,

earlier in the text,

he talks about

the law.

And this right here

is what he's talking

about.

He's talking about

the Mosaic law.

You see,

God made a covenant.

He gave a law

and this law

was a guide to holiness.

It was a guide

to holiness

for the Israel people.

But

the people of Israel

always failed.

They always failed

no matter how hard

they tried.

They always failed.

So they had to have

sacrifices.

And they used animals.

They used,

for the sin sacrifice,

a perfect lamb.

But that still didn't

cover all the sins.

It still,

it always required

a sacrifice constantly.

It never fully

did the job

in a sense.

You see,

in North America,

the culture

talks sin down.

It seems like

such a faux pas.

It says,

just live a good life.

Live your best life now

and you'll be fine.

You'll go to heaven.

But sin is serious.

And the Bible,

all through the Bible,

it is talked about

and it's very serious.

It goes against

God's plan.

It goes against

His very nature.

And only something

as serious as sin

had to happen

to break

the judgment

that was against us.

See,

God sent His Son

because He had

to send His Son.

Jesus came into the world,

lived a perfect life.

He willingly

came forward

to be the sacrifice

for you and me.

And He died

the criminal's death

on the cross

to save us

from eternal judgment.

He took on the judgment

so we could be justified

before God.

It had to be

something final.

And that was death.

It basically,

it had to be so final,

it had to be death.

It is like when the casket

is lowered into the ground.

There's that moment

when you're there

and it just seems like

this is the most final thing

that you'll ever experience

in this life.

It seems like the most final,

like,

it almost seems like time stops.

But the world

keeps going around you.

Jesus had to come

to die for us.

But that wasn't

the final thing.

You see,

Jesus rose from the dead

three days later.

He ascended into heaven,

as we said in the Creed.

Jesus' death

justifies all

who put their faith

and trust in Him.

Soon as you put

your faith and trust,

and that faith is a gift.

That is a God-given gift.

You are justified.

Just to drive home

more of the illustration

of the casket.

Just over a month ago,

one of my friends

and my wife's Amy,

dear friend,

passed away.

It was very sudden.

And when we were

at the funeral,

it seemed like

that was it.

That was the end.

But that was not the end.

She had her faith

and trust in Jesus.

And she is with Jesus

right now in heaven.

You see,

when you put your faith

and trust in Christ,

you are justified instantly.

There's nothing

after that

that you have to do.

You are justified

by faith,

not by works.

And I'll just read

the text again,

beginning at the second part

of verse 22.

For there is no distinction

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God

and are justified

by his grace

as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward

as a propitiation

by his blood

to be received

by faith.

This was to show

God's righteousness

because in his divine forbearance

he had passed over

former sins.

The penalty due to you

for your sins

and my sins,

whatever they were,

was paid for,

paid for you

by Jesus Christ,

the Son of God,

in his death

on the cross.

See,

the life where you live

can feel

like the toughest race,

the hardest race

in the world.

It could be

at times

that you feel

so lost

or so bogged down

of something

you've done

and you feel ashamed

or you could be

going through

a high time

feeling like you're

just doing a great job

in the race.

Nothing can hold you back.

But you see,

regardless of your situation,

you are justified

by faith,

not by works.

John Bunyan,

in his allegorical book

called

The Pilgrim's Progress,

I don't know if people here

have read that,

but it is a great book.

It is a great book

to read and reflect on.

And I'm just going to

say one of the scenes.

The main character

is called Christian.

He just uses these

very defined titles.

There's Christian

and there's other ones.

And he's with his

companion,

Hopeful.

And he comes

to this river.

And this river,

the only way to cross it

is by faith.

And they start

going through the river

and he begins to sink

because his focus,

he was focused on,

for some reason,

he just starts

getting bogged down

like,

I can't,

I will never make it

in this river.

I will never get through

because of the things

I've committed.

And then his companion,

Hopeful,

cries out to him

as he's sinking,

saying,

Be of good cheer.

Jesus makes you whole.

And then Christian,

the main character,

cries out

the beautiful verse

that's in Isaiah.

He cries out,

and this is God

talking through Isaiah.

When you pass

through the waters,

I will be with you.

And through the rivers,

they shall not

overwhelm you.

When you walk

through the fire,

you shall not be burned.

And the flame

shall not consume you.

See,

if you're here

and you haven't put

your faith and trust

in Jesus,

now is the time.

Now is the time

to just call out

to him.

It doesn't have to be

a big fancy prayer.

It just has to be,

Lord,

help me.

And if you are here

and you have your faith

and trust in Jesus,

know that you are justified.

And as we come

in a few moments

to the table

and we reflect

on the bread,

Jesus' broken body

for us,

and as we reflect

on the wine

or the grape juice,

Jesus' blood,

know that you are justified

and you can come

to this table

just filled with joy

regardless of what situation

you feel like

you're in right now.

Let us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you.

I thank you that

sometimes your text

is hard,

but there's great truths

in it regardless.

Father,

thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for the cross.

Thank you that

we are justified

on faith

and not by works.

Thank you, Lord.

It doesn't matter

where we stand.

Jesus paid it all.

Jesus paved the way.

And I just pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.