The Cross of Jesus is Good News Part 2 (Romans 3:19-26)

Well, good morning and welcome again to Digital Church.

Glad you're able to tune in so that we can worship together.

Let's hear our call to worship, which comes from Psalm 123.

Reminds us of the attitude we are to bring as we come to God.

I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God till he shows us mercy.

We look to our great God who is good, who is loving, and we will ask him to show us mercy.

And we'll recenter our hearts and our minds on him as we worship.

Let's sing together.

There, first of all, Behold Our God, and then two sections of Psalm 103, and Kellan will lead us in this.

Who has held the oceans in his hands?

Who has numbered every grain of salt?

Kings and nations tremble at his voice.

O creation rises to rejoice.

Behold our God, seated on his throne.

Come, let us adore him.

Behold our King, nothing can compare.

Come, let us adore him.

Who has given counsel to the Lord?

Who can question any of his words?

Who can teach the one who knows all things?

Who can follow all his wondrous deeds?

Behold our God, seated on his throne.

Come, let us adore him.

Come, let us adore him.

Behold our King, nothing can compare.

Come, let us adore him.

God, let us adore him.

Who has felt the nails upon his hands,

bearing all the guilt of sin for me.

God eternal, humble to the grave,

Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign.

Behold our God, seated on his throne,

come let us adore him.

Behold our King, nothing can compare,

come let us adore him.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Praise God, my soul, with all my heart.

Let me exalt his holy name.

Forget not all his benefits.

His praise, my soul, in song proclaim.

The Lord forgives you all your sins,

and heals your sickness and distress.

Your life he rescues from the grave,

and crowns you in his tenderness.

And crowns you in his tenderness.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

The Lord is merciful and kind,

to anger slow and full of grace.

He will not constantly reprove,

or in his anger hide his face.

He does not punish our misdeeds,

or give our sins their just reward.

How brave his love, as high as heaven,

towards all those who fear the Lord.

Towards all those who fear the Lord.

Now, let's continue to worship as we pray.

Lord, we began with a psalm that encouraged us

to look to you with humble dependence,

that you might show us mercy.

We ask that you'd help us to look to Jesus,

to see him as our Lord,

to see him as our King,

to see him as our only Saviour,

to recognise him as that friend

who sticks closer than any brother,

that good shepherd who laid down his life for us,

who wants to lead and guide and protect us.

And that we would look to you

to show mercy to us,

and to our nation and to our world

in this time of trouble that we find ourselves in.

Lord, we place ourselves into your care,

recognising our own limitations and inabilities,

and trusting that you are all sufficient,

that you have power for us.

You have wisdom where we lack it.

We need your love,

and you are ready to show that to us.

Lord, we pray for those who need special help.

We pray for any who are feeling particularly lonely or isolated.

We pray for those who are suffering through the virus,

and we pray that you might spare them.

We think of our NHS workers who are on the front line.

We pray for them in difficult conditions,

with their own anxiety,

with families that care for them.

We thank you for the way they are willing to love,

and to serve, and to care.

And we ask that you would protect them.

Lord, we pray for mercy that the virus would slow,

that it would be contained.

And we also pray for mercy that this would be a time of us reassessing what we live for,

that it might be a chance for us to slow down and to think about you,

maybe for the first time in our lives.

Lord, we thank you that we're coming up to Easter,

at the time when we remember that in your great love,

you sent Jesus into the world to live a perfect life of obedience that we all fail to live,

then to die as a sacrifice for sin,

so that by trusting in him,

we might be forgiven and we might have the gift of eternal life.

We thank you that we remember that he didn't stay dead,

but that he rose in victory,

that you, Lord God, were satisfied

with the sacrifice that he offered on behalf of his people.

And so we ask that you'd help us to prepare

our hearts and our minds for Easter.

And we pray that our world that so badly needs hope

would come to find real hope in Jesus during Easter.

Amen.

Now, let's read together.

Let's hear the word of God again.

We're back in Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

And we're going to concentrate on verses 22 to 24 today.

But let's hear verses 21 to 26 again.

Through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement

through faith in his blood.

He did this to demonstrate his justice

because in his forbearance,

he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time

so as to be just

and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Now, let's think about those words that we find

in verses 22 to 24

as we continue to think about how the cross is good news.

Our question for today is this one.

How can I find a future-proof hope?

Perhaps like the commentators,

you're beginning to ask the question,

what will life be like post-COVID-19?

What will the economic impact be nationally, globally

and in your own family finances?

What jobs and industries will make it

and which will fold?

And what will the implications be for your own work?

What about social gatherings?

Those simple pleasures we used to enjoy,

will they be the same or will they be different?

When we think about all the impact this pandemic is having,

it is fair to say it comes to us as a destructive enemy.

It is interrupting normal life.

It is isolating us from one another

and the everyday things we used to take for granted.

It is relentless in pursuing us in every corner of life.

We wake up and we check the news

and we hear it in conversation

and we see it in government restrictions

when we go shopping or go for a walk.

And it leads us to ask the question,

will I get through this okay?

What will the impact be?

What will the final outcome of it all be in my life?

And here's why I want to say today

that the cross stands as good news

and good news we all need today.

The cross gives hope against this enemy that we face

and against the even greater enemy of death

that lurks in the background.

It helps us to answer the question,

our passage will help us answer the question,

how can Jesus' death equip me

to deal with these setbacks and suffering?

How can I find a hope that is future-proof?

So we're going to look at that section of Romans 3

to see what we can discover.

First of all, just as we saw last week,

it begins with bad news.

It begins with the bad news

of falling short of God's glory.

Notice we're all included in this.

Verse 22, there is no difference

for all have sinned

and fall short of the glory of God.

Now, in recent years,

there has been the rise

of the superhero origin stories

and you may or may not be interested in that,

but they all have a backstory

or they're filling in a backstory to explain

how did our character get here

and how did he get to be like this?

Where do we find the origin story for humanity?

It is found in Genesis 1-3.

How did we get here?

Well, we were created by God

in his image

to display his glory

and to worship and to enjoy him.

Two pictures that might help us.

Think of your life as a mirror.

We were made to reflect God's glory

in God's world.

Not to take glory for ourselves,

but to reflect it out the way.

Or think about a small statue.

In the ancient Near East,

when Moses was writing Genesis,

kings would place these little statues

around their kingdom to say,

I reign here,

to remind those in the kingdom,

this is the king who's in charge of us.

The Bible says we are God's living icons.

And we live in this world

for his glory to say,

our king, our God reigns.

So when we read Genesis 1-2,

we find a picture of absolute perfection,

perfect relationships,

perfect love,

enjoying life that is flourishing and good.

So we need to ask ourselves the question,

how did the world get to be like this?

Like it is today

with all its brokenness,

with all its sadness and pain.

And that's why we need Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 3 explains

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

the reality of all falling short

of the glory of God.

And it begins with Adam and Eve

in the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve's sin,

where they listened to the voice

of the snake,

the devil,

and they were deceived

to pursue their own glory,

to seek to be like God themselves

and to stop listening to God

and his word.

And with that came curse.

So all the brokenness,

all the fall,

all the pain that we experience

is a direct result

of what happened there in the garden,

Adam and Eve's sin.

It led them to lose

their perfect standing,

their righteousness before God.

They are driven out of the garden,

God's perfect place

where he lived with them.

And they're told that ultimately

they would die.

And since then,

as people,

we are mirrors,

we are reflecting

the image of God,

but we are cracked

and broken mirrors.

We fail to truly reflect

the glory of God.

We, to use the language

of Romans 3,

we fall short

of the glory of God

in our lives.

So we can see that

in various ways.

Three ways we see it.

We miss the glory of God

like a target

that we aim for,

but we miss.

Let me speak to families

just for a moment.

I wonder if you are finding

that you're playing

lots of different games

at this time

to pass some of the time.

When you read the rules

for certain games,

and hopefully you do

read the rules,

they can be helpful,

classic games

like Monopoly

and Uno,

you will notice now

they deliberately advise

against playing

by house rules,

those sort of made-up

family rules.

Their basic point is

we are the game designers,

we know the best way

to play,

and perhaps you've had

that experience

that house rules

can lead to chaos

and carnage

and all kinds of confusion.

Well, here's the point

for us in our life.

God is our grand designer.

And when we ignore

his rule,

and when we ignore

his rules for our life,

we will miss

what is best,

we will miss

his glory

and the enjoyment

of it.

And even when we try

to live by the rules,

we realise that we

miss the mark

so often,

we break those rules,

so again,

we miss that standard

of God's glory.

So we miss,

we fall short

of the glory of God.

We also fall short

because we swap,

we exchange

the glory of God

and we give glory

to other things.

We talk about

idolatry

and in our culture

and society,

we talk about

idolatry,

things that are

idols in our hearts

and in our lives.

What does that mean?

What does that look like?

Well, it's when we

treasure something,

anything,

more than Jesus.

That might be another person,

it might be an object,

it might be a career,

it might be financial security,

it might be our beauty

or intelligence.

When we place anything

as the most important thing

in our life,

that's an idol for us.

When we find our value

or significance

in anything else,

that's an idol to us.

And one of the things

that this coronavirus pandemic

is showing to us,

I think,

is that so many

of the idols

that we live for,

so much that we place

our hope in,

we're now discovering

those things can be lost

and they can be taken

from us,

whether that's our health,

whether that's our finance,

whether that's our job security,

whether that's our relationships.

And we discover

that these things

are too small,

we need something bigger

to place our hope in.

So we swap

a treasuring God

for something else.

We also deliberately

sometimes rob God

of glory.

So remember,

according to the Bible,

we're made as living icons.

We are to represent,

to reflect,

and to worship God

because of his glory.

But we take that glory

that belongs to God,

we take it to ourselves

so often.

It's like we take

a can of spray paint

and all over God's creation

we graffiti,

I rule,

okay.

Not God rules,

I rule.

God is forgotten.

We live for number one

so we fall short

of the glory of God

when we rob God

of what he deserves.

And the result is

we do not have

a right standing with God.

We remain separated

from God

by our sin.

we face a verdict

of condemned

at the end of our lives

and without Jesus,

all of us,

we're in the same crisis.

So whether morally

or religiously

or spiritually,

you feel like you're

in the gutter,

in the lowest kind of place,

or whether you feel

like you're on the mountaintop

and you're doing really well

as a good person,

none of us

can reach the stars.

not one of us

can reach God's

perfect standard.

So if we trust

in ourselves,

we will not have

future hope.

We will not have

God's positive verdict

which is the one

verdict to live for.

So that's the bad news.

But there is good news,

there is great news

here in our passage

that we are justified

and we are redeemed

by Jesus.

There are three

words and ideas

full of good news.

Let's just remind ourselves

of verse 24.

We are justified freely

by his grace

through the redemption

that came by Christ Jesus.

Justified,

redemption

and free grace.

Let's look at each of these.

Let's think about justify.

This takes us

into a law court

and in God's law court

there are two verdicts

that can be passed

on a person.

We can either be condemned

or we can be justified.

Now according to the Bible,

according to Romans 3,

what do we deserve?

We deserve condemnation

because we've fallen short

of God's glory.

We have broken his law

and we've been guilty

of spiritual treason

where we've sought

to take him off the throne

to place ourselves there.

So then it stands

as good news

that by faith in Jesus

we are actually

given the verdict

of justified.

That means that

our sins are pardoned,

our wrongdoing

is covered over

and that's wonderful,

isn't it?

And also,

God declares of us

there is no basis

for any charges

against that person.

You and I,

by faith in Jesus,

we can be considered

moral,

good citizens,

perfect law keepers.

Now how can that be?

You know your heart,

I know mine.

How can this be?

Well this is why

the cross is such good news

because there at the cross

a great exchange

takes place.

Jesus takes my sin

and my guilt

and he faces

the punishment for that

there on the cross

and in exchange

I am forgiven

and I am pardoned.

Jesus lives and dies

in perfect loving obedience

to his Father

and he gives that to us,

to his people,

so that we can be reckoned

to be in right standing

with God

while he takes our sin

and our guilt.

Here is the love of God.

Jesus is willing

to take your guilty verdict

and to give you

his righteous record

if you will simply

believe in him.

This is why we call

Good Friday good.

What's happening there

on the cross

as Jesus dies,

he is going under

the curse of God

for the law

that is broken

and he's doing that

for his people

so that by faith

we can receive

God's blessing.

Jesus faces death

on the cross

so that by trusting in him

he can grant to us

eternal life.

Jesus there on the cross

is being punished

so that when we

believe that he is

our saviour,

that he died for us,

we are pardoned.

And then on Easter Sunday

Jesus is raised to life

and his people

share in that new life,

in that new victory,

in that great future hope

that Jesus won

by defeating our enemies

of Satan

and sin and death.

So in Jesus

we are justified

and that is good,

good news.

then there is also

the word redemption

and I guess maybe

we are familiar

with the word redemption.

We talk about redemption codes

for online shopping

and we think about

sporting redemption

where failure

becomes success.

Well for Paul's readers,

so Paul wrote

the book of Romans

and according to the Bible

we need to think

what does redemption mean?

Well for first century

people living in Rome

who would get Paul's letter

first of all,

they would go to the marketplace

and they would think

redemption price

was the price

to release a slave

from the slave market.

When somebody

who knew their Bibles

read this

they would think

of the story

of the Exodus

of the time

when the nation

of Israel

was slaves

to Pharaoh

in Egypt

and God acted

in power

to release them,

to redeem them.

or they might think

of the image

of the figure

in the Old Testament

of the kinsman redeemer.

So when a person

an Old Testament Israelite

got themselves

into financial difficulties

they could

sell some land

or they could

sell themselves

into slavery

and a kinsman redeemer

could then pay

a price

to buy back

that land

or buy back

that person

from their debt.

So there is

a price paid,

there is a redeemer

and the outcome

is freedom.

So how is the cross

of Jesus?

Good news.

Well the Bible

makes clear

and our own conscience

I think testifies

to us

that we are

slaves to sin.

Unable

to live

for God's glory

as we should.

Unwilling

to live

for God's glory

because we want

glory for ourselves.

So we have this debt

hanging over us

that's a growing debt.

We owe God

perfect love

and perfect obedience

in all of our life

all of our days

and that is a debt

that we can never

and could never pay.

And so

Jesus

is good news

to us

because he

pays

for us.

He is the one

who pays

the ransom.

The ransom price

is his blood.

Peter,

a friend of Jesus

said we weren't

redeemed by silver

and gold

we're redeemed

by the precious

blood of Jesus.

through him

spilling his blood

shedding his blood

there is forgiveness

for our sin

and his perfect life

of absolute obedience

and always giving glory

to his father

meets that standard

that we fail

to keep.

So redemption

is found

in Jesus

and again

here is the love

of God.

Jesus has come

to set you free.

Free

from a guilty

verdict on your life

so that you can say

now there is no

condemnation for me

because I'm trusting

in Jesus.

All that shame

and that guilt

that we feel

in our lives

Jesus wants to set

us free

by paying that price

and covering

our sin

and our shame

and Jesus wants

to set you free

from fear of death

and judgment

because he wants

to give you

the hope of eternal

life and security

and knowing

there is joy

to come after

and that only happens

because God

loves

because God

in Jesus

stoops down

and enters in

because God

through Jesus

takes the initiative

to rescue us

and that takes us

to our last word

the idea of

free grace

we are justified

freely

by his grace

through the redemption

that comes from Jesus

so you might be asking

at this point

well this sounds wonderful

what do I need to do

and that's our instinct

isn't it

but the answer is

there is nothing

we need to do

Jesus has paid it all

when Jesus said

on the cross

it is finished

he meant his work

of salvation

was complete

so what's left

for us to do

is to say sorry

for us

and to turn away

from it

and to accept

the free gift

by faith

that free gift

of a right standing

with God

of peace

with God

of being redeemed

we are to believe

on Jesus

to go with empty hands

to our generous Father

and ask him

to fill us

with his love

and with his peace

and when we do that

he will

so the Bible says

to us

that Jesus alone

can give

a future proof hope

a hope beyond

any and all

the enemies

that we face

COVID-19

and others

this virus

is a powerful

and indeed

a painful reminder

to us

that some things

can

and some things

will

be taken from us

but God

God's love

for us

in Jesus

it can never

be lost

it can never

be taken from us

Jesus has come

to where we are

he has entered

into our broken world

so that one day

he will take us

to be where he is

a perfect world

of hope

and peace

of enjoying

his glory

forever

in a world

without sickness

and pain

and death

so when your life

is full of fear

when you are

full of uncertainty

Jesus

gives hope

by faith

in Jesus

the final

verdict

on your life

is brought

forward

so that you

can know

today

in an uncertain

world

here is one

thing I am

sure of

I am sure

that I am

loved by God

that I am

accepted by God

that beyond death

there is life

and joy

for me

how do we

know that

where do we

look to find

that security

we look to

Jesus death

on the cross

we see him

paying the price

to redeem us

so that by

grace

you and I

might be

justified

now let's

sing

together

a hymn

that will help

us to

remember

that great

truth

the hymn

is Christ

the sure

and steady

anchor

Christ the

sure

and steady

anchor

in the

fury

of the

storm

when the

winds of

doubt

blow through

me

and my

sails

have all

been torn

in the

suffering

in the

sorrow

when my

sinking

hopes

are few

I will

hold fast

to the

anchor

it shall

never

never

be revealed

Christ the

sure

and steady

anchor

while the

tempest

rages on

when temptation

claims the

battle

and it

seems

the

night

has

won

deeper

still

then

goes

the

anchor

though

I

justly

stand

accused

I

will

hold

fast

to

the

anchor

it

shall

never

be

removed

Christ the

sure

and steady

anchor

through the

floods

of

unbelief

hopeless

somehow

oh my

soul

now

lift

your

eyes

to

calvary

this

my

ballast

of

assurance

see

his

love

forever

proved

I

will

hold

fast

to

the

anchor

it

shall

never

be

removed

Christ the

sure

friend

steady

anchor

as we

face

the wave

of death

when these

trials

give way

to glory

and we

draw

our

final

breath

we

will

cross

that

great

horizon

clouds

behind

and

life

secured

and the

cup

will

be

the

better

for

the

storms

that

we

endure

rise

the

shore

of

our

salvation

ever

faithful

ever

true

we

will

hold

fast

to

the

anchor

it

shall

never

be

moved

and

now

let's

pray

together

using

the

words

at the

end

of

Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter

8

a

wonderful

chapter

of

hope

of

future

glory

of

being

more

than

conquerors

through

Jesus

so here's

how it

finishes

I am

convinced

that neither

death nor

life

neither

angels nor

demons

neither the

present nor

the future

nor any

powers

neither

height nor

depth

nor anything

else in all

creation

will be able

to separate

us from

the love

of God

that is in

Christ Jesus

our Lord

may each

one of us

know

that love

of God

may each

one of you

have that

security

of knowing

that nothing

can separate

you from

God's love

if you are

in Christ

Jesus

may you

know that

today

and every

day

amen

and now

before you

go

a couple

of things

first of

all

to say

that

on

Good

Friday

which is

this coming

Friday

we will

have

I'm not

sure of

the details

yet but

check

YouTube

check our

website

check Facebook

we will

have

some form

of

Good

Friday

service

that will

certainly

include

readings

and

reflections

and hopefully

we can have

some

songs to

sing as

well

so

join us

then

you'll

keep your

eye out for

the details

and then

this week

digital tea

and coffee

we'd love

to do

something a

little bit

different

and we'd

love to

see a

bit of

a group

mix-up

to see

new people

having the

chance to

join in

so normally

it tends

to be

community

groups

sticking

together

but what

we thought

would be

a good

idea

since I

guess

it's going

to be

a little

while

before

we're

together

again

and to

remind

ourselves

that we're

all part

of one

big

families

that we'd

have a

chance

to join

with

different

people

and have

a chat

so at

12pm

there will

be different

digital hosts

waiting to

welcome you

share a

time of

friendship

bring your

own cup

of tea

and coffee

bring a

cake

or a

biscuit

and enjoy

that

if you

don't have

the details

check your

emails

or check

Elvanto

and you can

find how

you can

join in

with that

so be

brave

embrace

the

technology

and enjoy

a time of

friendship

together