The Triumphant Reign of Grace

I've stolen the lectern Bible, don't tell anyone.

As I say, we're going to do things perhaps a little bit differently today

intense, but what a great thing to do during June.

Just pick up the book of Romans because we're not able to kind of preach verse by verse through it.

But as you, the more familiar you are with it, the more you'll see where the Apostle Paul is going,

where he's coming from, and ultimately how we can know more of God through it.

And I'm going to begin just by, in some sense, doing a little bit of a recap from last week.

If you were here last week, don't worry, I'm not going to go into all the details, it's okay.

But the book of Romans starts off with a big picture of humanity.

And it presents to us God's plan for salvation, his plan to save us through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But as we pointed out last week, it starts off in a bad place

because he points out the disorder in our world and in our lives.

And as we noted last week, we are all caught up in this sort of downward spiral.

Whereas God made creation to be good, this disorder is taking us back into chaos.

And so we find ourselves both to often be victims of that disorder.

You know, we are harmed, we are hurt by those around us and by the systems and the failures.

But also, if we're honest, we also begin to contribute to those downward spirals and to others.

We become part of the culture.

And the fact is, when Paul points out some of the stuff that is not part of God's plan,

some of us will go, really?

Because we're so caught up in the way just things are, in the culture that surrounds us.

And Paul goes on to say that for those Gentiles he was talking to,

so those who are not of Jewish ethnicity,

he says, you know, they know what is right because God's made us to be that.

And yet we have been caught up in this spiral of godlessness.

And then he turns to those who have the Jewish law.

And these laws, he says, they give you clear standards.

But they don't do anything for you.

All they do is they prove that you're lawbreakers.

We actually see the things that God is pointing out.

And that's part of his argument here.

And as he starts writing and goes through to the third chapter,

what we now call the third chapter of Romans,

it's quite clear that there is no way out of this spiral of godlessness and wickedness.

Whether we are Gentile or whether we are Jew,

we are all under what he calls the power of sin.

Let me just read before we come to confession.

Chapter 3, verses 10 to 12.

It is written,

And then verse 23,

And a little bit as we ended up last week,

I think as we begin this,

there's an opportunity just to recognise

where we play our part in that picture of disorder.

And before we come to confess our sins,

just a moment to consider our own part in that picture.

Now at this point,

normally the minister would stand up and declare God's forgiveness.

But instead of me doing that,

what I'd like to do is I'd let the Bible talk.

So I'm going to invite Margaret to come now

and just read the reading that's set for today,

which is Romans 5, verses 1 to 11.

Romans 5:1–11

Romans 5, verses 1 to 11.

Romans 5:1–11

Entitled, Peace and Hope.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have gained access by faith

into this grace in which we now stand.

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance,

perseverance character, and character hope.

And hope does not put us to shame,

because God's love has been poured out into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

You see, at just the right time,

when we were still powerless,

Christ died for the ungodly.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person,

though for a good person,

someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this.

While we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood,

how much more should we be saved

from God's wrath through him?

For if, while we were God's enemies,

we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son,

how much more, having been reconciled,

shall we be saved through his life?

Not only is this so,

but we also boast in God

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now received reconciliation.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Amazing verses.

Some big words.

These glorious verses from chapter 5 of Romans.

Because in it contains the good news of Jesus.

And I just want to take us through it again, really.

Unpacking it.

I'm not trying to do anything clever today.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith.

What does it mean to be justified?

It means to be declared right.

A voice that says,

good.

You have been made right in God's eyes.

How has that happened?

It's through faith.

Faith.

In Hebrews 11,

the writer defines faith as being

confidence in what we hope for

and assurance about what we do not see.

It's a great definition of faith.

It's about trust.

It's about belief.

It's about claiming that thing

that God has sort of declared or done in heaven

and bringing it into our own lives

by the gift of faith.

So it's about trust.

It's about belief.

That is the way we access all of God's riches here for us.

And so if we've been justified through faith,

what do we have?

We have peace with God.

So whereas before we were enemies

caught in this spiral of godlessness,

contributing to his anger

about what was going wrong in the world,

we are no longer enemies.

And not that.

It's not just a ceasing of enmity.

No.

We are connected.

We are given fullness.

The biblical word shalom is ours

as we are justified by faith.

As we stand before God himself,

our holy God,

we now have peace with.

And then it says,

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

That is what we are now able to do.

We are able to boast in the hope of the glory of God.

What is that?

Well,

I spoke a couple of times now

about God's kingdom,

about the fact that God's kingdom

is where God reigns and rules.

And we experience that kingdom

both now,

but not fully.

Now,

but not yet.

Because when we come to know Jesus

and we stand in that peace

that he has made for us,

we ourselves are born again.

It's like we become a new creation.

And that's just like a first taste

of what we are hoping for,

which is when this whole world is renewed,

where as Jesus returns,

the whole creation

becomes what it really should be,

where all the wrongs are righted,

the tears are wiped away.

But more than that,

like a resurrection,

our bodies,

the creation around us

will cease to creak and crack,

but will give glory to God

because God is fully present with us.

Just as the presence of God

came into the tabernacle of the temple,

we await the day

when the whole creation

is going to be full of God's glory.

We meet him face to face.

We're fully made

for what we're made for.

And that's the hope we have.

And so we boast in that hope

because we know it's going to happen.

That's what we're looking forward to.

Hope is one of these words

that sometimes we think of.

It's like sort of wishful thinking.

Not in the Bible.

Hope is the hook

that we have for the future.

And the more we know about what's coming,

the more we can boast in it

and glory in it.

And that hope is the glory of God,

his presence fully amongst us,

God coming home, as it were,

into our world.

But remarkably,

it's not just a sort of future thing.

that Paul says we're going to experience.

He says,

I'll cover the next verses in a little bit,

but it says,

and hope does not put us to shame

because God's love

has been poured out into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit

who has been given to us.

So that future,

wow,

of God being present fully,

his glory flowing everywhere,

we can taste a bit of that

because of the Holy Spirit.

It becomes like a down payment,

a deposit of that future

that is to come.

And by his Holy Spirit,

that love,

that presence

comes into our lives.

That is good news.

And that glory

means that we are glorious

because we become temples

of God's spirit,

his very presence with us,

a meeting point

of humanity

and God.

That's us.

If we believe in Jesus,

if we are justified by faith

and stand in peace

with him.

Now,

that is essentially

the Christian good news.

So if you're new to that,

I hope that's clear.

I hope I've explained

some of these jargon words

that we sometimes use.

For many of us,

that's not a new message.

It's perhaps one

we need to revisit

more often in our hearts.

But many of us

will be a bit stuck

because our experience

of life

is not of the glory

and the wonders

and the peace.

It's actually one

which you might characterize

by suffering.

We're still at the whim

of that downward spiral

where we experience

illness,

death,

death

and harm.

And

I think

when Paul is writing

to these Christians

in Rome

who would be no different

to you and me

and experience

the rough and tumbles

of life,

in fact you might say

that they're probably

under more pressure

as a super minority group

in a Roman empire

which wasn't really up

for subversive movements

like Christianity.

Suffering was

part of

their experience.

Often for their faith,

but for other reasons

as well.

And when we're caught

what feels like

in that downward spiral

we're like,

well what difference

does that make?

I don't feel any different.

You might feel a bit different.

You might have a sense

of hope

which does make

a big difference

but day to day

I'm still facing

death

and difficult things.

and it prevents us

doesn't it

having that hope

it begins to fade

it gets foggy

because

the day to day life

kind of cuts in on it

and starts to

dim our vision

of what it's about

our experience

is perhaps

more difficult

and we start to wonder

don't we

whether God is good.

and I think

Paul has

folk like us

in mind

as he's writing

these glorious truths

because

he talks about

suffering

and as we're

called to boast

in the hope

of the glory of God

as we hold up

that vision

for what God

has got for us

his presence

coming to be

with us

and we taste that

in the Holy Spirit

he says this

not only so

but we also

glory

we sort of boast

in our sufferings

because we know

that suffering

produces perseverance

perseverance

character

and character

hope

and

he acknowledges

that suffering

is difficult

and

he's wondering

you know

what it means

well he's saying

well no

it has meaning

the fact that we suffer

and there's this

tension between

the hope

that we're longing

for

our future

destination

as it were

and our own

experience

shows us

really that

suffering has

meaning

and that it

actually is

working

something

that will bring

more hope

into our lives

because he's

working us

changing our

character

changing our

outlook

and it means

that suffering

is not meaningless

so if you live

without the idea

of a God

and a future

hope

suffering is

very difficult

because it

becomes sort

of meaningless

it's just

I'm just here

accidentally

and I'm just

experiencing all

this stuff

whereas Paul

is not shy

to pull out

that future

hope

and say

look

look at that

and even

what you're

going through

is working

to achieve

that

God is

working in

you to

build those

things

and you

will

become

stronger

and you

will know

more of

God's grace

in your life

as a result

and so

if you're

in that

position

you're thinking

life's

hard

and this

future glory

feels a long

way off

he encourages

us to do

two things

I think

and that

as I said

to look forward

is one angle

he also encourages

us to look

back

because if we're

feeling like

God's not

for us

we need

to go to

a place

where we

know

God

is for

us

and that's

why he

points us

back

to the cross

of Jesus

I'll just

read verses

6 and 8

it says

you see

at just

the right

time

when we

were still

powerless

Christ

died

for the

ungodly

very rarely

will anyone

die for

a righteous

person

though maybe

for a good

person

someone might

possibly

dare to

die

but God

demonstrates

his love

for us

in this

while we

were still

sinners

Christ

died

for us

so he

wants us

to remember

that if we

feel there's

a tension

between our

suffering

and what's

ahead for

us

just think

about how

much of

a tension

how much

of a

divide

there is

between

the holy

God

and us

who are

caught in

that downward

spiral

and even

then

even undeserving

he came

in the person

of Jesus

to die

for us

that's how

big his

love is

for us

that's how

all embracing

his love

is

and then

his logic

goes well

if that's

so

if he did

that for

us

then how

much

more

will

his

saving

work

be

effective

and be

applied

to us

who have

faith

in him

I'll just

read the

last verse

since we

now have

been justified

by his

blood

Jesus'

blood

how much

more

shall we

be saved

from God's

wrath

through him

for if

while we

were God's

enemies

we were

reconciled to

him through

the death

of his

son

how much

more

having been

reconciled

shall we

be saved

through his

life

not only

is this

so

but we

also boast

in God

through our

Lord Jesus

Christ

through whom

we have

now received

reconciliation

see if our

lives are

immersed in

Jesus

his story

becomes

ours

and if we

think about

his sufferings

as he was

betrayed

tortured

and killed

if that's

his story

and how

that led

to

resurrection

and to

the

reconciliation

of the

whole of

creation

back to

God

well

don't you

think God

can use

our smaller

sufferings

our challenges

our difficulties

as part of

his plan

for salvation

there's

nothing

wasted

in God's

economy

so if

you

your family

are going

through all

sorts of

rubbish

right now

Paul wants

to assure

you

the Holy

Spirit

wants to

assure

you

that there

is nothing

that God

will not

use

to actually

ultimately

bring about

a brighter

hope

for you

and for

this world

because as

we look

to him

as we look

back to

what Jesus

did for

us

and we

have him

set for

us

even as

we boast

in him

it's amazing

Paul uses

that word

several times

in the passage

you know when

you boast

of something

you just can't

stop talking

about hey

look

have you seen

this

it's great

if we boast

it encourages

us to put

him front

and centre

as we

do that

hope

grows

peace

settles

and love

flows

hope

grows

peace

settles

and love

flows

peace

so again

just take

a moment

to recognise

where you're

at with

this

in a moment

we'll sing

a song

which

again

in some

sense

retells

the story

of what

Jesus

has done

for us

and if

we believe

that

if we cling

on to that

if we put

our confidence

confidence

in what

Jesus

has done

for

we will

trust

that by

his Holy

Spirit

God is

growing hope

bringing

greater peace

into our

lives

and that

love

which may

feel like a

trickle at the

moment from

God

will flow

and overflow

flow

so I'm just

going to

pause

and allow

the Holy

Spirit

some space

to say

what he

needs to

say to

you

to bring

home

this gospel

this good

news

into your

life

Lord Jesus

if you

died for

us

if you

were willing

to get

to that

length

whilst we

were still

sinners

whilst we

were still

throwing up

the muck

and destruction

of

godlessness

and wickedness

if you were

willing to

die for us

then

how much

more

will you

continue

to use

every part

of our

lives

for your

glory

help us

to cling

on by

faith

to trust

in what

you've

done

for us

to be

confident

that we

now stand

before you

god

father god

full peace

we want to

receive

once again

that

fullness

from you

you pour

out your

love into

our hearts

we pray

amen