The Greatest News Ever

And Kim is going to read that. Thanks Kim.

Thanks very much, Kim.

Well, please keep your Bibles open in that passage there.

You'll need your Bibles this morning because we're going to be doing a little bit of flicking backwards and forwards in the first few chapters of Romans.

You need to be wide awake this morning.

It's going to take a little bit of hard work, so keep with me on this.

But this is exciting news. The title we have given it is the greatest news ever.

What the Gospel provides.

As I say, it comes at a conclusion of a lot of bad news.

And eventually we come to some great news.

Well, let's talk to God as we pray and ask for His help in this together.

Our Father, we thank You for Your Word.

Help us to be people who take seriously what Your Word says.

Father, please burn within our hearts the wonder of Your salvation.

What is familiar and what is known to us.

May it become fresh and like news that we have heard for the first time.

May it penetrate deep into our own lives.

Giving us a greater joy.

A greater love for You.

And a greater desire to share this love with a world that is in desperate need.

So please help us all this morning.

Pour out Your Spirit generously upon us all.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, if I say to you the name Thierry Henry, what comes to mind?

Handball?

Cheat!

Unfair!

Unjust!

The infamous handball that sent Ireland out of the World Cup qualifiers.

It was one of the greatest injustices in the world of sport.

And we all love our sport so much that if a referee gets it wrong, we demand that justice is done.

On a more serious note, I read this week about Naomi Campbell.

I'm sure you've heard about her.

She's a supermodel that's earned millions and millions of dollars.

Well, a number of years ago, she received two uncut diamonds from the president of Liberia.

She kept it a secret for all of these years.

And what's so terrible about that is, these diamonds have been mined by children as young as six and seven.

Often captured and taken away.

Many of them often die.

The sale of those diamonds, what have become blood diamonds, have been used to fund the Civil War.

Which has seen countless thousands murdered and the rape of many women and children.

Of course, she says, I didn't know anything about that sort of thing.

Now, how do you feel when you hear news like that?

I think we all feel a sense of anger and outrage.

Because the world wants justice.

We want the guilty punished.

And we want the innocent set free.

We all long for fairness.

We want all wrongs put to right.

In fact, we demand that justice be done.

Now, as we read through the book of Romans, we discover that God not only loves justice,

He demands that justice is done.

So, look at chapter 2.

And in verse 2.

Here, it's speaking about God's anger at all the wickedness and all the evil that there is in the world.

And we read in chapter 2, verse 2.

Now, we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

Verse 6.

Verse 6.

For God will give to each person according to what he has done.

Verse 11.

For God does not show favoritism.

You see, God is not like some corrupt judge.

He doesn't turn a blind eye or accept bribes.

All He does is fair.

Everything He does is just because it's based on truth.

And when we get to Romans, chapter 3, verse 21, the section that was just read to us,

Romans 3:21

this whole theme of justice is picked up again.

It's telling us how God works out and satisfies His justice in this world.

Just as an aside, the little phrase that we have in verse 21,

this righteousness, and again in verse 22,

can be translated as the justice of God.

So in verse 26, we read that He is keen to demonstrate His justice.

Now that's all good news for us because we want a judge who is fair,

a judge who is going to put all wrongs to right,

and who's going to correct all the injustices that we have in our own lives

and in the world around us.

So this is exciting news.

We're introduced to a God who demands that justice is done.

But there's a problem.

You see, the big argument of Romans 1-3, as we've been looking at over the last few weeks,

is that we are all under God's judgment.

Back in chapter 2, verse 5, it describes the world like this.

Because of our stubbornness and our unrepentant hearts,

we are storing up wrath against ourselves for the day of God's wrath,

when His righteous judgment will be revealed.

And in case we think we are somehow different from those kind of people,

because we're in church this morning and we're reading our Bibles

and we're very good people,

His conclusion is terrifying.

Chapter 3, the end of verse 22.

He says,

There is no difference.

For all have sinned.

Whether you go to church or read your Bibles or not,

we all fall short of the glory of God.

And this is the big message,

that we are all guilty.

We may never have murdered

or had a terrorist activity

or plotted a bomb or anything like that,

but we've all gossiped

and disobeyed.

And as far as God is concerned,

He treats us all the same.

We're all deserving of His judgment.

But that's not the only message of Romans 1-3.

There was a good news aspect to it as well.

Back in chapter 1, verse 16 and 17,

we were introduced to the gospel,

which is described in verse 16 as the power of God

for the salvation of everyone who believes.

Verse 17,

For in this gospel,

a righteousness from God is revealed.

It's telling us that there is a way

that guilty people like you and me

can be right with God,

we can escape His judgment,

we can receive forgiveness,

and we can have the wonderful blessing

of being His children.

So even though we are guilty,

the good news is we can be forgiven.

Now that creates tension for us,

doesn't it?

On the one hand,

can we see this?

That God demands justice,

which is bad news for us

because we're all guilty.

But on the other hand,

we have God's offer of forgiveness,

which is good news for us

because we all need it.

But let's think about this.

If God is fair in His judgment,

how can He forgive people

if we're guilty?

If God is supposed to be just

and righteous in all He does,

how can He remove the punishment

that we justly deserve?

If God were to forgive us,

it would be like turning a blind eye

to our wickedness and sin.

God would be seen as nothing more

than a corrupt judge

who is open to bribes

and who cares very little for justice.

So how can God be both just

and forgiving at the same time?

How can God be gracious

and compassionate

while being righteous and fair?

Well, this is the tension

that is being built up

through the first few chapters.

It's a little bit like a tug of war.

If we could imagine God

on the one side

being the anchorman

for justice,

but then on the other side,

God is also the anchorman

for the side of forgiveness.

And we have this tension.

One is pulling against the other.

Justice on this side,

forgiveness on the other side.

And it's like we're stuck in the middle,

being ripped apart.

Our life is in the balance.

Of course, if justice wins,

then what about God's desire to forgive?

And if forgiveness wins,

what about God's promise to be just?

How can God express simultaneously

his justice and his forgiveness?

Well, in an age

when we all want justice,

but we don't want to be judged,

the gospel provides

the solution.

First, we have God's faithful intervention.

In chapter 3, verse 21,

it comes out with this great,

big, enormous statement,

but now,

something has happened.

He's introducing us

to the good news of the gospel.

The tension is finally broken

so that we can be forgiven,

while at the same time,

God's justice can be satisfied.

And it's all possible because,

look at verse 21,

a righteousness from God,

apart from law,

has been made known.

As we've been saying,

the uncomfortable truth all along

is that we can never be good enough

for God.

Look at chapter 3, verse 10.

It says there that there is

no one righteous.

Not even one.

The end of verse 12,

there is no one who does good.

Not even one.

Our own performance,

our own goodness,

our own life,

whether we go to church

and read our Bibles and pray,

whatever we do,

it's never going to make us acceptable.

To come to God the way we are

is just going to leave us condemned.

There is no one righteous,

but now,

verse 21,

a righteousness from God

has come.

There is a performance record

that will make us acceptable to God.

God has made it known to us.

And this is God's faithful intervention

into a helpless world.

His righteousness is a perfect record.

It is nothing less than God's own record.

It is His life

because it comes from God

and it is now offered to you

and to me.

He said,

you can now have this performance.

So it means that our whole struggle

to be accepted,

our desire to be right with God

is now over.

The fear of facing God's judgment

is gone

because God has made His righteousness,

His record,

His perfect performance

available to us.

He's offering it to us.

So that we can stand before God,

accepted and welcomed,

seen as perfect and blameless

in His sight.

He has done something about it.

The second,

this intervention from God

results in a wonderful declaration.

Verse 24.

It tells us there

that we have been justified freely

by His grace

through the redemption

that came by Christ Jesus.

This word justified

relates to the righteousness

from God in verse 21.

But justified has a double action.

On the one hand,

it deals with our deserved punishment,

but on the other hand,

it provides our desired forgiveness.

On the one hand,

it means that we are no longer

treated as guilty rebels.

Romans 1 to 3 is telling us

that we are guilty,

that we are people outside of God.

But now,

because of Christ,

our deserved punishment

has been dealt with.

And we'll get to that

in just a minute.

So we're no longer

treated as a guilty person.

But that's only one side

of the good news.

The other side of the good news

is that we are now

treasured as a forgiven child.

We can receive forgiveness,

and we are now welcomed

and accepted into God's family.

And we are now treasured

like a son or a daughter.

He looks upon us

and he treats us

like he does

his very own son.

And if we pull this

into our lives,

if we experience this

through our faith in Christ,

our whole life is transformed.

God's love is transformed.

But it brings us back

to the same question

that we're having

the whole way through this.

How can God do that?

What about his justice?

How could God treat somebody

who is guilty

as innocent?

That's completely unfair

and unjust.

How could God do that?

How would you feel like it

if somebody had robbed

your house

and smashed up the place

while you were out?

And you come back

and you see the mess

all over the place.

But the guards arrive

to tell you that

the robber has been caught.

They've been sentenced

and, well, you read

in the newspaper

the next week

that the judge

just felt very kind

that week

and he's just let them off

and said,

that's okay, you can go.

Don't worry about it.

Wouldn't you feel

a little angry

and a little annoyed?

Well, that's exactly

what God is doing to us.

How can he treat somebody

who is guilty

like us as innocent?

That's unfair.

How can he do it?

Well, this gets

to the very heart

of the gospel

in verse 24.

Let's read

verse 24 again.

We are justified

freely by his grace

through the redemption

that came by Christ Jesus.

God presented him,

that's Jesus,

as a sacrifice

of atonement.

The death of Jesus Christ

on the cross

is how God deals

with our deserved judgment

and our desired forgiveness.

And when we understand

the cross,

we see how the tension

between God's justice

and God's forgiveness

is settled

so that at the same time

God remains fair

and just.

And the key phrase

in this passage

is in verse 25

where it says,

God presented him

as a sacrifice

of atonement.

Whenever we come across

the word atonement

in the Bible,

it's always in relation

to God's wrath

or anger.

Atonement simply means

turning aside

or turning away

God's anger.

You may have a little note

at the bottom of your Bible

to tell you that.

Now, to help us understand

this a little bit more,

I'd like us to turn back

to Numbers

in the Old Testament,

chapter 16.

Now, I haven't got

a page number

so whoever's there first

can call it out.

Numbers chapter 16.

Numbers 16 · chapter mention

Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus, Numbers.

Pardon?

Pardon?

I didn't get that.

I'm sorry.

1-5-3.

Okay.

1-5-3, Numbers,

Numbers 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16.

And we're going to look

at verse 46.

Now, as you're turning

to that,

let me just give you

a little context

for this in Numbers.

The people,

God's people,

have continually rebelled

against God.

They have grumbled

against Him.

They've disobeyed Him.

They've continually

pushed the boundaries.

And because of their sin,

God is angry.

He's rightly angry

at their behaviour.

And He sends a plague

amongst the people.

A plague that has

serious consequences

because people

are dying.

So the big question

that's being asked

at this stage is,

what are we going to do

about God's anger?

How can we turn it aside?

How can we stop it?

Well, look at verse 46.

Moses, who was the leader

of the people,

said to Aaron,

his assistant,

take your censer

and put incense in it

along with fire

from the altar

and hurry to the assembly

to make atonement

for the people.

Wrath, or anger,

has come out

from the Lord.

The plague has started.

started.

So Aaron did

as Moses said

and he ran

into the midst

of the assembly.

The plague

had already started

among the people

but Aaron offered

the incense

and he made

atonement

for them.

He stood

between the living

and the dead

and the plague

stopped.

Through that sacrifice,

through that work,

atonement was made.

The wrath of God

stopped.

Now in Romans

Romans 1:18

chapter 1

verse 18

we read that

God's anger

is presently

being revealed,

is presently

being poured out

against the wickedness

and the godlessness

of men

in this world.

And we've got to ask

exactly the same question.

How are we going

to deal

with his anger?

Answer,

we need

atonement.

We need

someone

who is going

to turn aside

God's anger.

And how does

he do that?

Well,

in chapter 3

verse 25

it says,

God presented

Jesus

as a sacrifice

of atonement.

Jesus

becomes

the anger

absorber

for us.

The wrath

of God

was deflected

from us

onto Christ.

Jesus

bore the punishment

that we

justly deserve.

Now we

struggle

with all

this kind

of talk

because we

don't like

to think

of God

who gets

angry with

us.

We like

to think

of a God

who's a bit

of a grandfather

figure who sits

in a nice

comfortable chair

and hands out

sweeties and

lets us do

what we like.

We're troubled

with a God

who is angry.

You see,

when we get

angry,

it's uncontrolled

and it's temper-like.

we start

throwing things

and we get

into a fit

of rage.

But with God,

his anger

is always

controlled

and it's

reasoned.

It's never

temper.

It is his

personal

hostility

to evil

and his

acts of

involvement

to punish

sin.

But you

say,

okay,

I can

kind of

get that.

But couldn't

we say

that God

hates sin

but he

loves the

sinner?

How about

that?

Well,

I've said

that before

but I

think it's

a little

bit unhelpful

because the

Bible makes

it very

clear that

God does

hate sin

and we

the sinners,

the people

who do

all these

wrong things,

we must

be punished.

And the

most uncomfortable

truth is

we too

are under

God's

wrath.

Because our

sin is

always first

and foremost

an offence

to God.

So you

can never

separate the

sin from

the sinner.

The two

of them

are together.

So if God

is angry

at sin,

God is

also angry

at me.

And he's

angry at

you.

Now

because God

is just

and he

can't ignore

sin and

pretend it

was not

there.

He must

deal with

it.

But it's

also true

that he

must be

forgiving,

he must

be kind,

he must

be compassionate.

So when

we come

to the

cross,

what we

see is

God's

wrath or

his anger

being dealt

with and

at the same

time we

see his

compassion as

our sins

are forgiven.

remember we

talked about

the tug

of war.

On the

one side

we have

God,

the

anchorman

for justice

and pulling

in this

direction.

And then on

the other

side we

have God,

the anchorman

for forgiveness

pulling the

other.

And both

are attributes

of God

that can

never give

way.

And we

have this

tension

and our

life is

held in

the very

balance.

And what

happens is

God in

Christ,

he steps

into the

middle.

And as

he dies

on the

cross with

his arms

outstretched,

he spans

the tension

that exists.

And on

the one

hand,

as he's

nailed to

the cross,

he's holding

justice in

one hand.

And as

his hand

has been

nailed,

he's holding

forgiveness

in the

other.

And it's

like he

pulls them

together in

his death.

So that

simultaneously

our

deserved

wrath is

dealt

with and

our

desired

forgiveness

is

provided.

All of

this happens

on the

cross where

God

satisfies

his

justice.

God

is

not

going to

do it.

Now before we move on, we must make something else very clear.

Sometimes people talk about that God is angry.

The God of the Old Testament is just a big angry head.

He goes around slaughtering people and killing people.

Whereas when we come to the New Testament, it's all full of flowers and Jesus loves everybody.

God is just a big angry head.

He is just a big angry head.

He holds the two together.

He holds the two together.

God is both full of wrath and full of love.

He is just and forgiving. He holds the two together.

God is just a big angry head.

And then, have a flick back to Exodus chapter 34.

Exodus 34 · chapter mention

This is a very well-known passage.

Exodus 34.

Verse 6.

And here we see the full character of God.

Let's read from verse 6.

It says,

The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger.

Remember, this is the God of the Old Testament.

Slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness,

rebellion and sin.

Yet, he does not leave the guilty unpunished, abounding in love.

But he doesn't leave the guilty unpunished.

How can he do that?

Well, this is what Christ has done.

As Jesus dies on the cross, it is God in Christ.

It is God who dies.

It is God who comes down in the person of Jesus Christ.

It is God himself who hangs on the cross.

And it is God who absorbs the anger himself instead of us.

So that he remains just and forgiving.

Compassionate and gracious.

But yet he never leaves the guilty unpunished.

For Christ was punished for us.

Isn't that amazing?

It all means that God's justice has been satisfied.

Verse 25.

The middle of verse 25 of Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

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.

He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time.

So as to be just.

Now when we say God is satisfied, it's not like he's rubbing his hands together with excitement and thinks,

Oh, I've had an opportunity to dish out my anger.

No, he's satisfied in that he has been forgiving, but never at any cost to his justice.

Even though the guilty are now treated as treasured children of God,

it has never been to the expense of his justice.

In fact, the whole death of Jesus proves how fair and how kind he is.

See what it says in the second part of verse 25.

He did it to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

Throughout the history of the world, as we read through the Old Testament,

people died.

People died because of their sin.

It was part of God's judgment.

But it was never the ultimate judgment.

There was an ultimate judgment to come.

But now because of the cross, when Jesus dies, he takes all the sins, the sins of the past, the sins of the present, and the sins of the future,

and he takes them all on himself.

And all of that punishment, all of that judgment, falls on Christ.

The cross is the ultimate place of justice.

This is where all sin, once and for all, is dealt with.

This is where your sin was dealt with.

This is where your future sin is dealt with.

It's where my sin is dealt with.

That's why Jesus cried on the cross.

It is finished.

It's over.

It's complete.

God is satisfied with what he has done.

The work is done.

We are set free.

We're liberated.

We can go as his children rejoicing,

filled with joy because we are his children.

The end of verse 26 summarizes it all.

He did it to demonstrate his justice,

so as to be just,

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

In this once and for all event,

God takes action both to punish and to forgive.

Simultaneously, we see his love and anger.

We sang earlier,

where wrath and mercy meets.

In a minute,

we're going to sing another song

as we think about the wrath of God

that is poured out on Christ,

absorbed and taken by him,

that we, the guilty,

might be declared righteous,

blameless,

in his sight.

It's the greatest news ever,

and it deals

with the greatest problem,

our sin.

Let's pray together.

Amen.