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Plenty of Reasons to Rejoice Romans 5:1-11 |
May 30, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
One of the great memories I have of my days as a Youth Pastor took place during an all night event called a Lock-In. The idea is to literally lock the kids, in this case several hundred of them, into the building overnight for hours of fun and hopefully some meaningful encounters. To keep my captives from either hurting one another or destroying our facility I had planned a dizzying array of activities.
The gymnasium made it possible for us to play basketball, volleyball and a dozen variations on dodge ball. We had a fully equipped roller skating rink. A game room provided pool tables, ping-pong tables, foosball, air hockey, shuffleboard and every board game known to mankind. A second game room was filled with all the latest video games, all set for "free play." We had a movie theatre and a fully stocked snack bar open all night. And, since we were in Texas, I had rented a mechanical bull from a Texas-sized honky-tonk named, Gilley's. And, yes, I rode the bull. And, yes, it is very hard to walk the next day.
As the evening was just barely getting under way I toured the premises and with great satisfaction thought to myself, "I have created a teenager's fantasy land." That was when one of those teenagers, Brent, approached me. With a look of complete disdain on his face he said, "I'm bored. What else are you gonna do for me."
As my joy quickly morphed into barely controlled rage, I said, "You ungrateful little twerp. You're lucky I don't deck 'ya."
Now, some of you have heard me tell that story before but it bears repeating because it speaks so beautifully to the human capacity for overlooking the blessings of life. All too often we demonstrate that we are amazingly adept at being completely unaware of the multitude of reasons each of us has for being truly joyful. And this morning, as we continue our journey through the book of Romans, Paul wants to make sure that we Christians don't let that happen to us. So, in the first 11 verses of chapter 5 he identifies 8 reasons that each and every one of us can move through each and every day with a profound and abiding sense of joy.
Now, you may remember that a few weeks back we saw that even a single word in the scriptures can be filled with tremendous significance. And that's the case here as Paul opens chapter 5 with the word, "Therefore." He writes, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith…"
That word, "therefore," refers back to everything that Paul has told us since he began 3:21 with another power-packed word. Do you remember what he wrote there? "But… But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known…" Then, through the rest of chapter 3 and all the way through chapter 4 he helped us wrap our minds around this amazing notion that we can be "justified" or "made right" with God "apart from the law." That word, "therefore," looks back to everything he's written about getting right with God not on the basis of anything that we do, but simply by believing in what God has done for us through Christ.
And now that we are thoroughly grounded in our understanding of how that process works, Paul wants to show us how that understanding can literally fill our lives with joy and he does so by offering us a whole series of reasons to rejoice.
And the first reason that Paul identifies is, "peace." Specifically, "peace with God." He writes in verse 1, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…" Paul is not talking here about the feeling of inner tranquility that we call "peace." The "peace" that Paul is talking about is an external, objective reality that exists completely independent of our feelings.
Paul's point is this: when God pronounces us "justified" or made right with Him, the status of our relationship with God changes dramatically. How does it change? The hostility that sin created in our relationship with God is replaced with "peace." The fact is that our sin had so roused God's anger that we had become subject to God's wrath. That was Paul's point in 1:18 when he wrote, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men…" But when God declares us "justified" the status of our relationship with God changes in an instant from enmity to peace.
Now, obviously, being at peace with God also contributes powerfully to the sense of peacefulness that I feel in my life. When my wife and I go through periods of tension in our relationship, for instance, it doesn't just affect our relationship, it feels like there's a dark cloud hanging over my whole life. And when my wife and I finally resolve our differences the whole world suddenly looks brighter.
And the same dynamic is at work in our relationship with God. Being at peace with God increases our general sense of peacefulness, but our reason for rejoicing each day is not tied to a feeling. We rejoice because of the change of status that has happened in our relationship with God. "Through our Lord Jesus Christ," we are at peace with God. The hostilities have ended, once and for all. That's the reason we rejoice.
Now, in verse 2, Paul identifies three additional reasons for rejoicing. He writes, "…through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."
Our second reason for rejoicing is that through Christ we have been given "access" to God. That word "access" conveys the idea of introduction. So, the picture we get is this: Here is God the Father in all of His majesty and glory and walking toward Him is His beloved Son, Jesus. But Jesus is not alone. Walking with Jesus are all those who have placed their faith in Him, including you and me. And the conversation we hear goes something like this: Jesus says, "Father, these are the ones who belong to me. These are your children."
Folks, do you want to fill your mind with a vision that will cause you to rejoice each day? Then etch that vision into your mind. Jesus introducing you to His Father.
Our third reason for rejoicing is seen there at the end of verse two where Paul writes of the, "…grace in which we now stand." Folks, it is simply impossible to overstate the magnitude of the blessing that Paul is describing here when he says that we "stand" in "grace."
What is grace? I think the best way to understand "grace" is this: Grace is the power of God unleashed for your benefit. Romans 1:18 offers one of the most terrifying statements in the scriptures as Paul tells us that even now the "wrath of God" is being unleashed on the godless. Now, in Romans 5:2 we read one of the most wonderful statements in the scriptures as Paul tells us that even now the "grace" of God is being unleashed on those who've been "justified."
Folks, think about that. Instead of directing the force of His wrath against us, God is now directing the force of His "grace" toward us. And as God's wrath meant that our destruction was certain so God's "grace" means that our triumph is certain.
--We may continue to lose the occasional battle with temptation, but by God's grace sin no longer controls us.
--We may still have a long way to go, but by God's grace we are beginning to reflect the character of Christ.
--We may wander from time to time and take the occasional detour, but by the grace of God we will ultimately reach the destiny toward which God is leading us.
Folks, do you want a reason to rejoice, today? Rejoice that you no longer stand in the path of God's wrath, you stand in the path of God's grace!
Now, as we move to the end of verse 2 we see a fourth reason to rejoice as Paul writes, "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Building on the remarks he's just made about our present experience of standing in God's grace Paul now prompts us to take one step further down the road of grace to look into the future just a bit.
Here's his point: our present experience of God's grace has given us a tiny little glimpse of God's glory. As we take the time to ponder all that God's grace is accomplishing in our life, right now, we can't help but say, "Father, what an awesome, glorious God You are." And suddenly, in the midst of our praise, we are filled with a confident hope that this grace which has now cracked open heaven's door just enough for us to glimpse God's glory…this same grace will one day blow that door wide open as we are welcomed into heaven to bask in the full radiance of God's glory for all eternity.
How could we not be filled with joy today when we think about all that God has waiting for us in eternity.
Now, in verses 3-5 Paul identifies a fifth reason for rejoicing and this one catches us just a bit off guard as he writes, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings…" Our "sufferings?" Why would anyone "rejoice" in their "sufferings?" What's more, why ruin this beautiful vision of the joys waiting for us in heaven with a discussion of our present sufferings? As we read the full statement we can see the reason behind Paul's method.
In verses 3-5 he writes, "…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us…" So Paul's point is this: yes, now that we have been made right with God we have a glorious future to look forward to in heaven. But that doesn't mean that our lives right now are going to be easy. Far from it. Suffering is unavoidable. But the good news is that this grace in which we now stand also means that God will use even the toughest experiences of our lives to accomplish His purposes. As we "persevere" in our faith through the tough times, God will develop our "character." And as we see the refining of our "character" it will increase our "hope" and confidence in God's ability to accomplish all of His purposes in our lives. And when we finally do get to heaven we will know that our "hope" was not misplaced.
The tough times are still tough but we can rejoice in the knowledge that God does some of His best work in the midst of the toughest of times.
Now, as we come to the end of verse 5 we see a sixth reason to rejoice as Paul writes that, "…God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." I want you to see two things here.
First, notice that God's love in us is an objective fact. "God has poured out his love into our hearts…" That's past tense. It means that it's already happened. If you have been "justified" then God's love is in you. And that means that we can rejoice in the certainty of God's love in us, no matter how we may be feeling at any given time. And so we can pray, "Father, I'm kind of in the pits today. My spirits are pretty low. But I'm still rejoicing because I know that Your love for me doesn't depend upon my feelings."
Second, notice that it's not up to us to either put God's love in our lives or to keep it there. God's love is in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that means that you can rejoice because even if love is something you've rarely if ever experienced, you can experience God's love because it's not about you being lovable…it's about a God of grace choosing to pour His love into you through the Holy Spirit.
Now, as we move on to verses 6-8 we find a seventh reason for rejoicing in the fact that God offered His love to us at just the "right time." In other words, there is a timeliness about God's actions for us that is a powerful foundation for rejoicing. Paul writes, "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 man, though for a good man 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."
I want you to notice 3 words there that speak to the timeliness of the loving action that God took on our behalf when He allowed Jesus to die on the cross so that we could be made right with Him.
--First, notice that Jesus died for us at a time when we were "powerless" to set things right between ourselves and God. Because of our sin we were destined to spend eternity separated from God. Our only hope was for outside intervention. And just when we needed it most, God acted.
--Second, notice that Jesus died for us at a time when we were "ungodly." There was nothing about us that was in any way commendable in the eyes of God, in fact, with each passing day our actions only served to further estrange us from God. Our future was grim and getting grimmer and just when we needed it most, God acted.
--Finally, notice that Jesus died for us at a time when we were "still sinners." Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us not when we'd finally gotten our act together or even when we'd begun to move in the right direction. Jesus, who had never sinned, died for us while we were still completely bound up in our sin.
Folks, we ought to rejoice everyday that God acted in love for us at "just the right time."
Finally, now, we come to verses 9-11 to see one last reason to rejoice, our confidence in God's ability to finish the work that he started in us. Paul writes, "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when 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 rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
Paul is using here a well-known strategy of persuasive speaking called arguing from the greater to the lesser. His argument basically goes like this: Since God so wanted to make things right between ourselves and Him that He was willing to take the extraordinary step of allowing His only Son to die for us, in spite of the fact that at the time we were His enemies how could we possibly doubt either His desire or His ability to welcome us into heaven for all of eternity now that our sins have been completely paid for, His Son has been resurrected and our relationship with God has been made right? In other words, how could we possibly imagine that God would take the extreme measures necessary to justify us only to abandon or forget about us? It just doesn't make any sense.
Folks, we can rejoice in the sure and certain confidence that God will finish the work that He's started in us.
Folks, I don't know the specifics of your lives but I have to imagine that every one of you brought a certain amount of burdens and stresses and struggles with you, today. But, if you have been justified I know with absolute certainty that you have plenty of reasons to rejoice.
Rejoice-you are at peace with God!
Rejoice-through Jesus you have access to God!
Rejoice-you stand every moment of every day in the grace of God!
Rejoice-the glory of God, which you've barely begun to glimpse, will one day be fully revealed to you!
Rejoice-by the grace of God, the tough times of your life are never wasted, but are always purposeful!
Rejoice-God's love is in you!
Rejoice-God always acts in love at just the right time!
Rejoice-in the knowledge that God will surely finish the good work He's started in you!
And all the people said, "Amen!"
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum