Jesus Is God's Answer Sermon Iii: By God's Grace Jesus Died To Solve Liffe's Greatest Problem Series

BY GOD’S GRACE JESUS DIED TO SOLVE LIFE’S SUPREME PROBLEM

Well, here we are. We did not ask to be born into this world but we were. At some point in our childhood we might have asked where we came from and were given some kind of evasive answer like, “We found you under the doorstep.”

If we were fortunate enough to grow up in a place where God was honored and the Bible was taught, we soon learned that we got here because of One Great Creator . . . As we grew and developed, quite naturally we wanted to know “why”, and eventually we discovered that we were created for One Great Purpose . . .

However, one of the first lessons we learned in life was that people tend to behave in ways that even as little children we understood to be “no, no’s” . . .

At first we thought that “no, no’s” applied only to me, myself and I - but later on we realized that “no, no’s” apply to everybody inasmuch as we all are in the same boat: We all have One Great Problem:

We all are part of the human race - created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever but, genetically connected to the first humans, we were infected by sinful pride; and it spread and contaminated God’s Creation about which God had said, “It is very good”.

Thus sin entered the world . . . tainted that which was created and said to be “very good” . . . turned it into that which was subsequently looked upon by God our Creator as “ungodly” and therefore unworthy of our Lord’s favor.

Choices have consequences. Deliberate, defiant choices made by the first humans on earth served as precursors to choices that would be made by sinners of future generations, all of whom would be judged by the same criteria: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” “There is none righteous, no, not even one.”

Whereas we all are judged by the same criteria - sinning vs. righteousness, “sinning” of whatever kind or to whatever degree is essentially “sin against God”, all have sinned, we all are unrighteous, unrighteousness can never inherit eternal life with God . . . there could be only one just consequence - separation from God or “spiritual death”. In view of this, we have only one plea: We need help!

“Is there someone who can and will help us . . . who is willing to rescue the perishing . . . who will care for the dying?” “Yes, there is” - Romans 5:6-11 . . .

Seriously, have you ever thought of yourself as “ungodly”? Do you think of yourself now (at your age, at your stage in life) as “sinners”? Let me just say:

You are among the godliest people I know. I cannot imagine any of you deliberately sinning as a pattern of living, although our maturity makes us aware of, and alert to, the possibilities that are always around us.

So, to use one of Paul’s favorite expressions, “What shall we say to these things?”

Well, before we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, we were in fact among the “ungodly” due to all of humanity’s separation from God and therefore we too were in need of help . . . reconciliation.

Sinners we were then - in need of being saved from “the wrath” to come - and sinners we are now - except for that one dramatic act of God – an act of love that made a way for sinners to be restored to a right relationship with God.

Doctrinally we call that one act of God justification: We needed to stand before God forgiven . . . justified – “just as if we had never sinned” . . . righteous.

Based on our faith in Christ who died on the Cross to atone for mankind’s sin of rebellion, God declares all those who have been saved to be righteous . . . in a right relationship with God. Why? His Son’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross - on on our behalf, in our stead.

If we have received Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we are no longer separated from God. God is with us. We shall be with Him forever.

Personal application of the doctrine of justification to one’s own life is what I think of as reconciliation – and I’m pretty sure that this is what Paul had in mind. Think about it: If you have ever been at odds with a friend - and then made up - you understand what Paul is talking about here.

We were “at odds with” God. We were separated from God due to the state of ungodliness we found ourselves in. For a lot of folks, such estrangement adds up to “irreconcilable differences” (the legal ground most often employed as a basis for divorce) but we were convinced to turn away from our sinful state, to follow Jesus. God proved to us by His love that our differences were reconcilable.